Globalization: A very short introduction
By Manfred. B. Steger
Oxford University Press, Year 2013, Edition 3, Pages 176
ISBN – 10: 0199662665
ISBN – 13: 978 - 0199662661
The theatrical increase in the pace of Globalization over the past few decades have stunned the experts all over the world and created huge amounts of speculation around the word Globalization. Just the way “Democratization” changed the world in the twentieth century, the same is being expected from “Globalization” in the twenty first century. However, the benefits of Globalization have reached the people in the world in a very heterogeneous fashion. Though the people in the developed nations of the world have gained more economic, cultural, educational and social benefits,
Likewise, there are many other success stories of the ways in which Globalization has impacted the world. But it still remains a debate with the experts whether the pros of Globalization are more than the cons or vice versa. A large number of experts are trying to justify Globalization as a harmless, developmental phenomenon by citing success stories and linkages to various pre-dominant phenomena in the world. One such attempt has been made by Manfred B. Steger who has tried to cover Globalization from a three sixty degree
It also covers the older phenomena like the Japanese earthquake and killing of Osama bin Laden – both in 2011. It further moves down to relate the global financial crises of the 2008-2010 with the process of Globalization. What makes this book really useful is the fact that it gives a complete insight into Globalization by also covering challenges to Globalism and questioning the future of Globalization.
In this book, Steger talks about various influential definitions of Globalization like Globalization as “expansion of social interdependencies”, “internationalization of trade and finance”, “power of transactional organizations” etc.
This book tries to emphasize the fact that Globalization is as old as humankind. This is done by discussing about the five major distinctive historical periods and focusing on how they differed from each other in terms of speed of social exchanges and widening of geographical scopes. The historical periods referred to in this book are: The Prehistoric Period, The Pre-modern Period, The Early Modern Period, The Modern Period and The Contemporary Period (from