Challenges of Globalization

Although the products of globalization are far from new, globalization as a process in the Pacific-Asian Region is both dynamic and problematic. Pacific-Asia globalization outcomes at present include: intensification of changes linked to the influences of capitalism; information technology and innovative technological systems; migration, transnationalism, and refugees; tourism for those with newly apparent disposable incomes; altered philosophical and religious perspectives, including the new fundamentalism; paradigm shifts within indigenous languages and cultures; lifestyles that embrace and/or disengage from all of the globalizing factors listed above; and others.

The Challenges of Globalization defines globalization as "supra-national ideas and processes that cross national borders with impunity." Such "ideas and processes" may appear to possess a will of their own, fostering closer links between cultures, societies, and economies. But, do they? How do individuals, communities, and nation-states actually respond to the forces of globalization? This book explores globalization within the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and education.

Lan-Hung Nora Chiang is a Professor of Geography at National Taiwan University. Professor Chiang holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Hawaii.

John Lidstone is an Associate Professor of Education at Queensland University in Technology in Brisbane, Australia. Professor Lidstone holds a doctorate from the University of London Institute of Education.

Rebecca A. Stephenson is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Guam. Professor Stephenson holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Oregon.