Global Transformations: Politics, Economics, and Culture

by David Held, Jonathan Perraton, Anthony G. McGrew, et al.

Book Overview

In this book, the authors set forth a new model of globalization that lays claims to supersede existing models, and then use this model to assess the way the processes of globalization have operated in different historic periods in respect to political organization, military globalization, trade, finance, corporate productivity, migration, culture, and the environment. Each of these topics is covered in a chapter which contrasts the contemporary...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0804736278
• ISBN13: 9780804736275
• Release Date: April 1999
• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Length: 540 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.8" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

A guidepost in a changing world

This book was first published in 1999 and although it can look a little outdated given the many tumultuous World developments in the following few years, Global transformations still remains a comprehensive treatment of a vast subject with ever changing borders. The authors strike the right balance between theory and evidence, history and geography. However, their main contribution is the areas they cover (i.e. global politics, military globalization, global trade and markets, global finance, multinational corporations and global production networks, globalization and migration, cultural globalization, environmental globalization). The authors state at the beginning that they will concentrate on 6 states (France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, UK and USA), however, they are not able to fulfill this self-imposed constraint. This book does not cover globalization as perceived in the developing word. They don't explicitly propose either a specific theory or their own view, but they muse with their topic and look at it through different lenses. It is not a readerly text, but an open text that invites interpretations and critical thinking. However, this does not mean that the authors were pursuing a full-fledged post-modern approach, even if here and there the authors give rise to such suspicion. The authors analyze globalization as a process, therefore it is difficult to predict where it will lead us. It is a historical process that cannot be characterized by an evolutionary logic. However, globalization is not a wholly novel phenomenon, but its intensity has increased. The authors come to prefigure that the current phase of globalization is not going to erode state power or cause "the end of politics" like the end of the Cold War didn't mean "the end of history". Globalization has not altered the absolute autonomy of states, but interactions among states have changed and become more complex. A question still remains: How can globalization be "civilized" and democratized? The book is highly recommended to all who consider globalization as a defining principle of our time.

Uncover Globalisation

David Held continues a tradition of uncovering the whole side of social processes. Now it is time to uncover the great cliche of our times: globalisation (considered here as a process)!! Reviews and categorizes current thinking on the issue plus explores the multi-dimensionality of the processes of globalisation in a comparative way with the past globalisations (i.e. military-industrial, trade, finance, production, people on the move, culture).

valuable text, dull read

One of the most fact-packed, intelligent studies of globalization, but this is noone's beach reading. I recommend reading the intro and thereafter using it as a reference. For a more literary, bizarre, and stimulating take on the contemporary global condition, check out Hardt and Negri's Empire.

A balanced treatment of globalization at last!

This is the best book on globalization I have read. It is comprehensive in its treatment of this vast subject, but still has genuine thematic coherence. The authors have got the balance right between theory and historical evidence, and provide a systematic analysis. Organization is excellent and the arguments are easy to follow. I am especially pleased to see profound consideration of militarization included, a common omission in many texts. The only area that could have been stronger was technolgical change, although this is treated effectively in relation to certain issues, such as telecommunications. Overall, it is a first class work and I predict this will become the standard text on the subject for some years to come.