The expansion of capitalism and neoliberal ideologies have delivered
economic integration between countries and brought global
inter-connectedness to individuals. So why do so many people now feel
that they are citizens of nowhere, disparaged by the cosmopolitan
elites? Has democracy and the power of nation states been irredeemably
weakened by unfettered global finance, opaque forms of global
governance, and the power of transnational corporations? Can the huge
rise in social and economic inequality be reversed? Can diverse cultural
expression be maintained in a globalizing world? In the context of the
current nationalist backlash and the momentous impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic, this thought-provoking volume considers whether globalization
is dead or whether it will survive, and perhaps transform.
Written in a clear and engaging style, the volume traces the development
of economic globalization starting from the first wave of
colonialization in the 15th century, through the first period of
globalization at the end of the 19th century, and up to the contemporary
period of globalization that started in the 1980s and appears today to
be teetering on the brink of collapse. It explores the impacts of
globalization on today's world, from global supply chains and tax havens
to rising economic inequality, climate change and pandemics, and
assesses the different impacts on rich and poor countries, and on the
rich and poor within countries. It then reviews the growing
anti-globalization sentiment, starting from the anti-IMF protests that
raged through developing countries in the 1980s and 1990s, to the
emergence of the transnational anti-globalization movement of the 2000s,
to more recent uprisings such as the Arab Spring, The Occupy Movement,
the Gilets Jaunes, and to the current populist nationalist backlash led
by President Trump and embodied in the 2016 Brexit vote. Sensing that
globalization has reached a tipping point, the book considers a range of
possible scenarios for the future world order, including nationalism,
authoritarianism and democratic globalism. Finally, it explores whether
globalization can be democratized in a world in which effective and
inclusive global governance is crucial to solving global problems, such
as tackling climate change, controlling global pandemics and upholding
universal human rights.
