Contains a wealth of detail on globalization, people's values and attitudes, governance and civil liberties, plus a chronology of the conferences, campaigns and protests that are the sinews of global civil society.

The annual Global Civil Society Yearbooks provide an indispensable guide to global civil society or civic participation and action around the world. The 2009 Yearbook explores the framings, strategies and impacts of a range of actors on poverty and its alleviation. The overarching question is to whether such actors, in pressing for poverty alleviation actually achieve anything/empower the poor, or simply aid wealthy states in maintaining the status quo. The contributors are diverse, including scholars and practitioners from India, America, the UK, Australia, Thailand, and Mali. The Global Civil Society Yearbook remains the standard work on all aspects of contemporary global civil society for activists, practitioners, students and academics alike. It is essential reading for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the key actors, forms and manifestations of global civil society around the world today.

The Global Civil Society Yearbook is the standard work on all aspects of contemporary global civil society for activists, practitioners, students and academics alike.

Over the past two decades, civil society has played a pivotal role in Europe, from the demise of Communist rule to the reunification of Europe, followed by the expansion of the single market to the reconstitution of democracy in the enlarged European Union. European civil society has emerged as a social space between EU governance and the citizens of the member states, populated by non-state agents claiming to represent, speak for or participate on behalf of the most varied social constituencies in EU decision making. This book consolidates European civil society research by re-viewing its conceptual, normative and empirical-analytical foundations. With contributors from political science to sociology to law, it captures the evolving practices of European civil society that stretch across the national (local), the European and the global realm. Developing an analytical framework that highlights the interplay between civil society building and polity building from above as well as from below, within the legal and institutional framework of the EU, they examine whether and how civil society can contribute to making democracy work in normative democratic theoretical perspectives. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of civil society, European politics, political science and sociology.

Since the 1950s, globalization has been an increasingly irresistible trend and one that has exerted a tremendous impact on the political, economic, military, environmental, and social fortunes of mankind – and yet, existing theories in humanities and social sciences have been fundamentally built upon the traditional “nation-state” model. These two volumes, a pioneering work on global studies to be published out of China, aim at creating a new theoretical framework against the backdrop of globalization. This volume discusses globalization on the supranational level. The editors reveal the complexity of global studies by examining the multi-level and multi-dimensional nature of globalization, analyzing processes and systems of global society against the backdrop of globalization, and exploring the construction of a stable and rational global order. These two volumes are an essential reference for scholars and students in politics, economics, international relations, and law.

Globalization is undoubtedly the great overarching paradigm of our era. However, there is still little agreement on what globalization actually ‘is’ and some do not accept that it ‘is’ anything at all. This new book addresses the contestation of globalization by the anti- or counter-globalization movement. To contest means to challenge, to call into question, to doubt, to oppose and to litigate. This study shows how globalization is ‘contestable’ in many different ways and how the counter-movements we have seen emerging over the last decade also ‘bear witness’ on behalf of an alternative human future. Ronaldo Munck presents an overarching framework that allows us to understand how globalization and its contestation are inextricably bound up with one another. This volume insightfully explores a number of case studies, including: the battle of Seattle in 1999 the World Social Forum peasant internationalism environmental movements and reactionary movements including: the US Patriot's movement, Islamic fundamentalist movements and other nationalist movements. Globalization and Contestation will be of great interest to all students and scholars of international relations, politics and of globalization and global governance in particular.

Since the 1950s, globalization has been an increasingly irresistible trend and one that has exerted a tremendous impact on the political, economic, military, environmental, and social fortunes of mankind – and yet, existing theories in humanities and social sciences have been fundamentally built upon the traditional “nation-state” model. These two volumes, a pioneering work on global studies to be published out of China, aims at creating a new theoretical framework against the backdrop of globalization. Volume 1 introduces the core concepts and discusses the critical issues of globalization while the editors redefine notions of politics, economics, law, and globality while deploying globalization as a theoretical framework. Volume 2 examines the multi-level and multi-dimensional nature of globalization, analysing processes and systems of global society in the light of globalization, and exploring the construction of a stable and rational global order. These two volumes of global studies are an essential reference for scholars and students in politics, economics, international relations and law.