Sugar is a commodity that continues to hit the headlines. Whether the debate is over ongoing protectionism, volatile world prices, poor labour standards, or bio fuel production, the policies that surround sugar are heavily contested. Drawing on critical political economy and institutional theory, this book develops a novel framework by which the power underpinning these policies can be better understood and their distributive outcomes brought to the forefront of analysis.
Providing a truly global overview of the sugar industry, the book considers such issues such as the impact of the World Trade Organization on regulation, the patterns of concentration and diversification among sugar processors, and the transition to high-sugar diets in Asia. Importantly, these issues are also discussed in relation to the acts of resistance, submission and co-option among the rural poor. In doing so, this study sheds light not only on the changing nature of production in sugar, but also on the causes and consequences of globalization in the agri-food sector more generally.

Chinese business firms and their networks of personal and business relationships, are becoming increasingly important players in the global economy. This book examines the global and regional operations of Chinese business firms and considers their implications for the management and organisation of these firms, aided by specific case studies. Written by leading researchers in this field, The Globalisation of Chinese Business Firms is a valuable and timely contribution to the study of Asian business systems.

In an era of accelerating change in the world economy, services are assuming greater importance for the economies of both developed and developing countries. As technological developments allow increasing tradeability of services, huge global firms are offering services across national boundaries. This book explores the global impact of this economic phenomenon from both empirical and theoretical perspectives. A range of international authors, including both academics and representatives of major international organisations, offer contributions in two key areas: case studies covering a wide range of service industries, from consumer services, such as hotels and airlines, to professional business-to-business services; and theories and paradigms of economic behaviour. The book questions whether traditional models developed with manufacturing industries in mind are applicable to the service sector, and suggests new directions for economic theory. Globalization of Services therefore offers economists both a wealth of new source material and a fresh perspective on the modern global economy.

Today, despite many significant achievements in science, technology, medicine, transportation and communications, and a vast increase in world trade, the globalized world economy is facing serious socio-economic, political, cultural and environmental problems, of potentially catastrophic proportions. Although many attempts have been made by international organizations like the World Bank and IMF to raise living standards, the dire poverty of billions of people and the widening gap between rich and poor, both within and between countries, point to the failure of these policies. Consequently, we face global crises of inequality, injustice, poverty, marginalization, exclusion and environmental degradation. There has also been a huge rise in crime, corruption and now terrorism. Economic and political failures have resulted in mass migrations across national borders, causing further problems of xenophobia, fear, mistrust, racism and intolerance, which are threatening the fabric of societies all over the world. So, what has gone wrong? Dr Mofid, who has taught economics at university for over 20 years, argues that the root of the problem lies in the way economics is taught, with its narrow focus on "self-interest" and "competition" as the sole motivating factors in economic activity. This ignores equally important considerations like compassion, co-operation and the common good, which are essential for a prosperous and harmonious society. Globalization today is regarded by many as a means of securing for richer individuals, corporations and nations an ever larger slice of the wealth produced, polluting the environment in their greedy pursuit of more, and locking billions into hopeless poverty. In "Globalisation for the Common Good", the author argues that it is possible to achieve a balance between economically efficient production and an equitable distribution of the wealth in a sustainable environment, so that everybody who is willing to work can share in the benefits of globalization. He puts forward an alternative economic model which has firm theological, spiritual and ethical foundations.

European economies are becoming increasingly integrated, and at the same time, the world economy is becoming global. This has raised questions about the specific strategies followed by transnational companies. It also raises the issue of whether the drive towards integration is compatible with that towards globalization strategies; whether, and to what extent, they strengthen each other. "European Integration and Global Corporate Strategies" explores the links between the options of world-wide globalization and European integration which are open to today's corporations, highlighting whether there are conflicts or complementaries between them. The book is divided into two parts: the first part looks at specific mechanisms and trends of globalization in the context of changes due to European integration. The second part considers the role of innovation and technology diffusion as part of the integration and globalization strategies. All the contributors are experts from Britain, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. This book should be of particular interest to students and researchers in the fields of business, economics, politics and European studies.

This book asks if it is time to "reboot" the fundamental institutions of global international society. The volume revisits Hedley Bull's seminal contribution The Anarchical Society by exploring the interconnected nature of change, contestation and resilience for maintaining order in today's uncertain and complex environment. The volume adds to Bull's theorizing by recognizing that order demands change, that contestation should be welcomed, and that resilience is anchored in local and agent-led forms of ordering. The contributors to Part One of the book focus on theoretical and conceptual issues related to order in the global international society, whilst the contributors to Part Two of the book focus on the primary institutions as listed by Hedley Bull with the addition of a chapter on the market adding a distinctive commentary on new and important dynamics of change, contestation and resilience of the existing institutions.

Civilizations and World Order: Geopolitics and Cultural Difference examines the role of civilizations in the context of the existing and possible world order(s) from a cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary perspective. Contributions seek to clarify the meaning of such complex and contested notions as "civilization," "order," and "world order"; they do so by taking into account political, economic, cultural, and philosophical dimensions of social life. The book deals with its main theme from three angles or vectors: first, the geopolitical or power-political context of civilizations; secondly, the different roles of civilizations or cultures against the backdrop of "post-coloniality" and "Orientalism"; and thirdly, the importance of ideological and regional differences as factors supporting or obstructing world order(s). All in all, the different contributions demonstrate the impact of competing civilizational trajectories on the functioning or malfunctioning of contemporary world order.

This book provides a timely reappraisal of youth cultures in contemporary times. From the Birmingham School to the youthscapes of South Korea, this unique collection explores the impact of globalization and new technologies on youth cultures in contrasting geographic locations. Drawing on international examples of youth cultural formations in the UK, the USA, Russia, Spain, South Korea and India, the book profiles the best of new research in youth studies written by leading scholars in the field. Acknowledging the past to explore the present, the book is a landmark publication in the rich history of research on the expressive cultures of young people, reframing 'resistance' and 'ritual' to offer fresh insights into the meaning and significance of youth cultures on a global stage.

This book is a study of the literature and visual arts concerned with the many and diverse forms of slaveries produced by globalisation in Britain since the early 1990s. Starting from the sociological and political analyses of the issue, it combines postcolonial and Holocaust studies in a twin perspective based on the recurrent images of the ghost and the concentration camp, whose manifold shapes populate today's Britain. Discussions focuses on a wide range of works: novelists and crime writers (Chris Abani, Chris Cleave, Marina Lewycka, Ian Rankin, Ruth Rendell), film directors (Nick Broomfield), photographers (Dana Popa), playwrights (Clare Bayley, Cora Bissett and Stef Smith, Abi Morgan, Lucy Kirkwood) and dystopian artists such as Alfonso Cuaron, P. D. James and Salman Rushdie. The book will appeal to both students and scholars in English, postcolonial, Holocaust, globalisation and slavery studies. -- .

In an economy where companies must globalize or perish, only a few have successfully taken their business to the world level. 'The Global Advantage' zeros in on 40 preeminent global companies, located across six continents. A key feature of this book is the author's 'GlobalSuccess' model, based on the research and work he has done with hundreds of global executives around the world. 'The Global Advantage' reveals his discoveries and evaluates how these leaders are bringing their corporations into the global stratosphere. The 'GlobalSuccess' model, build upon the authors experiences and ideas, shows you how to globalize your: * corporate culture* human resources* strategies* operations* structure * learningYou will find specific strategies and principles for globalizing your organization's six dimensions, as defined by the 'GlobalSuccess' model, as well as what steps your company should take to move toward global status.In addition, the 'GlobalSuccess' capability and readiness profile helps you to measure the current level of globalization in your company, as well as how your company's globalization compares with that of your competitors.

What does consumption in the global south signify, and how are its complexities communicated in media discourses? This book looks at the media representation of consumer culture in Africa, China, Brazil and India through case studies ranging from celebrity selfies, to travel websites, news reports and documentary film.

This controversial book rejects the view that the growth of Irish nationalism, Afrikaner nationalism and Zionism was due primarily to issues of race, religion or language. Instead, drawing on a new analytical framework and close historical analysis, it shows how their ultimate success was the result of political, economic and organizational factors conditioned by sustained conflict with the existing state and other ethnic groups.

Globalization has, within academic, political, and business circles alike, become the buzz-word of the 1990s, conjuring an ever growing diversity of associations, connotations, and attendant mythologies. In this volume a distinguished array of international academics assess the contribution of the globalization thesis to our understanding of social, political, and economic change in contemporary societies. They explore many of the exaggerated and overgeneralized claims made about globalization.

Colin Williams argues that recent transformations in the organization of nation-states: decentralization, devolution, new regionalism, deliberative democracy, European integration, and horizontal governance, constitute new political opportunities for linguistic minorities, notably, the possibility of innovation and engagement in the language planning and policy making arenas.

This book focuses on processes of bordering and governmentality around the Greek border islands from the declaration of a 'refugee crisis' in the summer of 2015 up until the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The chapters trace the implementation of the EU migration hotspot approach across space and time, from the maritime Aegean border to the islands (Lesvos and Samos) and from the islands to the Greek mainland. They do so through the lenses of peoples' refusal to succumb to categories that get reified as identities through the hotspot approach, such as that of the 'deserving refugee', the 'undeserving economic migrant', the 'translator', the 'volunteer', the 'tourist' and the 'researcher'. This book explores how 'migration management' in Greece from 2015-2020, along with the reshaping of space and time, reconfigured peoples' relationships with one another and ultimately with one's self.

The journey towards a sustainable world is our greatest challenge. This book includes reports, analysis, and discussion of cutting-edge approaches to incorporating sustainability importantly in the mix of organizational strategic elements. It includes examples of ""zero-footprint"" production facilities, leveraging environmental and social opportunities by projects, examining theories of excellence in sustainability through appreciative inquiry, social entrepreneurship, closed-loop supply chain management including reverse flows of products returned by end users, using triple bottom-line measures of success implemented in various societal and political contexts, implementing environmentally positive green technologies, new visions for making sustainability sustainable, and innovations in diffusing learning throughout an organization's web of stakeholders and admirers. Examples and cases are drawn from business, government, and not-for-profit sectors and intraand inter-sectoral partnerships in the US, Canada, Australia, the Philippines, and Spain.Notable focal cases include the airline industry, with its emerging space-rich aerotropolises as potentially sustainable communities and higher education. These are at times supported by interviews that bring into focus positive learning experiences and high-point stories.

The Politics of Global Supply Chains analyses the changing politics of power and distribution within contemporary global supply chains. Drawing on over 300 interviews with farmers, workers, activists, businesses and government officials in garment and coffee sector supply chains, the book shows how the increased involvement of non-state actors in supply chain governance is re-shaping established patterns of global political power, responsibility and accountability. These emerging supply chain governance systems are shown to be multi-layered and politically contested, as transnational governance schemes interact with traditional state governance arrangements in both complementary and conflicting ways. The book s analysis of changes to the relationship between state and non-state actors within transnational governance processes will be of particular interest to scholars and students of globalisation, global governance and regulation. The Politics of Global Supply Chains also suggests some practical ways by which the effectiveness and accountability of supply chain governance could be strengthened, which will interest both scholars and practitioners in fields of global business regulation and corporate social responsibility. Conclusions are relevant to the business and civil society actors who participate directly in non-state governance schemes, and to state regulators whose distinctive governance capacities could play a much greater role than at present in supporting transnational, non-state governance processes.

This book explores in detail how African countries dealt with the pandemic and how it affected different aspects of different economies and social structures. Observing how human beings change the environment and, specifically, how population growth and urbanization negatively impact nature, recently shocked economies and social upheaval in Africa indicate a crossroads moment for the continent. The book further adds to the knowledge base of how to build a more robust Africa with sustainable solutions working in tandem with vibrant and robust economies. Commonsense social strategies go hand in hand with trackable shocked economies via first- and second-moment reactions. Uncertainty shocks, in this case, interrelate via an umbrella effect. The authors evaluate theories of impact shocks using a sustainable growth and change model. Finally, key topics incorporate new urban thinking for economic recovery, developing sustainable economies post-COVID-19, understanding social practices during a crisis, and developing community robustness via shock events. The book integrates an interdisciplinary approach to understanding how to best mitigate the COVID-19 crisis as well as reduce future shocks to the African continent. It raises vital questions connecting the effects of lockdown measures, crisis causation, and shock impacts most countries faced over the last two-year period. The answers to these questions are not limited to economists and sociologists, instead, they magnify to include policymakers and everyday people. The nature of this book is to help piece together solutions for preparedness, a stronger understanding of sound development, and a united and resilient Pan-Africanism to best handle future shock events.

The end of the Cold War gave rise to much talk of a 'new' global order and debate about just how new or orderly it was and would be. Attempts to analyse the nature of this order have been many and various. This important new text assesses the main approaches and offers its own analysis arguing that, while chaos and raw anarchy are not on the cards, each of the major domains of power - security, economics, institutions and values - contains elements of potentially major instability. Interstate war may be receding, but there are no simple solutions to comprehensive violent conflict inside fragile states, and the non-democratic great powers continue to have major regional ambitions. There is a global liberal market economy, but it is increasingly unequal and its financial infrastructure remains fragile and crisis-prone. There is a comprehensive set of international institutions but they are rather weak and in need of reform. Liberal values are nominally endorsed by most states but they are in internal conflict and make up no firm basis for a stable world order. Finally, world order is threatened from within because the social compacts, political infrastructures, and national economic capacities of many states will decline. This will have negative consequences for the willingness to bring about effective global governance. The result may be a destructive dynamic which might take us towards a Hobbesian world in ways which Hobbes himself had never imagined.

This interdisciplinary examination of present-day identities and histories of the former Yugoslavia explores relationships with the social, political, cultural and historical 'facts and fictions' that have marked the different parts of the region. It shows that while nationalism remains important other social dynamics also exert a strong influence.

This collection of essays reflects a wide array of realities and experiences of people from different areas of the world, including England, Nicaragua, Colombia, Spain, and Guatemala. Globalization requires innovation and adaptation, things that are easier for some countries to achieve than others. This book states that the current form of globalization allows the West to dominate the world market at the expense of other countries. This collection challenges the framework of globalization and provides practical advice for making globalization beneficial to all countries. This volume seeks to transform globalization into something productive for humanity as a whole. The nature and history of globalization is discussed as well as its impact on the Third World. New approaches to globalization are presented, as well as the rationale of these recommendations. The book shows that globalization can be reworked in order to include all countries, from the First to Third World.

Port cities have distinctive global dynamics, with long histories of casual labour, large migrant communities, and international trade networks. This in-depth comparative study examines contradictory global legacies across themes of urban identity, waterfront work and radicalism in key post-industrial port cities worldwide.

This book examines how foreign policy can adapt to the challenge of globalization. Two central questions are posed:how can foreign policy defend or project statist political communities using soft power within a global information space? Does soft power affect foreign policy by undermining statist community within the same global information space?

The book is a call for change in the present world-order which is dominated by free market consumer culture, military industrial interests and control and manipulation of freedom of people by using media and modern technology. It explains the history of development of democracy and its crisis in the framework of the present global-order, and takes a penetrating look into the issues of human rights which are being distorted by the economic interests of monopoly capitalism, or the authoritarian rulers. The book describes how we may replace the present system, which has been shaped mostly by the actions, will and freedom nurtured by the instinct-bound man, by an enlightened order, which would project the higher realm of consciousness of the human mind. Instead of building a society, which inspires man to grab, compete, dominate and exploit the weaker fellow beings by using the existing economic and military disparities in the world, it dreams about creating an enlightened-society where human beings may find meaning of life in sharing ones knowledge, innovation and creative abilities for the benefit of the mankind as a whole. It wishes to inspire the readers to pave the path of fulfilling the meaning of human existence as the bearer of a great cosmic mind and envisions a world of loving and compassionate human beings, who wish to empower, guide and teach the fellow human beings suffering around them. Without sinking in the belief that what are happening in the world today represent the true nature of the human behaviour, the book seeks to bring the changes in the "reality of history" by empowering, guiding and teaching the fellow human beings about the "higher-nature" of man which resides in us all.

How can we reconfigure our picture of modern art after the postcolonial turn without simply adding regional art histories to the Eurocentric canon? Transmodern examines the global dimension of modern art by tracing the crossroads of different modernisms in Asia, Europe and the Americas. Featuring case studies in Indian modernism, the Harlem Renaissance and post-war abstraction, it demonstrates the significance of transcultural contacts between artists from both sides of the colonial divide. The book argues for the need to study non-western avant-gardes and Black avant-gardes within the west as transmodern counter-currents to mainstream modernism. It situates transcultural art practices from the 1920s to the 1960s within the framework of anti-colonial movements and in relation to contemporary transcultural thinking that challenged colonial concepts of race and culture with notions of syncretism and hybridity. -- .