Political Science : Globalization

The emergence of voluntary corporate codes of conduct since the early 1990s is both a manifestation of and a response to the process of globalization. They have been part of a more general shift away from state regulation of transnational corporations towards corporate self-regulation in the areas of labour and environmental standards and human rights. This work provides a critical perspective on the growth and significance of corporate codes with a particular focus on working conditions and labour rights. It brings together work by academics practitioners and activists. more...

Price: $48.95

A Frenchman rents a Hollywood movie. A Thai schoolgirl mimics Madonna. Saddam Hussein chooses Frank Sinatra's "My Way" as the theme song for his fifty-fourth birthday. It is a commonplace that globalization is subverting local culture. But is it helping as much as it hurts? In this strikingly original treatment of a fiercely debated issue, Tyler Cowen makes a bold new case for a more sympathetic understanding of cross-cultural trade. Creative Destruction brings not stale suppositions but an economist's eye to bear on an age-old question: Are market exchange and aesthetic quality friends or foes? On the whole, argues Cowen in clear and vigorous prose, they are friends. Cultural "destruction" breeds not artistic demise but diversity.Through an array of colorful examples from the areas where globalization's critics have been most vocal, Cowen asks what happens when cultures collide through trade, whether technology destroys native arts, why (and whether) Hollywood movies rule the world, whether "globalized" culture is dumbing down societies everywhere, and if national cultures matter at all. Scrutinizing such manifestations of "indigenous" culture as the steel band ensembles of Trinidad, Indian handweaving, and music from Zaire, Cowen finds that they are more vibrant than ever--thanks largely to cross-cultural trade.For all the pressures that market forces exert on individual cultures, diversity typically increases within society, even when cultures become more like each other. Trade enhances the range of individual choice, yielding forms of expression within cultures that flower as never before. While some see cultural decline as a half-empty glass, Cowen sees it as a glass half-full with the stirrings of cultural brilliance. Not all readers will agree, but all will want a say in the debate this exceptional book will stir. more...

Price: $45.00

Exploring the insights of a wide range of critical theorists, this book provides a comprehensive overview of globalization and its consequences. Organized around thematic chapters designed to provoke student inquiry, it also demonstrates how the views of critical theorists are crucial to understanding the global processes that shape the world. more...

Price: $120.00

One of the inaugural books discussing the increasing tendency of cultural practices to cross national boundaries. Updated with a new preface, these influential essays by a distinguished group of cultural critics lay the groundwork for a vital new field of inquiry. more...

Price: $60.00

The world's cultures and their forms of creation, presentation, and preservation are deeply affected by globalization in ways that are inadequately documented and understood. The Cultures and Globalization Series is designed to fill this void in our knowledge. This first volume analyses Conflicts and Tensions: the cultural dimensions of conflict and the conflictual dimensions of culture - domains in which the knowledge gap is both politically dangerous and economically damaging. In each volume, leading experts as well as young scholars will track cultural trends connected to globalization throughout the world, covering issues including: -the role of cultural difference in politics and governance -the evolution of the cultural economy -changing patterns of artistic creativity and practice - forms of regression and innovation. Each volume will also include indicator suites on cultural phenomena presented by highly innovative information graphics techniques. more...

Price: $64.95