ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book discusses 'new regionalisms' by which informal sector has reorganized itself to meet the challenges of globalization. It establishes global political and economic interdependence create extreme poverty for large segments of the world's population. The book argues that the globalization the state has lost much of its authority to capital, the IFIs and to bilateral and multilateral organizations, which shape global political, environmental and social policies. Democracy requires the state to adopt political transparency and decentralization, both of which are antithetical to paternalistic institutions; structural adjustment forces it to abdicate social welfare responsibilities; and civil society agitation forces it to adopt global environmental and social agendas that exacerbate poverty. There is room for pause concerning the immutability of globalization, especially when viewed in terms of Third World reactions and the universal legitimacy of the process in its economic, political and cultural forms.
