" An Introduction to the End of the Known World" surveys the history of globalization from the earliest of ancient texts through contemporary debates and the prospects for anticipating the new worlds to come. At the end of the twentieth century, debates over the nature of globalization were unable to agree on a simple resolution, except to say that globalization is economic, political, and cultural all at once. Cultural globalization affects everyone with a smartphone, on which global youth from Los Angeles to Jakarta listen to Jay-Z and Beyonce. States are torn in several directions at once by unsettling economic, political, and cultural forces. Lemert concludes with a serious outline of the possible ways of imagining what the still-unknown global world will become next ways including optimism, caution, and skepticism."
Charles Lemert (born 1937) is an American born social theorist and sociologist. Charles Lemert is University Professor and John C Andrus Professor of Social Theory Emeritus at Wesleyan University and Senior Fellow of the Center for Comparative Research at Yale University. He is the author and editor of many books.