Globalization S Contradictions

Since the 1980s, globalization and neoliberalism have brought about a comprehensive restructuring of everyone’s lives. People are being ‘disciplined’ by neoliberal economic agendas, ‘transformed’ by communication and information technology changes, global commodity chains and networks, and in the Global South in particular, destroyed livelihoods, debilitating impoverishment, disease pandemics, among other disastrous disruptions, are also globalization’s legacy. This collection of geographical treatments of such a complex set of processes unearths the contradictions in the impacts of globalization on peoples’ lives. Globalizations Contradictions firstly introduces globalization in all its intricacy and contrariness, followed on by substantive coverage of globalization’s dimensions. Other areas that are covered in depth are: globalization’s macro-economic faces globalization’s unruly spaces globalization’s geo-political faces ecological globalization globalization’s cultural challenges globalization from below fair globalization. Globalizations Contradictions is a critical examination of the continuing role of international and supra-national institutions and their involvement in the political economic management and determination of global restructuring. Deliberately, this collection raises questions, even as it offers geographical insights and thoughtful assessments of globalization’s multifaceted ‘faces and spaces.’

Radical politics have been defined in modern times -- and distinguished from earlier traditions of protest -- by the idea that economic, social and political structures are contradictory. Systems of exploitation creates not only wealth and prosperity for the powerful, but at the same time bring into being the forces which ensure their own eventual downfall. But it is a large step from the general assertion that social forms contain their own contradictions to analysis of the specific contradictions which occur in a given historical context, their interaction and movement, and their possible historical outcomes.This collection of essays examines social contradictions in the age of globalization in which old antagonisms often appear to be overcome, and new cracks are emerging in the facade of capitalist progress. Where do they occur? Where can they be expected to appear in future? How can they be grasped in a spirit of sober radicalism, which neither accepts the limits of the present nor overcomes them through wishful thinking alone? What possibilities do they offer for mobilizing resistance? These issues define an agenda which is critical for socialism in our time.

Introduces a critical perspective on debates surrounding globalization for advanced undergraduate and masters students Broad in scope: scrutinizing political-economic, geopolitical, political, cultural and alternative visions of globalization Points the way towards future global geographies that are more inclusive and equitable Strong line of contributors including: John Agnew, Dennis Conway and Don Mitchell

This volume addresses the ‘impoverishment of state theory’ over the last decades and insists on the continued salience of class analysis to the study of capitalist states – neoliberal restructuring, the political architecture of imperialism, and the potentials for democratic transformation.

This book provides an overview of the World Trade Organisation; in particular, it focuses on two of the agreements being developed at the WTO, which are due to be strengthened in 2005, and are likely to have significant implications for libraries and information: the General Agreement on Trade in Services (the GATS) and the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The book argues that the library and information profession needs to be more aware of these agreements and the way in which they threaten some of the professional ethics and principles (such as the balance in copyright). Explores a vital and very new, much undiscovered area – the WTO and libraries Brings together facts about globalisation and the WTO, libraries and information, within a wider social and theoretical perspective Draws on the author’s wealth of knowledge - building on her many published articles on this topic

`This book skillfully navigates the shoals of place and space to explain the intricacies of globalization. For those interested in the changing geography of global capitalism, Peck and Yeung is a "must read"′ - James H Mittelman, American University Remaking the Global Economy offers a state -of-the-art survey of geographical perspectives on the restructuring and reorganization of the global economy. With contributions from leading figures in the globalization debate, the book explores the latest thinking and research, as well as the enduring controversies, across a range of interrelated issues, including: - firm strategies and business knowledge - interactions between firms and nation states - production and innovation systems - transnationalism and labour markets - state restructuring. Each of the specially commissioned chapters presents interdisciplinary insights into the complex processes of economic globalization and their impact on the organization of firms, markets, industries, regions, and institutions. An integrated and comprehensive account, this is a résumé of the latest work in the literature on globalization that will provide a detailed map of the geography of the global economy.