Globalization: Social Theory and Global Culture (Published in association with Theory, Culture & Society)

a Stimulating Appraisal Of A Crucial Contemporary Theme, This Comprehensive Analysis Of Globalizaton Offers A Distinctively Cultural Perspective On The Social Theory Of The Contemporary World. this Perspective Considers The World As A Whole, Going Beyond Conventional Distinctions Between The Global And The Local And Between The Universal And The Particular. Its Cultural Approach Emphasizes The Political And Economic Significance Of Shifting Conceptions Of, And Forms Of Participation In, An Increasingly Compressed World. At The Same Time The Book Shows Why Culture Has Become A Globally Contested Issue - Why, For Example, Competing Conceptions Of 'world Order' Have Political And Economic Consequences. "A stimulating appraisal of a crucial contemporary theme, this comprehensive analysis of globalizaton offers a distinctively cultural perspective on the social theory of the contemporary world. This perspective considers the world as a whole, going beyond conventional distinctions between the global and the local and between the universal and the particular. Its cultural approach emphasizes the political and economic significance of shifting conceptions of, and forms of participation in, an increasingly compressed world. At the same time the book shows why culture has become a globally contested issue - why, for example, competing conceptions of `world order' have political and economic consequences."--Publisher's website Globalization as a problem The cultural turn Mapping the global condition World-systems theory, culture and images of world order Japanese globality and Japanese religion The universalism-particularism issue 'Civiliztion,' civility and the civilizing process Globalization theory and civilization analysis Globality, modernity and the issue of postmodernity Globalization and the nostalgic paradigm 'The search for fundamentals' in global perspective Concluding reflections. 'Robertson's approach is multidimensional, complex, well-grounded in sociological theory, and centred on culture...the theme of globalization is developed in relation to the cultural turn, world-systems theory, the civilizing process, modernity and postmodernity, nostalgia politics and fundamentalism..... his contribution is original, probes deeply and is highly stimulating.' - Political Studies This text offers a contribution to the current debate over globalization, providing a a distinctively cultural focus on the social theory of the contemporary world