The Blackell Companion to Globalization [Paperback]

This companion features original essays on the complexity of globalization and its diverse and sometimes conflicting effects. Written by top scholars in the field, it offers a nuanced and detailed examination of globalization that includes both positive and critical evaluations.

• Introduces the major players, theories, and methodologies
• Explores the major areas of impact, including the environment, cities, outsourcing, consumerism, global media, politics, religion, and public health
• Addresses the foremost concerns of global inequality, corruption, international terrorism, war, and the future of globalization
• Wide-ranging and comprehensive, an excellent text for undergraduate and graduate students in a range of disciplines

List of Illustrations viii

Notes on Contributors x

Introduction
George Ritzer 1

PART I: INTRODUCTION 15

Introduction to Part I
George Ritzer 16

1. Globalization in Hard Times: Contention in the Academy and Beyond
Anthony McGrew 29

2. What Is Globalization?
Roland Robertson and Kathleen E. White 54

3. The Cultural Construction of Neoliberal Globalization
Robert J. Antonio 67

4. Globalization: The Major Players
George M. Thomas 84

5. Globalization Today
John Boli and Velina Petrova 103

6. Theories of Globalization
William I. Robinson 125

7. Studying Globalization: Methodological Issues
Salvatore Babones 144

8. Cosmopolló“