The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear

Book Description

What keeps us going when times get tough? How do we act to create a more humane world, no matter how hard it seems? How do we offer models of involvement for our students when many feel their actions cannot matter? The Impossible Will Take a Little While gathers stories and essays of engagement that range across nations, eras, and political movements. These visionary and eloquent voices include Diane Ackerman, Sherman Alexie, Maya Angelou, Mary Catherine Bateson, Ariel Dorfman, Marian Wright Edelman, Eduardo Galeano, Susan Griffin, V‡clav Havel, Seamus Heaney, Tony Kushner, Jonathan Kozol, Bill McKibben, Nelson Mandela, Pablo Neruda, Henri Nouwen, Arundhati Roy, Desmond Tutu, Alice Walker, Cornel West, Terry Tempest Williams, and Howard Zinn. Their voices can help us all keep working for a better world, despite the obstacles. In The Impossible Will Take a Little While, a phrase borrowed from Billie Holliday, the editor of Soul of a Citizen brings together fifty stories and essays that range across nations, eras, wars, and political movements. Danusha Goska, an Indiana activist with a paralyzing physical disability, writes about overcoming political immobilization, drawing on her history with the Peace Corps and Mother Teresa. Vaclav Havel, the former president of the Czech Republic, finds value in seemingly doomed or futile actions taken by oppressed peoples. Rosemarie Freeney Harding recalls the music that sustained the civil rights movement, and Paxus Calta-Star recounts the powerful vignette of an 18-year-old who launched the overthrow of Bulgaria's dictatorship. Many of the essays are new, others classic works that continue to inspire. Together, these writers explore a path of heartfelt community involvement that leads beyond despair to compassion and hope. The voices collected in The Impossible Will Take a Little While will help keep us all working for a better world despite the obstacles.

Customer Reviews:

Revied on The Impossible Will Take a Little While.......2007-02-14

Received on time and in a very well condition. Very Satified.

a much needed balm.......2007-01-17

Good things are possible, keep at it, it will take a while, but, it is not impossible! Even the review here at Amazon by Ms. Nina Rosenberg shows the uphill distance we have to go. Let's all keep walking, and even invite Ms Rosenberg along, maybe offer her a cup of tea. Anyhow, I loved this book and feel that we need to sometimes focus on what is good, and what HAS been accomplished and try to understand how it was acomplished so that we too may pave the way to greater peace, for all. Yes, not just for the USA, but for all citizens of the world. If you liked this book, I suspect you might also enjoy a book on non-violence called "nonviolence: twenty five lessons" by Mark Kurlansky.

Don't give up, keep at it, keep the faith, ward off despair!

very readable.......2007-01-12

This book managed to be easy to read despite the large amount of information within its pages. I found it to be inspiring without being too heavy, and informative without leaving me wracked with guilt and anxiety.

Love, Empathy & Hope.......2006-01-23

This is an inspirational compendium from contributers such as Maya Angelou, Jim Hightower, Jonathan Kozol, Nelson Mandela, Arundhati Roy, Desmond Tutu, and Howard Zinn (to name a few). Since the resurgence of the warfare state when Marvin Bush planted bombs in the Twin Towers, which were blown-up after they were hit by planes and the incident blamed on alleged Arabs (see "The New Pearl Harbor" by David Ray Griffin), we have been living an Orwellian nightmare. Just like before when FDR provoked the Japanese to attack Pearl Harbor to make us Yanks war crazy so we would fight the Nazis in Europe and stop Russia from taking it over, we are demoralized and mired in social crisis. Hence, this compilation by editor Paul Loeb is salve to the wounded soul.

Nelson Mandela's contribution is "The Dark Years" when the South African white-led apartheid government incarcerated him and other political prisoners on Robben Island. The inmates organized and maintained their own inmate-led micro-society behind bars, which empowered them and sustained their souls.

Desmond Tutu wrote that people of faith are prisoners of hope. He said that the South African experience was God's beacon of hope, not just to the third world, but Northern Ireland as well.

Howard Zinn's contribution is "The Optimism of Uncertainty". He said "There will always be something to fear in life, but this should not prevent you from living your life, thinking independently, and speaking your mind".

Maya Angelou shared a poem titled "Still I Rise": "Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of the tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I rise."

This book is an inspiration to all in peace work.

Hope from start to finish..........2005-12-06

This book is tangible hope in a dark and murky time. The insights gathered in these pages offer a historical bird's eye view of what it means to fight for what is right, no matter the cost. The cross section of stories from around the world unifies disparate groups in a way that is needed on all levels of society today. The book came to me as a gift from a friend, and in the spirit of "Pay It Forward" I made sure that at least 3 other friends got to share in the hope that I enjoyed while reading Paul's work. The stories have further galvanized my personal and politcal beliefs and sent me in some very positive directions working for peace. What started as another casual read quickly became a manual for hope. I reccomend this to all who feel hopeless in light of current events.

Global Assemblages: Technology, Politics and Ethics As Anthropological Problems

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The best collection this decade

Global Assemblages: Technology, Politics and Ethics As Anthropological Problems

Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1405123583

Book Description

Global Assemblages presents a unique perspective on the current globalization debates. Rather than examining globalization as a marker for a new epoch or as a broad structural transformation, this volume examines specific technologies, ethical regimes, and administrative systems that articulate contemporary transformations. The chapters combine a sophisticated theoretical approach to these "global " phenomena with detailed study of the assemblages in which they become significant for individual and collective life.The contributors to the volume are leading scholars from sociology, anthropology, and geography whose research spans Africa, the Middle East, East and South Asia, North America, South America, and Europe. Their work examines the conflicts and controversies at the heart of contemporary debates, in areas such as neoliberal reform, the pharmaceutical industry, financial practices, illegal trafficking, and information technology.

Customer Reviews:

The best collection this decade.......2006-08-03

This book is a collection of the most exciting work being done in sociocultural anthropology and the social sciences more broadly. The innovation of this ethnographic research is that the authors examine their topics through very technical analyses, finding the ethical dimensions, often through expert interlocutors. A key premise of Global Assemblages is that epistemology (how to know) and ethics (how to act) are inextricably linked, a stance most academic disciplines currently reject.

We find that what are often portrayed as merely academic or philosophical debates (debates on objectivity versus social constructivism or the value of anecdotal evidence versus quantitative evidence, for example) are actually problems that people outside academia such as accountants, bandits, Alan Greenspan (or any other head of the Federal Reserve is), and securities traders face and find solutions to, sometimes on a daily basis.

The essays that stand out to me as the most interesting and groundbreaking are the ones by Bill Maurer on accounting, Janet Roitman on banditry, and Caitlin Zaloom on futures trading.

If you are a student in sociocultural anthropology this book is a must. It is also valuable for people from other disciplines who want to be part of the most exciting shift in the social sciences. Perhaps the best introduction to contemporary anthropology and ethnography is Anthropology as Cultural Critique by George Marcus and Michael M. J. Fischer, which is more accessible to most audiences because it was written with undergraduates in mind. Global Assemblages on the other hand may require more careful reading. Other important recent texts have been written by Paul Rabinow, Anna Tsing, George Marcus, Michel-Rolph Trouillot, among others.

Global Social Change: Historical and Comparative Perspectives

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A satisfying blend of historical and social science analysis

Global Social Change: Historical and Comparative Perspectives

Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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Binding: Paperback

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Critical Globalization Studies
World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction (A John Hope Franklin Center Book)
Making Globalization Work
The Wretched of the Earth
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ASIN: 0801884241

Book Description

The essays in Global Social Change explore globalization from a world-systems perspective, untangling its many contested meanings. This perspective offers insights into globalization's gradual and uneven growth throughout the course of human social evolution.

In this informative and exciting volume, Christopher Chase-Dunn and Salvatore J. Babones bring together accomplished senior sociologists and outstanding younger scholars with a mix of interests, expertise, and methodologies to offer an introduction to ways of studying and understanding global social change.

In both newly written essays and previously published articles from the Journal of World Systems Research, the contributors employ historical and comparative social science to examine the development of institutions of global governance, the rise and fall of hegemonic core states, transnational social movements, and global environmental challenges. They compare post--World War II globalization with the great wave of economic integration that occurred in the late nineteenth century, analyze the rise of the political ideology of the "globalization project" -- Reaganism-Thatcherism -- and discuss issues of gender and global inequalities.

Customer Reviews:

A satisfying blend of historical and social science analysis.......2007-03-12

GLOBAL SOCIAL CHANGE: HISTORICAL AND COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES is a top pick for college-level holdings strong in international social studies: it brings together senior sociologists and younger scholars to blend expertise and focus, offering up new methods of thinking about and studying global social change. The combination of newly written works just for this volume and previously published articles from the Journal of World-Systems Research offers a satisfying blend of historical and social science analysis, comparing globalization movements, economic and social integration, and political ideology alike - perfect also for classroom discussion.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Average customer rating:

Too boring to read
this book is something else.....
Other Worlds

Victims of Progress
John Bodley
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Iban of Sarawak : Chronicle of a Vanishing World

ASIN: 0767405056

Book Description

This compelling account of the effect of technology and development on indigenous peoples throughout the world examines major issues of intervention: social engineering, economic development, self-determination, health and disease, and ecocide. Victims of Progressprovides a provocative context in which to think about civilization and its costs.

Customer Reviews:

Too boring to read.......2007-10-02

I had to buy and read this book for a class in school, and I can say, it is probably the most boring book that I have ever read. I cannot stand to read it, the information is good, but its just written in such a bland and biased way, the author sounds like a total hippie who thinks we should all still be living in tribes in the forest.

this book is something else............2004-02-25

i think - it is impossible to write a book with such a great subject more boring and annoying than Bodley did.....the telephone book seems more appealing to me.........

Other Worlds.......2003-09-11

This book is amazing in what it achieves - a thorough, comprehensive view of expansive, global civilization and its affects on local, indigenous, autonomous peoples around the world. Bodley clearly and succinctly summaries the last two and a half centuries of colonial and imperial expansion, the people who resisted and continue to resist that expansion, and the negative consequences of being incorporated (usually by force) into large, impersonal, irresponsible nation-states. A must read for anyone who wishes to step outside our consumer-frenzied, totalitarian culture of domination and see what other worlds were and are possible.

World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction (A John Hope Franklin Center Book)

Average customer rating:

Still the same arrogant S.O.B.
System Analysis Lives!
Excellent for introductions
Very good seller!

World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction (A John Hope Franklin Center Book)
Immanuel Wallerstein , and Immanuel Wallerstein
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0822334429

Book Description

In World-Systems Analysis, Immanuel Wallerstein provides a concise and accessible introduction to the comprehensive approach that he pioneered thirty years ago to understanding the history and development of the modern world. Since Wallerstein first developed world-systems analysis, it has become a widely utilized methodology within the historical social sciences and a common point of reference in discussions of globalization. Now, for the first time in one volume, Wallerstein offers a succinct summary of world-systems analysis and a clear outline of the modern world-system, describing the structures of knowledge upon which it is based, its mechanisms, and its future.

Wallerstein explains the defining characteristics of world-systems analysis: its emphasis on world-systems rather than nation-states, on the need to consider historical processes as they unfold over long periods of time, and on combining within a single analytical framework bodies of knowledge usually viewed as distinct from one another—such as history, political science, economics, and sociology. He describes the world-system as a social reality comprised of interconnected nations, firms, households, classes, and identity groups of all kinds. He identifies and highlights the significance of the key moments in the evolution of the modern world-system: the development of a capitalist world-economy in the sixteenth-century, the beginning of two centuries of liberal centrism in the French Revolution of 1789, and the undermining of that centrism in the global revolts of 1968. Intended for general readers, students, and experienced practitioners alike, this book presents a complete overview of world-systems analysis by its original architect.

Customer Reviews:

Still the same arrogant S.O.B........2007-10-09

If you are new to WS then start reading Marx and Political Theory by Richard Ashcraft a Professor at UCLA. It's a JSTOR article found in journal "Comparative Studies in Society and History," Vol. 26, No. 4. (Oct., 1984), pp. 637-671. Anyway, this book is typical Wallerstein. Having read everything he has written - the judgment is; he was born in 1930. Around the end of the 1970s he said that by 1990, the world would change forever, meaning it was his 60th birtday and he would become an emeritus at Yale, not have to teach and write books and spout daily newspaper articles. Now that he's 77 years old, well this book was written a few years back, and in hindsight, if you are able to drop out of sociology world system then do it. Any professor that is teaching this for a long time has to be a mental case. All the so called WS scholars do empirical testing on data that has no meaning or consequence to anything whatsoever. Stay away from world-systems. However, this book still gets four stars as it gives a decent overview. Note that there is no political economy in Wallerstein's version of the World System.

System Analysis Lives!.......2007-06-20

When Robert Strange McNamara became Secretary of Defense in 1961, one of the innovative ideas that he introduced was an analytic methodology called `Systems Analysis' which was then in vogue in private industry. The Pentagon then spent the next decade trying to figure out what Systems Analysis was and how it could apply to military issues. Systems Analysis in point of fact is a very useful analytic tool that recognizes that problems are best solved when viewed not in isolation, but as part of a larger integrated whole. While this is a perfectly valid analytic methodology, it fell out of favor as a management tool once it became apparent it was not a solution to bad management styles ( such as those of McNamara himself).

Yet while Systems Analysis was enjoying its moment in the Sun, academic scholars from every discipline tried to adapt Systems Analysis to their particular discipline. Which brings us to Immanuel Wallerstein and his book "World Systems Analysis." Wallerstein has postulated that a world wide system could be described as a "Capitalist World Economy" and that system could be analyzed in accordance with the principles of systems analysis. Several things need to be noted at this point. First, `Capitalist World Economy' is in itself not a pejorative term, but simply describes a very specific kind of economic system. Second this term which Wallerstein insists on using really is more widely known under the rubric of "Globalization" which indeed can be studied by means of systems analysis. To his great credit Wallerstein has spent the last thirty years studying and refining the application of systems analysis methodology to worldwide problems. While he is clearly influenced by the works of Karl Marx ( and probably George Hegel as well), this does not negate his basic premise that the world can be understood best in terms of world wide systems that can indeed be subjected rigorous analysis. A good and accessible book that provides an alternative way of looking at the phenomena associated with Globalization.

Excellent for introductions.......2007-04-10

Immanuel Wallerstein is the recognized authority on World-Systems Analysis. In fact, to him is due most of the credit for the appearance of this relatively new and as of yet rather small school of thought in Political Science. This book does not contain any of the ground-breaking ideas and research that has earned him that reputation. It is not intended to be a scholarly work, as it has no thesis, proves nothing, and lacks supporting citations--in fact, omits almost altogether any discussion of related literature. It is, however, an excellent, albeit rather short introduction to the field for the laymen or scholar as of yet unfamiliar with its fundamental tenets; and it provides a solid, broad understanding of the theoretical basis for analyzing political phenomena in the context of systems that can be viewed as "worlds." Discussed herein are chiefly the themes of the historical development of scholarship--especially as it has given rise to the discipline of Political Science, fundamental principles upon which are based the nation-state system and the capitalist economy, and a brief description of the nature of and reasons for crisis in that system.

Very good seller!.......2007-02-17

The book is in good condition. The description of it by the seller was accurate. The quick delivery was what made this seller's service especially good and why I have given it 5 stars. Thank you!

Global Capital, Political Institutions, and Policy Change in Developed Welfare States (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)

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Global Capital, Political Institutions, and Policy Change in Developed Welfare States (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)
Duane Swank
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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ASIN: 0521806682

Book Description

This book argues that the dramatic post-1970 rise in international capital mobility has not systematically contributed to the retrenchment of developed welfare states as many claim. Nor has globalization directly reduced the revenue-raising capacities of governments and undercut the political institutions that support the welfare state. Rather, institutional features of the polity and the welfare state determine the extent to which the economic and political pressures associated with globalization produce Welfare state retrenchment.

Download Description

This book argues that the post-1970 rise in international capital mobility has not contributed to the retrenchment of developed welfare states. Nor has globalization reduced the revenue-raising capacities of governments and undercut the political institutions that support the welfare state. Rather, institutional features of the polity and the welfare state determine the extent to which the economic and political pressures associated with globalization produce welfare state retrenchment. In systems characterized by electoral institutions, social corporatist interest representation and policy-making, centralized political authority, and social insurance-based program structures, pro-welfare state interests are favored. In nations characterized by majoritarian electoral institutions, pluralist interest representation and policy-making, decentralization of policy-making authority, and liberal program structure, the economic and political pressures attendant on globalization are translated into rollbacks of social protection. Globalization has had least impact on large welfare states of Northern Europe and most effect on small welfare states of Anglo nations.

Education, Globalization and Social Change

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Education, Globalization and Social Change

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0199272530

Book Description

Education is seen as central to economic competitiveness, the reduction of poverty and inequality, and environmental sustainability. The editors have selected key writings that examine the social and economic limits- and possibilities of-education in addressing these fundamental problems. This new reader establishes the field of sociology of education with a particular focus on papers that analyse the nature and extent of globalization in education. A general introduction presents the key concepts in the sociology of education, and outlines the major theories and debates, especially in relation to globalization. Each section is accompanied by a part opener explaining and contextualizing the readings within a larger educational and sociological context.

Globalization and the Race for Resources (Themes in Global Social Change)

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Globalization and the Race for Resources (Themes in Global Social Change)
Stephen G. Bunker , and Paul S. Ciccantell
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0801882427

Book Description

Globalization and the Race for Resources explores how five nations-Portugal, the Netherlands, Britain, the United States, and Japan-achieved trade dominance by devising technologies, social and financial institutions, and markets to enhance their access to raw materials.

Through ecological and economic explanation of resource extraction and production, Stephen G. Bunker and Paul S. Ciccantell reveal globalization as the result of the progressive extension of systematically integrated material processes across cumulatively greater space. Drawing from extensive historical research into how economic and environmental dynamics interacted in the extraction of different materials in the Amazon, especially in the development of the iron mine of Carajas, the authors also illustrate the profound connection between global dominance and control of natural resources.

Runaway World : How Globalization is Reshaping Our Lives

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underdeveloped
airplane reading
reading for the utmost beginner
If you have been living under a rock, this book is for you.
Globalization in 100 pages

Runaway World : How Globalization is Reshaping Our Lives
Anthony Giddens
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age
The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism
The Consequences of Modernity
A Classroom of One: How Online Learning Is Changing our Schools and Colleges
Peripheral Visions: Learning along the Way

ASIN: 0415927196

Amazon.com

As director of the London School of Economics, Anthony Giddens is one of the world's foremost academics. He has served as an advisor to both President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Tony Blair, and is closely tied to the center-left idea of "third-way" politics. In this brief book on globalization (drawn from a series of lectures delivered in 1999), Giddens writes, "We are living through a major period of historical transition." Globalization is reordering societies all over the planet, and although the results are sometimes unpredictable, they are heading in a generally positive direction. But not everybody agrees, as the author freely admits:

The battleground of the twenty-first century will pit fundamentalism against cosmopolitan tolerance. In a globalising world, where information and images are routinely transmitted across the globe, we are all regularly in contact with others who think differently, and live differently, from ourselves. Cosmopolitans welcome and embrace this cultural complexity. Fundamentalists find it disturbing and dangerous. Whether in the areas of religion, ethnic identity, or nationalism, they take refuge in a renewed and purified tradition--and, quite often, violence.

Giddens is not coy about where he stands: "We can legitimately hope that a cosmopolitan outlook will win out." In what is sure to be a controversial chapter, he examines sex and family life through the prism of this fundamentalist-cosmopolitan divide. He is severely critical of what he calls the "traditional family," which he considers an aspect of fundamentalism the world over and an enemy of sexual equality: "I remember what my great aunt once said to me. She must have had one of the longest marriages of anyone, having been with her husband for over 60 years. She once confided that she had been deeply unhappy with him the whole of that time. In her day there was no escape." Runaway World is certain to provoke a lively debate--Giddens would surely have it no other way. --John J. Miller

Book Description

In Runaway World, Anthony Giddens, intellectual pioneer of Third Way politics, shows how the globalization of science, technology and the economy impacts every human on earth. In his characteristically clear-headed manner, Giddens includes an overview of the New World global marketplace, but goes beyond a conventional economic perspective to look at such larger issues as marriage, gender and the family. Giddens finds the changes largely positive---liberating women, spreading democracy, and creating new wealth--but acknowledges there are potential hazards as well with so much money crossing so many borders and distant cultures colliding. Identifying globalization as a true cultural force, this eloquent and important volume is the staring point for anyone concerned about our increasingly interconnected world.

A fascinating assessment of the coming world order, Runaway World is an enlightening and thought-provoking read from one of our most incisive public thinkers.

Customer Reviews:

underdeveloped.......2006-11-27

Giddens doesn't provide new arguments to the globalization theme. The arguments he does present are underdeveloped and could use much more solid backing up. I found myself confused many times by his circular arguments. The book ends awkwardly, the writing is choppy, and his stance is vague.

airplane reading.......2006-05-30

I realize that this book was created for the masses, but it insults intelligence and makes some sweeping generalizations and essentially promotes a Western imperialist tradition. Giddens admits to some of the criticism of globalization but he glosses over the horrors of ecological risk and global inequalities and touts the joys of democracy as being spread by globalization which results in "pure love" relationships. Somewhat of a stretch of the imagination and too much to cover in 83 little pages with big print. No references make it useless for an interested reader.

reading for the utmost beginner.......2004-03-22

If you like to read in one sitting, this book for you. The references to other articles left to desire. Maybe is just left of center all with a wing-nut californian guru seeking mentatlity. I am completely dishonest with my constellation statement.

I would stick with his other litterature.

If you have been living under a rock, this book is for you........2004-03-04

Aside from the reflection that neoliberalism is another fundamentalist mouvement in western world, there is too much superficial general knowledge about the state of the planet.
I am even more deceived to see that this book is has a scale down approach of Modernity and self identity.

This book is by far too expensive for a one sitting, basic overlook of the state of the world.

Globalization in 100 pages.......2001-05-23

Sociologist Anthony Giddens has recently made some notable contributions to political discussion. This books is based on his radio lectures from 1999 which do not have much to do with Gidden's academic conributions. Instead, this is a practical book aimed at general public interested in the current world affairs. In just 100 pages, compact size and absent of academic buzzwords, the book makes an easy and fast read.

The book has five themes: globalization, risk, tradition, family and democracy. Giddens handles them in turn like he would be playing with his favourite football. Shifts feet, moves forward and kicks when the goal is sure. His playing is readable indeed.

One can rise a couple of leading themes from the book. One is the idea of cosmopolitan tolerance. The other one is the doublesided meaning of risk. On the one hand, risk is what globalization has brought to our daily lives and society at large. On the other hand, risk enables the speed of evolution we are now facing in this global village.

Book Description

Why are some countries poor? What can they do to turn their situations around? What happens to countries and individuals when they move towards being "modern"? What does it mean to "develop" and be "modern" anyway? What are the social effects of the processes of worldwide economic, cultural, and political integration called globalization? From Modernization to Globalization is a reference for scholars, students and development practitioners on the issues of processes of social change and development in the 'Third World'. It provides carefully excerpted samples from both classic and up-to-date writings in the development literature, as well as, a general introduction. Part One reviews formative ideas on the transition to modern society with brief readings from classical theorists. The second part addresses the modernizationists' discussion of how development changes people. The response from dependency and world-system theorists is reviewed in Part Three. The final section includes eight of the most influential writings on the social effects of globalization. Together, this represents an unprecedented compilation important of writings on international development.

Customer Reviews:

S and S or Scholars and Students.......2000-03-29

Wonderful resource for a birdseye view of significant observations of the world changes for 2000plus. Stimulates individual thought and also excellent for a group discussion launching pad. Scholars and students will find it engaging and meaningful.

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