Globalised neo-liberalism has produced multiple crises – social, ecological, political. In the past, crises of global order have generated large-scale social transformations, and the current crises likewise hold a transformative promise. Social movements become a crucial barometer, in signalling both the demise and rise of political formations and programs. Elite strategies, framed as crisis management, create their own disordering side-effects. Experiments in movement strategy gain greater significance, as do contending elite efforts at repressing, managing or displacing the fall-out. In this book we investigate both movements and management in the face of crisis, taking crisis and unanticipated consequences as a normal state-of-play. The book enquires into the winners and losers from crisis, and investigates the movement-management nexus as it unfolds in particular localities as well as in broader contexts. The book deals with some of the most pressing conflicts of our time, and produces a range of theoretical insights: the ubiquity of crisis is seen as not only a hallmark of social life, but a way into a different kind of social analysis. This book was published as a special issue of Globalizations.

In the wake of the outbreak of the global crisis in 2008, many observers expected the state to assume command over a faltering neoliberal finance-led model of capitalism. We now know that this expectation was by and large mistaken. There is indeed an ongoing re-calibration of the state-capital relations, but in many instances the state has become more actively and more deeply involved in extending the reach of markets rather than in constraining markets in the interests of an equitable response to the crisis. This volume offers both theoretical perspectives and empirical studies by a selection of leading Critical International Political Economy scholars on the question how and to what extent we are witnessing a return of the state and a transition towards a new phase of global capitalism. The chapters cover a wide array of topics: from the rise of China and other emerging economies of the Global South, the role of state-owned enterprises such as Sovereign Wealth Funds and National Oil Companies and global environmental politics, to the role of labour in Europe and US grand strategy / foreign policy making in the post-Cold War period. This book was published as a special issue of Globalizations.

Rules set by global governance organizations affect communities across the world. Such organizations increasingly seek to obtain legitimacy in the eyes of groups beyond their member state elites. This book advances scholarly debate on the politics of legitimacy and legitimation in global governance. It brings together researchers from different subfields of International Relations in order to highlight trends and contradictions in the contemporary politics of legitimacy across areas of sustainable development, humanitarian relief, responsible investment, sustainable fisheries and labour standards. The chapters explore legitimation efforts by various forms of global governance bodies, such as intergovernmental organizations, public–private partnerships and fully private bodies. The book demonstrates that different governance forms beyond the nation state share deep legitimacy challenges and engage in continuous legitimation attempts. Questions on the audiences of such legitimation attempts are particularly pivotal in understanding the politics of legitimacy. Audiences are not predetermined but constituted through interaction between legitimation efforts and the reactions to those of targeted and other groups, mirroring broader global power relations. This book was published as a special issue of Globalizations.

Recent years have seen constant reports on the failures of governance and the crisis of democracy. By examining cases like Global Financial Crisis, the Arab Revolutions and Wikileaks this volume highlights tensions between governance and democracy during times of crisis and examines the prospects of democratising governance in the 21st Century.

Critical research and theorizing on the Anti- or Alter-Globalization Movement has exploded over the last two decades. This volume provides a platform for scholar-activists themselves to share insights from engaged research and to critically reflect on movement histories and internal dynamics. It also highlights ways in which activists are reaching beyond their geographical and issue boundaries to link with others in struggle, to construct a broader global movement of the left--and beyond. Case studies span the social movement spectrum from more traditional concerns with class, the primacy of the labor movement, economic redistribution and justice, through the so-called 'new' movements of identity and post-materialist issues of peace, the environment, gender, and indigenous struggles, to the newest currents in (post-)autonomy, (post-)anarchism, and de- or anti-coloniality. Together these studies show that what began in Chiapas with the Zapatista cry of basta ya! as an 'anti-globalization' movement morphed for a time into 'alter-globalization' and 'global peace and justice', and may now be emerging as a counter-hegemonic project of and for global democratization. This book was published as a special issue of Globalizations.

Land grabbing per se is not a new phenomenon, given its historical precedents in the eras of imperialism. However, the character, scale, pace, orientation and key drivers of the recent wave of land grabs is a distinct historical event closely tied to the changing dynamics of the global agri-food, feed and fuel complex. Land grabbing is facilitated by ever greater flows of capital, goods, and ideas across borders, and these flows occur through axes of power that are far more polycentric than the North-South imperialist tradition. Land grabs occur in the context of changes in the character of the global food regime, formerly anchored by North Atlantic empires; the integrated food-energy complex seems to be headed towards multiple centres of power, especially with the rise of the BRICS and the proliferation of middle income countries participating in many of the land transactions. Land Grabbing and Global Governance offers insights from leading scholars and experts on contemporary land grabs. This volume examines land grabs in direct relation to a global economy undergoing profound change and the role of new configurations of actors and power in governance institutions and practices. This book was published as a special issue of Globalizations.