In Globalization and Transformation, Bruce Mazlish examines developments in contemporary warfare, economy, technology, and religion as fundamental factors in human experience that have accelerated global change in recent years. Continuing the analysis he began in Reflections on the Modern and the Global, Mazlish delves into human history, examining who we were so as to help us understand who we are today.
Early in the volume, Mazlish highlights the British historian Geoffrey Barraclough, who foresaw the trajectory of world events that gave rise to the "New Global History." He also examines humanity's progress, reminding us of contemporary globalization's precursors: the theories of Charles Darwin; the concept of the global and the local coupled with inquiry into the concept of parts and wholes; merchant empires, such as the English and Dutch East India companies that crisscrossed the ocean in pursuit of profits and power; anti-globalization; and the linkage of globalization to the very concept of humanity.
Though globalization is a complex concept, and versatile in its applications, Mazlish focuses on its transformational characteristics, noting that globalization's impact is not uniform across society's culture, politics, or economics. Some parts of the world have yet to accept the challenge to their past traditions. These stimulating essays offer new insights into a major phenomenon of our time.