Globalization and Its Discontents

by Saskia Sassen

Nations worry about their shrinking sovereignty as large numbers of immigrants cross borders at will. This collection of essays asks if globalization is killing off the nation state.

Genres: Politics, Sociology, Economics, Nonfiction, Essays, History, Urbanism

253 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Saskia Sassen (born in The Hague, January 5, 1949) is a Dutch sociologist noted for her analyses of globalization and international human migration. She is currently Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University and Centennial visiting Professor at the London School of Economics. Sassen coined the term global city.

After being a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, Sassen held various academic positions both in and outside the USA, such as the Ralph Lewis Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago. She is currently Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University and Centennial Visiting Professor of Political Economy in the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Sassen emerged as a prolific author in urban sociology. She studied the impacts of globalisation such as economic restructuring, and how the movements of labour and capital influence urban life. She also studied the influence of communication technology on governance. Sassen observed how nation states begin to lose power to control these developments, and she studied increasing general transnationalism, including transnationalhuman migration. She identified and described the phenomenon of the global city. Her 1991 book bearing this title quickly made her a frequently quoted author on globalisation worldwide. A revised and updated edition of her book was published in 2001. She currently (2006) is pursuing her research and writing on immigration and globalization, with her "denationalization" and "transnationalism" projects (see Bibliography and External Links, below). Sassen's books have been translated into 21 languages.

Reviews

[ocelia]

gave me interdisciplinary whiplash & thesis nightmares 👍

[Andrew]

Saskia Sassen is a theorist I admire, and this is one of her best-known works, but honestly, it comes off as a '90s relic more than anything else, describing a world that no longer exists (at best) (dude, Saskia, it's gotten so much worse... and the language of blood and soil is not near as banished as you might believe) and making shockingly foolhardy predictions (at worst) (like seriously, you thought Japan would open up to mass immigration?). I mean her heart is in the right place, even if this is a text that seems more like inspiration for the '90s WTO protests than something we could draw any kind of theoretical or practical wisdom for a more rational, more conscientious path forward for humanity. In the world after the giddy epoch at the ostensible end of history, a more old school meat-and-potatoes Marxism seems to be of renewed applicability.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

as a young white american male, i am quite content with globalization. as an antihippy, i am not content with lefty sassen's conclusions regarding the oppressive nature of global flows of capital. all we need is a bit more deregulation, a bit less meddling, and these perceived woes will cure themselves.

[Amy]

Have yet to read, but I've heard good things about it.

[Carlo Mayer]

In lettura