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List of Figures. <p>Preface.</p> <p><b>1. Globalization I: Liquids, Flows, and Structures.</b></p> <p>Some of the Basics.</p> <p>From Solids to Liquids (to Gases).</p> <p>Flows.</p> <p>Does Globalization Hop Rather Than Flow?</p> <p>Heavy, Light, Weightless.</p> <p>Heavy Structures That Expedite Flows.</p> <p>Heavy Structures as Barriers to Flows.</p> <p>Subtler Structural Barriers.</p> <p>Structure and Process.</p> <p>On the Increasing Ubiquity of Global Flows (and Processes) and Structures.</p> <p>Thinking About Global Flows and Structures.</p> <p>Chapter Summary.</p> <p><b>2. Globalization II: Some Basic Issues, Debates, and Controversies.</b></p> <p>Is There Such a Thing as Globalization?</p> <p>If There Is Such a Thing as Globalization, When Did It Begin?</p> <p>Globalization or Globalization<i>s</i>?</p> <p>What Drives Globalization?</p> <p>If There Is Such a Thing as Globalization, Is It Inexorable?</p> <p>Does <i>Globaphilia</i> or <i>Globaphobia</i> Have the Upper Hand?</p> <p>If Globalization Is Not Inexorable, Has It Gone Too Far?</p> <p>What, if Anything, Can be Done About Globalization?</p> <p>Chapter Summary.</p> <p><b>3. Globalization and Related Processes I: Imperialism, Colonialism, Development, Westernization, Easternization.</b></p> <p>Imperialism.</p> <p>Colonialism.</p> <p>Development.</p> <p>Westernization.</p> <p>Easternization.</p> <p>Comparisons with Globalization.</p> <p>The Era of the "Posts".</p> <p>Chapter Summary.</p> <p><b>4. Globalization and Related Processes II: Americanization and Anti-Americanism.</b></p> <p>Clarifying Americanization.</p> <p>Some Useful Conceptual Distinctions.</p> <p>America’s Logistical Technologies.</p> <p>A Broader and Deeper View of the Americanization of Consumer Culture.</p> <p>An American Empire?</p> <p>Minimizing the Importance of Americanization.</p> <p>Anti-Americanism.</p> <p>Post-Americanization.</p> <p>Chapter Summary.</p> <p><b>5. Neo-Liberalism: Roots, Principles, Criticisms, and Neo-Marxian Alternatives.</b></p> <p>The Past, Present, and Future of Neo-Liberalism.</p> <p>Neo-Liberalism: An Exemplary Statement and the Basic Principles.</p> <p>Popular Neo-Liberal "Theory": The Case of Thomas Friedman.</p> <p>Critiquing Neo-Liberalism.</p> <p>Neo-Liberalism as Exception.</p> <p>Neo-Liberalism: The Case of Israel</p> <p><i>The End of History.</i></p> <p>The Death of Neo-Liberalism?</p> <p>Neo-Marxian Theoretical Alternatives to Neo-Liberalism.</p> <p>Chapter Summary.</p> <p><b>6. Global Political Structures and Processes.</b></p> <p>On Political Processes and Flows.</p> <p>The Nation-State.</p> <p>Threats to the Nation-State.</p> <p>In Defense of the Nation-State.</p> <p>"Imagined Community".</p> <p>Changes in Global Nation-State Relations.</p> <p>Other Global Political Developments and Structures.</p> <p>Regional Political Organizations.</p> <p>Global Governance.</p> <p>Civil Society.</p> <p>Other Players.</p> <p>Chapter Summary.</p> <p><b>7. Structuring the Global Economy.</b></p> <p>Before Bretton Woods.</p> <p>Bretton Woods and the Bretton Woods System.</p> <p>The End of Bretton Woods.</p> <p>Changes in, and Critiques of, Bretton-Woods-Era Organizations.</p> <p>Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).</p> <p>European Union (Common Market).</p> <p>North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).</p> <p>MERCOSUR.</p> <p>OPEC.</p> <p>The Multinational Corporation (MNC).</p> <p>World Economic Forum.</p> <p>The Myth of Economic Globalization?</p> <p>Chapter Summary.</p> <p><b>8. Global Economic Flows: Production and Consumption.</b></p> <p>Trade.</p> <p>Increasing Competition for Commodities.</p> <p>The Economic Impact of the Flow of Oil.</p> <p>Race to the Bottom and Upgrading.</p> <p>Outsourcing.</p> <p>Financial Globalization.</p> <p>Corporations, People, and Ideas.</p> <p>Consumption.</p> <p>Chapter Summary.</p> <p><b>9. Global Culture and Cultural Flows.</b></p> <p>Cultural Differentialism.</p> <p>Cultural Hybridization.</p> <p>Cultural Convergence.</p> <p>Cultural Imperialism.</p> <p>Chapter Summary .</p> <p><b>10. High-Tech Global Flows and Structures: Technology, Media, and the Internet.</b></p> <p>Technology.</p> <p>Media.</p> <p>The Internet.</p> <p>Chapter Summary.</p> <p><b>11. Global Flows of People: Vagabonds and Tourists.</b></p> <p>Migrants.</p> <p>Migration.</p> <p>Tourists and Tourism.</p> <p>Chapter Summary.</p> <p><b>12. Global Environmental Flows.</b></p> <p>Differences among Nation-States.</p> <p><i>Collapse.</i></p> <p>The Leading Environmental Problems.</p> <p>Global Responses.</p> <p>Chapter Summary</p> <p><b>13. Negative Global Flows and Processes: Dangerous Imports, Diseases, Crime, Terrorism, War.</b></p> <p>Dangerous Imports.</p> <p>Borderless Diseases.</p> <p>Crime.</p> <p>Corruption.</p> <p>Terrorism.</p> <p>War.</p> <p>The Impact of Negative Global Flows on Individuals.</p> <p>Chapter Summary.</p> <p><b>14. Global Inequalities I: Patterns of Inequality.</b></p> <p>Inequality.</p> <p>Rural-Urban.</p> <p>Chapter Summary.</p> <p><b>15. Global Inequalities II: Global Majority–Minority Relations.</b></p> <p>Majority–Minority Relations in a Global Context.</p> <p>Social Definitions.</p> <p>Race and Ethnicity.</p> <p>Ethnicity.</p> <p>Race.</p> <p>Gender.</p> <p>Children.</p> <p>Sexual Minorities: Gays and Lesbians.</p> <p>Responding to and Resisting Minority Status: The Case of Women.</p> <p>Chapter Summary.</p> <p><b>16. Dealing with, Resisting, and the Futures of, Globalization.</b></p> <p>Dealing with Globalization.</p> <p>Resisting Globalization.</p> <p>The Futures of Globalization.</p> <p>Chapter Summary.</p> <p><b>Appendix: Disciplinary Approaches to Globalization.</b></p> <p>Anthropology.</p> <p>Sociology.</p> <p>Political Science.</p> <p>Economics.</p> <p>Geography.</p> <p>Psychology.</p> <p>Literary Criticism (Postcolonial).</p> <p>Other Fields.</p> <p><b>Glossary.</b></p> <p><b>Index.</b></p>

<b>George Ritzer</b> is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland and his awards include the American Sociological Association’s Distinguished Contribution to Teaching Award. He has authored numerous books, including several student textbooks, and is editor of <i>The</i> <i>Encyclopedia of Social Theory</i> (2005), <i>The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology</i> (2007 and continuing online), and <i>The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization</i> (forthcoming). His books, the best known of which is <i>The McDonaldization of Society</i> (1993; 2008), have been translated into over 20 languages.

The first full-scale textbook of its kind, <i>Globalization: A Basic Text</i> provides a balanced introduction to the major topics in globalization studies. Written in a highly accessible style, and drawing on sources both academic and popular, the book adopts a definition of globalization that emphasizes transplanetary flows and the structures that both expedite and impede those flows. <p>Driven by a range of theories from imperialism and Americanization (and anti-Americanism), to neo-liberalism and the neo-Marxian alternatives, as well the major types of cultural theory, the book examines the key events in the history of globalization, and the principle flows and structures produced in the course of that history. Among the major topics covered are the economy, culture, technology, media and the Internet, migration, the environment, global inequalities, and the future of globalization.</p> <p>Making extensive use of maps and with a glossary of key terms, this book offers the reader not only a descriptive, but also a critical, analysis of globalization.</p>

“With great clarity and historical reflection, Ritzer guides readers on a grand tour of globalization and its many facets. He maps debates and charts globalization's gains and losses in our tumultuous times. This book's huge strengths are pinpointing the big questions and etching alternative futures.”<br /> –<b>James H. Mittelman</b> American University <p>“Globalization is a comprehensive and engaging account of the critical issues in this challenging field, bringing together debates from a range of disciplines in a coherent and accessible way. Drawing on examples from around the globe, and written with George Ritzer's usual clarity and command, this will be a key text for students of globalization across the social sciences.”<br /> –<b>Fran Tonkiss</b>, London School of Economics</p> <p>“This is a remarkably wide ranging and savvy introduction to globalization.”<br /> –<b>Jan Nederveen Pieterse</b>, University of California, Santa Barbara</p>