Globalization: The Essentials

This compact alternative to Ritzer's Globalization: A Basic Text (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010) draws on material from the larger volume and presents a more concise, yet still comprehensive, introduction to the major topics in globalization studies. Making use of both academic and popular sources, the book examines the key events in the history of globalization, and the principle flows and structures it has produced. It pinpoints the big questions and maps out alternative futures, whilst covering a range of theories from imperialism and Americanization, to neo-liberalism and the neo-Marxian alternatives.

This wide-ranging and engaging introduction provides an indispensable textbook for undergraduate courses and can be used independently or alongside a reader, such as Ritzer and Atalay, Readings in Globalization (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010).