Global Realities – serie

Global Ireland offers a concise synthesis of globalization's dramatic impact on Ireland. In the past fifteen years, Ireland has transformed from a sleepy and depressed European backwater to the 'emerald tiger', a country with a booming economy based on knowledge and high-tech industries. Not long ago it was one of the poorest and most traditional countries in Europe, yet now it is one of the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan. Using a number of case studies of Ireland's transition, Tom Inglis explains what this means for traditional Irish culture and society, and offers an incisive social portrait of globalizing Ireland.Concise, descriptive, interdisciplinary and theoretically informed, this volume is an ideal introduction to Ireland.

Global Ireland offers a concise synthesis of globalization's dramatic impact on Ireland. In the past fifteen years, Ireland has transformed from a sleepy and depressed European backwater to the 'emerald tiger', a country with a booming economy based on knowledge and high-tech industries. Not long ago it was one of the poorest and most traditional countries in Europe, yet now it is one of the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan. Using a number of case studies of Ireland's transition, Tom Inglis explains what this means for traditional Irish culture and society, and offers an incisive social portrait of globalizing Ireland.Concise, descriptive, interdisciplinary and theoretically informed, this volume is an ideal introduction to Ireland.

In this book Anthony Moran traces the development of contemporary Australian society in the global age, focusing on four major themes: settler/indigenous relations; economics and culture since the 1980s and their impact on national identity; the effects of increasing diversity fostered by globalization; and the transformation of Australian social space wrought by globalization.

Cohen and Jaidi trace the development of contemporary Morocco in the Islamic world of North Africa, which is currently at the forefront of the clash between Western-style development and the politicized Islam that now pervades the Arab world. By applying globalization theory to detailed accounts of everyday life in an Arab society, the book is uniquely suited to students. Morocco in particular is a good place to look at this extremely important confrontation. It is among the most liberalized Islamic states, yet it is also in the midst of a revival of politicized Islam, which has its own globalizing agenda. The authors detail how this clash pervades Moroccan culture and society, and what it can tell us about the effects of globalization on the Arab world. Morocco is extremely close to the West in terms of physical proximity, and it is a favoured spot for Western tourists. Yet its closest neighbours in social terms are Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia, all of which have directly experienced the effects of politicized Islam in the last quarter century.

Cohen and Jaidi trace the development of contemporary Morocco in the Islamic world of North Africa, which is currently at the forefront of the clash between Western-style development and the politicized Islam that now pervades the Arab world. By applying globalization theory to detailed accounts of everyday life in an Arab society, the book is uniquely suited to students. Morocco in particular is a good place to look at this extremely important confrontation. It is among the most liberalized Islamic states, yet it is also in the midst of a revival of politicized Islam, which has its own globalizing agenda. The authors detail how this clash pervades Moroccan culture and society, and what it can tell us about the effects of globalization on the Arab world. Morocco is extremely close to the West in terms of physical proximity, and it is a favoured spot for Western tourists. Yet its closest neighbours in social terms are Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia, all of which have directly experienced the effects of politicized Islam in the last quarter century.

This book considers how globalization is impacting contemporary Argentina-via regional trading blocs, through migrations across its borders, and through the emerging transnational border regions that it shares with other Latin American nations. Overshadowing all of these trends is the current crisis brought on by both international financial institutions possessing an increasing say over how the country is run and internal elites trying to use Argentina's integration into the world financial system to their own advantage. Argentina has long imagined itself as a European nation, qualitatively different from its Latin American neighbors. But recent events are forcing it to change its perception of itself. As the size of Argentina's transnational community continues to swell, and as the nation continues its financial and social implosion, Argentinians are being forced to re-imagine the nation as being Latin American, replete with the histories and problems of that part of the world.

Global Hong Kong locates Hong Kong in the contemporary globalizing world. Hong Kong, as the authors argue, is an archetypal place, sitting at the intersection of East and West. It is also a major center for global capital flows and world trade. Moreover, in recent years, the island's global cultural power has become increasingly evident, as Hong Kong popular culture has spread to the West via a booming film industry. While looking at issues of postcoloniality, transnationalism and economic globalization, Wong and McDonogh focus on the new cultures and social formations of contemporary Hong Kong, as well as the transformation of the physical city itself. They also trace the new interconnections - economic, demographic, social and cultural - between Hong Kong and other parts of the worldthat have benn fostered by globalization.Books in this series look at how nations and regions across the world are navigating the tumultuous currents of globalization. Concise, descriptive, interdisciplinary, and theoretically informed, they serve as ideal introductions to the peoples and places of our increasingly globalized world.

Global Hong Kong locates Hong Kong in the contemporary globalizing world. Hong Kong, as the authors argue, is an archetypal place, sitting at the intersection of East and West. It is also a major center for global capital flows and world trade. Moreover, in recent years, the island's global cultural power has become increasingly evident, as Hong Kong popular culture has spread to the West via a booming film industry. While looking at issues of postcoloniality, transnationalism and economic globalization, Wong and McDonogh focus on the new cultures and social formations of contemporary Hong Kong, as well as the transformation of the physical city itself. They also trace the new interconnections - economic, demographic, social and cultural - between Hong Kong and other parts of the worldthat have benn fostered by globalization.Books in this series look at how nations and regions across the world are navigating the tumultuous currents of globalization. Concise, descriptive, interdisciplinary, and theoretically informed, they serve as ideal introductions to the peoples and places of our increasingly globalized world.

Iberian Worlds is an imaginative, short text that dramatically depicts important globalization themes and processes through the important flows and impacts Spain and Portugal have had with many important regions of the world for many centuries. Spain and Portugal have long histories at the cutting-edge of world relations, managing far-flung empires, and author Gary McDonogh stresses this historical perspective as well as foregrounding the vast present world fostered by the "Iberian project" - Latin America, Southern Europe, parts of Asia and Africa, in which Spain and Portugal possess enormous power.

Iberian Worlds is an imaginative, short text that dramatically depicts important globalization themes and processes through the important flows and impacts Spain and Portugal have had with many important regions of the world for many centuries. Spain and Portugal have long histories at the cutting-edge of world relations, managing far-flung empires, and author Gary McDonogh stresses this historical perspective as well as foregrounding the vast present world fostered by the "Iberian project" - Latin America, Southern Europe, parts of Asia and Africa, in which Spain and Portugal possess enormous power.

This book focuses on how globalization is impacting contemporary Israel. It is a concise and originally argued introduction to Israel, but the author, Uri Ram, is careful to frame his analysis in a broader discussion of Israeli history and broader social currents. Focusing in particular on two defining – and conflicting – contemporary trends; one toward advanced liberal democracy with a cosmopolitan edge, and the other toward ethno-religious traditionalism and rejection of the secularism associated with market driven globalization. The cosmopolitan, high-tech driven city of Tel Aviv represents the former trend, and Jerusalem – a city increasingly dominated by orthodox Jews – represents the latter. Using Benjamin Barber's Jihad versus McWorld thesis to good effect, Ram's book will stand as an ideal introduction to contemporary Israel and its place in the world.

This book focuses on how globalization is impacting contemporary Israel. It is a concise and originally argued introduction to Israel, but the author, Uri Ram, is careful to frame his analysis in a broader discussion of Israeli history and broader social currents. Focusing in particular on two defining – and conflicting – contemporary trends; one toward advanced liberal democracy with a cosmopolitan edge, and the other toward ethno-religious traditionalism and rejection of the secularism associated with market driven globalization. The cosmopolitan, high-tech driven city of Tel Aviv represents the former trend, and Jerusalem – a city increasingly dominated by orthodox Jews – represents the latter. Using Benjamin Barber's Jihad versus McWorld thesis to good effect, Ram's book will stand as an ideal introduction to contemporary Israel and its place in the world.

The Netherlands is the first concise, authored introduction available on the topic. The Netherlands has been a key entrepot in the world capitalist system for centuries, but because of relatively recent demographic changes, it has become symbolic of the clash of European and Islamic cultures. Perhaps the most secular nation in the world, it now houses a very large Islamic population. That population is the fruit of globalization, and how the Dutch have responded to this broad cultural shift tells us a great deal about the changing nature of national identity in the age of globalization. In particular, Frank Lechner explains how globalization calls forth very particularistic and localist responses. Along with providing a broad overview of the contemporary Netherlands, Lechner will focus on how globalization is generating new discourses, cultures, and state policies. Among other topics, the book will feature chapters on soccer culture, religion (and the lack thereof), the media, the welfare state, multiculturalism, and the Netherlands place in the larger European Union.

Nearly five million migrant workers from the Philippines are employed in over 190 countries and territories. They work as doctors and domestic helpers, engineers and entertainers, seamstresses and surveyors. It is through their collective labor that the Philippines has assumed a global presence. For over five centuries the Philippines has been integrated into the world economy. Only recently, however, has the Philippines been a pro-active agent in the production of a global economy. Since the 1970s the Philippine state, in connection with myriad private institutions, has recruited, trained, marketed, and deployed a mobile work-force. Annually, approximately one million migrant workers travel to all corners of the world. The Philippines seeks to understand how the Philippines has become the world’s largest exporter of government-sponsored temporary contract labor and, in the process, has dramatically reshaped both the processes of globalization and also our understanding of globalization as concept.

Nearly five million migrant workers from the Philippines are employed in over 190 countries and territories. They work as doctors and domestic helpers, engineers and entertainers, seamstresses and surveyors. It is through their collective labor that the Philippines has assumed a global presence. For over five centuries the Philippines has been integrated into the world economy. Only recently, however, has the Philippines been a pro-active agent in the production of a global economy. Since the 1970s the Philippine state, in connection with myriad private institutions, has recruited, trained, marketed, and deployed a mobile work-force. Annually, approximately one million migrant workers travel to all corners of the world. The Philippines seeks to understand how the Philippines has become the world’s largest exporter of government-sponsored temporary contract labor and, in the process, has dramatically reshaped both the processes of globalization and also our understanding of globalization as concept.

City Life from Jakarta to Dakar focuses on the politics incumbent to this process – an "anticipatory politics" – that encompasses a wide range of practices, calculations and economies. As such, the book is not a collection of case studies on a specific theme, not a review of developmental problems, nor does it marshal the focal cities as evidence of particular urban trends. Rather, it examines how possibilities, perhaps inherent in these cities all along, are materialized through the everyday projects of residents situated in the city and the larger world in very different ways.

City Life from Jakarta to Dakar focuses on the politics incumbent to this process – an "anticipatory politics" – that encompasses a wide range of practices, calculations and economies. As such, the book is not a collection of case studies on a specific theme, not a review of developmental problems, nor does it marshal the focal cities as evidence of particular urban trends. Rather, it examines how possibilities, perhaps inherent in these cities all along, are materialized through the everyday projects of residents situated in the city and the larger world in very different ways.

Landmines, cluster-bombs, chemical pollutants, and other remnants of war continue to cause death to humans and damage to the environment long after the guns have fallen silent. From the jungles of Vietnam to the arctic tundra of Russia, no region has escaped the legacy of warfare.To understand the legacy of modern militarism, this book presents an overview of post-conflict societies, with an emphasis on the human toll exacted by modern warfare.