ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses confrontation between the economic globalization thesis and the emergence of the governance critique. The reason for this confrontation lies in the argument that the adverse effects of the dominant globalization thesis elicited a counter-hegemonic response and critique. The counter-hegemonic literature helps articulate a different vision of globalization. It overcomes the overly economic deterministic analysis of the globalization thesis by uncovering the countervailing political dynamics to the process. The governance literature's conceptualization of the empowering role of civil society is helpful but remains ambiguous; and little scholarly effort has been made to remedy this problem. Central to this is a commitment and dedication to building and nurturing a new two-step governance and Human Factor (HF) ethic based upon core values of liberty, justice, equity, integrity, accountability and transparency in both political and human terms. In order to avoid HF reductionism or fetishism, the chapter makes a call for a balance between the effective engineering of HF and governance.
