
The Three Waves of Globalization
A History of a Developing Global Consciousness
A new reading of western history argues that human interconnections achieved global proportions for the first time 500 years ago, producing three waves of destabilizing globalization. The first wave, post-1500, devastated America and contributed to European wars and revolutions. In the nineteenth century, the rush to monopolize wealth and power escalated into rivalries between classes, nations, empires. After 1945, a new global social architecture with transnational capital as its main factor threatens world stability.
About the book
A new reading of western history argues that human interconnections achieved global proportions for the first time 500 years ago, producing three waves of destabilizing globalization. The first wave, post-1500, devastated America and contributed to European wars and revolutions. In the nineteenth century, the rush to monopolize wealth and power escalated into rivalries between classes, nations, empires. After 1945, a new global social architecture with transnational capital as its main factor threatens world stability.
Contents
- PART ONE: GLOBALIZING KNOWLEDGE
- Introducing Global Consciousness
- Struggles for Survival and Wellbeing
- PART TWO: THE FIRST WAVE OF GLOBALIZATION
- Early Global Transformations
- Fragile Commercial Imperatives
- PART THREE: THE SECOND WAVE OF GLOBALIZATION
- Globalization’s Industrial Child
- Empires of Disadvantage
- Implosion
- PART FOUR: THE THIRD WAVE OF GLOBALIZATION
- American Globalism
- Globalizing Democracies
- Globalizing Perspectives