The purpose of this volume is to bring together the leading scholarly papers about how globalization has impacted the role of SMEs. In fact, globalization has affected SMEs in two major ways. The first has been to facilitate the transnational activities of SMEs. Transnational activities, ranging from exports to foreign direct investment to participating in global value chains have become easier as a result of globalization. The second impact of globalization has been to shift the source of competitiveness towards knowledge-based economic activity, which has led to an increased role for SMEs. The first section of this volume examines how globalization has affected the role of SMEs in the economy. The second section of the volume is devoted to global strategies by SMEs The third section focuses on an important type of global activity of SMEs, which involves foreign direct investment. The fourth section focuses on the role of clusters and networks in generating SME competitiveness in global markets. SME export strategies and performance is analyzed in Section Five. Section Six examines the impact that the international mobility of labour has had on SMEs. The seventh section focuses on the role that SMEs play in transnational technology transfer. Section Eight is devoted to SMEs in the context of developing countries. In the final section of the volume policy issues are raised. This includes identifying how policy needs to address barriers to internationalization confronting SMEs.

Globalization, along with its digital and information communication technology counterparts, including the Internet and cyberspace, may signify a whole new era for human rights, characterized by new tensions, challenges, and risks for human rights, as well as new opportunities. Human Rights and Risks in the Digital Era: Globalization and the Effects of Information Technologies explores the emergence and evolution of digital rights that challenge and transform more traditional legal, political, and historical understandings of human rights. Academic and legal scholars will explore individual, national, and international democratic dilemmas--sparked by economic and environmental crises, media culture, data collection, privatization, surveillance, and security--that alter the way individuals and societies think about, regulate, and protect rights when faced with new challenges and threats. The book not only uncovers emerging changes in discussions of human rights, it proposes legal remedies and public policies to mitigate the challenges posed by new technologies and globalization.

What happens to extensive and generous welfare states when they are faced with serious economic crisis and the effects of globalization? This thorough analysis of the processes of social policy restructuring in two Nordic welfare states endeavours to answer this and other questions related to their survival in a world of intensifying global competition. Virpi Timonen investigates both the changes that have taken place in central social policies in the areas of pensions, unemployment policies, social and health services, and the political and structural reasons for the pattern of policy change that emerged. A critical evaluation of the roles of globalization, political mechanisms and power relationships in shaping these social policies in Finland and Sweden is also featured. Welfare state specialists and those seeking to understand welfare states as a central constituent of politics in Nordic countries will find Restructuring the Welfare State to be of great interest. The book will also appeal to academics and researchers in the fields of social policy and comparative politics, as well as public and social policy analysts in international organizations such as the OECD and the World Bank.

The contributors to this collection provide a wealth of new analyses of both traditional and emerging aspects of entrepreneurship, from a variety of national perspectives and from a variety of disciplines. Globalization has begun to dismantle the barriers that traditionally segregated local business opportunities and local firms from their international counterparts. Local markets are becoming integral parts of broader, global markets. As globalization proceeds apace, entrepreneurs and small businesses will play a more prominent role on the global business arena. The volume is divided into three sections. The first looks at the internationalization process itself while the second focuses on factors facilitating this process in small and medium-sized firms. The last section examines emerging dimensions in management policy. This book provides valuable insights for business leaders, policy formulators, students and academics alike in understanding and coping with our rapidly changing world.

Examining the dynamics between subject, photographer and viewer, Fashioning Brazil analyses how Brazilians have appropriated and reinterpreted clothing influences from local and global cultures. Exploring the various ways in which Brazil has been fashioned by the pioneering scientific and educational magazine, National Geographic, the book encourages us to look beyond simplistic representations of exotic difference. Instead, it brings to light an extensive history of self-fashioning within Brazil, which has emerged through cross-cultural contact, slavery, and immigration. Providing an in-depth examination of Brazilian dress and fashion practices as represented by the quasi-ethnographic gaze of National Geographic and National Geographic Brazil (the Portuguese language edition of the magazine, established in 2000), the book unpacks a series of case studies. Taking us from body paint to Lycra, via loincloths and bikinis, Kutesko frames her analysis within the historical, cultural, and political context of Latin American interactions with the United States. Exploring how dress can be used to manipulate identity and disrupt expectations, Fashioning Brazil examines readers' sensory engagements with an iconic magazine, and sheds new light on key debates concerning global dress and fashion.

The events in Seattle and other cities around the world demonstrate that globalisation and trade liberalisation are currently under severe pressure. There are also reasons to believe that these pressures are being translated into measures to increase the protection of domestic markets. This book addresses what are arguably the four most important origins of these pressures: macroeconomic conditions, labour policy, trade and the environment, and market imperfections.The authors first address the role of macroeconomic conditions and policies, and demonstrate how these can have a crucial role in explaining 'slippages' of trade policy. The second origin of instability is labour policy, in particular the pressures to introduce universal labour standards. The third economic origin the book considers is the relationship between trade and the environment and the attempts to link trade policies to environmental standards. The fourth origin of protectionist pressure comes from the presence of various market imperfections and the extent to which they affect competition. The authors conclude that multilateral agreements can be extremely helpful in creating the right environment for equitable trade policies, but warn that complete success can only be achieved once major hurdles are overcome in the highly controversial and politically sensitive areas of labour, environment and competition. Offering a unique perspective on the threat to globalisation, this book should be widely read by students, practitioners and policymakers in the spheres of international trade, transition and development studies, and competition, labour and environmental economics.

Globalization and the Small Open Economy investigates the specific role of small open countries in a globalizing economic system and assesses the unique pressures and opportunities afforded them by globalization. Traditionally, in contrast to large countries, small open economies (SOEs) have relied on international economic policy rather than domestic policy as a means to foster national economic development. Their firms also have a far greater reliance on host countries to gain competitive advantage than those of larger nations. This would suggest that globalization has potentially a far greater impact on SOEs than on large countries. The contributors to this volume concur with this view and seek to outline the challenges and opportunities faced by policymakers and managers of multinational enterprises from SOEs. They examine the role of government, environmental policy, inward and outward foreign direct investment and multinational management and conclude that, on balance, globalization provides more of an opportunity than a threat to economic growth in these countries. An innovative collection with fascinating new insights on the present and future role of small, open countries in the global economy, this will be an important new reference source for academics and students, public policy research institutes, international business scholars and trade economists.

Today's globalised world means offshore finance, airport boutiques and high-speed Internet for some people, against dollar-a-day wages, used t-shirts, and illiteracy for others. How do these highly skewed global distributions happen, and what can be done to counter them? New Rules for Global Justice engages with widespread public disquiet around global inequality. It explores (mal)distributions in relation to country, class, gender and race, with international examples drawn from Australia to Zimbabwe. The book is action-oriented and empowering, presenting concrete proposals for 'new rules' in regard to climate change, corruption, finance, food, investment, the Internet, migration and more.

This forward-looking volume offers insights into the globalization of the Chinese economy and its accession to the WTO. The contributors provide updated accounts of recent developments in the Chinese economy and examines the implications of China's accession for the rest of the world. Firstly, the volume offers an overview of possible changes in industrial policies and analyzes new developments in some important sectors, including agriculture, telecommunications and automobiles. It addresses the key concerns in China regarding its entry into the WTO, such as whether the WTO membership will cause massive unemployment and/or exacerbate inequalities among regions. Finally, it evaluates the implications of increased trade and financial ties with China for the rest of the world, investigating the conditions facilitating foreign direct investment in China and assessing potential trade disputes as trade between China and the rest of the world grows. The Globalization of the Chinese Economy provides a comprehensive picture of the political, economic and social environment in China as a whole. It will be of particular interest to academics of Asian studies and international relations as well as policymakers in the US, China and other Western economies.

Processes of neoliberal globalization have put national trade unions under pressure as the transnational organization of production puts these labour movements in competition with each other. The global economic crisis has intensified these pressures further. And yet, economic and political integration processes have also provided workers with new possibilities to organize resistance. Emphasizing the importance of agency, this book analyzes transnational labour action in times of crisis, historically and now. It draws on a variety of fascinating cases, across formal and informal collectives, in order to clarify which factors facilitate or block the formation of solidarity. Moving beyond empirical description of cases to an informed understanding of collective action across borders, the volume provides an insightful theorization of transnational action.

Untapped collects twelve previously unpublished essays that analyze the rise of craft beer from social and cultural perspectives. In the United States, the United Kingdom, and Western Europe there has been exponential growth in the number of small independent breweries over the past thirty years - a reversal of the corporate consolidation and narrowing of consumer choice that characterized much of the twentieth century. While there are legal and policy components involved in this shift, the contributors to Untapped ask broader questions. How does the growth of craft beer connect to trends like the farm-to-table movement, gentrification, the rise of the "creative class," and changing attitudes toward both cities and farms? How do craft beers conjure history, place, and authenticity? At perhaps the most fundamental level, how does the rise of craft beer call into being new communities that may challenge or reinscribe hierarchies based on gender, class, and race?

"In lively and unflinching prose, Eric Cazdyn and Imre Szeman argue that contemporary thought about the world is disabled by a fatal flaw: the inability to think "an after" to globalization. After establishing seven theses (on education, morality, history, future, capitalism, nation, and common sense) that challenge the false promises that sustain this time-limit, After Globalization examines four popular thinkers (Thomas Friedman, Richard Florida, Paul Krugman and Naomi Klein) and how their work is dulled by these promises. Cazdyn and Szeman then speak to students from around the globe who are both unconvinced and uninterested in these promises and who understand the world very differently than the way it is popularly represented. After Globalization argues that a true capacity to think an after to globalization is the very beginning of politics today"--

This book addresses a seemingly paradoxical situation. On the one hand, nationalism from Scotland to the Ukraine remains a resilient political dynamic, fostering secessionist movements below the level of the state. On the other, the competence and capacity of states, and indeed the coherence of nationalism as an ideology, are increasingly challenged by patterns of globalisation in commerce, cultural communication and constitutional authority beyond the state. It is the aim of this book to shed light on the relationship between these two processes, addressing why the political currency of nationalism remains strong even when the salience of its objective - independent and autonomous statehood - becomes ever more attenuated. The book takes an interdisciplinary approach both within law and beyond, with contributions from international law, constitutional law, constitutional theory, history, political science and sociology. The challenge for our time is considerable. Global networks grow ever more sophisticated while territorial borders, such as those in Eastern and Central Europe, become seemingly more unstable. It is hoped that this book, by bringing together areas of scholarship which have not communicated with one another as much as they might, will help develop an ongoing dialogue across disciplines with which better to understand these challenging, and potentially destabilising, developments.

This is a philosophical analysis of the 9/11 events against the ongoing historical background. This clearly written and accessible work presents a philosopher's response to the series of events known as '9/11' and the global culture in the United States - and global society - that followed. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the emerging post-9/11 culture, situating it in a broad context that includes politics, religious discourse, economic theory, and philosophical orientation. Before and After 9/11 reconstructs the events that led to and departed from the attacks on September 11, 2001. It criticizes the attempts to explain 9/11 by George W. Bush, his administration's neoconservatives, Samuel Huntington, and Bernard Lewis. It also pays particular attention to the importance of the economic dimension in the emergence of conflicts in an age of globalization. The aim is to provide a philosophical overview of 9/11, understood as a series of connected events within an ongoing historical context. This unique work will appeal to anyone seeking to understand the current world, including the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Globalizing Europe examines the involvement of the European Union in the deepening integration that results as trade and transnational production link markets and economic systems across the world. This process is posing a unique challenge to European decision-makers to implement measures that will maximize the benefits and reduce the costs of globalization. As Europe expands and becomes more integrated it is being obliged to assume greater control over the development of its external economic relations. To effect this, the authors propose that member states play a more active and constructive role in the global political economy. They advocate the planning and implementation of major initiatives that could ensure greater stability in the world economy. Because of the magnitude of the economic bonds developing between the EU and the USA, special attention is paid to the trends and issues associated with the evolution of Atlantic relations. One of the greatest challenges the authors highlight, and a theme implicit throughout the book, is that the EU's external problems may receive inadequate attention due to the complexities of its decision processes. EU-level decision-making may become more introspective, rather than global, in outlook. Combining firm, industry, regional and country levels of analysis with the diverse and provocative views of the authors, this book will be essential reading for scholars of international economics, international political economy, and international business and finance.

This book examines the impact of globalization on languages in contact, including the study of linkages between the global and local, and transnational and situated communication. It engages with social theory and social processes while grappling with questions of language analysis raised by globalized language contact. Drawing on case studies from North America, Europe and Africa, the volume makes three important contributions to contemporary sociolinguistics by: * arguing that concepts of scale and space are essential for understanding contemporary sociolinguistic phenomena * showing that the transnational flows and movements of peoples highlight the problem and work of identity in relation to both place and time * addressing methodological challenges raised by different approaches to the study of globalization and language contact. This cutting-edge monograph featuring research by renowned international contributors will be of interest to academics researching sociolinguistics, and language and globalization.

In a world of global communication, where each one's life depends increasingly on signs, language and communication, understanding how we relate and opening ourselves to otherness, to differences in all their forms and aspects is becoming more and more relevant. Today, we often understand the differences in terms of adversity or opposition and forget the value of the similarities. Semiotic approaches can provide a critical point of view and a more general reflection that can redefine some aspects of the discussion about the nature of these semiotic categories, differences and similarities. The dichotomy differences - similarities is fundamental to understanding the meaning-making mechanisms in language (De Saussure, 1966; Deleuze, 1995), as well as in other sign systems (Ponzio, 1995; Sebeok & Danesi, 2000). Meaning always appears in the "play of differences" (Derrida, 1978) and similarities. Therefore, the phenomena of similarities and differences must be considered complementary (Marcus, 2011). This book addresses and offers new perspectives for analyzing and understanding sensitive topics in the world of global communication (humanities education, responsive understanding of otherness, digital culture and new media power).

The widespread capital market liberalisation has resulted in a massive surge in international capital flows and the development of a more integrated world financial system. At the same time, however, the volatility of capital flows has increased and the stability of this modern financial system has been called into question by a number of financial and currency crises. In this volume the editors assess the behaviour of international capital markets during this period, focusing on both the causes and the consequences of financial instability. They examine the origins of the Latin American and East Asian crises and the lessons that can be drawn from these, and they consider the proposals for reform of the international financial system which have followed. This collection of papers, written by both academics and practitioners, is addressed both to specialists and to a wider audience, and will provide insight into an extremely important global development.

Since the 1970s, there have been many changes to the ways in which Japanese firms have conducted business. The editors of this volume examine the strategies of Japanese subsidiaries in the new global economy and present, in four parts, a comprehensive picture of the nature of Japanese multinational enterprises.The book addresses the overall nature of Japanese investment in international markets, and its broader implications for corporate performance. The entry mode choice and its relationship to performance is then examined, in an attempt to establish overall trends in the performance of various modes. The focus then shifts explicitly to joint ventures since nearly half of all Japanese subsidiaries take this form. Finally, the management strategies that Japanese firms have used in their foreign subsidiaries are investigated. Japanese Subsidiaries in the New Global Economy utilizes empirical analyses based on a very large, longitudinal data set, coupled with state of the art conceptual development. This volume provides a complete current picture of the international strategy of Japanese firms, which will be both useful and informative for researchers, scholars and policy makers in international business, international economics, foreign investment, joint ventures and expatriate management.

The EU has taken a leading role in calling for a round of new trade negotiations in the WTO to deal with the issues of globalisation. Proposals in the EU call for expansion into new areas such as global investment, competition, and environmental rules in addition to liberalisation negotiations on agriculture and services. Issues such as global governance, capital mobility, and labour standards are also explored. Brigid Gavin questions if the EU's call for path-breaking global negotiations is too ambitious and whether or not it will fail to achieve the required response from its trading partners. The book demonstrates how the EU has evolved constitutionally beyond the internal market into a highly developed system of multi-level governance. Non-state actors such as NGOs, labour unions and private industry groups have been increasingly engaged in the discussion, decision-making and implementation of policy. The volume therefore contains important lessons for the WTO. Exploring path-breaking reforms for increased parliamentary control of globalisation in the WTO, and providing a concrete model for implementation, this volume will be invaluable to academics, policymakers and NGOs in the areas of European studies, institutional relations and international business.

The impact of globalisation on social development is a critical issue for both developed and developing countries. In Globalisation and Social Development, leading experts investigate this from the perspective of European, and more specifically, Southeast Asian economies including Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. The contributors provide a well documented, multi-disciplinary analysis of the relationship between globalisation and social development in regions which, in the last two decades, have relied heavily on an outward looking development strategy and on attracting FDI, and which have been severely hit by the Asian crisis. In order to substantiate their analysis, the contributors include case studies of company relocation to Southeast Asia. The effects of globalisation on compliance with core labour standards in the Asia Pacific are also explored. Examining the complex link between globalisation and social development in Europe and Southeast Asia, Globalisation and Social Development will be welcomed by economists and social researchers with a specific interest in globalisation and Southeast Asian economies. Lecturers and scholars of international economics, international business and Asian business will also find the book to be of great interest.

Globalisation of the world economy portends a wide range of benefits to citizens of all countries. However, this ground-breaking book finds that the impacts of trade liberalisation and globalisation appear to have a negative impact on agricultural sustainability in developing countries.This book explores the proposition that globalisation and trade liberalisation is an international win-win game and finds that there is substantial evidence to suggest that there could be a range of agricultural problems and negative impacts on rural communities and the environment in poorer countries. The authors use cutting-edge research from Brazil, Bolivia, Burkino Faso, Indonesia, The Philippines and Thailand to suggest that special attention needs to be paid to local issues in poor countries in the face of globalisation. Sustainable Agriculture and Environment will prove invaluable to scholars and policymakers in the areas of environmental and ecological economics.

In Deportation in the Americas: Histories of Exclusion and Resistance, editors Kenyon Zimmer and Cristina Salinas have compiled seven essays, adapted from the Walter Prescott Webb Memorial Lecture Series, that deeply consider deportation policy in the Americas and its global effects. These thoughtful pieces significantly contribute to a growing historiography on deportation within immigration studies-a field that usually focuses on arriving immigrants and their adaptation. All contributors have expanded their analysis to include transnational and global histories, while recognizing that immigration policy is firmly developed within the structure of the nation-state. Thus, the authors do not abandon national peculiarity regarding immigration policy, but as Emily Pope-Obeda observes, "from its very inception, immigration restriction was developed with one eye looking outward." Contributors note that deportation policy can signal friendship or cracks within the relationships between nations. Rather than solely focusing on immigration policy in the abstract, the authors remain cognizant of the very real effects domestic immigration policies have on deportees and push readers to think about how the mobility and lives of individuals come to be controlled by the state, as well as the ways in which immigrants and their allies have resisted and challenged deportation. From the development of the concept of an "anchor baby" to continued policing of those who are foreign-born, Deportation in the Americas is an essential resource for understanding this critical and timely topic.