Globalization: A Very Short Introduction

'Globalization' has become one of the defining buzzwords of our time - a term that describes a variety of accelerating economic, political, cultural, ideological, and environmental processes that are rapidly altering our experience of the world. It is by its nature a dynamic topic. This Very Short Introduction has been fully updated for a fourth edition, to include recent developments in global politics, the global economy, and environmental issues.

Presenting globalization as a multifaceted process encompassing global, regional, and local aspects of social life, Manfred B. Steger looks at its causes and effects, examines whether it is a new phenomenon, and explores the question of whether, ultimately, globalization is a good or a bad thing. In this fourth edition Steger discusses some of the key features of recent years, such as the EU fiscal crisis, the rise of robot technology and new war technology with civilian usage such as drones, the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, and new identity discussions around gender fluidity and sex change in the media.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Manfred B. Steger is Professor of Sociology at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa and Honorary Professor of Global Studies at RMIT University (Melbourne, AUS). He also served as a globalization consultant for the U.S. Department of State. He is the author or editor of twenty-five books on globalization and the history of political ideas, including The Rise of the Global Imaginary: Political Ideologies from the French Revolution to the Global War on Terror (OUP, 2008); the award-winning Globalisms: The Great Ideological Struggle of the 21st Century, 3rd ed. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009); and What Is Global Studies? (Routledge, 2016).