Global Tensions

Lourdes Beneria is Professor of City and Regional Planning and Women's Studies at Cornell University. She lives in Ithaca, New York, and is the author of the forthcoming Routledge title Gender, Development and Globalization:Economics as if People Mattered (2003).SavitriBisnath received her PhD from Cornell University and currently works for an international philanthropic organization.

"The range of this volume matches the sweep of globalization; its rigorous analysis provides solid backing from a group of respected professionals for the growing ranks of critics of the neoliberal corporate agenda. An excellent read for anyone following the transformations under way in the global political economy." -- Gita Sen, Sir Ratan Tata Chair Professor, Indian Institute of Management"Beneria and Bisnath have assembled an impressive group of scholars whose work spans the worlds of academia and public policy. Transcending complaint, these wonderfully perceptive and substantial essays probe the tensions engendered by globalization. Collectively, they debunk the myth of globalization as historical will and reveal its material consequences for people and places." -- Robert Beauregard, Professor of Management and Urban Policy, New School University"This collection of essays reflects some of the most innovative and original thinking on the contradictions of the current globalization process. The volume will be a very valuable resource for researchers and those teaching courses on globalization in many disciplines, and especially for those interested in interdisciplinary analyses. Among the many books written on the subject from a critical point of view, this one is a gem." -- Nilufer Cagatay, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Utah"This is a wide-ranging, timely and important collection with many first-class contributors. It is particulary refreshing to read a dialogue between feminists, political theorists and critical public policy scholars on a broad range of problems, tensions and dynamics. A must-read for those interested in the challenges of contemporary globalization." -- Isabella Bakker, Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, York University

• Introduction - Lourdes Beneria and Savitri Bisnath Section I: Globalization and Global Governance 1. Towards a stark utopia? New constitutionalism and the politics of globalization, Stephen Gill 2. Tax Distortion in the Global Economy, Howard Wachtel 3. Human Rights and Corporate Profits: the UN Global Compact - Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem?, Diane Elson 4. Cross-Border Externalities and International Public Goods: Implications for Aid Agencies, Ravi Kanbur Section II: North-South Tensions 5. Financial Sector Liberalization and the Asian Financial Crisis: The IFIs Got it Wrong Twice, Iwan J. Azis 6. Developing Countries and the New Financial Architecture, Stephanie Griffith-Jones 7. Globalization: Eight Crises of Social Protection, Guy Standing Section III: The Politics of International Trade 8. Biotechnology and Food Security: Profiting on Insecurity?, Philip McMichael 9. The WTO, GATS and TPRM: Servicing Liberalization and Eroding Equity Goals?, Savitri Bisnath 10. Labour Standards, Women's Rights, Basic Needs: Challenges to Collective Action in a Globalizing World, Naila Kabeer 11. Contesting Global Trade Rules: Social Movements and the World Trade Organization, Marc Williams Section IV: Gender, Globalization and Development 12. Utilizing Interdisciplinarity to Analyze Global Socio-economic Change: A Tribute to Ester Boserup , Irene Tinker 13. Development and Productive Deprivation: Male Patriarchal Relations in Business Families and their Implications for Women in S. India, Barbara Harriss-White 14. Promoting Women's Capabilities, Martha Nussbaum Section V: Urban and Global Linkages 15. The Global City: Strategic Site/New Frontier, Saskia Sassen 16. Urban Tensions: Globalization, Industrial Restructuring, and the Post-metropolitan Transition, Edward Soja 17. Urban Transport and Structural Tensions in Developing Countries, Eduardo Vasconcellos