From Publishers Weekly
Globalization as we know it emerged in a 1944 plan for post-war economic recovery, starting with the World Bank. This first institution and indicator has multiplied in many ways over the last half-decade, and globalization has become a contentious international issue. One of the lessons of September 11 is that the time for spiritual provincialism is clearly over. Religion journalist Rifkin produces a highly readable, quick study that begins to come to terms with the global religious agendas arising within and outside our borders. The book's interesting personal narratives, sprinkled throughout, reflect a true pluralism and enliven what could be a dry, doctrinaire approach. Rifkin examines Roman Catholicism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, the Bah '¡ faith, tribal and earth-based religions, and Protestantism for evidence of how they view the economic, cultural and personal aspects of globalization. Writing with balanced appraisal and astute depth, Rifkin provides readers with a sense of how the major tenets of each tradition give rise to individual perceptions and actions on globalization. His understandings of the social constructs that arise out of belief are fascinating and essential reading. Avoiding a jargon-laden treatise, Rifkin keeps the writing light and clear, using eminent support from the likes of Huston Smith and Karen Armstrong. For anyone who has asked why terrorism has come to American shores, Rifkin supplies some well-informed and quite broad answers.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Inside Flap
A practical guide to the wide range of spiritual perspectives on one of today’s most controversial topics—giving you the tools you need to reach your own conclusions.
How we react to the sweeping changes in the world today will determine what sort of world we leave to our children and grandchildren. This incisive look at globalization, complete with interviews from members of eight different faith groups and a thorough list of resources for further reading, will help you:
• Survey a broad range of opinion, from a variety of religious and spiritual perspectives
• See what spiritually motivated activists are doing—on all sides of the issue
• Reach a deeper understanding of globalization—its meaning and effects
• Frame your own opinion—and determine how you will behave in response.
"As important as economics may be, it is not, as the great religions stress, the full measure of humanity. There is also connection to self, to others, to the ingrained values that have sustained cultures for generations and millennia, and to the belief in transcendence that gives it all meaning. In the end, what unnerves people most about globalization—including many in the West who may fairly be said to be on the winning side (economically, that is) of the process so far—is the threat it poses to that which is most precious to a life of satisfaction: our sense of meaning."
—from the Conclusion
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
