By addressing the major contemporary challenges to globalization, this study explains why and how the global continues to matter in our unsettled world.

At the turn of the twenty-first century, globalization - both the process and the idea - bestrode the world. Widely acclaimed by political and economic pundits as the most important phenomenon of our time, it took the world by storm. Two decades later, it has come under sustained attack by the re-invigorated forces of the extreme right and radical left. Does globalization still matter in our unsettled world? Responding in the affirmative, this study develops and applies a new framework of an 'engaged theory of globalization' to analyze some of today's most pressing global challenges: the rise of national populism, ecological degradation, rapid urbanization, new sources of insecurity, and the changing landscape of higher education. Offering a comprehensive appraisal of globalization in our unsettled times, the authors explain why and how transplanetary interrelations continue to matter in a world that is wavering between globalist expansion and nationalist retrenchment.

A powerful case for the global market economy The debate on globalization has reached a level of intensity that inhibits comprehension and obscures the issues. In this book a highly distinguished international economist scrupulously explains how globalization works as a concept and how it operates in reality. Martin Wolf confronts the charges against globalization, delivers a devastating critique of each, and offers a realistic scenario for economic internationalism in the future. Wolf begins by outlining the history of the global economy in the twentieth century and explaining the mechanics of world trade. He dissects the agenda of globalization’s critics, and rebuts the arguments that it undermines sovereignty, weakens democracy, intensifies inequality, privileges the multinational corporation, and devastates the environment. The author persuasively defends the principles of international economic integration, arguing that the biggest obstacle to global economic progress has been the failure not of the market but of politics and government, in rich countries as well as poor. He examines the threat that terrorism poses and maps the way to a global market economy that can work for everyone.

An essential guide to the intractable public debates about the virtues and vices of economic globalization, cutting through the complexity to reveal the fault lines that divide us and the points of agreement that might bring us together. Globalization has lifted millions out of poverty. Globalization is a weapon the rich use to exploit the poor. Globalization builds bridges across national boundaries. Globalization fuels the populism and great-power competition that is tearing the world apart. When it comes to the politics of free trade and open borders, the camps are dug in, producing a kaleidoscope of claims and counterclaims, unlikely alliances, and unexpected foes. But what exactly are we fighting about? And how might we approach these issues more productively? Anthea Roberts and Nicolas Lamp cut through the confusion with an indispensable survey of the interests, logics, and ideologies driving these intractable debates, which lie at the heart of so much political dispute and decision making. The authors expertly guide us through six competing narratives about the virtues and vices of globalization: the old establishment view that globalization benefits everyone (win-win), the pessimistic belief that it threatens us all with pandemics and climate change (lose-lose), along with various rival accounts that focus on specific winners and losers, from China to AmericaÕs rust belt. Instead of picking sides, Six Faces of Globalization gives all these positions their due, showing how each deploys sophisticated arguments and compelling evidence. Both globalizationÕs boosters and detractors will come away with their eyes opened. By isolating the fundamental value conflictsÑgrowth versus sustainability, efficiency versus social stabilityÑdriving disagreement and show where rival narratives converge, Roberts and Lamp provide a holistic framework for understanding current debates. In doing so, they showcase a more integrative way of thinking about complex problems.

In what are generally understood as unsettled times, this book explores the possibility and desirability of bringing integrated theory back into globalization research. While there can hardly be a single and all-encompassing 'grand theory' of globalization-in-itself, is there scope for the development of a general and systematic approach to globalization dynamics, past and present. In other words, can theorizations of the global be holistic and integrative, taking place in tandem with methodological frameworks that consider the contradictory and uneven layering of different transnational practices across all social relations? Is it possible to develop a general and integrated approach to globalization that links theory and practice in a socially engaged way, and is it desirable to do so? Many relevant academic and non-academic developments suggest not. For example, the postmodernist turn at the end of the last century expressed a profound 'incredulity' toward 'grand narratives' in the social sciences and humanities. A decade later, some neo-Marxist critics condemned the 'follies of globalization theory'. More recently, the 'post-truth' interventions of national populists suggest not only that 'globalism' is the political enemy but also that attempts to understand its patterns and manifestations are relative or irrelevant. Taking Manfred Steger and Paul James' acclaimed book Globalization Matters as a back-drop against which to interrogate these issues, contributors from a variety of disciplinary, analytical and normative standpoints deliver a thoughtful and much needed assessment of the scholarship of globalization and the ways it is theorized. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Globalizations.

The thought-provoking, timely second edition continues to offer a comprehensive, global perspective on organizational communication. The authors multinational experience, consulting and teaching expertise, enthusiasm for their subject, and engaging style of writing create an inviting foundation for the exploration of this multifaceted topic. Each chapter demonstrates the practicality of theory and how practice contributes to the development of theory, while challenging readers to build on established knowledge to develop new approaches to the pressing problems in complex, multicultural organizations. The text is organized topically around the most important issues in organizational communication. Five themes recur throughout the chapters: the interdependence of internal and external forms of organizational communication, the disciplinarity and multidisciplinarity of organizational communication, global and multicultural perspectives of organizational communication, the unity of theory and practice, and critical thinking in the analysis of organizational messages and discourses. Discussions highlight language and symbolism. The authors weave analysis of the multiple levels of messages throughout the chapters; stimulate critical thinking about contemporary work and organizational life; approach the familiar as unfamiliar; ask probing questions about commonly accepted practices; and offer more imaginative ways of working together. Readers gain an appreciation for the social, political, economic, technological, and ideological contexts in organizationsand the place of organizations within the broader culture. The authors lead by example in encouraging readers to think about, talk about, and experience organizational communication in entirely new ways.

We live today in an interconnected world in which ordinary people can became instant online celebrities to fans thousands of miles away, in which religious leaders can influence millions globally, in which humans are altering the climate and environment, and in which complex social forces intersect across continents. This is globalization. In the fifth edition of his bestselling Very Short Introduction Manfred B. Steger considers the major dimensions of globalization: economic, political, cultural, ideological, and ecological. He looks at its causes and effects, and engages with the hotly contested question of whether globalization is, ultimately, a good or a bad thing. From climate change to the Ebola virus, Donald Trump to Twitter, trade wars to China's growing global profile, Steger explores today's unprecedented levels of planetary integration as well as the recent challenges posed by resurgent national populism. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.