This companion features original essays on the complexity of globalization and its diverse and sometimes conflicting effects. Written by top scholars in the field, it offers a nuanced and detailed examination of globalization that includes both positive and critical evaluations.
Introduces the major players, theories, and methodologiesExplores the major areas of impact, including the environment, cities, outsourcing, consumerism, global media, politics, religion, and public healthAddresses the foremost concerns of global inequality, corruption, international terrorism, war, and the future of globalizationWide-ranging and comprehensive, an excellent text for undergraduate and graduate students in a range of disciplines

George Ritzeris Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland. He was awarded the 2000 Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award by the American Sociological Association and he has authored many refereed articles and more than 25 books, including monographs, reference works, and textbooks. He has been a major contributor to the literature on globalization as an author and editor, especiallyThe Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization(5 vols., 2012);Globalization: A Basic Text(2nd edition,  2015 with Paul Dean),The McDonaldization of Society (8 editions, last in 2015),Expressing America: A Critique of the Global Credit Card Society (1995) andThe Globalization of Nothing (2nd edition 2007). He is editor ofThe Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (11 vols., 2007; 2nd ed. forthcoming).

List of Illustrations viii

Notes on Contributors x

Introduction
George Ritzer 1

PART I: INTRODUCTION 15

Introduction to Part I
George Ritzer 16

1. Globalization in Hard Times: Contention in the Academy and Beyond
Anthony McGrew 29

2. What Is Globalization?
Roland Robertson and Kathleen E. White 54

3. The Cultural Construction of Neoliberal Globalization
Robert J. Antonio 67

4. Globalization: The Major Players
George M. Thomas 84

5. Globalization Today
John Boli and Velina Petrova 103

6. Theories of Globalization
William I. Robinson 125

7. Studying Globalization: Methodological Issues
Salvatore Babones 144

8. Cosmopolitanism: A Critical Theory for the Twenty-fi rst Century
Ulrich Beck 162

PART II: THE MAJOR DOMAINS 177

Introduction to Part II
George Ritzer 178

9. The End of Globalization? The Implications of Migration for State, Society and Economy
Subhrajit Guhathakurta, David Jacobson and Nicholas C. DelSordi 201

10. Globalization and the Agrarian World
Philip McMichael 216

11. Globalization and the Environment
Steve Yearley 239

12. Cities and Globalization
Michael Timberlake and Xiulian Ma 254

13. The Sociology of Global Organizations
Stewart Clegg and Chris Carter 272

14. Economic Globalization: Corporations
Peter Dicken 291

15. Outsourcing: Globalization and Beyond
George Ritzer and Craig Lair 307

16. Globalization and Consumer Culture
Douglas J. Goodman 330

17. Cultural Globalization
John Tomlinson 352

18. Globalization and Ideology
Manfred B. Steger 367

19. Media and Globalization
Douglas Kellner and Clayton Pierce 383

20. Globalization and Information and Communications Technologies: The Case of War
Howard Tumber and Frank Webster 396

21. Political Globalization
Gerard Delanty and Chris Rumford 414

22. Globalization and Public Policy
Tim Blackman 429

23. Religion and Globalization
Peter Beyer 444

24. Globalization and Higher Education
Peter Manicas 461

25. Sport and Globalization
David L. Andrews and Andrew D. Grainger 478

26. The Fate of the Local
Melissa L. Caldwell and Eriberto P. Lozada Jr 498

27. Public Health in a Globalizing World: Challenges and Opportunities
Farnoosh Hashemian and Derek Yach 516

PART III: MAJOR ISSUES AND CONCLUSIONS 539

Introduction to Part III
George Ritzer 540

28. Globalization and Global Inequalities: Recent Trends
Glenn Firebaugh and Brian Goesling 549

29. World Inequality in the Twenty-fi rst Century: Patterns and Tendencies
Roberto Patricio Korzeniewicz and Timothy Patrick Moran 565

30. Globalization and Corruption
Carolyn Warner 593

31. Globalization and Sexuality
Kathryn Farr 610

32. War in the Era of Economic Globalization
Gerald Schneider 630

33. Globalization and International Terrorism
Gus Martin 644

34. Resisting Globalization
Richard Kahn and Douglas Kellner 662

35. The Futures of Globalization
Bryan S. Turner 675

Index 693