Offshoring

by John Urry

The concealment of income, wealth and profits in tax havens has brought the topic of offshoring into public debate, but as John Urry shows in this important new book offshoring is a much more pervasive feature of contemporary societies. These often secretive activities offshore also involve relations of work, finance, pleasure, waste, energy and security. Powerful and pervasive offshore worlds have been generated, posing huge challenges both for governments and for citizens. This book documents the various patterns of offshoring Ð of the economy, sociability, politics and the environment. In each case, offshoring generates new patterns of power, reduces the responsibilities of the powerful 'offshore class', and limits the conditions for democratic governance. Offshore, out of sight, over the horizon are some of the troubling processes and metaphors by which much life has been rendered opaque and dependent upon secrets and lies. By analysing these patterns and processes, Urry sheds fresh light on the hidden worlds of offshoring and exposes the dark side of globalization. The book concludes by considering whether offshoring can be reversed Ð whether it is possible to bring about the systematic ‘reshoring’ of relations that would be good for democracy and for developing low-carbon futures. Urry portrays the coming century as being poised between even more extreme offshoring and various endeavours to bring back 'home' that which has currently escaped 'over the horizon'.

Genres: Sociology

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Offshoring by John Urry is a really captivating and thought-provoking book, although not an easy read I would recommend it to anybody interested in non-fiction and how offshoring of business affects us as a society, If you want to read something without putting much effort into thinking about what the author say's I would not recommend this book to you.

one of my favorite chapters was work offshored. this really opened my eyes to how industrial manufacturing has changed our society by breaking down tasks into little steps. in the past, we used to have a shoe-maker who would make the whole shoe. but now in today's society we have pushed these craftsmen to the side in favor of industrial manufacturing, were in the past we have an individual who makes the shoe we now have multiple individuals develop separate pieces of the shoes, this increases production because the bigger task of making the shoes is broken down into smaller ones such as making the sole and shoe itself this frees up time as the person on the factory floor does not have to worry about the whole shoe but instead just his smaller task.

[Carles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ensayo sobre como el sistema económico actual nos ha llevado a esconderlo todo (ingresos, residuos, producción) y como este hecho puede ser una receta para el desastre. Bueno para una reflexión sobre nuestro mundo, aunque bastante académico.

[Laura]

Yo ya sabía casi todo lo que explica pero puede ser una buena introducción al tema para los que quieran iniciarse y ver las diferentes dimensiones que nos conectan a nivel mundial.

[Endri Cela · Rating 3 out of 5]

It gives a good introduction to the topic.

[Claus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Offshoring is an interesting and very thought-provoking book. Urry demonstrates how many different processes taking place in contemporary society can be thought of in the light of offshoring and secrecy. In some sense, the book paints a rather dystopian picture of the future but the arguments provided are all very convincing and well documented. Interesting read for anyone interested in a diagnosis of contemporary societies.