Globalization: Prospects and Problems

This groundbreaking text on globalization provides a comprehensive and enlightening overview of globalization issues and topics. Emphasizing the theory and methods that social scientists employ to study globalization, the text reveals how macro globalization processes impact individual lives―from the spread of scientific discourse to which jobs are more or less likely to be offshored. The author presents a clear image of "the big globalization picture" by skillfully exploring, piece by piece, a myriad of globalization topics, debates, theories, and empirical data. Compelling chapters on theory, global civil society, democracy, cities, religion, institutions (sports, education, and health care), along with three chapters on global challenges, help readers develop a broad understanding of key topics and issues. Throughout the text, the author encourages readers to relate their personal experiences to globalization processes, allowing for a more meaningful and relevant learning experience.

 

JoAnn Chirico, emerita, received her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Pittsburgh.

While originally a doctoral candidate in education, she found that sociology provided the theoretical

tools to analyze the problems she investigated―the coincidence of the global rise of

both progressive and fundamentalist movements in education, religion, and other dimensions of

social life. Intrigued by Emile Durkheim’s pronouncement that individual differentiation would

proceed to such an extent that all we ultimately would have in common was our humanity, she

began her study of globalization―the integration of humanity into a social order.

Most of her career was at the Beaver campus of Pennsylvania State University, where she

emphasized the importance of research and evidence, the global perspective, and civic engagement

in her classes. She has presented workshops on internationalizing the curriculum and

engaging students in service learning at conferences over the years.

Her previous publications for SAGE include Sociological Research Exercises for the Global Age,

a lab manual of mini research exercises for introductory sociology courses, and Globalization:

Prospects and Problems.