ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses different schools of globalization thinkers and the concept of the ‘risk society’, exploring the relationship between globalization and sustainability. Globalization is subject to intensive theoretical debate in sustainability because social and environmental problems are inherently global. Many globalization thinkers have pointed out the increase in capital and labour mobility across borders, and the further integration of the global supply chains into the world’s system of trade. Transformationalists are more moderate in terms of emphasis on ubiquity and linearity of globalization, more interested in assessing its complex ‘butterfly effects’ or mutual interactions. The mediation of environmental and social burden incurred during different stages of production is often referred to as greening the supply chain. Post-Fordism is characterized by the globalization of financial markets, and increases in global trade and exploitation of natural resources. Energy has been literally firing up social and economic developments since the Industrial Revolution.
