Can Globalization Succeed?: A Primer for the 21st Century: 11 (The Big Idea) - Softcover

Dena Freeman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0500295670 ISBN 13: 9780500295670

Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 2020

Synopsis

The expansion of capitalism and neoliberal ideologies have delivered economic integration between countries and brought global inter-connectedness to individuals. So why do so many people now feel that they are ‘citizens of nowhere’, disparaged by the ‘cosmopolitan elites’? Has democracy and the power of nation states been irredeemably weakened by unfettered global finance, opaque forms of global governance, and the power of transnational corporations? Can the huge rise in social and economic inequality be reversed? Can diverse cultural expression be maintained in a globalizing world? In the context of the current nationalist backlash and the momentous impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, this thought-provoking volume considers whether globalization is dead or whether it will survive, and perhaps transform.

Written in a clear and engaging style, the volume traces the development of economic globalization starting from the first wave of colonialization in the 15th century, through the first period of globalization at the end of the 19th century, and up to the contemporary period of globalization that started in the 1980s and appears today to be teetering on the brink of collapse. It explores the impacts of globalization on today’s world, from global supply chains and tax havens to rising economic inequality, climate change and pandemics, and assesses the different impacts on rich and poor countries, and on the rich and poor within countries. It then reviews the growing anti-globalization sentiment, starting from the anti-IMF protests that raged through developing countries in the 1980s and 1990s, to the emergence of the transnational anti-globalization movement of the 2000s, to more recent uprisings such as the Arab Spring, The Occupy Movement, the Gilets Jaunes, and to the current populist nationalist backlash led by President Trump and embodied in the 2016 Brexit vote. Sensing that globalization has reached a tipping point, the book considers a range of possible scenarios for the future world order, including nationalism, authoritarianism and democratic globalism. Finally, it explores whether globalization can be democratized in a world in which effective and inclusive global governance is crucial to solving global problems, such as tackling climate change, controlling global pandemics and upholding universal human rights.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. The History of Globalization 2. The Impact of Globalization Today 3. The Anti-Globalization Backlash 4. Is Another Globalization Possible? Conclusion

About this title

About the Authors

Dena Freeman is senior visiting fellow at the Department of Anthropology, LSE. Her work focuses on globalization, development, inequality, religion and democracy. Most recently, she explored the de-democratization of economic policy in contemporary neoliberal globalization in association with LSE’s international inequalities institute.

Matthew Taylor is Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation. Prior to that he was for 15 years Chief Executive of the RSA, a 250-year-old British institution devoted to enriching society through ideas and action to deliver a 21st-century enlightenment. A writer, public speaker and broadcaster, he has written numerous articles on policy, politics, public service reform and cultural theory, and frequently appears on Newsnight, The Daily Politics, and Radio 4’s Today and The Moral Maze. He was previously General Secretary and Chief Executive of the Institute for Public Policy Research, Britain’s leading think tank.

From the Back Cover

Why do so many people feel that rather than being ‘citizens of the world’ they are ‘citizens of nowhere’, disparaged by ‘metropolitan elites’? The expansion of capitalism and neoliberal ideologies have created international standardization, deregulated free markets and increased economic integration between countries, making the production of goods increasingly global and bringing global interconnectedness to individuals. However, many people argue that the success of globalization has led to a huge rise in social and economic inequality, environmental damage, erosion of democracy and decreasing variance of cultural expression. Can it prevail over the current widespread backlash?

This book traces the development of economic globalization since the first wave of colonization in the 16th century through the role of corporations in the 19th century to 20th-century frameworks for international monetary policy. It assesses the impact of non-governmental organizations and large trading blocks such as the EU on the power of the nation state and evaluates the effects of cultural globalization on different populations. It then reviews the anti-globalization movement of the 1990s and 2000s and the more recent nationalist backlash led by President Trump, and embodied in the 2016 Brexit vote and the gilets jaunes. Finally, it explores whether globalization can be saved from its critics in a world in which global governance is crucial to solving global warming and upholding human rights. Is globalization dead or can it be adapted to be more just and more democratic?

Edition details

• Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0500295670
• ISBN 13: 9780500295670
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 144
• Editor: Matthew Taylor