This volume is dedicated to the historical context forming the background of contemporary philosophical, social and economic issues. It summarises the origins of economic activity in Eurasia and Egypt with an interpretation of the development of economics, economic thought and social thinking that takes us up to the present day. It argues that globalisation is not really new. Transpacific communications began shortly after the first states appeared in the Near East and continued intermittently during the following millennia, leaving curious traces. The book’s fundamental claim is that lessons be learnt from deep history about wealth, the nature of money, and the understanding of justice, and interpreting their importance is essential. Some of the book’s points are relevant to archaeological theory, and some are central to understanding human social organisations. Debating the claims made, and their potential significance, will interest archaeologists, historians, social scientists, and policy makers.

This volume is dedicated to the historical context forming the background of contemporary philosophical, social and economic issues. It summarises the origins of economic activity in Eurasia and Egypt with an interpretation of the development of economics, economic thought and social thinking that takes us up to the present day. It argues that globalisation is not really new. Transpacific communications began shortly after the first states appeared in the Near East and continued intermittently during the following millennia, leaving curious traces. The book's fundamental claim is that lessons be learnt from deep history about wealth, the nature of money, and the understanding of justice, and interpreting their importance is essential. Some of the book's points are relevant to archaeological theory, and some are central to understanding human social organisations. Debating the claims made, and their potential significance, will interest archaeologists, historians, social scientists, and policy makers.

In this book, Justin Jennings argues that globalization is not just a phenomenon limited to modern times. Instead he contends that the globalization of today is just the latest in a series of globalizing movements in human history. Using the Uruk, Mississippian, and Wari civilizations as case studies, Jennings examines how the growth of the world's first great cities radically transformed their respective areas. The cities required unprecedented exchange networks, creating long-distance flows of ideas, people, and goods. These flows created cascades of interregional interaction that eroded local behavioral norms and social structures. New, hybrid cultures emerged within these globalized regions. Although these networks did not span the whole globe, people in these areas developed globalized cultures as they interacted with one another. Jennings explores how understanding globalization as a recurring event can help in the understanding of both the past and the present.

The world today is far less a global village than a “global city”, as global network of multidimensional urban spaces of congestion prominently forming – and also formed by – globalization. But the relevance of cities is nothing but new. They were essential for culture and civilization worldwide, they allowed a centralization of power and knowledge and they were crucial for the division of labor and for the organization of mass demand. Further, as places of intense and continuous interactions, cities are the locations par excellence for global history to take place. Thus, there is a need to study the history of cities in connection with the history of globalization from this perspective. This book is dedicated to contribute to the still underdeveloped but growing literature connecting the history of cities worldwide and their relation to global processes. The authors do so from various disciplinary backgrounds and by referring to different times and places. We visit ancient Alexandria, nineteenth century Zanzibar, and modern-day São Paolo, among others, and we view these cities not only in their globality, but also through their heritage, their economic relevance, their architecture, or financial flows connecting them. Further, the book also contains systematic considerations about “global city”, especially the general role of cities in development, cities in global history teaching, and cities' relationships to global commodity chains.

By the end of this century, 9 out of 10 Europeans will live in an urban area. But what kind of city will they call home? You'll find all the answers in CITY, TRANSFORMED, the new essay series from the European Investment Bank. This panoramic first essay in the series lays out a great sweeping history of European cities over the last fifty years—and showcases new directions being taken by some of our most innovative cities. Urban experts Greg Clark, Tim Moonen, and Jake Nunley based at University College London take a definitive look at how Europe's cities transformed from post-industrial decline to thriving metropolises that are as prosperous and liveable as anywhere on Earth.

Most research on globalization has focused on macroeconomic and economy-wide consequences. This book explores an under-researched area, the impacts of globalization on cities and national urban hierarchies, especially but not solely in developing countries. Most of the globalization-urban research has concentrated on the "global cities" (e.g. New York, London, Paris, Tokyo) that influence what happens in the rest of the world. In contrast, this research looks at the cities at the receiving end of the forces of globalization. The general finding is that large cities, on balance, benefit from globalization, although in some cases at the expense of widening spatial inequities.

This publication reviews the major turning points in the history of economic integration, and in particular the pace at which it has accelerated since the 1990s. It also considers its impact in four crucial areas, namely employment, development, the environment and financial stability.

We live today in an interconnected world in which ordinary people can became instant online celebrities to fans thousands of miles away, in which religious leaders can influence millions globally, in which humans are altering the climate and environment, and in which complex social forces intersect across continents. This is globalization. In the fifth edition of his bestselling Very Short Introduction Manfred B. Steger considers the major dimensions of globalization: economic, political, cultural, ideological, and ecological. He looks at its causes and effects, and engages with the hotly contested question of whether globalization is, ultimately, a good or a bad thing. From climate change to the Ebola virus, Donald Trump to Twitter, trade wars to China's growing global profile, Steger explores today's unprecedented levels of planetary integration as well as the recent challenges posed by resurgent national populism. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Why are some countries rich and others poor? In 1500, the income differences were small, but they have grown dramatically since Columbus reached America. Since then, the interplay between geography, globalization, technological change, and economic policy has determined the wealth and poverty of nations. The industrial revolution was Britain's path breaking response to the challenge of globalization. Western Europe and North America joined Britain to form a club of rich nations by pursuing four polices-creating a national market by abolishing internal tariffs and investing in transportation, erecting an external tariff to protect their fledgling industries from British competition, banks to stabilize the currency and mobilize domestic savings for investment, and mass education to prepare people for industrial work. Together these countries pioneered new technologies that have made them ever richer. Before the Industrial Revolution, most of the world's manufacturing was done in Asia, but industries from Casablanca to Canton were destroyed by western competition in the nineteenth century, and Asia was transformed into 'underdeveloped countries' specializing in agriculture. The spread of economic development has been slow since modern technology was invented to fit the needs of rich countries and is ill adapted to the economic and geographical conditions of poor countries. A few countries - Japan, Soviet Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, and perhaps China - have, nonetheless, caught up with the West through creative responses to the technological challenge and with Big Push industrialization that has achieved rapid growth through investment coordination. Whether other countries can emulate the success of East Asia is a challenge for the future. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Why have some cities become great global urban centers, and what cities will be future leaders? From Athens and Rome in ancient times to New York and Singapore today, a handful of cities have stood out as centers of global economic, military, or political power. In the twenty-first century, the number of truly global cities is greater than ever before, reflecting the globalization of both economic and political power. In Global Cities: A Short History, Greg Clark, an internationally renowned British urbanist, examines the enduring forces—such as trade, migration, war, and technology—that have enabled some cities to emerge from the pack into global leadership. Much more than a historical review, Clark’s book looks to the future, examining the trends that are transforming cities around the world as well as the new challenges all global cities, increasingly, will face. Which cities will be the global leaders of tomorrow? What are the common issues and opportunities they will face? What kinds of leadership can make these cities competitive and resilient? Clark offers answers to these and similar questions in a book that will be of interest to anyone who lives in or is affected by the world’s great urban areas.