Globalization has, within academic, political and business circles alike, become the buzz word of the 1990s, conjuring an ever growing diversity of associations, connotations and attendant mythologies. In this volume an array of international academics assess the contribution of the globalization thesis, in its various guises, to our understanding of social, political and economic change in contemporary societies. They expose, challenge and demystify many of the exaggerated and over-generalized claims made about globalization, whilst developing a distinctive "third wave" perspective on the world we inhabit and the processes currently reconfiguring it.