Seeking to extend the debate on the diversity of democracy, this book provides the reader with a comprehensive account of how two different global actors, the European Union and the World Social Forum respond to the challenges of globalization with various models of democracy and modes of cooperation at the transnational level. Analysing EU democracy assistance in the EU’s neighbourhood, Fiedlschuster sheds light on the complex relationship between the EU and civil society. Although the EU perceives a vital civil society as crucial for democracy, its mix of a governance approach with deliberative and participatory democracy will unlikely result in a citizen-centred democracy. The book also provides a compelling account of the World Social Forum and its participants interviewed for this work attempt to answer one of the challenges of contemporary globalization: How can civil society pursue democratically global social change? Fiedlschuster skilfully deploys various sociological approaches not only to analyse concepts and practices of democracy by transnational activists but also to throw light on the tensions between democratic idealism and anti-democratic tendencies in the Forum. This book will be of wide interest to students and academics, including those working within political sociology, European Union politics, and globalization.

Seeking to extend the debate on the diversity of democracy, this book provides the reader with a comprehensive account of how two different global actors, the European Union and the World Social Forum respond to the challenges of globalization with various models of democracy and modes of cooperation at the transnational level. Analysing EU democracy assistance in the EU’s neighbourhood, Fiedlschuster sheds light on the complex relationship between the EU and civil society. Although the EU perceives a vital civil society as crucial for democracy, its mix of a governance approach with deliberative and participatory democracy will unlikely result in a citizen-centred democracy. The book also provides a compelling account of the World Social Forum and its participants interviewed for this work attempt to answer one of the challenges of contemporary globalization: How can civil society pursue democratically global social change? Fiedlschuster skilfully deploys various sociological approaches not only to analyse concepts and practices of democracy by transnational activists but also to throw light on the tensions between democratic idealism and anti-democratic tendencies in the Forum. This book will be of wide interest to students and academics, including those working within political sociology, European Union politics, and globalization.

Brecher, Costello, and Smith chart out a dynamic and innovative strategy for building the movement to challenge unchecked coporate globalization.

The Routledge Handbook of Transregional Studies brings together the various fields within which transregional phenomena are scientifically observed and analysed. This handbook presents the theoretical and methodological potential of such studies for the advancement of the conceptualization of global and area-bound developments. Following three decades of intense debate about globalization and transnationalism, it has become clear that border-crossing connections and interactions between societies are highly important, yet not all extend beyond the borders of nation-states or are of truly world-wide reach. The product of extensive international and interdisciplinary cooperation, this handbook is divided into ten sections that introduce the wide variety of topics within transregional studies, including Colonialism and Post-Colonial Studies, Spatial Formats, International Organizations, Religions and Religious Movements, and Transregional Studies and Narratives of Globalization. Recognizing that transregional studies asks about the space-making and space-formatting character of connections as well as the empirical status of such connections under the global condition, the volume reaches beyond the typical confines of area and regional studies to consider how areas are transcended and transformed more widely. Combining case studies with both theoretical and methodological considerations, The Routledge Handbook of Transregional Studies provides the first overview of the currently flourishing field of transregional studies and is the ideal volume for students and scholars of this diverse subject and its related fields.

"The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic marks the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come." -Global Trends 2040 (2021) Global Trends 2040-A More Contested World (2021), released by the US National Intelligence Council, is the latest report in its series of reports starting in 1997 about megatrends and the world's future. This report, strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, paints a bleak picture of the future and describes a contested, fragmented and turbulent world. It specifically discusses the four main trends that will shape tomorrow's world: - Demographics-by 2040, 1.4 billion people will be added mostly in Africa and South Asia. - Economics-increased government debt and concentrated economic power will escalate problems for the poor and middleclass. - Climate-a hotter world will increase water, food, and health insecurity. - Technology-the emergence of new technologies could both solve and cause problems for human life. Students of trends, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists and anyone eager for a glimpse into the next decades, will find this report, with colored graphs, essential reading.

In 2001 the first World Social Forum was held in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The meeting was viewed by many at the time as a new manifestation of the global Left, a people's opposition to the World Economic Forum that stood as the first real front to global capitalism since the collapse of the Soviet Union. While many activists and intellectuals on the left have since become deeply critical of the Forum, newer movements, such as Occupy, the Arab Spring and the indignados, have built upon its successes and innovations. Another World is Possible is the original collection of essays and demands from the heart of the 'movement of movements'. Based on the work of the first two annual meetings of the WSF, this classic collection not only set out the initial aims of the movements that came together, it also paved the way for the theoretical study of new social movements, their multiple and participatory character. Today, as many crises affect all our lives, it is time to revisit the original demands of a global solidarity movement, united in its determination to fight against the concentration of wealth, the proliferation of poverty and inequalities, and the destruction of our earth, and to reconstitute a global left.

This report has been compiled by the World Commission on the Social Dimensions of Globalization, an independent body established by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2002, and whose membership includes international politicians and government advisers from developed and developing countries, academics and representatives of business and multinational corporations, trade unions and civil society organisations. The report explores the social dimensions of globalisation and the need to build a fair and inclusive global economic system, and argues that the dominant perspective on globalisation must shift from a narrow focus on markets to encompass a broader recognition of the needs of people in the communities in which they live. Issues highlighted and recommendations made in the report include: better governance and accountability at both national and international levels to foster productive and equitable markets; empowerment of local communities, including gender equality; sustainable development based on the interdependent pillars of economic, social and environmental development; fairer rules for international trade, investment and finance; measures to overcome inequality and raise capacity to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); and a stronger multilateral framework based on an effective United Nations.