This book seeks to overcome the tension between 'western' and 'non-western' categories and tools in the study of global history, showing how most western approaches to the social sciences and history have developed through transnational and colonial interactions. Offering a transnational and global history of the main tools we have to understand the word and its transformations over the last three centuries, Tensions of Social History explores the construction of archives and historical memory, the making of statistics and their use in politics, the identification of social actors, and the emergence of key social theories. Providing key insights into how to write history and develop social sciences in the global era while avoiding eurocentrism and cultural exceptionalism, this ambitious book shows how global history is made of encounters rather than confrontations between civilizations.

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.

This book studies the dramatic changes in consumption patterns in Vietnam over the past decades, combining a focus on everyday practices and societal transformations. Zooming in on the new urban middle classes, and through in-depth case studies in the realms of mobility, food and energy, the book brings new insights to some of the most urgent global sustainability challenges. Based on a decade of research in Vietnam, the book aims to contribute to better understanding one of the most fascinating 'development success stories' in the world. It introduces the term 'consumer socialism' to analyse some of the contradictions embedded in the socialist market economy. Simultaneously, the book aims to contribute to strengthening consumption research in and on emerging economies, and for this purpose develops a theoretical approach focusing on social practices and the political economy of consumption.

This volumes engages with the 'Global(izing) International Relations' debate, which is marked by the emerging tensions between the steadily increasing diversity and persisting dividing lines in today's International Relations (IR) scholarship. Its international cast of scholars draw together a diverse set of theoretical and methodological approaches, and a multitude of case studies focusing on IR scholarship in African and Muslim thought, as well as in countries such as China, Iran, Australia, Russia and Southeast Asian and Latin American regions. The following questions underpin this study: how is IR practiced beyond the West, and which theoretical alternatives are there for Western IR concepts? Fundamentally, what divides today's IR scholarship in light of its geo-epistemological diversity? This volume identifies shortcomings in the existing debate and offers new pathways for future research.

This book presents the history of globalization as a network-based story in the context of Big History. Departing from the traditional historic discourse, in which communities, cities, and states serve as the main units of analysis, the authors instead trace the historical emergence, growth, interconnection, and merging of various types of networks that have gradually encompassed the globe. They also focus on the development of certain ideas, processes, institutions, and phenomena that spread through those networks to become truly global. The book specifies five macro-periods in the history of globalization and comprehensively covers the first four, from roughly the 9th - 7th millennia BC to World War I. For each period, it identifies the most important network-related developments that facilitated (or even spurred on) such transitions and had the greatest impacts on the history of globalization. By analyzing the world system's transition to new levels of complexity and connectivity, the book provides valuable insights into the course of Big History and the evolution of human societies.

With North Atlantic post-World War II transatlantic dynamics as the subject, this volume inquires if its theoretical tenets hold in other epochs and Atlantic arenas. Both case and comparative studies of such historical cases as the silver, slave, and commodity trades, and whether ideas, such as faith and democracy, have as much impact as these merchandise flows, simultaneously challenge and strengthen the transatlantic paradigm. They permit transatlantic relations to be stretched as far back as to the 8th Century, in turn exposing transatlantic flows hugging global threads, while revealing the strength and size of several unaccounted types of transatlantic transactions, such as the north-south varieties.

The book provides an analytic framework for grand strategy and applies the framework to illuminate the grand strategies of the Great Powers of the twenty-first century: India, China, Russia, and the United States. The book also uses Coca-Cola as a case study to illustrate the potential influence of grand strategy on business strategy. The analysis is rigorous, logical, fact-based, historically rooted, and well-sourced with abundant endnotes to encourage further exploration by readers.

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-ND license. Ambassadors are a kind of vehicle and bellwether for globalization. These diplomatic envoys serve as pivotal contact points between nations across a wide range of fields, from economics and culture to health and the environment. The special group of ambassadors in this book - those based in Beijing - are at the forefront of what for many countries is one of their most important bilateral relationships, as well one of the most striking and consequential aspects of global affairs in the 21st century: the rise of China on the world stage. This book aims to present an overview of China and the world from diverse angles. It brings together essays by ambassadors to China on a range of bilateral and multilateral issues, including trade and investment, regional economic cooperation, sustainable development, technology and innovation, and entrepreneurship. Given their familiarity with China and extensive international experience, the insights of these ambassadors are useful for policymakers, academics, entrepreneurs, students, and anyone trying to make sense of our rapidly changing world.

In light of recent global trends and crises, including the hasty withdrawal of Western troops from Afghanistan and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, this book sheds new light on global power shifts in multiple areas of international relations between industrialized countries and emerging powers. This book argues that "the global age" is rapidly supplanting "the modern age", and that modernity is paving the way for globality. The events that are taking place in the 21st century can no longer be effectively described, understood or explained by the concept of modernity which originated more than 500 years ago. Further, this book challenges the academic and societal tendency to view international power-related phenomena on the basis of a dichotomy between hard and soft power. It assumes that another power source, independent of hard and soft power, does exist. Invisible, structure-manipulating, and effectively leveraged, it is precisely this "third power" that drives and shapes power phenomena in the "global age" more intensively than either hard or soft power. This book seeks to verify its core hypotheses by applying them to a set of selected global phenomena, particularly from the domains of geopolitics (Belt & Road Initiative, Iran conflict, war in Afghanistan, and competition for a new world order) and technology (Global Navigation Satellite Systems, 5G infrastructure, race for international standards, and ICT rivalry). Rather than systematically examining each of these issues, it focuses on extracting theoretical meanings from these cases to demonstrate the logic of globality and structural power, partly from global-horizontal perspectives, partly through a structural-vertical lens.

In a time of great gloom and doom internationally and of major global problems, this book offers an invaluable contribution to our understanding of alternative societies that could be better for humans and the environment. Bringing together a wide range of approaches and new strands of economic and social thinking from across the US, Mexico, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa, Luke Martell critically assesses contemporary alternatives and shows the ways forward with a convincing argument of pluralist socialism. Presenting a much-needed introduction to the debate on alternatives to capitalism, this ambitious book is not about how things are, but how they can be!

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. 'This is a must-have first book for anyone interested in global/transnational law, law and globalisation or legal globalisation, all complex concepts so fascinatingly expounded by the book. One great advantage of this book is that it concisely and comprehensively analyses the pluralist phenomenon of law and globalisation and provides a coherent theoretical/conceptual web connecting major interdependent, interrelated disciplines, theories, methodologies, and dimensions utilised in existing studies of the above phenomenon. The book takes a laudable fresh approach embracing not only the orthodoxies but also a novel and forward-looking perspective fitting for new powers such as China.' - Qiao Liu, The University of Queensland, Australia This Advanced Introduction offers a fresh critical analysis of various dimensions of law and globalisation, drawing on historical, normative, theoretical, and linguistic methodologies. Its comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach spans the fields of global legal pluralism, comparative legal studies, and international law. Key features include: Comprehensive treatment of main themes and approaches in law and globalisation discussions Provides a theoretical basis for evaluating legal globalisation Includes contemporary developments Examples from many jurisdictions offer a genuinely global perspective. An ideal concise companion for students and scholars alike, this book sets out an alternative view to law and globalisation that will interest anyone concerned with the future of legal globalisation.

This collection of essays introduces the thriving illicit industries and activities within the global economy whose growth challenges traditional notions of wealth, power, and progress. Through essays contributed by leading experts and scholars, "Deviant Globalization" argues that far from being marginal, illicit activities are a fundamental part of globalization. Narcotrafficking, human trafficking, the organ trade, computer malware, transnational gangs are just as much artifacts of globalization as are CNN and McDonald's, free trade and capital mobility, accessible air travel and container shipping. In fact, almost every technology, process, and regulation that enables mainstream globalization is an enabler of deviant globalization. This unique book explains why understanding deviant globalization as a systemic and integral part of globalization is crucial for setting up policies that will maximize the benefits of globalization and minimize its ill effects. Going beyond the usual pro/con arguments about globalization, "Deviant Globalization" seeks to initiate a critical debate about the choices it presents to governments, firms, supra-national organizations, and individuals. An accessible treatment of the underbelly of globalization, the book offers a systematic treatment of the difficult policy choices that it creates and describes a much more complex and symbiotic relationship between illicit and mainstream globalization.

What are the implications of colonialism for a theory of global justice today? What does rectificatory justice mean in the light of colonialism? What does global rectificatory justice require in practice? The author seeks to answer these questions covering a significant gap in the literature on global justice.

Accounting Standards can vary widely from country to country, thus making comparisons of company accounts difficult. Other adverse effects can include higher than necessary preparation costs for multinational companies, who may have to prepare different reports on their operations for different countries. It is clear that such problems and inefficiencies are no longer acceptable either to investors or corporations in an increasingly globalised capital market. International Accounting Standards were written to harmonise all accounting standards throughout the world, improving the ability of investors, creditors, governments, and others to make informed resource allocation and policy decisions. The ISAC Standards are now accepted by almost all leading stock exchanges and many international companies are now preparing their accounts using them.
The G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors have called on all countries that participate in global capital markets to commit to complying with these universal standards. In May 2000, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSOC) recommended acceptance of the use of IAS by its members. In June 2000, the European Commission proposed that all listed companies in the EU should be required to prepare their consolidated financial statements using International Accounting Standards.

Using the text from the Standards themselves this book explains clearly and precisely the requirements and use of the Standards in a style that is acceptable to the accountant and non-accountant alike.

There is undeniable evidence of powerful emotions at work in the political and social life of even the most advanced countries of the modern world. The aim of this book is to understand this emotional involvement, not directly, but imaginatively, through fiction. Nevertheless, critical situations - in economy, politics and society - determine whether emotionally charged social change is constructive or destructive. This is an entirely new approach to world problems: global capitalism, neo-imperialism and modernization, environmental degradation, the struggle for women's rights and use and abuse of science.

Paradigms are shifting. The capitalist market model, or "extended order," whose globalization forces support the business methods of multinational corporations, is giving way to the "Global Village" model--one of justice, virtue, stability, and national sovereignty. Sullivan contends that by creating conditions for opposition, globalization may be dooming itself. Here he explains the shifting paradigm and considers its likely impact on corporate conduct.

Companies ignoring the growing chorus of discontent with globalization do so at their peril. But those who adapt to new realities will not merely survive--they will prosper. This book details the adaptations that corporations need to implement to safeguard their roles in the future:

Corporate governance bodies will increasingly include NGO representatives and employees.

Justice, stability, virtue, and national cultural identity will become corporate goals, alongside the profit motive.

Customer relationships will become enriched by mutual obligations and trust.

Risky global corporate strategies will have less appeal than more stable avenues of action.

Employee relations will increasingly take into account workers' growing desire for meaningful labor whose rewards entail more than financial remuneration.

Managers will become more like public servants and less like independent agents.

The persistence of these trends--accelerated by the growing power of the Internet to bring far-flung activists together in pursuit of common goals--threatens the existing order as never before.

This volume considers, at global and at local levels, the spread of Spanish today and particularly its role in the face of processes of globalization. Spanish is frequently the dominant language in this contact situation. But how contested is its hegemony; and how far does contact with it threaten other languages? How are these other, weaker, minoritized languages prospering in a world where a few strong, global languages may be taking over their linguistic domains?

This key resource for anyone interested in the United Nations, global issues, or world politics provides accessible and comprehensive coverage of the history, growth, and development of ideas and institutions governing the globe. The United Nations has been an essential actor in world politics for 75 years. Its entities have eliminated smallpox, protected the ozone layer, promoted arms control, and helped to save the lives of over 90 million children. Yet, it is frequently criticized as ineffective and antiquated. This book provides a balanced and systematic overview of the UN's contributions and challenges, highlighting areas where it plays an essential role in global governance as well as areas of redundancy and needed reform. This book provides readers with a clear, well-organized reference resource to the entire UN system-its principal organs, specialized agencies, programs and funds, and key issues of engagement. Through individual entries, it examines the history of UN engagement, ranging from peace and security to migration and climate change. It moves beyond a simple description of UN entities as it assesses the development of ideas (such as that of sustainable development), as well as responses to changes in world politics. Finally, it presents both the significant successes of UN work and continued challenges. Meticulously researched, accessible entries written by two prominent UN scholars Entries on both successes and continued challenges of the UN system Primary source documents key to the founding of the UN

This book examines how the European environmental movement, as part of an emerging European civil society, has impinged on the problem definitions and solution strategies in the European politics of the environment. Examining core case studies in European environmental policy - biodiversity politics (Natura 2000), the politics of genetically modified organisms, Trans-European Transport Networks, and the European politics of climate change - this study, written at the crossroads of social movement, public sphere and political discourse theory, argues that a social movement's most important feature is its 'cognitive praxis', its ability to successfully challenge dominant conceptions of realty and to create new green public spheres. It examines whether 'ecological modernization' is able to solve the tension between economic growth and environmental protection, and to what extent European environmentalism has contributed to the emergence of a green 'normative power Europe'.

British interest in the Arctic has returned to heights not seen since the end of the Cold War; concerns about climate change, resources, trade, and national security are all impacted by profound environmental and geopolitical changes happening in the Arctic. Duncan Depledge investigates the increasing geopolitical significance of the Arctic and explores why it took until now for Britain - once an 'Arctic state' itself - to notice how close it is to these changes, what its contemporary interests in the region are, and whether the British government's response in the arenas of science, defence, and commerce is enough. This book will be of interest to both academics and practitioners seeking to understand contemporary British interest and activity in the Arctic.

This book studies inter-organisational relations from a new angle: power. Drawing on examples that highlight how the EU relates to NATO and to the UN, it shows how consequential inter-organisational relations are for the functioning and nature of the organisations, and how important it is to detect the forms of power exerted in these relations. Power, for international organisations, is above all about relevance. In an era when the legitimacy and role of international organisations is increasingly questioned, the organisations have a growing concern for ensuring their continued relevance. Subsequently, the management of relevance is a central part of inter-organisational relations and becomes visible in the way organisations handle questions about their tasks, hierarchies and image. Clear and accessible, the book will appeal both to the growing scholarly community working on inter-organisational relations and to a variety of audiences including practitioners and scholars outside the field of international relations.

As unions face an ongoing crisis all over the industrialized world, they have often been portrayed as outmoded remnants of an old economic structure. This book argues that despite structural shifts in the economy and in politics, unions retain important functions for capitalist economies as well as for political democracy. Union revitalization in the face of their current difficulties is therefore of fundamental importance.
The book charts the strategies unions use to respond to global union decline and to revive their fortunes in five countries - US, UK, Germany, Italy and Spain - providing a wide range of institutional settings, union structures, identities and union responses. It provides a rich source of documentation about union activity, but more importantly it goes beyond description to address two of the big questions in comparative research: How can we explain cross-country differences of union responses to global decline? And how effective are these actions in helping to revitalize the labor movements?
Union strategies and union revitalization outcomes varied strongly across countries and were shaped by national industrial relations institutions, as well as by the interactions between union, employer and state strategies. These findings support the argument for national divergence of the varieties of capitalism literature and challenge the globalization thesis, which predicts a degree of convergence in the fate of union movements across the advanced capitalist world. There is no single revitalization strategy that works well for all union movements; the same strategy is likely to produce different results in different countries. Moreover, evidence for variation inrevitalization outcomes emerges most clearly when we adopt a multi-dimensional conceptualization of revitalization, moving beyond union membership and density to embrace economic and political power as well as the institutional dimension of union reform. Despite serious revitalization attempts in all countries the scale of revitalization is extremely modest when compared to the great upsurges of unionism in history.
Varieties of Unionism presents important research and analysis of union strategy for academics and graduate students of industrial relations, management, politics, political economy, and sociology

This open access book brings together leading international scholars and policy-makers to explore the challenges and dilemmas of globalization and governance in an era increasingly defined by economic crises, widespread populism, retreating internationalism, and a looming cold war between the United States and China. It provides the diversity of views on those widely concerned topics such as global governance, climate change, global health, migration, S&T revolution, financial market, and sustainable development. It is a truly unique book. Never before has such an authoritative group of essayists come together to develop deep new thinking about global governance that is relevant to current shared global challenges. They express deep concerns about the historically unprecedented upheavals in the world. They describe the unparalleled turbulence that mankind is facing in the form of multiple crises, any one of which has the potential to bring civilization to its knees. The most obvious of these is the threat posed by climate change. They spell out why these perils pose a stark choice for the human race. They stress how any path that leads to conflict increases the risk of catastrophe. In this context, the common thread is that a consensus must be reached about the future of our world. They have put forward many ideas and potential new policies, reflecting their vision of what this consensus should be and how it is the only way forward for the human race.