Using the frameworks of systems theory, modernization, and the world system, New Age Globalization presents a composite multilevel, multidirectional picture of globalization informed by eight different but interdependent subsystems.

Today’s most urgent problems are fundamentally global. They require nothing less than concerted, planetwide action if we are to secure a long-term future. But humanity’s story has always been on a global scale. In this book, Jeffrey D. Sachs, renowned economist and expert on sustainable development, turns to world history to shed light on how we can meet the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century. Sachs takes readers through a series of seven distinct waves of technological and institutional change, starting with the original settling of the planet by early modern humans through long-distance migration and ending with reflections on today’s globalization. Along the way, he considers how the interplay of geography, technology, and institutions influenced the Neolithic revolution; the role of the horse in the emergence of empires; the spread of large land-based empires in the classical age; the rise of global empires after the opening of sea routes from Europe to Asia and the Americas; and the industrial age. The dynamics of these past waves, Sachs demonstrates, offer fresh perspective on the ongoing processes taking place in our own time—a globalization based on digital technologies. Sachs emphasizes the need for new methods of international governance and cooperation to prevent conflicts and to achieve economic, social, and environmental objectives aligned with sustainable development. The Ages of Globalization is a vital book for all readers aiming to make sense of our rapidly changing world.

This collection brings together a series of essays which address some of the challenges that globalization poses to the international legal order. The book examines the interaction of globalization and international law through four sub-themes: the adaptation of classical international legal tools to regulate and adjudicate community interests and conflicts in the era of globalization; coordinating dialogues and governance strategies within and between international legal systems and institutions; globalization and the diversification of actors; and the exposure of State sovereignty to private actors and the need to preserve the regulatory powers of States. The volume will be of interest to international law scholars, practitioners and students, as well as to those working in the fields of international relations and globalization.

New globalized religions take two forms. Unlike new religions such as Transcendental Meditation, the former Unification Church and The Family - which are just a few of the recent religions to form networks of essentially identical communities around the world - the New Age beliefs discussed in this volume have spread without the benefit of any organisation or unified culture, and their more diffuse nature resists easy categorisation. While some of the chapters in this publication consider aspects of the general nature of New Age religion - spiritual imperialism versus cultural diversity, the overlap of globalisation and westernisation, the sources of New Age revelation and whether another age will follow - the remaining chapters are case studies which examine particular New Age beliefs, including the healing movement, the spiritualization of money, and the UFO, Gnostic and goddess myths. The book will appeal not only to scholars of the history of religions and sociology of religion, but also to those with an interest in New Age religious beliefs.

A glimpse into how globalization shapes and is shaped by family life around the world

By revisiting globalization using an analysis of metaphors, such as 'global village' and 'network society', this volume sheds new light on overlooked dimensions of global politics, redresses outdated conceptualizations, and provides a critical analysis of existing approaches to the study of globalization.

Yong Zhao, a distinguished professor at Michigan State University who was born and raised in China, offers a compelling argument for what schools can--and must--do to meet the challenges and opportunities brought about by globalization and technology.