Sociology. Anthony Giddens
What examples and artists are discussed that may signal the erosion of single-genre pop music today?
What evidence is there that collaborations and mixing/blending of styles in music illustrates a shift in power relations away from the USA and Europe?
How has the emergence and rapid growth of digital technology, music streaming and online environments facilitated the globalization of music?
If Western-based artists adopt the musical style of, say, Korean K-pop, is this an example of globalization, of glocalization, or simply a form of appropriation by the more powerful cultures?
Thinking back to our discussion of economic, political and cultural forms of globalization, what evidence is there that one of these forms is the primary driver of the globalization of music?
The subject matter of this chapter is so wide-ranging that a single book will not cover it. But there are two formats you should find useful. First are those that cover global human history and the development of societies. Noel Cowen’s (2001) Global History: A Short Overview (Cambridge: Polity) is a well-written, concise, yet comprehensive account which assumes no specialist knowledge. Bruce Mazlish’s (2006) The New Global History (London: Routledge) traces global history and globalization processes over the long term, linking historical and sociological approaches.
Second are those books that deal with current theories and debates on globalization. You could try Manfred B. Steger’s (2017) Globalization: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press) or George Ritzer and Paul Dean’s (2015) Globalization: A Basic Text (2nd edn, Oxford: Wiley Blackwell), which covers global governance and other key aspects of the main debates. Luke Martell’s (2017) Sociology of Globalization (2nd edn, Cambridge: Polity) is a wide-ranging review.
Paul Hirst, Grahame Thompson and Simon Bromley’s (2009) Globalization in Question (3rd edn, Cambridge: Polity) provides an essential critique. Paul Hopper’s (2007) Understanding Cultural Globalization (Cambridge: Polity) does exactly what it says, and Thomas G. Weiss’s (2013) Global Governance: Why? What? Whither? (Cambridge: Polity) is a lively discussion of this subject. Collectively these three cover some key economic, cultural and political aspects of globalization.
The Globalization Reader (2020) (6th edn, ed. Frank J. Lechter and John Boli, Chichester: Wiley) is a very comprehensive collection covering a broad range of subjects, and A Dictionary of World History (2006) (2nd edn, Oxford: Oxford University Press) is a useful resource.
Additional information and support for this book at Polity: www.politybooks.com/giddens9
TimeMaps information on hunter-gatherers – covers hunter-gatherers, agrarian societies and early civilizations: www.timemaps.com/hunter-gatherer
The 1999 Reith Lectures – Anthony Giddens on ‘The runaway world’: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/events/reith_99/
International Forum on Globalization – an alliance of activists, scholars and researchers interested in globalization processes: www.ifg.org/
Yale Center for the Study of Globalization – exactly what it says it is: https://ycsg.yale.edu/
Centre for Research on Globalization – Canadian-based ‘think site’ with lots of comment by researchers and academics: www.globalresearch.ca/
Global Policy Forum – monitors policy-making at the United Nations: www.globalpolicy.org/
UCL Global Governance Institute – UCL centre for cross-disciplinary research on tackling global social problems: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/global-governance/
BBC World Service on globalization – some basic information on aspects of ‘global society’: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/globalisation/
CONTENTS
1 Nature, environment and society
3 Sociology and the environment
4 Theorizing the society–nature nexus
9 Food shortages and biotechnology
10 The environment in sociological theory
11 Living in the global ‘risk society’
12 Consumerism and environmental damage