Globalization Books

Though I really like the points brought out by this book, and Ithink they are very valid, they are continually repeated throughout. I think just having 10 pages or less would have given the same message. After reading the book front to back, I don't think all the pages needed to be wasted repeating and reiterating what was already very clear in the first chapter.

Although globalization is an inevitable force thoughout modernity we can have a voice in how globalization is enacted. As citizens of the global community, we do not have to sit back and be content with the pathway of globalization that is defined by such global organizations as the WTO and the IMF in addition to transnational corporations and the American government.

"Globalization from Below" investigates the emergence of the anti-globalization social movement that targets the negative actions and consequences of various institutions and corporations in their effort to increase their profits and power. Unlike other social movements the anti-globalization movement is unique because it consists of a multitude of social agendas ranging anywhere from environmental to labor rights causes. Although they have differential agendas together they strive for the same objective of returning to a democracy of business decisions made by institutions that don't favor the status of the wealthy minority. The true promises of globalization never became realized. Instead social problems are increasingly becoming more intensified. The disparity between the rich and poor grows larger and the environment is under constant attack. Due to the decline of national power many previous hard-fought laws and regulations protecting consumers and workers are being overruled by global treaties and trade agreements. The influence of global capital and unregulated markets puts both humans and the planet in danger. In the midst of the rapid acceleration of globalization within the past century basic human rights often take a back seat.

This book is a good introduction to the anti-globalization social movement that continues to gain more momentum as individuals become increasingly aware of the dire and drastic consequences of the current trajectory of globalization. It's a short read but well worth it.

I should say up-front that I disagree with the perspective of the writers--I am a firm opponent of neoliberalism (the current form of globalization. Please note, those of us in the global justice movement don't oppose globalization--we just want a different form of it.) I read this book hoping to find someone making a strong case for globalization, so I could understand the other side of the debate--both out of respect for my opponents and because it's always good to know thy enemy. Certainly, the arguments in here are much stronger than in Friedman's The Lexus and the Olive Tree, which is pretty fluffy. Collier and Dollar use statistics to support their position and lay out a much stronger intellectual framework than Friedman in making the case for neoliberalism. They probably make about as strong a case as you could hope.

The core of their argument is that as countries integrate into the global economy, average income goes up. They also point that as countries integrate into the global economy, they tend to move from agricultural exports to manufacturing. On the face of it, this sounds good. But other things in their own book undermine this rosey picture. On pg. 49, they mention--only in passing--that this increase in income occurs only on average among third world countries--and that low-income countries actually see their average income go down when they integrate into the global economy. Oops. And then there's the fact they note that much of the rise of income goes to the well-educated, professionals and managers. Certainly, that would raise the average income--but a rise in average income doesn't mean the benefits are evenly distributed and, as they themselves admit, it seems to be going disproportionately to the already affluent--not the factory workers. Oops.

Then there are things Collier and Dollar don't deal with in the book that are also highly inconvenient. For instance, the reason agricultural exports go down with global integration is that third world countries get flooded with cheap food imports from first world nations, where agriculture is subsidized. Farmers producing for local markets are put out of business as a result. Collier and David note that people are moving in large numbers from rural areas to urban areas to work in manufacturing, citing this as proof that people embrace globalization. The problem is that a lot of these people don't have any choice. And they're moving from farms to urban slums, where--if they are luck enough to find work--it's in a sweatshop. While I certainly have no desire to romanticize small farming in the third world, the quality of life is still a lot better than living in a slum and working in a sweatshop. Of course, when you move from a small, rural farm to the city and begin working in a factory, your income does go up, at least as it registers in the World Bank's statistics. That does not equal an improvement in quality of life.

Collier and Dollar wave around some impressive sounding numbers, but once you put them in context, they don't look so good. The heart of their argument has holes you could drive a Mac truck through. The rest doesn't really matter. It was a nice try, but they just couldn't pull it off. Sorry guys.

The signal to noise ratio in the discussion of Globalization makes it hard to sort out what is really going on. Much of the discussion comes from anecdotal evidence or from a particular point of view. Of course, it is impossible to be completely objective about anything, but since the mission of the World Bank, the publishers of this study, is "a world free of poverty" it's point of view at least attempts to not view globalization from the perspective of any particular nation or group and to represent different views.

The result is a strongly documented case for the beneficial effects of our increasingly globalized world. This books is a good reference books with facts about the distribution of income, poverty rates throughout the world, changes in GDP over time and other things that are frequently misrepresented by anti-globalization folks.

The book covers many things that are in books like The Lexus and the Olive Tree, A Future Perfect and so on about how the legal and social structure affect investment and growth. This book references the original studies and is a good starting point for research.

It also points out that the forces towards globalization, better communication, transportation and financial markets can easily be stopped in their tracks by trade wars as happened in the 1930's so educating oneself about the benefits of an integrated world economy can help make sure we do not have a repeat of the Great Depression.

various authors, that is to be understood as various quality in writings

This book is a report from a conference held in Ankara in June 2002. The conference addressed the changes that are happening in the world. Globalization is accelerating yet localizing processes remain powerful.

The presenters at this conference are trying to predict the future. While predicting the future is easy, being right is very difficult. These authors present differing view points, some in direct conflict with each other.

Their views range over nearly every issue imaginable: AIDS, nuclear weapons, environment, OPEC, terrorism, government and non-governmental organizations. Many of these subjects are addressed by different authors and each gives a different slant, a different point of views. The authors are from various countries, including Turkey, United States, United Kingdom, Egypt, and Denmark so you would expect differing points of view. The opinions of these authors are very thought provoking.

You can be sure that the future will not be exactly like what any of these authors believe, but their thinking certainly provides a starting point to thinking about the future.

this book not only gives an approach to modern international relations and its international systems but also it uses critical theory. Aouthor is importent in turkey especially only represantion critical theory. Keyman`s book is a new version of wertern thinkers so its philosophical backround is not enough. i think this wery importent to understanding of world order. Keyman may be can comperative with Falk but he is depth more than Keyman especially international law. so this book and his author can be read as a western writer not a third world thinker. instead if that this book can be read as a alternative vission of international relations in international area.

Keyman's book is a very sophisticated in depth analysis
of International Relations Theory. The range of arguments he advances is from several schools of thought, including the frankfurt school, marxism, english school as well as poststructuralism.
His literature review is in depth and clear.
However, myself being previously being the assistant of Keyman,
I have also certain considerations.
Although magnificently put forward,
the way in which Keyman interprets postmodern/poststructralist scholars
such as William Connoly and Richard Ashley, raises the
critical question in one's mind, whether his interpretation of them represents what they are expressing...

All in All, this book deserves to be in the graduate curriculum of every serious IR and polisci graduate program.
I recommend this book to every scholar and
graduate student of international relations...

I am the author. Please ignore the star-rating I gave this book - I had to give one!

This is why I wrote this book.

I've been working on the material for over a decade, though the ideas formed over thirty years. It was 9-11 that transformed them from 'ahead of their time' to 'important for today'.

I have been involved with history, international relations, inner growth, peace and reconciliation work since I was young - ever since being beaten up for refusing to take sides in the Protestant-Catholic rivalries in my home-city of Liverpool in the 1960s. Later I was deeply involved in flower power, inner growth and student politics (LSE), and embarked on a path of searching, study, social engagement and community leadership that I've followed ever since.

I have long struggled with issues around conflict between peoples, and schisms between politics and reality. Why will the world not resolve its problems more willingly and constructively? What will make humanity wake up to change before it is too late? These questions are more pressing today than three decades ago - and they were pressing then. It has gone from Vietnam to Iraq and from the threat of crisis to its actuality. I've been finding clues from professors, Tibetan lamas, visionaries, aid-workers, people in the street, refugees, lovers, political commentators and allsorts, but each possessed only a viewpoint.

I don't have a neat Grand Plan to propose. Yet current events and the deeper questions they expose seem to me to reveal answers and clarify ways forward. To see them we must 'think outside the box', particularly our own box.

This book outlines what I have seen. A visionary book, it also has its hands in the soil, the blood and thunder. A panoramic view anchored in events and issues of recent years, and practical strategies for the future. Around the Millennium we crossed a divide where the past and the future met, and the future started exerting an increasingly causal impact on the present. Today, hidden feelings, voiced fitfully by the world public, contain many of the necessary clues and solutions. It's a question of translating these into action and official policy.

We're heading for a crunch between public policy and mass intuition - between organisations and people. This isn't just about democracy but something much deeper - the nature of future civilisation. Public awareness is shifting its centre of gravity, its bottom-line human values. The intensifying grating between current events, popular feeling and global policy are proving painful, and this is churning up truth. We're in for an interesting time in coming decades!

For me, this book represents a summation of all I have learned in my quest to resolve the psychological and spiritual questions of my own life. It contains insights I've gained from the social and educational projects I have created and run, and from my studies of history and world affairs.

It is a book of personal insights, yet the sheer number of people who tell me I speak for them implies there's more going on here. My lack of affiliation to political parties, economic vested interests, academic schools of thought or popular movements allows me a rare freedom of insight and expression few better-known commentators possess.

I'm not into lambasting politicians, corporations or any other of the usual targets, and I'm not into negative criticism. Whether at the top or bottom of the ladder, we're all in the same boat and we're all responsible. I hope this book, whatever your viewpoint or background, adds something to your understanding of the enormity, and the concealed simplicity, of our world's problems today. May it be like a blast of multivitamins in a time which is rather under-nourishing, at least as far as constructive solutions are concerned.

Palden Jenkins
Glastonbury, England

I am the author. Please ignore the star-rating I gave this book - I had to give one! It's for you to judge the book's merits.

This is why I wrote this book.

I've been working on the material for over a decade, though the ideas formed over thirty years. It was 9-11 that transformed them from 'ahead of their time' to 'important for today'.

I have been involved with history, international relations, inner growth, peace and reconciliation work since I was young - ever since being beaten up for refusing to take sides in the Protestant-Catholic rivalries in my home-city of Liverpool in the 1960s. Later I was deeply involved in flower power, inner growth and student politics (LSE), and embarked on a path of searching, study, social engagement and community leadership that I've followed ever since.

I have long struggled with issues around conflict between peoples, and schisms between politics and reality. Why will the world not resolve its problems more willingly and constructively? What will make humanity wake up to change before it is too late? These questions are more pressing today than three decades ago - and they were pressing then. It has gone from Vietnam to Iraq and from the threat of crisis to its actuality. I've been finding clues from professors, Tibetan lamas, visionaries, aid-workers, people in the street, refugees, lovers, political commentators and allsorts, but each possessed only a viewpoint.

I don't have a neat Grand Plan to propose. Yet current events and the deeper questions they expose seem to me to reveal answers and clarify ways forward. To see them we must 'think outside the box', particularly our own box.

This book outlines what I have seen. A visionary book, it also has its hands in the soil, the blood and thunder. A panoramic view anchored in events and issues of recent years, and practical strategies for the future. Around the Millennium we crossed a divide where the past and the future met, and the future started exerting an increasingly causal impact on the present. Today, hidden feelings, voiced fitfully by the world public, contain many of the necessary clues and solutions. It's a question of translating these into action and official policy.

We're heading for a crunch between public policy and mass intuition - between organisations and people. This isn't just about democracy but something much deeper - the nature of future civilisation. Public awareness is shifting its centre of gravity, its bottom-line human values. The intensifying grating between current events, popular feeling and global policy are proving painful, and this is churning up truth. We're in for an interesting time in coming decades!

For me, this book represents a summation of all I have learned in my quest to resolve the psychological and spiritual questions of my own life. It contains insights I've gained from the social and educational projects I have created and run, and from my studies of history and world affairs.

It is a book of personal insights, yet the sheer number of people who tell me I speak for them implies there's more going on here. My lack of affiliation to political parties, economic vested interests, academic schools of thought or popular movements allows me a rare freedom of insight and expression few better-known commentators possess.

I'm not into lambasting politicians, corporations or any other of the usual targets, and I'm not into negative criticism. Whether at the top or bottom of the ladder, we're all in the same boat and we're all responsible. I hope this book, whatever your viewpoint or background, adds something to your understanding of the enormity, and the concealed simplicity, of our world's problems today. May it be like a blast of multivitamins in a time which is rather under-nourishing, at least as far as constructive solutions are concerned.

Palden Jenkins
Glastonbury, England

Ideas for the New Millennium

Peter Ellyard Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1998

As Peter Ellyard - one of Australia's most prominent futurists - sees it, Anglo-Celtic countries like this one, along with many other western cultures, are coping badly with the juggernaut of globalisation and technological change which is hurtling us towards the new millennium. Our fault, he claims, is that we are locked into a culture which is dominated by problem centred strategies and probable future destinations, in contrast to other nations, which have cultures characterised by mission directed strategies and long term, preferred futures strategic visions. Countries such as Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia, their current socio-economic difficulties notwithstanding, have a clear preferred future vision which is being used to drive structural adjustment and to realise strategic visions which would be regarded as hopelessly unrealistic by most Australians. South Africa would have been an even more powerful examplar, and indeed might be seen to represent the first true example of a new cultural paradigm that the author asserts is in the process of emerging in the midst of this postmodern phase in which we currently find ourselves. Adapting insights drawn from work done almost four decades ago by the late, great economist and systems theorist Kenneth Boulding, Ellyard suggests that this new cultural form might be termed planetism, or 'the culture of the cosmonaut', which can be clearly contrasted with the 'cowboy culture' of modernism. Thus where the modernist emphasise individualism, independence and autocracy, the planetist focuses on communitarianism, interdependence, and democracy. Where the former pitted humanity against nature, and sought to resolve conflict through confrontation, the latter treats humanity as part of nature while seeking to resolve conflict through negotiation. Where modernists sought to accept probable futures as the context for their strategic development, planetists creatively derive their preferred futures and use these as the focus for their strategies. In essence this is another book in the genre of 'wake up calls' for Australia which, as Ellyard seeks to illustrate throughout, is still firmly embedded within a modernist cultural paradigm. We have, he suggests, failed to move with the times and have been slow to accept the profound opportunities that the newly emerging generation of advanced technologies offers. While ironically we have been - and continue to be - a very inventive people, we are wretched innovators, slow to the point of despair, to derive industries around the 'great technological revolutions of our time' - the information, advanced material, bio- and nano- and micro-technologies which reflect the knowledge-based industries which are the way of the future, as the author sees it. In contrast to many Asian countries which have established economies dominated by enterprises involved in these knowledge-based industries, it is unlikely, Ellyard asserts, that there will be any such companies in the top ten Australian companies in a decade's time 'unless the current problem-centred/probable future mindset changes'. Given the events in our own particular region of the world over the past few months, and what might be seen as many as a retrogression to mainstream modernism in them, there will many who feel that the author is being unduly harsh in his critique of Australia. Indeed it is not difficult to defend the submission that with its strong democratic traditions, its historical cultural tolerance and celebration of interdependence, and its increasing tendencies towards gender equality, negotiation, and concern for environmental responsibility and landcare ethic, Australia exhibits many more planetist characteristics than any of her near neighbours. But mounting such a defence would be to miss the thrust of Ellyard's thesis and the centrality of his argument in favour of the shift in our culture from 'cowboy' to 'cosmonaut'. In many ways it matters not what other countries around the world are doing. The call for an emphasis on preferred futures as the guide for our strategic directions is a call set within the context of the survival of the planet. This book is much less about competition amongst nations than it is about Australia taking its own lead in developing responsible visions for its own future, and thus providing leadership in the shift from a modernist culture to a planetist one. In this eloquent book, Peter Ellyard provides the framework for such a shift, exploring in turn the significance of leadership, learning, innovation, ecological, social and cultural sustainability, food production, and the health and wellbeing of the planet. The case for a cultural shift to planetism makes for a compelling thesis, and the dissertation that the author presents is worthy of our most serious consideration: as Australian citizens, as members of our respective organisations, as responsible individuals, and above all, as cosmonauts on Spaceship Earth - even if we do harbour lingering doubts about our abilities to create our own futures.

By Dr Richard Bawden

Peter Ellyard is a futurist whose company name - Preferred Futures Pty Ltd - announces where he stands on the spectrum that runs from 'classical' analytical approaches, through scenario approaches that seek to establish robust strategies in the face of multiple alternative plausible futures, to approaches based on finding ways of envisioning and then bringing about preferred futures, and this is reflected in his book. It is a detailed description of a world that, in his opinion, ought to emerge in the new millennium, together with some prescriptions for what needs to be done to cause it to emerge. It is also a sustained piece of evangelism for the development of a 'mission-directed/ preferred-future culture'. As such, it is an interesting and useful example of this genre of writing and this style of strategic planning, which is becoming increasingly popular.

Interestingly however, it makes almost no mention of the methods that are most effective in building a broad consensus round a well articulated vision and set of strategies. Rather it seems to assume that this will naturally emerge. That values and beliefs are changing is unquestionable; it is much less clear that they are changing coherently or in the same direction. The essence of realising a preferred future is in the way that a coalition of shared values is built up that has the systemic leverage to cause the world to develop in a particular way. Ellyard gives very little attention to this process, other than to say that it requires a particular kind of leadership and to assert that a new consensus is emerging. The most useful books describing that process are concerned with Future Search/ Search Conference methodologies.

Essays compiled by editors Andrew Hurrell and Ngaire Woods examine globalization's current inequalities and prospects for future justice and injustice. Each selection looks at a different aspect of these issues, with contributors primarily reviewing history, analyzing each topic, and avoiding hard prescriptions. Where they do offer proposals, the ideas are carefully reasoned, modest, and practical. Many chapters' concepts overlap, emphasizing the interconnections among these issues. The writing varies from straightforward to academic, but the book is readable, avoids jargon, and argues clearly. Copious endnotes help the reader find more information. We [...] recommend this book to those interested in international economic and trade policy, economic and social justice, international policies, and the new global economy's changing power structures.

Once again the world's academic community is faced with a new, exciting and challenging study, in this book edited by the world-known Oxford academic Ngaire Woods (along with lesser known colleagues), with contributions from some of the world's leading names in this field. The editors' and the author's views come across vividly in the chapters, yet subjectively and impartially. The style is fervid, the prose is amene, and the book is overall enjoyable, also readable by the average cultured person and not just the expert.

A very breif, but good introduction to the basic problems that face the world

Michael was my professor for the Honors Global Issues class at Wilmington College for Fall 2002 term, so I might be slightly biased. =) However, I found the book to be easily followed. The subjects flowed nicely and it was easy to understand. Studying from the book took little time as there is not a bunch of B.S. in it. Great job, Mr. Snarr!

The total misery and underdevelopment of Africa has, after a period of neglect, regained much attention in Western nations the past few years. Several conferences as well as aid appeals, organized by NGO bureaucracies and pop stars, have been much in the picture for their supposed charitable efforts for the African poor. But to what degree to they actually address what the matter is with Africa?

Patrick Bond, somewhat well-known in radical circles as a political economist, has written "Looting Africa" to summarize how global capital and its comprador elites within Africa have systematically plundered and ruined the continent before and after independence. Even now, the average income of Africans is lower than it was in the 1960s, and if one applies the necessary correctives to GDP tallies, many African nations have been losing per capita income as the result of foreign investment. Moreover, neoliberal programmes of privatization and monetarism have made the poor worse and worse off, without leading to any significant improvement in growth or development. Combine this with the massive theft of African production by local dictators and foreign multinationals, the extreme monoculture production of many African nations, and the unfair trade practices in agriculture on the part of Western nations (in particular the EU), and you have a recipe for disaster.

Bond's analysis is telling and summarizes the issues well, making the book serve as a useful primer for further research into African political economy. He is somewhat vacillating and vague about possible solutions though, fixing some hope on radical NGOs and World Social Forums, but without explaining anything much in detail. It is also a pity that immigration from Africa to elsewhere, in particular Europe, is not addressed in the book. Nevertheless, this is a good popular introduction to the plunder of Africa in the past decades.

In 2005 the World Bank admitted that Africa is drained of wealth, through debt, phantom aid, capital flight, brain drain, unfair trade, export of primary products, and distorted investment. From 1980 to 2002, sub-Saharan Africa's debt rose from $61 billon to $206 billion, while it paid $255 billion in interest. Between 1970 and 1996, it also lost $285 billion in capital flight.

In 2000, 80% of Africa's exports were its nations' resources, compared to 31% for all developing countries. If nations stay stuck in the exporting commodities trap, they will not be able to develop industries and become self-reliant.

Bond shows how the EU loots Africa. The European Commission admitted that 70% of the EU's aid-for-trade programme was `support for the private sector'. The EU imposes trade liberalisation and privatisation, stripping Africa of what little industry it has. Trade liberalisation has cost sub-Saharan Africa $272 billion since 1986, because local producers now sell less than they did before trade was liberalised.

In 2005, the G8 wrote off about 1% of Third world debt, $40 billion. Third world debt, $580 billion in 1980, had soared to $2.4 trillion in 2002. Since 1980, the Third World's working classes have paid $4.6 trillion - the equivalent of 50 Marshall Plans - to the First World's capitalists.

Labour migration is another key resource loss. 20,000 skilled workers leave Africa every year. Bond shows that the remittances sent home do not compensate for the loss of the skilled labour. Yet he then writes, "The progressive position on migration has always been to maintain support for the `globalization of people' (while opposing the `globalization of capital') and in the process to oppose border controls and arduous immigration restrictions." This position is self-contradictory, both supporting and opposing `globalization', i.e. capitalism. Further, the evidence shows that unlimited migration weakens the working classes in the countries that lose the skilled labour and in the countries that receive it. But for Bond, the facts are less important than maintaining the traditional `progressive' position.

What is Bond's solution? He approvingly cites a vast array of NGOs, charities, campaigns, initiatives, solidarity groups, web resources, networks, forums and projects - which are splinter groups of activists, all single-issue, all tunnel-vision. These are a mirror image of the ruling class's institutions - IMF, World Bank, World Trade Organization, G8 Summits and World Summits (18 between 2001 and 2005). The ultra-left, like the ruling class, focuses on internationalism, turning away from the hard work of developing class struggles for national sovereignty and progress.

The first quarter of the book was extremely interesting and informative. She gave a basic overview of the semiconductor industry, and included reasonable comparisons and predictions. She included an abundance of information and research on possible environmental issues that could arise from semiconductor manufacturing. As I began reading, I prepared myself for a slamming of the industries' "clean manufacturing" procedures. However, I was pleased to discover that her analysis was well thought out, and presented in an unbiased fashion. I would have liked to see more analysis in terms of the economic implications/costs, either micro or macro, associated with restructuring the industry into a "cleaner state." In review, this book was informative, and helpful in presenting underlying environmental issues associated with the semiconductor industry.

I didn't want to like this book. The cover copy led me to expect a one-sided attack on the semiconductor industry's claims of clean manufacturing. Instead, I found a clear discussion of the difficult balance between the public interest and the needs of a constantly evolving industry. Semiconductor manufacturers regularly change manufacturing processes, shift production between countries, and even (through foundries) transfer production to entirely different companies. All of these characteristics complicate traditional environmental regulation based on clearly defined lists of pollutants from clearly defined sources. Meanwhile, the industry's sometimes obsessive secrecy, though justified by competitive pressures, complicates community relations and can hamper more flexible regulatory approaches.

In some cases, Mazurek's lack of semiconductor manufacturing expertise shows. For example, she repeats without comment the contention of environmental groups that water too dirty for wafer manufacturing is, of necessity, unfit for human consumption. In other instances, the existing regulatory structure itself leads to potentially misleading analysis. For example, Department of Commerce statistics on semiconductor shipments do not clearly distinguish between US-manufactured chips and US-designed chips manufactured outside the US, making it difficult to tell whether declines in toxic releases are due to cleaner manufacturing or simply to production transfers.

These complaints are merely quibbles, though. Taken as a whole, Mazurek has composed an impressive and thought-provoking analysis. Environmental policy makers, manufacturing executives, and the citizens affected by their decisions could all learn something from this book.