Manfred B. Steger is Professor of Sociology at the University of Hawai'i at M¿noa. He also served as a globalization consultant for the U.S. Department of State and as advisor to the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service. He is the author or editor of thirty books on globalization and political and social theory, including The Rise of the Global Imaginary (OUP, 2008); the award-winning Globalisms: Facing the Populist Challenge, 4th ed.; and Globalization Matters: Engaging the Global in Unsettled Times.

• List of illustrations


• List of maps


• List of figures


• List of abbreviations


• Preface to the sixth edition


• 1: What is globalization?


• 2: Globalization in history


• 3: The economic and technological dimensions of globalization


• 4: The political dimension of globalization


• 5: The cultural dimension of globalization


• 6: The ecological dimension of globalization


• 7: Ideological confrontations over globalization


• 8: Present and future trends


• References and further reading


• Index

We live today in an interconnected world with unprecedented levels of planetary integration and disruption. This phenomenon is known as globalization. The sixth edition of this Very Short Introduction provides definitions of the key terms and concepts of globalization, offers an overview of its history, and an examination of its major dimensions.