Varieties of World-Making: Beyond Globalization

Globalization has been the topic of heated debate in recent years, with one side asserting that it will produce a better standard of living for people around the world, and a fierce opposition arguing that it will ultimately lead to greater poverty and the destruction of unique human cultures. Varieties of World Making tackles the issue from a different angle, proposing that the contemporary global network of business, politics and culture be viewed from the inter-disciplinary perspective of ’world making’. Drawn from the ranks of sociology, law, international relations, political philosophy and history, the distinguished contributors cut through polarized rhetoric to examine the current global situation. Their proposed diagnoses draw upon thoughtful analyses of various political dilemmas whose ripple effects are felt around the world, such as the volatile relationship between Islam and Europe, or the legal foundations for a true international order absent in the shadows of imperialism. Varieties of World Making will be an essential resource for all those grappling with the complex consequences of globalization for the future.

Nathalie Karagiannis is a Marie Curie Intra-Europe Research Fellow at the University of Sussex. Peter Wagner is professor in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute, Florence, and has held visiting positions at Princeton University and the University of California, Berkeley, among others.