Book

Veseth, Michael.

Globaloney : unraveling the myths of globalization / Michael Veseth.

Lanham, MD : Rowman & Littlefield, ©2005.

vii, 267 pages ; 24 cm.

What's the truth about globalization ... and what's just "globaloney?" Michael Veseth believes that much of what students understand about globalization is really globaloney-bombast built on a few vivid images and exceptional cases that distort more than they reveal about the world around us. Globaloney separates rhetoric from reality by snapping close-ups of the classic globalization images and comparing them with unexpected alternative visions that resonate with culturally savvy college-aged readers. Do Michael Jordan and Nike really define globalization? Why not David Beckham and World Cup soccer? Is globalization McDonalds and McWorld? Why isn't the global wine market a better metaphor? And what can we learn about how globalization works at the grassroots by comparing the elitist, publicity-hungry Slow Food movement with the massive but virtually invisible international trade in worn and wrinkled second-hand clothes? Veseth convincingly explains how all globalization is local, why the French so love to hate it, and what Adam Smith has to do with it. The book shows why it is dangerous to generalize about globalization and, through its wealth of examples, demonstrates that globalization is not one big thing but many different yet related, particular things. An ideal supplement for courses on international political economy and international relations, Globaloney is an irreverent look at how globalization really works.

Globalization

Globalization (Lanham, Md.)

Globalization.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-256) and index.

Introduction. If the devil is in the details, as is often said, then why is the rhetoric of globalization built on such skimpy facts? How Globaloney came to be written -- The globaloney syndrome. How Claire Booth Luce and Henry A. Wallace started the globaloney debate -- Blame it all on Adam Smith. Did the Father of Economics invent the rhetoric of globaloney? -- Michael Jordan and NBA Global Fever. Is Michael Jordan the human face of post-modern anti-globalism? What basketball does and doesn't teach us about globalization -- The beautiful game and the American exception. Soccer is the global game. Why isn't it also America's game? What does this mean for the argument that globalization is merely Americanization? -- Globalization as McWorld. What can McDonald's really tell us about globalization? -- Globalization versus Terroir. Does globalization homogenize products and tastes -- a race to cultural mediocrity? The view from the vineyard -- Grassroots globaloney. Can the grassroots resist globalization? Can culture be preserved? An Italian snail and some American rags suggest an unlikely answer -- Globalization and the French exception. Why do the French hate globalization so? What would French globalization look like?

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