The global communications industry, the growth of multi-nationals and the increasingly global character of the finance industry have pushed the ideas of globalism and globality to the fore. The constraints of geography are shrinking and the world is ever becoming a single place. In this crisp and incisive book, Malcolm Waters provides a much needed guide to the concept in social theory and the social, economic and political consequences. The first two chapters offer a critical summary of the main theories of globalization beginning with the traditional arguments about modernization and convergence, world-systems theory, transnationalization and the global village. The book moves on to concentrate on the contemporary globalization theories of Robertson, Giddens Harvey and Beck. It then traces the process of Globalization through three arenas: economy, polity and culture. Here topics such as planetary environmentalism, the new irrational division of labour, global tourism, and democratization are all discussed.