Has globalization failed us? The promises of economic stability, increased prosperity, and cultural cooperation seem more like a pipe dream than ever before. But rather than stop globalization, Charles Derber challenges us to rewrite its rules in order to fulfill its potential as an agent of democracy and global harmony. In this provocative and optimistic work, one of the first examinations of globalization after September 11, 2001, Derber argues that only a democratic cure--begun at the grassroots level--will end global terror and economic insecurity. People Before Profit provides an essential understanding of our world economy as well as a practical guide for building a stable and more equitable global community.
Charles Derber is professor of sociology at Boston College and former director of its graduate program on social economy and social justice. He is a prolific scholar in the field of politics, economy, international relations, and U.S. culture. He has written 17 internationally acclaimed books and several major research grants, as well as hundreds of scholarly articles, magazine essays, and newspaper columns.
Derber's books include Capitalism: Should You Buy It? (With Yale Magrass; Paradigm Publishers, 2014); Sociopathic Society (Paradigm Publishers, 2013); Hidden Power: What You Need to Know to Save Our Democracy (Berrett-Koehler, 2005, translated into Korean), a bestseller in South Korea and nominated by the Independent Bookstores of the United States as one of the three best current affairs books in 2005; People Before Profit: The New Globalization in an Age of Terror, Big Money, and Economic Crisis (Picador, 2003, translated into Chinese, German, and British English); Corporation Nation (St. Martin's Press, 2000, translated into Chinese); The Pursuit of Attention (Oxford, 2000, translated into Polish); Power in the Highest Degree (with William Schwartz and Yale Magrass, Oxford, 1990); Greed to Green (Paradigm Publishers, 2010; translated into Korean); and Marx's Ghost, (Paradigm Publishers, 2011, translated into Chinese, Korean, and Tamil).
Derber espouses a public sociology that brings sociological perspectives to a general audience. Derber lectures widely at universities, companies, and community groups, and appears on numerous media outlets. His op-eds and essays appear in The New York Times, Newsday, The Boston Globe, International Herald Tribune, China's People's Daily, Truthout, and Tikkun, as well as other newspapers and online media, and he has been interviewed by Newsweek, Business Week, Time, and other news magazines. He speaks frequently on National Public Radio, on talk radio, and on television. His work has been reviewed by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Washington Monthly, and numerous other magazines and newspapers.
Derber is also a life-long activist for social justice. In the spirit of the great sociologist C. Wright Mills, he believes in the responsibility of intellectuals to speak truth to power and to match words with action.
Derber is married and lives in Dedham, Massachusetts. He has a beautiful wheaten terrier named Mojo, who lives up to his name.
Noam Chomsky is the author of numerous bestselling political works, including
Hegemony or Survival and
Failed States. A laureate professor at the University of Arizona and professor emeritus of linguistics and philosophy at MIT, he is widely credited with having revolutionized modern linguistics. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.
