The Globalization Reader

An introduction to the issues surrounding the complex and controversial realities of today's interconnected world, the revised sixth edition

Since its initial publication, The Globalization Reader has been lauded for its comprehensive coverage of the issues surrounding globalization. Now in its sixth edition, the Reader has been thoroughly revised and updated and continues to review the most important global trends. Including readings by a variety of authors, the text offers a wide-ranging and authoritative introduction to the political, economic, cultural, and experiential aspects of globalization. 

The updated sixth edition presents the most accessible and comprehensive review of current debates and research. Contributions from scholars, activists, and organizations provide balanced viewpoints and expert coverage of the many aspects of globalization. The Globalization Reader offers readings on an exciting range of new topics as well as retaining key globalization topics such as the experience of globalization, economic and political globalization, the role of media and religion in cultural globalization, women’s rights, environmentalism, global civil society, and the alternative globalization movement. This important resource:

• Covers the many complex dimensions of globalization
• Includes contributions from many of the most prominent globalization scholars
• Presents concise and informative introductions to each major topic
• Offers compelling discussion questions for each section
• Contains readings on a variety of new topics such as migration, medical tourism, state policy regarding abortion and same-sex sexual relations, the UN Global Compact, climate justice, and more

Written for students in undergraduate and graduate courses in sociology, political science, anthropology and geography, the revised sixth edition covers courses such as globalization, comparative political economy, international relations and similar topics.

Frank J. Lechner is Professor of Sociology at Emory University, USA. He is the author of The Netherlands: Globalization and National Identity (2008), Globalization: The Making of World Society (2009), and The American Exception (2017), among other publications.

John Boli is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Emory University, USA. His publications cover world culture, global organizations, state authority, and education. He has co-authored a number of books including Constructing World Culture: International Nongovernmental Organizations Since 1875 (with George Thomas, 1999).

Preface to the Sixth Edition xii

General Introduction 1

Part I Debating Globalization 7

Introduction 8

1 The Hidden Promise: Liberty Renewed 11
John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge

2 How to Judge Globalism 19
Amartya Sen

3 The Elusive Concept of Globalisation 25
Cees J. Hamelink

4 The Clash of Civilizations? 32
Samuel P. Huntington

5 The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015 40
United Nations

Part I Questions 46

Part II Explaining Globalization 47

Introduction 48

6 The Modern World‐System as a Capitalist World‐Economy 52
Immanuel Wallerstein

7 Sociology of the Global System 59
Leslie Sklair

8 A Brief History of Neoliberalism 67
David Harvey

9 World Society and the Nation‐State 73
John W. Meyer, John Boli, George M. Thomas, and Francisco O. Ramirez

10 Globalization as a Problem 82
Roland Robertson

11 Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy 90
Arjun Appadurai

Part II Questions 99

Part III Experiencing Globalization 101

Introduction 102

12 Waves in the History of Globalization 105
Frank J. Lechner

13 McDonald’s in Hong Kong 112
James L. Watson

14 The Transnational Villagers 121
Peggy Levitt

15 Virtual Migration: The Programming of Globalization 129
Aneesh Aneesh

16 Fear and Money in Dubai 137
Mike Davis

17 Outpatients: The Astonishing New World of Medical Tourism 142
Sasha Issenberg

18 An Anthropology of Structural Violence 147
Paul Farmer

19 Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche 154
Ethan Watters

Part III Questions 159

Part IV Globalization and the World Economy 161

Introduction 162

20 China Makes, the World Takes 167
James Fallows

21 Commodity Chains and Marketing Strategies: Nike and the Global Athletic Footwear Industry 173
Miguel Korzeniewicz

22 The Sticky Superpower 184
The Economist

23 Global Income Inequality by the Numbers: In History and Now: An Overview 189
Branko Milanovic

24 The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It 194
Paul Collier

25 The Global Financial Crisis and Its Effects 200
Malcolm Edey

26 The Twin Excesses – Financialization and Globalization – Caused the Crash 207
Ashok Bardhan

27 Globalism’s Discontents 210
Joseph E. Stiglitz

Part IV Questions 218

Part V Globalization and the Nation-State 219

Introduction 220

28 The Declining Authority of States 224
Susan Strange

29 Global Organized Crime 231
James H. Mittelman

30 Has Globalization Gone Too Far? 237
Dani Rodrik

31 The Individualization of Society and the Liberalization of State Policies on Same‐Sex Sexual Relations, 1984–1995 244
David John Frank and Elizabeth H. McEneaney

32 Abortion Liberalization in World Society, 1960–2009 251
Elizabeth H. Boyle, Minzee Kim, and Wesley Longhofer

Part V Questions 258

Part VI Global Governance 261

Introduction 262

33 The International Monetary Fund 266
James Vreeland

34 ISO and the Infrastructure for a Global Market 273
Craig N. Murphy and JoAnne Yates

35 Global Health Governance: A Conceptual Review 280
Richard Dodgson, Kelley Lee, and Nick Drager

36 The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Grant‐Making Programmefor Global Health 286
David McCoy, Gayatri Kembhavi, Jinesh Patel, and Akish Luintel

37 IMPACT: Transforming Business, Changing the World – The United Nations Global Compact 291
DNV GL Group and United Nations Global Compact

Part VI Questions 297

Part VII Globalization, INGOs, and Civil Society 299

Introduction 300

38 NGOs and Climate Crisis: Fragmentation, Lines of Conflict and Strategic Approaches 304
Barbara Unmusig

39 The Evolution of Debates over Female Genital Cutting 313
Elizabeth Heger Boyle

40 Women’s Human Rights and the Muslim Question: Iran’s One Million Signatures Campaign 320
Rebecca L. Barlow

41 World Culture in the World Polity: A Century of International Non‐Governmental Organization 328
John Boli and George M. Thomas

42 Closing the Corruption Casino: The Imperatives of a Multilateral Approach 336
Peter Eigen

43 Trading Diamonds Responsibly: Institutional Explanations for Corporate Social Responsibility 341
Franziska Bieri and John Boli

44 Poverty Capital: Microfinance and the Making of Development 348
Ananya Roy

Part VII Questions 354

Part VIII Globalization and Media 355

Introduction 356

45 Cultural Imperialism 360
John Tomlinson

46 Mapping Global Media Flow and Contra‐Flow 370
Daya Kishan Thussu

47 Hybridity and the Rise of Korean Popular Culture in Asia 377
Doobo Shim

48 Landing of the Wave: Hallyu in Peru and Brazil 383
Nusta Corranza Ko, Song No, Jeong‐Nam Kim, and Ronald Gobbi Simoes

49 Watching Big Brother at Work: A Production Study of Big Brother Australia 389
Jane Roscoe

50 Bollywood versus Hollywood: Battle of the Dream Factories 397
Heather Tyrrell

51 Why Hollywood Rules the World, and Whether We Should Care 405
Tyler Cowen

Part VIII Questions 411

Part IX Globalization and Religion 413

Introduction 414

52 Bin Laden and Other Thoroughly Modern Muslims 418
Charles Kurzman

53 Globalised Islam: The Search for a New Ummah 423
Olivier Roy

54 The Christian Revolution 429
Philip Jenkins

55 American Evangelicals: The Overlooked Globalizers and Their Unintended Gospel of Modernity 437
Joshua J. Yates

56 Religious Rejections of Globalization 443
Frank J. Lechner

57 The Decontexualization of Asian Religious Practices in the Context of Globalization 450
Brooke Schedneck

Part IX Questions 455

Part X Globalization and Identity 457

Introduction 458

58 Moral Choices and Global Desires: Feminine Identity in a Transnational Realm 461
Ernestine McHugh

59 Global/Indian: Cultural Politics in the IT Workplace 469
Smitha Radhakrishnan

60 Strategic Inauthenticity 476
Timothy D. Taylor

61 Orange Nation: Soccer and National Identity in the Netherlands 481
Frank J. Lechner

62 Cosmopolitans and Locals in World Culture 486
Ulf Hannerz

63 Cosmopolitanism & Humanism 492
C. Martin Centner

Part X Questions 495

Part XI Global Environmentalism 497

Introduction 498

64 Greenpeace and Political Globalism 502
Paul Wapner

65 Environmental Advocacy Networks 510
Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink

66 Toward Democratic Governance for Sustainable Development: Transnational Civil Society Organizing around Big Dams 519
Sanjeev Khagram

67 Ozone Depletion 526
Pamela S. Chasek, David L. Downie, and Janet Welsh Brown

68 Movements for Climate Justice in the US and Worldwide 531
Brian Tokar

69 Speech of the IPCC Chairman, Rajendra K. Pachauri, at the Opening Session of the World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland 539
Rajendra K. Pachauri

Part XI Questions 542

Part XII Contesting Globalization: Alternatives and Opposition 545

Introduction 546

70 Counterhegemonic Globalization: Transnational Social Movements in the Contemporary Political Economy 550
Peter Evans

71 The Global Justice Movement 557
Geoffrey Pleyers

72 The Twelve Assumptions of an Alter‐Globalisation Strategy 563
Gustave Massiah

73 The Global South: The WTO and Deglobalization 568
Walden Bello

74 Ecological Balance in an Era of Globalization 573
Vandana Shiva

75 Porto Alegre Call for Mobilization 582
World Social Forum

76 When and Why Nationalism Beats Globalism 585
Jonathan Haidt

77 The Globalization of Rage: Why Today’s Extremism Looks Familiar 591
Pankaj Mishra

Part XII Questions 595

Index 597