"In a world that has become increasingly interconnected over the past decades - economically, politically, socially, and culturally - new challenges are posed to development. Since the 1980s, development has increasingly become interpreted in terms of increasing integration into the world economy. Export-oriented manufacturing became widely viewed as the surest recipe for realizing economic growth while reducing income inequality, and the role of foreign direct investments became increasingly important in development strategies worldwide. However, not every region, industry and social group managed to become successfully integrated into the world economy. In order to explain why these processes of economic restructuring have had such a differential impact, this study situates developments within a wider historical social and political context to establish how these processes of globalization are mediated at the regional and local level. The main object of study concerns the drastic socioeconomic transformation that has taken place in the state of Coahuila - situated in the northeast of Mexico, bordering the United States - over the past three decades. In particular since the start of NAFTA in 1994, Coahuila has become one of Mexico's most successful export-oriented manufacturing states, most importantly as a result of the large number of foreign direct investments it received. However, the effects of these developments have been unevenly distributed among its sub-regions, while questions must also be raised about its ability to contribute to sustained, long-term growth with equity. The key issue appears to be not whether, but how regions and localities become linked to the world economy."--page 4 of cover

This book, written in honor of Arno Tausch, presents cutting-edge research on globalization, development, and global values. Internationally renowned authors cover topics such as global economic and political cycles, global values, and support for terrorism. Over the last five decades, the Austrian political scientist Arno Tausch was a pioneer in studies on globalization, development and global values. This collection of essays takes up the issues dealt with by Tausch and presents perspectives for the 21st Century. Throughout his work, Tausch applied quantitative methods to study the fundamental issues of the global political economy and the global political system, like dependency, economic and political cycles, and global values, based on a rigorous study of available social scientific data, like the World Values Survey and the Arab Barometer.

New Global Cities in Latin America and Asia: Welcome to the Twenty-First Century proposes new visions of global cities and regions historically considered “secondary” in the international context. The arguments are not only based on material progress made by these metropolises, but also on the growing social difficulties experienced (e.g., organized crime, drug trafficking, slums, economic inequalities). The book illustrates the growth of cities according to these problems arising from the modernity of the new century, comparing Latin American and Asian cities. This book analyzes the complex relationships within cities through an interdisciplinary approach, complementing other research and challenging orthodox views on global cities. At the same time, the book provides new theoretical and methodological tools to understand the progress of “Third World” cities and the way of understanding “globality” in the 21st century by confronting the traditional views with which global cities were appreciated since the 1980s. Pablo Baisotti brings together researchers from various fields who provide new interpretative keys to certain cities in Latin America and Asia.

The cities of Asia and the Pacific are at the epicentre of development in what is arguably, the most populous, culturally distinctive, and economically powerful region in the world. 16 major cities such as Tokyo, Shanghai, Manila, Jakarta, Bangkok, Singapore, Auckland, Kuala Lumpur and Santiago, located in countries as diverse as Mexico and Vietnam, Samoa and India, China and Australia, exemplify the changing patterns of development across this vast region of the world. By tracking economic and social trends the contributors to this collection reveal how a wide range of political and cultural factors have interacted over time to provide a powerful explanation for the shape and characteristics of ‘the city’ today. Based on a collaborative research programme and drawing on the work of local researchers, this book examines the realities of city development characterised by domestic migration, spatial and social fragmentation, squatter settlements and gated communities, economic experiments and the emergence of the ‘Asian Tigers’. The collection as a whole records the way in which countries in this region have moved from underdevelopment to become global economic and political powers. This book provides a fascinating journey through Asia and the Pacific by generating an insiders’ view of each city and an insight into national development. As such it will be of great interest to students and scholars interested in: the Asian and Pacific region; in disciplines such as economics, politics, geography and sociology; and in policy domains such as urban planning and economic development.