The Routledge International Handbook of Globalization Studies

Turner (director, Centre for the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies, U. of Western Sydney, Australia) presents 34 chapters exploring key theories and issues related to the causes and consequences of globalization (and therefore any of the below-mentioned topics should be understood as referring to globalization or global phenomenon even if it is not explicit). A section on theories and definitions addresses cultures of globalization, economic theories, the Internet, critiques and alternatives from "anti-globalization" movements, hegemony and the United States, and the social impact of globalization. Under the heading "substantive issues," the reader discusses demographic changes, migration, climate change, infectious disease, disasters and disaster response, crime, religious fundamentalism, indigenous peoples, genocide, ethnic conflict and nationalism, and the commodification of pensions. A section on institutions and cultures explores popular culture and fans, film, global cities, consumption, pluralism and the "modernization" of gender and sexual relations in Asia, food, border regulation and mobility, the globalization of space, and Americanization. A final section discusses "critical solutions" in chapters that examine the role of the International Labour Organization, human rights, civil society and the World Social Forum, Muslim cosmopolitanism, and possible futures of globalization. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Bryan S. Turner was Professor of Sociology at the University of Cambridge (1998–2005) and at the National University of Singapore (2005–09). He is currently the Alona Evans Distinguished Visiting Professor of Sociology at Wellesley College USA and the Director of the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies, University of Western Sydney, Australia. He has published The New Medical Sociology (2004) and The Body & Society (2008).