Globalisation

Contents:

Articles, Recommended Reading

The dominant patterns of production and consumption are causing environmental devastation, the depletion of resources, and a massive extinction of species. Communities are being undermined. The benefits of development are not shared equitably and the gap between rich and poor is widening. Injustice, poverty, ignorance, and violent conflict are widespread and the cause of great suffering. An unprecedented rise in human population has overburdened ecological and social systems. The foundations of global security are threatened. These trends are perilous—but not inevitable. - The Global Situation: The Earth Charter

Globalisation describes an ongoing process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a globe-spanning network of exchange. The term is sometimes used to refer specifically to economic globalization: the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, and the spread of technology. However, globalization is usually recognized as being driven by a combination of economic, technological, sociocultural, political, and biological factors. The term can also refer to the transnational dissemination of ideas, languages, or popular culture.
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Recommended Reading:

A World Waiting to be Born – The Search for Civility By M Scott Peck
This book offers a needed prescription for our ailing society. Our illness is incivility: destructive patterns of self-absorption, callousness, manipulativeness, and materialism so ingrained in our routine behaviour that we do not recognise them. Using examples from his own life, case histories, and dramatic scenarios, Dr. Peck demonstrates how change can be effected and how we and our organizations can be restored to health.

The World is Flat By Thomas L Friedman
Friedman recounts a journey to Bangalore, India, when he realised globalisation has changed core economic concepts. In his opinion, this flattening is a product of a convergence of personal computers with fiber-optic micro cables with the rise of work flow software. He termed this period as Globalization 3.0, differentiating this period from the previous Globalization 1.0 (in which countries and governments were the main protagonists) and the Globalization 2.0 (in which multinational companies led the way in driving global integration).

The Case Against the Global Economy By Edward Goldsmith
"Economic globalisation," writes Jerry Mander, "involves arguably the most fundamental redesign of the planet's political and economic arrangements since at least the Industrial Revolution. Yet the profound implications of these fundamental changes have barely been exposed to serious public scrutiny or debate. The 43 essays in this collection comprise a point-by-point analysis of globalization and its consequences that demonstrates that the future may not be as bright as business leaders tell us.

Another World is Possible By William F Fisher and Thomas Panniah
Many believe that there are no alternatives to globalisation as we know it-with its world of giant corporations in the driving seat, dominating a "free" market in reality shaped in accordance with their dictates, and elevating economics over all other human considerations and values. But there are alternatives. And the global justice movement is giving voice to them. In this remarkable collection, the compilers have brought together some of the most important themes and voices which these rapidly growing, diverse citizens' movements have expressed at the World Social Forum. Google Books Preview

Deglobalization – Ideas for a New World Economy By Walden Bello
How to manage the global economy - and, more fundamentally, whether humanity wishes it to go in an ever more market-oriented, transnational corporation-dominated, and capital-footloose direction - is the most important international question of our time. The author points out the failings of groups such as The World Bank, IMF, WTO and G7. He examines the major new ideas put forward for reforming the management of the world economy and argues for a much more fundamental shift towards a decentralized, pluralistic system of global economic governance allowing countries to follow development strategies sensitive to their own values and particular mix of constraints and opportunities. Google Books Preview