Power And Politics In Globalization

We live today in an interconnected world in which ordinary people can became instant online celebrities to fans thousands of miles away, in which religious leaders can influence millions globally, in which humans are altering the climate and environment, and in which complex social forces intersect across continents. This is globalization. In the fifth edition of his bestselling Very Short Introduction Manfred B. Steger considers the major dimensions of globalization: economic, political, cultural, ideological, and ecological. He looks at its causes and effects, and engages with the hotly contested question of whether globalization is, ultimately, a good or a bad thing. From climate change to the Ebola virus, Donald Trump to Twitter, trade wars to China's growing global profile, Steger explores today's unprecedented levels of planetary integration as well as the recent challenges posed by resurgent national populism. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Globalization is an extraordinary phenomenon affecting virtually everything in our lives. And it is imperative that we understand the operation of economic power in a globalized world if we are to address the most challenging issues our world is facing today, from climate change to world hunger and poverty. This revolutionary work rethinks globalization as a power system feeding from, and in competition with, the state system. Cutting across disciplines of law, politics and economics, it explores how multinational enterprises morphed into world political organisations with global reach and power, but without the corresponding responsibilities. In illuminating how the concentration of property rights within corporations has led to the rejection of democracy as an ineffective system of government and to the rise in inequality, Robé offers a clear pathway to a fairer and more sustainable power system.

"Brawley provides us with a remarkably balanced, systematic, and nevertheless accessible survey of the facts and debates pertaining to the issue of globalization." - Daniel Verdier, Ohio State University

Challenging the conventional view that globalization embodies a new and inexorable process, this book analyzes the political foundations and choices involved in contemporary arrangements in the world. Rather than treating politics as contention for control over an unforeseeable future, the book explains the background by which the world has arrived at its present state. Thus, the author presents a view that emphasizes continuity with the past while still acknowledging what is new in the present. Invoking many examples throughout, the author bolsters the theoretical analysis in an extended case study of Malaysia.

General Introduction. Part I. Globalization and State Power: Competing Paradigms. Part Introduction. 1. Thomas L. Friedman, "The New System," The Lexus and the Olive Tree. 2. Samuel P. Huntington, "The New Era in World Politics", The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order. 3. Joseph P. Stiglitz, "Broken Promises," Globalization and Its Discontents. 4. John J. Mearsheimer, "Anarchy and the Struggle for Power," The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. 5. Saskia Sassen, "Global Cities and Survival Circuits," Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russsell Hochschild, eds. Global Woman. Part II. From Autonomy to Multi-level Governance. Part Introduction. 6. Stephen D. Krasner, "Sovereignty and Its Discontents," Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy. 7. David Held, "Political Globalization, Global Covenant. 8. Paul Carmichael, "Briefing Paper: Multi-level Governance." Part III. State Power in the Era of Globalization: Case Studies. Part Introduction. Globalization and the Exercise of American Power. 9. G. John Ikenberry, "Liberal hegemony and the future of the American postwar order," from T.V. Paul and John A. Hall, eds. International Order and the Future of World Politics. 10. Robert Hunter Wade, America's Empire Rules an Unbalanced World. 11. Joseph P. Nye, "Redefining the National Interest," The Paradox of American Power. 12. Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsay, America Unbound: The Bush Reveoplution in Foreign Policy. Globalization and European Integration. 13. George Ross, "European Integration and Globalization". 14. David P. Calleo, "Europe in the New World Order". 15. Kalypso Nicolaïdis, "We, the Peoples of Europe ...," Foreign Affairs. East Asia: the Paradox of State Power. 16. T.J. Pempel, "Introduction," T.J. Pempel, ed. The Politics of the Asian Economic Crisis. 17. Linda Weiss, "State Power and the Asian Crisis," New Political Economy. 18. Claude Smadja, "The End of Complacency," Foreign Policy. Part IV. Post-9/11: Terror, War and Empire. Part Introduction. Globalization, Terror and the Use of Force. 19. Audrey Kurth Cronin, "Behind the Curve: Globalization and International Terrorism," International Security. 20. The National Security Strategy of the United States of America. 21. John Lewis Gaddis, "A Grand Strategy of Transformation," Foreign Policy. 22. Chris Brown, "Self-Defense in an Imperfect World, "Ethics & International Affairs. 23. International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, "The Responsibility to Protect: The Way Forward," The Responsibility To Protect: Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty. Globalization, Empire, and America's Geopolitical Strategy. 24. Niall Ferguson, "The Empire Slinks Back," The New York Times Magazine. 25. Michael Ignatieff, "Why Are We In Iraq? (And Liberia? And Afghanistan?), New York Times Magazine. 26. Zbigniew Brzezinski, "Domination or Leadership," The Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership.

Adam Sneyd argues that it is imperative to recognize the importance of the sub-field of development politics.

Why does corporate governance--front page news with the collapse of Enron, WorldCom, and Parmalat--vary so dramatically around the world? This book explains how politics shapes corporate governance--how managers, shareholders, and workers jockey for advantage in setting the rules by which companies are run, and for whom they are run. It combines a clear theoretical model on this political interaction, with statistical evidence from thirty-nine countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America and detailed narratives of country cases. This book differs sharply from most treatments by explaining differences in minority shareholder protections and ownership concentration among countries in terms of the interaction of economic preferences and political institutions. It explores in particular the crucial role of pension plans and financial intermediaries in shaping political preferences for different rules of corporate governance. The countries examined sort into two distinct groups: diffuse shareholding by external investors who pick a board that monitors the managers, and concentrated blockholding by insiders who monitor managers directly. Examining the political coalitions that form among or across management, owners, and workers, the authors find that certain coalitions encourage policies that promote diffuse shareholding, while other coalitions yield blockholding-oriented policies. Political institutions influence the probability of one coalition defeating another.

For all the attention globalization has received in recent years, little consensus has emerged concerning how best to understand it. For some, it is the happy product of free and rational choices; for others, it is the unfortunate outcome of impersonal forces beyond our control. It is in turn celebrated for the opportunities it affords and criticized for the inequalities in wealth and power it generates. David Singh Grewal’s remarkable and ambitious book draws on several centuries of political and social thought to show how globalization is best understood in terms of a power inherent in social relations, which he calls network power. Using this framework, he demonstrates how our standards of social coordination both gain in value the more they are used and undermine the viability of alternative forms of cooperation. A wide range of examples are discussed, from the spread of English and the gold standard to the success of Microsoft and the operation of the World Trade Organization, to illustrate how global standards arise and falter. The idea of network power supplies a coherent set of terms and concepts—applicable to individuals, businesses, and countries alike—through which we can describe the processes of globalization as both free and forced. The result is a sophisticated and novel account of how globalization, and politics, work.

This fully revised and updated introduction to political sociologyincorporates the burgeoning literature on globalization and showshow contemporary politics is linked to cultural issues, socialstructure and democratizing social action. New material on global governance, human rights, global socialmovements, global media New discussion of democracy and democratization Clearly lays out what is at stake in deciding betweenalternatives of cosmopolitanism, imperialism and nationalism Includes additional discussion of the importance of studyingculture to political sociology