Many Globalizations: Cultural Diversity in the Contemporary World

by Peter L. Berger (Editor), Samuel P. Huntington (Editor)

Much discussed but poorly understood, globalization is at once praised as the answer to all the world's problems and blamed for everything from pollution to poverty. Here Berger and Huntington bring together an array of experts who paint a subtle and richly shaded portrait, showing both the power and the unexpected consequences of this great force.
The stereotypes of globalization--characterized as American imperialism on the one hand, and as an economic panacea on the other--fall apart under close scrutiny. Surveying globalization from individual countries of the five major continents, Many Globalizations shows that an emerging global culture does indeed exist. While globalization is American in origin and content, the authors point out that it is far from a centrally directed force like classic imperialism. They examine the currents that carry this culture, from a worldwide class of young professionals to non-governmental organizations, and define globalization's many variations as well as sub-globalizations that bind regions together.
Analytical, incisive and stimulating, Many Globalizations offers rare insight into perhaps the central issue of modern times, one that is changing the West as much as the developing world.
"Provocative.... Taken together, the trenchant, well-written essays included in this collection provide indisputable evidence that an identifiable global culture is indeed emerging."-- World Policy Journal
"Analytical and penetrating, belongs...on the desks of anyone with an abiding interest in the forces shaping the world."-- Publishers Weekly

Genres: Nonfiction, Cultural

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Peter L. Berger was an internationally renowned sociologist, and the founder of Boston University's Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs. He was born in Vienna and came to the U.S. in his late teens. He had a master's degree and a doctorate from the New School for Social Research in New York. After two years in the United States Army, he taught at the University of Georgia and the University of North Carolina before going to the Hartford Seminary Foundation as an Assistant Professor in Social Ethics.

In 1992, Peter Berger was awarded the Manes Sperber Prize, presented by the Austrian government for significant contributions to culture. He was the author of many books, among them The Social Construction of Reality, The Homeless Mind, and Questions of Faith.