ABSTRACT
Globalisation has probably been the most written about phenomenon in the social sciences over the last several decades. Whether people are rich or poor, subject to calamitous effects of climate change or relatively insulated from them, depends on social relations, often of globalisation. Social democratic states with good welfare provision tend to have relatively low Gini coefficients. For example, in terms of income Denmark has a Gini coefficient of 0.25. In the late 1990s some luxury marque owners in South Africa fitted flamethrowers under their cars to “deter” smash and grabs or carjackers. The photo is deliberately non-representative and could be argued to be sensationalist, as the vast majority of social interactions in South Africa and elsewhere around the world are not, or at least not directly, violent. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
