Book Description
This collection of classic writings and current events articles from journalistic sources illuminates the central issues in the study of international relations while familiarizing students with contemporary actors and debates in world politics. Case materials emphasize the global nature of issues in the Post-Cold War era. The distinctive blend of readings—from sources such as The New York Times and The Economist—provide a stimulus for informed debate and encourage students to view daily events as part of the larger process of global change.
A reorganized structure includes the addition of Part I: The Changing Nature of War which allows for a greater thematic coherence and supports a change in emphasis from traditional to postmodern warfare. Every chapter opens with a brief essay to provide context, then addresses key topics from a scholarly/theoretical view, followed by readings that present news and current events within the chapter theme. Suggested topics at the end of each chapter help reinforce students' understanding of readings and provide a starting point for class discussion.
- Chapter 3: A New Kind of War? International Terrorism and Chapter 8: Thy Brother's Keeper: Human Rights and International Law in the Postinternational Era respond to the September 11, 2001 attacks and the increased importance of human rights and international law.
Customer Reviews:
Fairly Comprehensive.......2003-04-01
A global world is subject that is often pondered and disected at any given moment in time. Ideas and opinions aren't always out of vogue like some issues. In Mansbach/Rhodes 2nd Edition of this Reader, they present the ideas of what the world is, was and should/could be.
This Reader is almost like a history lesson juxtaposed with current affairs to present concepts in international politcs. And because it was printed in 2003 (but really in 2002) there are issues that most people are familiar with that are discussed (i.e. terrorism-9/11, UN, weapons of mass destruction, ethnic/cultural/social/economic changes, etc). Numerous and well known authors in each chapter give their own view. But most importantly, there are also counter arguments that give the reader a well rounded idea of the subject. It's very important to be able to see all sides and not one that is the most popular or the most radical.
Each chapter has a short introduction (in which for some subjects, gives a kind of brief history, and better understanding) as does each article. Lots of examples and references that are clear and concise. It's difficult not to understand.
The author's are w/o bias and are willing to give all sides of the same issue--which doesn't color the subject one way or the other; they leave it to the reader to decide.
I actually loved reading each chapter and all the varied opinions made me think more about my world and how it functions. There are things that most of us are completely unaware of and dont' take the time to read and understand. With this Reader, anyone can get a brief history that they can apply to real life issues. I am a better informed person and more aware of how the system came to be and why. It's a fountain of information that can be used for first time users, as myself, and it's not difficult to follow at all.
Book Description
UNDERSTANDING SOCIETY presents a balance of classic and contemporary readings that you'll both understand and find intriguing. Like the Andersen/Taylor introductory sociology textbooks, this reader has a strong focus on diversity. Five themes run throughout book: classical sociological theory, contemporary research, diversity, globalization, and the application of the sociological perspective.
Book Description
The world is changing dramatically and a vigorous public debate is under way about the nature and historical significance of these changes. At the centre of this debate lie conflicting claims about the extent, form and consequences of contemporary globalization. On the one hand there are the globalists, who argue that the world is being fundamentally and irreversibly transformed by globalization. On the other hand there are the sceptics, who believe that the globalists' claims are exaggerated and poorly substantiated. The sceptics contest the very idea of globalization, arguing that the power of national governments, nationalism and geopolitics remain the determining features of our age. This completely revised and fully updated edition of The Global Transformations Reader brings together the most original contributions from both sides of the argument and from a range of disciplines. Many new chapters have been added, which incorporate the most recent developments in the debate and set these in the context of a global order that is in a constant state of flux. Organized as an accessible and comprehensive teaching text, the Reader is divided into six sections covering all the key issues in the debate: bull; bull;controversy over the meaning, causes and historical significance of 'globalization' bull;the transformation of state power and civil society; bull;changing patterns of national culture; bull;the power of global markets; bull;global inequality and its consequences; and bull;the nature of the global order and normative aspirations for its future. The volume includes an extensive introduction by the editors, reviewing, analysing and assessing the globalization debate. Short but highly informative introductions to each section situate and contextualize the individual readings. This Reader will be of immense value to all those interested in one of the most important debates of our time. It will appeal to students of politics, international relations, economics, sociology, geography, business studies and cultural studies. The Global Transformations Reader is part of the internationally acclaimed series on globalization, which also includes Global Transformations: Politics, Economics and Culture and Governing Globalization: Power, Authority and Global Governance.
Customer Reviews:
A helpful Introduction.......2001-12-27
It's difficult to fault a book compiled from other author's articles, except maybe how the book is organized. But Globalization and the Challenges of the New Century : A Reader is not only useful, but topical. The discussion starts with Huntington's now oft-and-overquoted essay, "The Clash of Civilizations?", and moves to Barber and Kaplan. Later, some other luminaries appear, but the strength of the collection is the depth of arguments by not-so famous authors. Also, the volume breaks globalization into it's political, economic, technological, and cultural aspects, something that seemingly perplexes most people, because their arguments pass too quickly and easily between all of them. There is so much here to read, but, perhaps, some more information for more reading would be useful. This book provides a useful start for those looking for an interesting and rigorous look at what can become an empty slogan at dinner-parties and coffee breaks.
Great Primer.......2000-11-20
The Economist described the book this way and I agree completely, "If you want to catch up on some of the best articles written about globalisation since the topic became fashionable several years ago, this reader is the place to start."
Book Description
During the last decade, research on global cities has exploded throughout the social sciences. It has now become one of the most exciting, if controversial approaches to the study of urban life today.
Fifty generous selections, including contributions from John Friedmann, Michael Peter Smith, Saskia Sassen, Peter Taylor, Manuel Castells, and Anthony King, explore the interrelationships between cities and globalization. The seven sections with accompanying editorial introductions guide the student through the key theoretical, methodological, and empirical debates.
The Global Cities Reader explores the major foundations and intellectual influences of research on globalized urbanization. Classic and contemporary case studies of globalizing cities from Europe, North America and East Asia as well as from emerging world city regions of the global South are presented. The political and cultural dimensions of global city formation are examined in separate sections. The reader concludes by examining the refinement and critique of global cities research in the last fifteen years.
Product Description
Real World Globalization is an essential guide to rapidly changing trends in global trade, investment, labor relations, and economic development. Its 74 articles provide jargon-free introductions to trade and financial institutions, work in the global economy, international debt, and global environmental, health, and resource issues. An extensive chapter on economic development critically analyzes neoliberal strategies in coutries from Mexico to China, and features a debate on the significance of rich nations' agricultural subsidies. The ninth edition is thoroughly revised, updated, and expanded - with over 40 new articles. It includes chapters on the political economy of war and imperialism, and on alternatives to neoliberalism. A new tenth chapter compiles Nick Thorkelson's "Comic Strips of Neoliberalism."
Customer Reviews:
students, professors, and pleasure-readers- read this book!.......2007-08-27
This book offers critical perspectives (without the conservative bias) on the rapidly changing globalized world. An important read for anyone interested in economics, political philosophy, political science, or global justice!
Book Description
Food is an important and endlessly fascinating lens for social and cultural analysis -not only for anthropologists, but also for scholars of history, literature, cultural studies, political economy, and public policy. The subject is a central idiom for understanding cultural practices and for teaching about culture on many levels. The Cultural Politics of Food and Eating is a collection of readings that uses the study of food as a vehicle for addressing broad themes that are emerging in social anthropology: globalization, capitalism, market economies, and consumption practices.The Cultural Politics of Food and Eating offers an ethnographically informed perspective on the ways in which people use food to make sense of life in an increasingly interconnected world. It includes studies from eleven countries across five continents on such hot topics as sushi, fast food, gourmet foods, and food scares and contamination.
Customer Reviews:
Left me hungry for more!.......2007-05-20
The book makes an interesting case using good evidence for most of it's text.
Susanne Friedberg argues that in spite of egalitarian origins to transform the world, the organic/natural foods revolution begun in the 1960's has done little to eradicate the conditions in other countries--where tainted food is a defacto way of life for people. The most careful washing cannot fully eliminate everything every time.
However, ongoing disparities in America where people on public assistance cannot presently afford to eat healthy--regardless of how much they want to also needed to be addressed in Warren Belasco's essay on how the hippies introduced organic food. Low-income people do not necessarily have to contend with the same degree of food impurity as overseas, but are also subject to economic disparities in their access to healthy food. They ironically remain stuck with the brands the hippies and their present day counterparts shun because it IS the cheapest to purchase with the resources they do have and the organic companies have not found a way to make the American dollar stretch further. Why should only certain groups of people be able to eat safe and healthy food?
The editor and her contributors are empathetic to the subject matter--which I have not previously seen in other anthologies. Yet, they mostly present it with a critical perspective, demanding that the reader examine previous assumptions about the relationship between food and politics--and our own personal relationship.
A useful and timely collection.......2005-10-20
Despite the fact that, through some oversight, the editors neglected to include any of my own writing in the collection, it is the state-of-the-art in the cultural anthropology of food. I will definitely be using it as a basic text in my food and culture class. The chapters include contributions by many of the best people working in this growing subfield, and they really show how much the field has changed in a relatively short period. It has a good balance of cultural analysis, political-economy and culture history. I plan to supplement it with Lien and Nerlich's "The Politics of Food" collection from Berg, which is more issues-oriented and has more on food safety, the politics of localism, and fast/slow conflicts.
Culture through the lens of food - and vice versa.......2005-08-15
This book is a collection of essays that were previously published in journals such as "Foreign Affairs" and "journal of consumer culture." The authors are anthropologists, political scientists, and historians among others. Most essays focus on one piece of food item, brand or food related issue (such as McDonalds, green beans, or Mad Cow disease) and examines this issue within the context of a country (such as China, Burkina Faso, or the U.K.) The essays are academically written, but highly readable and they give interesting and unique information about the country as well as the food issue in question within the context of the country. The overall theme of many of the essays seemed to be that food influences culture, and culture interprets food so that the influence is two-way. Some of the articles were fascinating to read. For example, I enjoyed learning about how McDonalds in China was accepted into the local culture, and how its meaning in China is significantly different from that in the USA. I liked learning about the functions served by Indo-Pak grocery stores in Indian communities, of how sushi became a well known product across the world, and how and why French chocolatiers opposed Belgian ones. The most interesting article to me was one about the reactions to genetically manipulated crop in the USA and Europe, and how these reactions affect those in developing countries in adverse ways. Even if I did not know anything about the country in question, the book gave sufficient background information about the country and the issue to make it interesting and exciting. While reading about one product or issue, I found that I learned a lot about the country and its people.
The essays differed in their approaches to the issues. I guess this reflected the backgrounds of authors (whether they were anthropologists or political scientists). For example, there were two articles about McDonalds in China where the writings mainly focused on how McDonalds was accepted and interpreted in China, without a discussion of any health implications of these changes. As someone who read Fast Food Nation, I was saddened by the seemingly unquestioned acceptance of junk food into foreign countries and was curious to know the most recent developments if any. This issue was more prominently discussed in essays written by political scientists. One author discussed the implications of fast food for Mexican diet, and rising health concerns traced to changes in diet, which I found interesting and important.
All in all, this is one very good book. I highly recommend it if you are interested in food, culture, or both.
Book Description
Globalization effectively captures the growth of linkages across national boundaries, the global expansion of a market economy and the rise of a complex but integrated world society. The Globalization Reader makes sense of a term that has become an all-purpose catchword in contemporary debates. The editors have compiled the most relevant literature into a highly readable and accessible format. With its broad coverage of political, economic, cultural, and individual dimensions, this volume provides readers with a deeper understanding of the globalization process.This new edition has been thoroughly revised and updated, with thirty new essays and a new section on anti-globalization movements. The editors have replaced several abstract articles from the first edition with livelier, more accessible essays that reflect the current scholarship. With new case studies, and a more international focus, this second edition is an even better introduction to globalization studies.
Customer Reviews:
thoughtful views from noted personages.......2005-09-22
The editors put together an impressive pedigree of authors of the book's chapters. Foremost amongst these is Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations. He discusses how modern states still have a place in this era of increasing globalisation. Then Nobelist Amartya Sen asks how to judge its successes and failures. He suggests that it has much to offer. But also cautions that multinationals often prefer working in autocracies than in free wheeling democracies. And globalisation tends to deal in spreading capitalism rather than democracy.
Historian Samuel Huntington, philosopher Hans Kung and many others also give variant takes. More optimistic, though with qualifications.
You can ponder the essays as posing more thoughtful and measured views than many shrill screeds on the subject.
Average customer rating:
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From Modernization to Globalization: Perspectives on Development and Social Change (Blackwell Readers in Sociology)
J. Timmons Roberts
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Similar Items:
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Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism (3rd Edition)
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Process of Economic Development
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Locked in Place: State-Building and Late Industrialization in India
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The Globalization Reader
ASIN: 0631210970 |
Book Description
Why are some countries poor? What can they do to turn their situations around? What happens to countries and individuals when they move towards being "modern"? What does it mean to "develop" and be "modern" anyway? What are the social effects of the processes of worldwide economic, cultural, and political integration called globalization? From Modernization to Globalization is a reference for scholars, students and development practitioners on the issues of processes of social change and development in the 'Third World'. It provides carefully excerpted samples from both classic and up-to-date writings in the development literature, as well as, a general introduction. Part One reviews formative ideas on the transition to modern society with brief readings from classical theorists. The second part addresses the modernizationists' discussion of how development changes people. The response from dependency and world-system theorists is reviewed in Part Three. The final section includes eight of the most influential writings on the social effects of globalization. Together, this represents an unprecedented compilation important of writings on international development.
Customer Reviews:
S and S or Scholars and Students.......2000-03-29
Wonderful resource for a birdseye view of significant observations of the world changes for 2000plus. Stimulates individual thought and also excellent for a group discussion launching pad. Scholars and students will find it engaging and meaningful.
Book Description
A great standalone reader or complement to Krieger’s new text, Globalization and State Power: Who Wins When
America
Rules? T
his book brings together selections by premier scholars that analyze how globalization has recast state power in a world where
America
sets the global agenda.
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- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
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