Globalization: A Basic Text

Table of Contents:
About the Website xi List of Figures xii Preface xiii 1 GLOBALIZATION I 1 Liquids, Flows, and Structures Some of the Basics 2 From Solids to Liquids (to Gases) 3 Flows 6 Heavy, Light, Weightless 8 Heavy Structures That Expedite Flows 11 Heavy Structures As Barriers to Flows 15 Subtler Structural Barriers 18 On the Increasing Ubiquity of Global Flows and Structures 20 Thinking about Global Flows and Structures 21 Chapter Summary 22 2 GLOBALIZATION II 27 Some Basic Issues, Debates, and Controversies Is There Such a Thing As Globalization? 28 Is It Globalization or Transnationalization? 30 If There Is such a Thing As Globalization, When Did It Begin? 31 Globalization or Globalizations? 38 What Drives Globalization? 41 Does Globalization Hop Rather Than Flow? 42 If There Is Such a Thing As Globalization, Is It Inexorable? 43 Does Globaphilia or Globaphobia Have the Upper Hand? 45 What, If Anything, Can Be Done about Globalization? 50 Chapter Summary 51 3 GLOBALIZATION AND RELATED PROCESSES 55 Imperialism, Colonialism, Development, Westernization, Easternization, and Americanization Imperialism 56 Colonialism 59 Development 61 Westernization 63 Easternization 64 Americanization 67 Comparisons with Globalization 75 The Era of the “Posts” 77 Chapter Summary 78 4 NEOLIBERALISM 83 Roots, Principles, Criticisms, and Neo-Marxian Alternatives The Past, Present, and Future of Neoliberalism 84 Neoliberalism: An Exemplary Statement and the Basic Principles 89 Popular Neoliberal “Theory”: The Case of Thomas Friedman 92 Critiquing Neoliberalism 94 Neoliberalism as Exception 96 Neoliberalism: The Case of Israel 98 The End of History 99 The Death of Neoliberalism? 101 Neo-Marxian Theoretical Alternatives to Neoliberalism 101 Chapter Summary 107 5 GLOBAL POLITICAL STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES 111 On Political Processes and Flows 112 The Nation-State 113 In Defense of the Nation-State 117 “Imagined Community” 118 Changes in Global Nation-State Relations 120 Other Global Political Developments and Structures 122 Regional Political Organizations 126 Global Governance 127 Civil Society 131 Chapter Summary 138 6 STRUCTURING THE GLOBAL ECONOMY 141 Before Bretton Woods 142 Bretton Woods and the Bretton Woods System 144 The End of Bretton Woods 153 Changes in, and Critiques of, Bretton-Woods-Era Organizations 154 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (Oecd) 158 European Union (Common Market) 159 North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) 161 Mercosur 163 Opec 164 The Multinational Corporation (Mnc) 164 World Economic Forum 167 The Myth of Economic Globalization? 168 Chapter Summary 168 7 GLOBAL ECONOMIC FLOWS 173 Production and Consumption Trade 174 Increasing Competition for Commodities 182 The Economic Impact of the Flow of Oil 183 Race to the Bottom and Upgrading 186 Outsourcing 187 Financial Globalization 189 Corporations, People, and Ideas 193 Consumption 195 Chapter Summary 201 8 GLOBAL CULTURE AND CULTURAL FLOWS 205 Cultural Differentialism 207 Cultural Hybridization 215 Cultural Convergence 219 Chapter Summary 233 9 HIGH-TECH GLOBAL FLOWS AND STRUCTURES 237 Technology, Mass Media, and the Internet Technology, Time-Space Compression, and Distanciation 238 Mass Media 244 The Internet and Social Media 251 Chapter Summary 260 10 GLOBAL FLOWS OF PEOPLE 263 Migration, Human Trafficking, and Tourism Migrants 264 Migration 265 Human Trafficking 286 Tourism 289 Chapter Summary 291 11 GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL FLOWS 295 Modernization and Environmental Flows 297 Differences among Nation-States 299 Global Climate Change 299 Other Environmental Problems 304 Global Responses 312 From Lightness to Heaviness in Environmental Flows 322 Collapse 322 Chapter Summary 323 12 NEGATIVE GLOBAL FLOWS AND PROCESSES 327 Dangerous Imports, Diseases, Crime, Terrorism, War Dangerous Imports 329 Borderless Diseases 331 Crime 336 Terrorism 340 War 346 The Impact of Negative Global Flows on Individuals 353 Chapter Summary 354 13 GLOBAL INEQUALITIES I 357 Class and Rural–Urban Inequalities Class Inequality 359 Rural–Urban Inequality 369 Chapter Summary 381 14 GLOBAL INEQUALITIES II 385 Inequalities of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Sexuality Defining Majority–Minority Relations 386 Race and Ethnicity 392 Gender 404 Sexuality 411 Responding to and Resisting Global Minority Status: The Case of Women 413 Chapter Summary 415 15 DEALING WITH, RESISTING, AND THE FUTURES OF, GLOBALIZATION 419 Dealing with Globalization 420 Alter-Globalizations 430 The Futures of Globalization 440 Chapter Summary 443 Appendix 447 Disciplinary Approaches to Globalization Anthropology 448 Sociology 448 Political Science 449 Economics 450 Geography 451 Psychology 452 Literary Criticism (Postcolonial) 453 Other Fields 455 Glossary 457 References 467 Index 517

About the Author :
George Ritzer is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland. He has authored numerous books, including The McDonaldization of Society (Seventh Edition, 2012); and is editor of The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (2007) and The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization (2012). Paul Dean is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Ohio Wesleyan University. He is co-editor of The Sociological Cinema, a website promoting video to teach and learn sociology.