ABSTRACT
Even the skeptics, who doubt the meaningfulness of the term “globalization,” are forced to admit that expectations surrounding it-from Mongolia to Managua-are high. It is the word on everyone’s lips. Globalization is, according to some, the “defining characteristic of our time” (Adams et al., 1999: 1). Others deem it the “most pressing issue” facing society today (Stiglitz, 2002: 4). This study’s principal task is to bring some empirical perspective to basic but crucially important arguments that encapsulate the major debates on the subject-is globalization a path to prosperity, an urgent necessity for the large majority of this world’s citizens who are too poor to debate theory? Is neoliberal optimism justified given the serious challenges that internationalization of an economy is supposed to pose to local economies and societies? This book addresses the question of global economic integration and economic and political development by focusing on the three most salient integrative forces driving globalization-the spread of MNCs, trade, and the simultaneous spread of democracy.
