Robert J. Holton Knihy

Faced with so much rhetoric and hype about how globalization is changing the world in which we live, it is hard to assess what it really means and what effect it will have on the lives of individuals and nations. This book sets out to make sense of the confusion. Drawing on a wealth of information from historical, economic, political and cultural sources, it offers a balanced assessment of the strengths and limitations of trends toward globalization. Globalization is not an inherently Western process, but one that draws on the experience of many nations and civilizations; it encourages cosmopolitanism, yet cultural identity remains mostly bounded by national and local affiliations.

'In this remarkable collection of essays, Holton and Turner demonstrate that Parsonian sociology addresses the most central problems of our time – issues of sickness and health, power and inequality, the nature of capitalism and its possible alternatives. They develop a mature and original perspective on Parsons as the only classical theorist who avoided crippling nostalgia. Holton and Turner not only talk about Parsonian sociology in a profound and insightful way, they do it, and do it well. As sociology moves away from the rigid dichotomies of earlier debate, this book will help point the way.' – Jeffrey Alexander, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Sociology, UCLA