Content uploaded by Paweł Capik
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Paweł Capik on May 27, 2020
Content may be subject to copyright.
368
BOOK REVIEWS
© 2008 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG
Without daring to recognize alternative futures to
that likely to be created by neo-liberal capitalism, we
are destined to consume ourselves into an environ-
mental situation that mirrors the harsh, destructive
processes that created it’ (p. 195). Chapter 13 follows,
on the cultural faces of globalisation and multiple
identity formation that occur regionally, locally and
in an uneven manner, a contribution by Shresta and
Conway. They argue that economic and technological
development would lead to a transformation in people’s
traditional behaviour which brings modernisation. A
reconfiguration of cultural power relationships can
strengthen cultural identities which would in turn
alter global geopolitical and geo-economic landscapes
of tomorrow. Chapter 14 deals with the growing global
opposition to globalisation and refers to debates of
social justice and questions of societal and ecological
sustainability. This chapter, written by Conway, deals
with grassroots globalisation and focuses on the set
of human responses as a resistance the effects of globa-
lisation. Conway argues that ‘advances in grassroots
mobilisation via the internet – e-mail, websites, weblogs
and other online communications – promise the
kind of global intercommunication and information-
sharing necessary for large scale opposition and
popular activism to be well-prepared, well-organised
and transnationally influential’(p. 225). The final
summarising chapter by Conway and Heynen
‘Towards fair globalisation’ ends with more question
marks than solutions, posing the pressing question of
whether fair globalisation is possible.
After reading the whole volume I am still wonder-
ing whether we really needed this new volume on
globalisation.
Due to the particular organisation of the volume,
the contributions are rather different in scope. Some
of the contributions are more general overviews
of literature, while others provide more detailed
analyses. The result is a patchy collection of uneven
contributions to the main objective. In particular, the
conceptualisations and the terminology vary strongly
between chapters, creating an uneasy balance between
an introductory text and an edited volume of in
depth research. Even though the book is a critical col-
lection which aims to raise questions, it remains also
a question whether the geographical insights and the
assessments of globalisation’s multifaceted faces and
spaces offered are enough to give sufficient ground-
ing for the far-reaching debate which is initiated in
the last chapter. However, the book also claims to be
aimed primarily at (graduate) students, and the book
seems suitable for that purpose. It is enough of an
introduction to present a complex field to a non-
specialist reader, as well as offering challenging ideas
to get people thinking. Overall, the book can be a
useful teaching resource for introductory and post-
graduate level courses on globalisation.
References
Cummings
, B. (2003), Is America an Imperial Power?
Current History
102, pp. 355–341.
Held
, D., D.
Goldblatt
, A.
McGrew
& J.
Perraton
,
eds. (1999),
Global Transformations
. Cambridge:
Polity Press.
Pfaff
, W. (2001), The Question of Hegemony.
Foreign Affairs
30, pp. 221–233.
Rosenau
, J.N. (2003),
Distant Proximities: Dynamics
beyond Globalization
. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press.
Scholte
, J.A. (2005),
Globalization: A Critical
Introduction
. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
University of Groningen Aleid E. Brouwer
Global Shift: Mapping the Changing Contours of the
World Economy.
PETER DICKEN, London 2007: Sage, xxiii + 599 pp.,
ISBN 978-1-4129-2955-4, paperback.
‘A seminal text for students, scholars, and policy
makers’ (W.E. Hallal), ‘A must for anyone interested
in globalisation’ (S.J.Kobrin), ‘Not just recommended
but essential’ (N. Thrift) – a review of any book
received so favourably by international academic
community already at the outset promises to be a
challenging task (quotes sourced from the back cover
of
Global Shift
5th edition). Even more so in the case
of the latest edition of Peter Dicken’s
Global Shift
,
when one cannot help but be intimidated by 20 years
of the project history and four previous successful
editions, each one wiser, fuller and more acclaimed
than the former ones.
In as much as comparisons with previous editions
are unavoidable, encouraged by the numerous
changes (in both content and form) and additions
characterising the book, we will try to limit them and
approach
Global Shift: Mapping the Changing Contours
of the World Economy
as if it was a novel voice in the
globalisation discourse. Essentially, then, instead of
advocating the 5th edition’s superiority over its
predecessors, we assess its value added and its con-
tribution to the ongoing debate on globalisation.
Over the past two decades globalisation became a
favourite word of countless commentators, including
academics, of world economic, social, political and
environmental affairs on equally the right and left
ends of the ideological spectrum. Thus, it is axio-
matic that this plethora of interests and approaches
results in divergent, often conflicting, conclusions on
BOOK REVIEWS
369
© 2008 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG
the actual reasons for, drivers and consequences of,
and the future course of the process. Whereas the
fundamental nature of globalisation is broadly
agreed – it encompasses events and decisions taken
in one part of the world that have the potential to
significantly impact individuals and communities in
distant parts of the globe (Dunning 2000) – its extent
is largely contested. While some hyper-globalists ‘on
the right’ declare the unprecedented end of the
nation-states borders so far inhibiting the flows of
unlimited capital flows, the ones ‘on the left’ perceive
it as the worst of all evils contributing to ever growing
socio-spatial inequalities. Concurrently, the ‘sceptical
internationalists’ question the ‘newness’ of the current
circumstances claiming that the world economy has
been much more open in the half a century preced-
ing the First World War (pp. 5–7). It is this ongoing
debate introduced in the first part of the book that
serves as the background to the forthcoming discus-
sion of various dimensions of globalisation, its causes
and effects.
Like the earlier editions, the volume is divided into
clearly related but distinctive parts. The initial section
identifies ‘what’ is happening, the next one ‘why’ it is
happening, then the penultimate one deals with the
‘how’, and the final part examines the consequences
of the process. The main argument of the book
focuses around transnational corporations (TNCs)
and their key role in co-ordinating production net-
works and ‘therefore in shaping the new economy’
(p. 16). The apparent binder of the extensively illus-
trated and documented 19 chapters (212 figures,
35 tables) is the interplay between the (allegedly)
dominant position of TNCs and the developmental
prerogatives of nation-states’ authorities around the
globe.
The conflicting approaches to globalisation reap-
pear in various parts of the book making it an intrigu-
ing polemic with dominating one-sided views and
strengthening the author’s perception of globalisa-
tion as a complex multifactor, multilevel and multi-
directional set of phenomenon rather then a single,
harmonic process, namely, it is the state of constant
becoming rather then being. Such a dynamic, com-
prehensive and polychromatic approach presented
throughout the book is only one of its numerous
indisputable strengths. Further, the initial part pro-
vides grounding for the book’s subtitle and maps the
current contours of the world economy at all scales
from urban/local to regional/intra-continental, to
the global.
The second part offers insights into drivers and
conveyors of globalisation. Dicken presents technology
as a socially and institutionally embedded, demand
driven process. Exceptionally, the author chooses not
to discuss the ‘push factors’, which is in stark contrast
with a discursive nature of the book. Instead, in this
part the author explores the motivation behind firms’
internationalisation and accurately deconstructs the
transnational fragmentation of their activities. This is
complemented by the following sections discussing
nation-states’ responses to, and ways of shaping
globalisation, and unveiling the uneasy relationships
between states and TNCs constantly oscillating
between competition and collusion.
The third part in a clearly structured manner
applies earlier theoretical deliberations to explore
the peculiarities of selected branches in all three eco-
nomic sectors, albeit treated somewhat unequally
with the emphasis put on selection of ‘industry of
industries’ (p. 270) of their respective eras. Examining
the impact of innovations, the nature of production
circuits, consumption patterns, role of state’s policies
and TNCs’ strategies, Dicken fills in the earlier sketched
contours to produce a map of full value revealing the
regionalisation of TNCs’ global operations.
Part 4 provides accounts of global winners and
losers, but goes beyond the obvious arguments to
emphasise the local consequences of global pro-
cesses. The author demonstrates how the effects of
globalisation ‘are felt not at the global or the national
level but at the local scale: the communities within
which real people struggle to live out their daily lives.
It is at this scale that physical investment in economic
activities are actually put in place, restructured and
closed down’ (p. 438).
While each chapter, thanks to the scrupulous pre-
cision it is presented with, its actuality and accuracy,
is valuable in itself, focusing on only one section of
the book might provide the reader with somewhat
distorted view. To appreciate Dicken’s balanced
approach to global processes it is imperative to study
the entire volume which grants the holistic intellec-
tual experience.
Global Shift
is indeed a very timely contribution to
an increasingly slogan driven, often chaotic debate
about the comparably frenzied globalisation pheno-
menon. It is a unique text embedded in geographical
tradition but evidently drawing on the heritage of
other disciplines including international business
and management, political economy, development
studies and political science that, taken together,
systemise the variety of arguments and reasserts the
role of place in a supposedly placeless world. Further-
more, the book provides convincing moral-rational
argumentation as to why the future focus of inter-
national developmental regulations should be the
equity between various parts of the world and social
groups, understood not as levelling down but raising
up.
The book benefits from a very broad resource base
to which Dicken directs the more enquiring minds
needing further explanations and indepth analysis of
particular issues that are introduced.
370
BOOK REVIEWS
© 2008 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG
The 5th edition does not disappoint, neverthe-
less several deficiencies require some attention. The
critique, however, needs to be put into a broader
context for its intended audience. And arguably this
is the presupposed group of addressees that requires
reassessment.
The author and the publisher indicate a variety of
divergent disciplines and professional groups whose
interests the book aims to satisfy. These range from
geography to international management and politi-
cal science, from introductory undergraduate years
to academics and policy-makers. Employing Dicken’s
discursive approach to form a slightly reshaped
metaphor – the book undoubtedly will benefit all
the named audiences, however to rather dissimilar
degrees. While for some (notably geography and
other social science undergraduates) it is unquestion-
ably compulsory reading that will encourage them to
approach globalisation and controversies around it
from all angles, for others (academics, researchers,
practitioners) it would rather offer a wealth of data
and enough reasons for arguments over the coming
decade, or at least till the next edition.
A couple of further points on the book’s substance
need to be mentioned. While the sectoral approach
spans across all sectors of economic activity, due to
its narrow focus the primary sector is perhaps least
scrupulously discussed. And while one can under-
stand that the chapter constitutes the most recent
innovation to the volume, it is still innovation in
making. Inclusion of other than high-value foodstuffs
would broaden the spatial coverage of the chapter
which fits in with the approach presented in the rest
of the book. More generally the sectoral overview
would benefit from inclusion of part on the industrial
activity which by its very nature conditions all other
actions. A chapter presenting the energy sector
would complement the existing debate and at the
same time fit into the discussion framework by
considering the interlinked issues of environmental
protection, state regulation, TNC operations, process
management, technological innovation and social
impacts.
However, possibly the most disappointing feature
of the this edition is associated with its unquestionable
strength – the scrupulous analysis of big transnational
corporations. The focus on large TNCs and their
thorough discussion leaves no space for inclusion of
an increasingly internationally active and thus ever
more important distinctive sector of small and
medium sized enterprises and their international
operations.
One last technical point needs mentioning. While
preferred by editors and publishers, the notes located
at the end of the chapter and not at the bottom of
the page, are much less appreciated by the readers
forced into frequent page flicking. At least explana-
tory footnotes would be much more useful beneath
the text they refer to.
Despite these imperfections
Global Shift
remains a
powerful reading that in a systematic fashion brings
together opposing arguments and reliably debates
them. By the means of vast, up-to-date empirical
evidence it presents a logical argument which ‘unde-
monises’ globalisation, simultaneously successfully
avoiding its unquestionable glorification. It is not
possible to explore the plethora of different aspects
of globalisation in a single volume, nevertheless
Global shift
5th edition from among other books in
this area gets closest to this aim. We shall look forward
to this seminal chronicle update in few years time.
Reference
Dunning
, J.H. (2000),
Regions, Globalisation, and the
Knowledge Economy: The Issues Stated
. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
University of Paisley Pawe
¬
Capik
The Urban Politics Reader.
ELIZABETH A. STROM & JOHN H. MOLLENKOPF,
The Routledge Urban Reader Series. London and
New York 2007.
Along with the widely acknowledged new role of local
politics in the context of ‘Glocalisation’ more attention
is given to structures, processes, efficiency, and capacities
of local policies again. The recently published
Urban
Politics Reader
offers a carefully selected collection of
papers covering the full range of issues related to
urban politics. It is not only helpful for classes in
political science, but for all students of urban affairs.
The reader consists of six parts: The social and
economic context of urban politics, the roots of urban
politics, understanding urban power, the political
economy of cities and communities, the politics of
race, ethnicity, and gender, and finally cities, regions,
and nations. These headlines illustrate the basic idea
of the composition of this reader: it reflects the ten-
sions between the larger social, economic, and polit-
ical contexts and local decision-making processes, or
to put it differently: between structure and agency.
At the same time it offers an historical introduction
into what urban political researchers have done so far
and an introduction into the main themes of urban
development perspectives in the age of globalisation.
The editors try to avoid only providing classical read-
ings, and the possible presentation of trendy or ‘in
vogue’ approaches and theories.
