This book offers a contribution to the current debate over globalization. It provides a a distinctively cultural focus on the social theory of the contemporary world. The relationship between local communities and a broader social system is a long-standing concern. Recent decades, however, have seen an acceleration of the processes by which the global system impacts on localities. The result has been an increased interest in understanding the nature of global society, viewed through such conceptions as "world-systems", "restructuring" and "capitalism".
