Copyright ©2010, American Sociological Association, Volume XVI, Number 1, Pages 106-122 ISSN 1076-156X BOOK REVIEWS Moghadam, Valentine M. 2005. Globalizing Women: Transnational Feminist Networks. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 251 Pages. ISBN-13: 978- 0801880247,Paper, $22.00. [Ed. note: this book received honorable mention in the 2006 Political Economy of the World- System book awards]. In sociology, much of the current research on development notes the adverse affects of globalization on women, especially economic, but fails to offer a critical feminist analysis of its inherently gendered processes. A few scholars such as Cynthia Enloe (see Bananas, Beaches, and Bases, 1989, California) have sought to examine how global relationships, especially among state actors, rely upon traditional gender constructions but the overall literature is sparse. Valentine M. Moghadam offers a welcome contribution in Globalizing Women which bridges the divide between feminist sociology and world-systems analysis. Moghadam argues that feminist organizers have become important nonstate political actors in the contemporary world-system, with the power to mobilize resources against “the hegemonic and particularistic aspects of globalization.” This mobilization is made possible and augmented by social ties that transcend national boundaries, which Moghadam refers to as “transnational feminist networks” (TFNs). Members of these networks are united by a common agenda such as antimilitarism or reproductive rights and their activities generally include lobbying policy makers, monitoring government action, sending action alerts, attending conferences, organizing protests, and composing petitions. In this way, TFNs represent a dialectic within globalization in which those that have been adversely affected are now mobilizing to mediate its affects. Globalizing Women extends Moghadam’s previous sociological research connecting the contradictory effects of globalization on women with a proliferation of feminist transnational activism. The detailed attention to the goals and barriers faced by feminists in their struggle for gender-based equality in the contemporary world-system make a path-breaking contribution. Feminist readers will appreciate Moghadam’s deep commitment to understanding global feminism from the inside out. As a senior researcher with the WIDER Institute of the United Nations University (World Institute for Development Economics Research), Moghadam had unique access to TFN representatives permitting the use of qualitative methodology. Her analysis of TFNs is based upon her own observations as a participant at international meetings and conferences as well as interview data gathered from representatives of DAWN (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era), WEDO (Women’s Environment and Development Organization), SIGI (Sisterhood is Global Institute), and WLUML (Women Living Under Muslim Law). Additional secondary sources include TFN publications and website information. However, the focus of Globalizing Women is not upon profiles of TFN members as much as the broader context of TFN formation and their contributions in an era of increasing globalization. Consistent with world polity theory, Moghadam argues that the diffusion of information among feminist organizations (which rapidly increased with internet technology) in response to the 107 JOURNAL OF WORLD-SYSTEMS RESEARCH deleterious effects of globalization fostered the creation and proliferation of a global feminist community and a collective movement for women’s rights as “human rights.” Overall, Globalizing Women is well-written and clearly organized. In the preface, Moghadam begins with an overview of her research methods followed by a lengthy glossary of Acronyms and Terms. Readers may want to bookmark this page, as they will refer back to this list often. In chapter one, Moghadam presents her main argument suggesting that a transnational feminist movement exists within the larger global justice movement and offers human-rights based alternatives to capitalist globalization. These alternatives are based upon the conception of globalization as a gendered process responsible for the feminization of labor and rising social inequalities in a hierarchical world-system. Chapter two reviews the competing perspectives on the defining features and gender dynamics of globalization. Moghadam advocates for a broader theoretical exploration of globalization that considers gender a central point of analysis. Using both Marxist feminism and the logic of world-systems analysis, Moghadam describes how women’s position in the world- system is affected by patriarchal institutional forms (multinational corporations, state agencies, etc.) with the most influential actors located in core countries. Here, Moghadam is careful to discuss both the pros and cons of globalization, particularly those associated with women’s increased labor participation and the dwindling role of the welfare state. While free market expansion has created low-wage jobs for women in developing regions, the quality of jobs has not always elevated women’s social status and new informal economies such as sex tourism have created dangerous employment opportunities for women. These scenarios motivate TFNs and activists “on the ground” to demand action. This attention to women’s labor continues in chapter three where Moghadam articulates how worldwide expansion of a female labor force, the role of female labor in the global economy, and the persistence of social and gender inequalities underpin the rise of TFNs on a global scale. She argues that free-market globalization has led to increased inequality, particularly in developing and less-developed countries, where women workers bear the brunt of regional crises resulting from neo-liberal policies. TFNs have supported women workers by voicing concern that decision-making among global institutions is undemocratic and that many financial and trade agreements undermine international regimes on human rights, worker’s rights, and environmental protection. Moghadam provides several examples of how TFNs like WIDE and WEDO have mobilized around women’s labor issues. Yet, the actions of TFNs range dramatically. In chapter four, Moghadam describes the collective consciousness and identity of TFNs and highlights their differences and unique characteristics. She carefully describes how TFNs vary by class privilege and organizational style; WIDE and WEDO for example, are well-funded and managed by highly educated women while others function with meager resources. Additionally, many TFNs make concerted efforts to avoid masculine styles of organizational management in their day to day functions. Some also refrain from accepting money from outside organizations and/or from offering paid employment, as these conditions invite potential conflict, especially for women activists living and working under oppressive gender regimes. Nevertheless, TFNs are united by common feminist issues that transcend location. Moghadam argues that international feminist organizations formed a transnational or supranational network around common concerns for gender equality. In turn, these networks facilitated information exchange, feminist research, and a supportive community. BOOK REVIEWS 108 An interesting extension of this chapter might include an analysis of how some TFNs may disagree on certain feminist issues such as female genital mutilation or abortion. This may provide a more nuanced perspective on how cultural differences shape and possibly divide feminist organizing. Unfortunately, Moghadam touches only briefly (one paragraph at the end of chapter six) on how religion can divide feminists. In chapter five, Moghadam describes TFN critiques of neoliberal capitalism which highlight the need for both economic justice and gender justice. Structural adjustment and global trade policies increased social inequality around the world, especially for women who were a source of cheap labor for companies in developing regions. In response, TFNs sought change by advocating policy in defense of the welfare state, the natural environment, and economic policies for women by women. Moghadam summarizes the valuable contributions of DAWN, WIDE, and WEDO - three TFNs countering neoliberalism. Chapter six, “Feminists versus Fundamentalists” is, by far, the most compelling chapter in Globalizing Women. In this chapter, Moghadam discusses how TFNs such as WLUML and SIGI mobilized in response to the combined effects of capitalism and Islamic fundamentalism. These TFNs are united by the daunting task of advocating for gender equality in the context of a society influenced by the religious teachings of Islam. Groups like WLUML and SIGI must SIGI rely less on formal ties to governmental and UN agencies and more upon social and professional networks because they view governmental networks as patriarchal, authoritarian, and corrupt. Both groups have successfully weakened the power of some authoritarian Islamic regimes by educating women of their rights and internationally denouncing gender-based violence such as honor killings. Moghadam credits TFNs with the global dissemination of information on the atrocities committed against women and girls in Algeria during the 1990s and in Afghanistan under Taliban leadership. In chapter seven, Moghadam details the challenges of feminist organizing. This chapter will be much appreciated by readers familiar with the barriers and frustration of grassroots organizing. Moghadam finds that TFNs that limit or refuse external funding are generally more radical ideologically and less effective compared with others, due to fewer resources and less structured organizations. For instance, the Association of Women of the Mediterranean Region (AWMR) is an anticapitalist, antimilitarist, group that functions entirely on volunteer labor with no offices, paid staff, or stable financial resources. Due to these limited resources, AWMR is unable to network at international conferences and develop into a larger, more professional organization. However, they hold regional conferences dedicating most of their efforts towards improving conditions for women in Mediterranean regions. Though AWMR has achieved some goals including resolutions on violence against women in Algeria, Yugoslavia, and Turkey, their activities are severely constrained restricting them from extending feminist efforts beyond domestic politics. Moghadam’s final chapter synthesizes her findings that TFNs have created a collective consciousness of global feminism around universal women’s issues such as women’s human rights and that TFNs represent a challenge to capitalism and its patriarchal institutional powers. Moghadam concludes by suggesting a closer alignment of global feminism with the labor movement. Given the exploitation of female labor and the increasing participation of women in unions, an alliance is entirely possible and could, potentially, reorient globalization processes from being market-driven to people-driven. 109 JOURNAL OF WORLD-SYSTEMS RESEARCH At the end of Globalizing Women, the reader has become more familiar with a fascinating community of feminist activists and can situate their goals within the context of a patriarchal and capitalist world-system. Therefore, this book has much to offer students of inequality and globalization as well as a general audience interested in the subject matter. Moghadam’s work is a defining example of how feminist scholarship can provide further insight on globalization and development. While the critical feminist reader may wish for a deeper understanding of how TFNs deal with the intersection of gender, race, and sexuality in global feminist activism, Moghadam is the first to document in detail the efforts and struggles of TFNs and their role in the world polity. As feminist networks continue to align with other social movement organizations, it will be interesting to observe the changing status of women in the future world-system. Abigail E. Cameron Department of Sociology and Anthropology North Carolina State University Abby_cameron@ncsu.edu Baronov, David. 2008. The African Transformation of Western Medicine and the Dynamics of Global Cultural Exchange. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 248 pages, ISBN-13: 978- 1-59213-915-6 Cloth ($49.50). David Baronov’s The African Transformation of Western Medicine and the Dynamics of Global Cultural Exchange provides an exhilarating if somewhat repetitive tour of the ways in which African medical practices have appropriated and modified western medical practices in Africa while also valorizing the worth of the social medicine practiced there by indigenous healers. These practitioners are able to use these western techniques in addition to their own traditional ones. But the title of the book is somewhat misleading as it could also be interpreted to make a case for the African transformation of western medicine in western countries, something Baronov hints at but does not really demonstrate. Still, Baronov is a clear, interesting writer and handles the theoretically and factually dense material that he presents very well. Baronov begins by announcing that he plans to take a more culturalist than structuralist stance with regard to world systems. Thus the current world-system should be analyzed more in terms of a single system over the longue duree than as broken into its system components of core, periphery, and semiperiphery. Here, his narrative is more evocative of Braudel than Wallerstein, as he seems to favor a postmodern as opposed to positivist way of seeing cultural developments in world systems. He does a beautiful job, however, in demonstrating the ways in which western “tropical medicine” was used to usher in western colonial domination in Africa, showing how some justified this incursion on simply the humanitarian grounds of health delivery to Africans alone. It is particularly ironic, as he shows, that such western mandates as concentration of workers for industrial agriculture, or deforestation (which led to an epidemic of malarial mosquitoes in newly heated pools) caused a greater “need” for western medicine. Indeed, the story of colonization in medical terms is one of the strongest aspects of the book. Matching this in importance, though, is the story of Africa’s pluralistic medical practitioners (PMPs), or traditional healers, who, we learn, artfully combine traditional methods, a respect for empiricism (they learn as they practice and from others’ past practices), and a little BOOK REVIEWS 110 realized (in the core, which stereotypes them as “witch-doctors”) respect for Western methods, when the PMP judges them to be appropriate. Baronov’s first chapter, which deals with his theoretical foundation, is very well done, and begins to lay out a foundation for the incorporation of more culturally-based orientations as part of world systems theory. Here, he suggests that medicine, wherever practiced, inevitably incorporates empirical (“facts” and objects), conceptual (social relations and power), and interpretive (symbolic cultural expression that reifies values and beliefs) issues, all of which may operate in contradiction to one another. This point of view refreshingly teases apart the taken for granted in medicine. Another strong aspect of this book is Baronov’s section on the evolution of medicine in the West, with special attention given to the history of health care in 19th Century America. Although this particular story is also told in other places, he encapsulates it well, and uses it to demonstrate the notion of the somewhat arbitrary nature of medicine as socially constructed as well as scientifically derived. In the 1800s, the United States, too, had more PMP-like practitioners, with its wide array of homeopaths, naturopaths, osteopaths, chiropractors, and so on. Only a few of these classes are now professionally recognized, and the proportional number of training and practice opportunities has declined exponentially for practitioners other than allopaths, the group we recognize as medical doctors today. Baronov asserts that biomedicine can be broken into three spheres, scientific enterprise, symbolic cultural expression, and manifestation of social power. As a scientific enterprise, biomedicine reifies the triumphalist nature of 19th Century science, and is based on seeing nature, including bodies, as physical machinery, subject to statistically normative evaluation, and also subject to critique and correction when statistical deviation from normative expectations occurs. For Baronov, this point of view must be taken into account, but he argues that the West has remained preoccupied with it at the expense of the other two points of view, which are not similarly discarded by Africa’s PMPs. When seen as symbolic-cultural expression, the role of western biomedicine as an ideology becomes clearer. In its often repeated assertions about the superiority of biomedicine over other world medical practices, biomedicine asserts the superiority of western thinking across the board. PMPs in Africa, by contrast, rightly see western practices as only one of a variety of techniques that can be brought to bear when disease occurs. As social power, biomedicine deploys its own forms of western bureaucratic organizations that serve to reinforce the general nature of the western-type state writ large. It has health systems, hospitals, networks of licensing and accreditation, and public health apparatuses, all of which serve to reinforce the power of “rational” western or western-type institutions, all to the benefit of capitalist and imperialist interests ultimately. Africa, however, more than most other settings, has been resistant to this form of medical institutionalization, and its people and PMPs, although willing to use medical-organizational resources, are often still interested in maintaining traditional medical resources as well. As a more holistic form of practice, African medicine (in the traditional sense) entertains the notion of there being “two spears” that must be taken into account in treating the diseased body. The idea comes from the idea that natural causes can kill or injure, but that there is also a supernatural (read social) area that incorporates all the other dimensions of a person’s life above the level of the body in isolation. This can kill or injure as well. Treating the body alone without treating with the levels above it is a fruitless endeavor. 111 JOURNAL OF WORLD-SYSTEMS RESEARCH A potential criticism of this book, however, is that it romanticizes folk medicine to some extent. Often, the tacit goal of such medicine in pre-modern formations is to promote group survival, especially in symbolic-cultural ways, at the expense of the individual body in many cases. This is appropriate to traditional society, but as societies modernize (in world systems terms, aspire to the semi-periphery or core), it becomes less so. Modern societies are perhaps appropriately focused on individual health, and public health conceived of as a scientifically derived system. In recent years, a belated emphasis on patients’ social networks (family, work, etc.) has been taken up by treatment teams, but this holism has resulted from the development of western social work, not from embracing traditional systems. Where elements of traditional medicine have been appropriated, they have been either in the form of effective medicaments (Baronov points this out), or as outcomes-justified techniques, like acupuncture. Also, the book is layered is such a way that one often gets the impression that one has read very similar material earlier. The African Transformation of Western Medicine and the Dynamics of Global Cultural Exchange embraces a relatively new area in world systems analysis: the exploration of discrete cultural flows. As such, it offers richness as it explores the particular natures of global locations and cultures. Baronov’s focus is so precise here, if fact, that potential attention to world systems qua broad ecological market systems is muted, except insofar as the story of imperialism in Africa is retold from a fresh, medical vantage point. The particular smaller system-dynamics of medical meaning flows across cultures is fascinating, however, and points to some potential amplifications Baronov could make in future work. One area for future study may be the penetration of the West by frank African medical- spiritual practices in the form of Voodun and similar West African sets of ideas. In the southern United States, these practices are sometimes used by minority populations, and serve to restore the holism that Baronov celebrates. A more significant penetration may be that of West African medical-spiritual meanings and the Black church in the United States. Because these have been overlaid by Christianity, they are difficult to identify. Still it is likely that many of the forms, if not the specific content, of these practices have been inherited from African ones. Examples include: much time spent in church mirroring collective ritualized African practices, reliance on prayer and group involvement as healing practices in and of themselves, and the role of charismatic pastors in key roles as spiritual leaders and healers, mirroring the African practices Baronov cites. The enclave nature of slavery followed by intense racism and segregation has preserved these forms for at least the last 200 years. The African Transformation of Western Medicine and the Dynamics of Global Cultural Exchange is essentially a delightful exploration of the contributions of African medicine in a fresh new perspective. It makes an outstanding contribution to the emerging field of cultural studies within world systems analysis. Henry Vandenburgh Department of Sociology Bridgewater State College hvandenburgh@bridgew.edu BOOK REVIEWS 112 Bergeson, Albert J., ed. 2008. The Sayyid Qutb Reader: Selected Readings on Politics, Religion, and Society. London: Routledge., 175 Pages. ISBN-13: 978-0415954259, Paper, $34.95. Sayyid Qutb (1906-66) is one of the most influential intellectuals of the Islamic revival, along with his fellow Egyptians Rashid Rida and Hasan al-Banna and Iran’s Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini. He is associated with the radical and even extremist wing of the Islamic revival, as distinct from the moderate wing that is associated with thinkers such as Iran’s Ali Shariati, Egypt’s Hasan Hanafi, and the Swiss Muslim Tariq Ramadan. Another Islamic tendency, more reformist or liberal, has been advanced by a number of Iran’s “new religious intellectuals” (e.g., Abdolkarim Soroush, Hasan Yousefi Eshkevari, Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari, Mohsen Kadivar), along with women’s rights groups such as Malaysia’s Sisters in Islam. The radical wing, therefore, is but one tendency within the Islamic revival, although it is arguably the most vocal and visible, primarily because of its association with jihadi activities and the media’s preoccupation with it. It was Sayyid Qutb who revived the Islamic concepts of jahiliyyah and jihad, calling on Muslims to reject Western values and practices, resist regimes that had turned away from Islamic laws and norms, and return to the presumably immutable principles of Islam as delineated in the Qur’an. He was particularly emphatic on rejecting the option of Christian/Western-style secularism and returning to or reinforcing the fusion of religion and the state. The jahiliyyah denotes the so-called age of darkness that characterizes the period prior to Islam; in the Qutbian worldview, the contemporary age of lack of correct religious commitment is again one of darkness, necessitating jihad. In his writings, Qutb emphasized the centrality of the Islamic concept of jihad, defining it not so much as an inner struggle to do right by God, but as the right and indeed duty of Muslims to wage war to defend or advance themselves and their religion in the face of anti-Islamic challenges. Qutb was a member of the Akhwan Muslemeen (Muslim Brotherhood), founded by Hasan al-Banna, and was arrested, along with other Brothers, when they began to challenge the policies of Gamal Abdel Nasser. The brutality of conditions within the prisons, and the routine use of torture, affected Qutb greatly and contributed to his determination to call for jihad. For this he was sentenced to death. Nasser went on to inspire a generation of Third Worldists in Egypt and across the Arab world. But Sayyid Qutb has inspired and motivated even more generations and populations of Muslims across the globe. Given the importance of Sayyid Qutb, it was surprising that a collection of his writings was not available in English. In this respect, Albert Bergeson has provided a valuable service by putting together a sample of Qutb’s key writings. The reader includes two essays by Bergeson that provide an introduction and overview and that place Qutb’s writings not only in the national context of their time but also in historical and comparative perspective. What comes across, at least to this reader, is an unexpected fascination with Qutb and a sympathetic approach that colors some of Bergeson’s comparisons. Not only does Bergeson’s introduction not include a discussion of the other tendencies within the Islamic revival that I have mentioned above, but he compares Qutb’s Quranic literalism to the “strict constructionists” of some legal scholars of the American constitution. While superficially this is a useful comparison, the ramifications of a Qutbian Quranic fundamentalism are rather different from those of an American constitutional 113 JOURNAL OF WORLD-SYSTEMS RESEARCH fundamentalism. In particular, Qutbian scripturalism would have dire implications for the rights of non-Muslims, non-practicing Muslims, feminists, and human rights more generally. Bergeson has included excerpts from Milestones, one of Qutb’s most famous writings. Here Qutb is keen on distinguishing Islam from Christianity, emphasizing that Islam does not have a priesthood as does Christianity and therefore could not have a theocracy (he was evidently unfamiliar with Shiism and did not live long enough to witness clerical rule in the Islamic Republic of Iran); that implementation of Sharia law “cannot be achieved only through preaching” (p. 37); that Islam is “God’s religion for the whole world” and therefore “has the right to take the initiative” (p. 40); and that jihad has to be offensive and preemptive and not just defensive (p. 54). He writes approvingly of how in early Islamic history “the jihad movement marched on, confronting those who were near to the land of Islam, one stage after another. … This was followed by open warfare, with the Muslim armies moving far into the lands of both the Byzantine and Persian Empires, leaving no pockets behind them” (p. 142). While Qutb would interpret the militant march of Islam as a “right” and as divinely ordained, is it so surprising that the Byzantine ruler that Pope Benedict quoted in 2006 would beg to differ, and thus express angry and insulting words about Islam? Qutb goes on to indict those who interpret despotism or injustice in political or economic or racial terms as “hypocrites.” They are deceiving the Believers, he opines, because the true nature of the struggle is “between beliefs – either unbelief or faith, either jahiliyyah or Islam” (p. 41). Elsewhere, he writes that “all mankind were divided [by the Quran’s revelations] into three classes: Muslims who believed in the Prophet’s message; those at peace with him who enjoyed security; and those who were hostile and feared him” (p. 46). Like other Islamists (notably Khomeini), Sayyid Qutb was clearly aware of socialism and Marxism, and sought to dissuade Muslims from turning to that option by insisting on its fallacy. (In Khomeini’s case, the use of imprisonment, torture, and execution was another form of dissuasion – and this despite the fact that the new constitution banned torture. Those who experienced this form of Islamic justice were members or supporters of the left-Muslim group the Mojahedin or various non-violent communist groups.) Like many ideologues, Qutb idealizes his belief system and exaggerates its liberatory nature. For example, he writes that “Islam does not force people to accept its beliefs; rather, it aims to provide an environment where people enjoy full freedom of belief. It abolishes oppressive political systems depriving people of this freedom, or forces them into submission so that they allow their peoples complete freedom to choose to believe in Islam if they so wish” (p. 47). The value of religious freedom is posited by moderate, reformist, and liberal Muslims, but not by radicals or extremists. Nor is it a principle or legal right in place in most Muslim-majority countries (other than former Soviet republics). Apostasy, for example, is considered a criminal offense: Muslims cannot change their religion, although conversion to Islam from other religions is encouraged. Non-Muslim citizens are forbidden to proselytize, but Muslims proselytize not only in Muslim-majority societies but in Europe and the United States. It is difficult to envision “full freedom of belief” – or diversity or dissent – in the Qutbian worldview. Lest one think that only Christian missionaries had contempt for the people they came to convert, here is Sayyid Qutb on Islam’s entry into Africa: “Islam created civilization in central Africa among the naked people, for by its very existence it clothed bare bodies. Thus the people entered the civilization of clothing, embraced by the Islamic orientation that was applied. Also, people began to abandon their doltish lethargy for energetic work to exploit the material treasures BOOK REVIEWS 114 [of the world]. Additionally, they left the state of tribalism for the umma. They stopped worshipping specific totems and began worshipping Allah” (cited in Akhavi, 1997: 382). In his introduction, Bergeson makes an interesting distinction between Orientalism I (which posits Muslims as passive, feminine and weak) and Orientalism II (which posits Muslims as extremist and aggressive). It is useful, however, to note that “Othering,” not to mention territorial expansion, may be found in Islamic history as well. In his introductory chapters, Bergeson mentions that Sayyid Qutb shared Nasser’s commitment to social welfare. And yet, the concept of social justice in Sayyid Qutb’s writings takes a back seat to the concepts of jahiliyyah and jihad. While the notion of adl (justice) is a major concept in the Islamic heritage, it has been traditionally associated with notions of equity or fair-mindedness; the notion of social justice appeared in the 1940s – in part in response to the spread of socialist ideas in the Muslim world. As argued by Shahrough Akhavi, referring to the French scholar of Islam Olivier Carré, the Arabic term for social justice is a 20th century neologism coined by Muslim writers taking cues from ideas imported from abroad. It came into currency for the first time in Sunni Islamic discourse in 1949 in the writings of Muhammad al- Ghazzali, Abd al-Qadir Awda (who had trained as a lawyer in France), and Sayyid Qutb (Akhavi 1997). The latter’s book Social Justice and Islam was completed in 1948 and published in 1949. In the 1950s, however, Qutb turned away from social justice and toward a strict interpretation of Islamic scripture and law, in part because the Nasser government had appropriated social justice and popular welfare as its raison d’être. The absence of a serious consideration of economic oppression and social justice by Qutb and other jihadi thinkers, much less a critique of capitalism, is perhaps why these themes are conspicuously absent in contemporary Islamist movements and their literatures. Bergeson is to be commended for producing this valuable collection. It is useful for graduate studies and of course for scholarly reference. I recommend that it be used in conjunction with studies on other tendencies within the Islamic revival, notably reformist or liberal Islam, and Islamic feminism. Valentine M. Moghadam Department of Sociology and Women’s Studies Program Purdue University moghadam@purdue.edu REFERENCE Akhavi, Shahrough. 1997. “The Dialectic in Contemporary Egyptian Social Thought: The Scripturalist and Modernist Discourses of Sayyid Qutb and Hasan Hanafi.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 29:3:377-401. 115 JOURNAL OF WORLD-SYSTEMS RESEARCH Bonacich, Edna and Jake B. Wilson. 2008. Getting the Goods: Ports, Labor, and the Logistics Revolution. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 273 pages, ISBN-13 978-0- 8014-4572-9 Cloth ($65.00), ISBN-13 978-0-8014-7425-5 Paper ($23.95). Scholars frequently understand globalization to be caused by the communications revolution of the 1990s, especially the compression of time and space within the world-system generated by the internet’s capacity for instant communication and super fast flow of information. Likewise, analysts have extensively explored the importance of neoliberal economics as a key to the globalization process, especially how it permits externalization of production costs and results in the concentration of power in the domains of transnational elites, corporations, and institutions. It is surprising, given the great volume of publications, that very few scholars have analyzed globalization from the perspective of how commodities are transported. In part, this oversight is remarkable because scholars have certainly recognized the importance of ocean transport in early epochs of the world-system, especially its role in the development of mercantile capitalism and the subsequent rise of the modern world-system. Arguably, the movement of goods is the most important part of contemporary globalization, because it links production to consumption; and, arguably, it was the decline in shipping costs and the shrinking of time and space resulting from the containerization of freight that caused contemporary globalization to happen. As one of the few studies of the relationship between transportation and globalization, Bonacich and Wilson’s study is a significant contribution to our understanding of the contemporary world-system. The logistics revolution and its consequences are the central points of focus to their book. They define the logistics revolution as “a quiet change” to how “consumer goods are being produced and delivered” (p. 3). It has a “sizeable impact on society and the way it is organized” (p. 3). The revolution is how the “entire cycle of production and distribution is now viewed as a single integrated unit that requires its own specialists for analysis and implementation” (p. 3). Following arguments advanced my Marxist geographers, such as David Harvey, the authors maintain the logistics revolution was caused by the structures of global capitalism, especially the “disjuncture” between supply and demand (p. 4). “Disjuncture” is perhaps the wrong term, as global shipping had been sufficiently linked by containerization well before the author’s logistic revolution came about. Instead, “re-working” or “re-structuring” or “rationalization” would be a better term for what transpired. Bonacich and Wilson argue the logistics revolution was a structural response to the chronic problem of over-production, a re-ordering of the system of transportation that shifted the relationship between supply-producer and demand-retailer toward the latter’s advantage. It resulted in significant efficiencies in transport costs, as well as warehousing inventory. The rationalization resulted in giving retailers power to dictate terms of production on suppliers (pp. 4-6). The real intent of the book, however, is to understand the logistics revolution’s consequences for transport workers. They assert, “this book tells the story of those workers and the work they do to get us the goods we all depend on” (p. vii). The authors continue, “we are concerned with how logistics workers have fared in the logistics revolution…. We are interested not only in what is happening to these people but also in their potential for organizing their rights as workers” (pp. vii-viii). They convincingly illustrate the negative impact on each labor segment, especially in terms of wages, hours, and benefits. Bonacich and Wilson conclude the study with recommendations for how labor might fight back by taking advantage of the inherent vulnerabilities within the tightly coupled system of global transport. BOOK REVIEWS 116 Following the structure of their overall purpose and argument, the book is wisely divided into three sections. The first explains the logistics revolution through a case study of how Wal- Mart organizes the transport of commodities to its stores. The second explains how cargo is moved from factory to store. It has chapters on containerization; the steamship lines; landside transportation, and the warehouse system. The third part offers analysis of labor, with chapters on maritime, landside, and warehouse/distribution workers. Given the immense scope of these topics, the authors correctly narrow the focus of the study to the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, which handle 80% of the containers arriving from Asia and constitute the world’s fifth largest container port (p. vii). The selection of these ports also owes to the author’s deep knowledge about local labor and logistics, which is manifest through the extensive first-hand detail and insights throughout the book. The story of how Wal-Mart became the dominant corporation in the era of neoliberal globalization is well known to readers of this journal. But, the importance of the logistics revolution for this story may be less well known. During the 1980s, I worked for a shipping agency that represented international ocean carriers. Like many participants in revolutions we were largely unaware of the big changes that were happening as we moved freight throughout the world. While intermodal traffic was a full reality – we moved cargo door-to-door on one bill of lading -- Wal-Mart was not a player. Bonacich and Wilson illustrate how the logistics revolution gave Wal-Mart the leverage it needs to dictate almost any beneficial terms of production, packaging, and delivery it needs upon their suppliers, especially those in distant locations like China. Of special importance is their explanation of Wal-Mart’s logistics innovations, such as their infamous computer system and use of “electronic data interchange,” which is rapidly making the once ubiquitous barcode obsolete (pp. 6-12). The notion that one company could or would dictate the terms of production by leveraging the logistics was nowhere on the horizon for us. Simply put, it was a “game changer,” for global capitalism. In terms of “getting the goods” Bonacich and Wilson “got it” when few others have. A minor but not insignificant flaw with Getting the Goods is with the author’s discussion of ship ownership. They either do not know or fail to consider the importance of the industry’s interlocking and overlapping ship ownership. Owners of carrier companies tend not to own all the ships in their fleet. Instead, owners invest in multiple ships owned by multiple carrier companies. This strategy allows for a diversified investment portfolio, as owners do not want to keep eggs, very expensive eggs, all in one basket. Investment in multiple ships and carriers allows owners to participate in multiple trade routes and invest in multiple trade specialties that have their own unique ships -- roll-on & roll-off for cars, mining, and agricultural equipment; break-bulk for primary products; and container ships. The interlocking ownership has the significant consequence of stabilizing what can be a viciously competitive and tumultuous industry. It facilitates agreements about trade routes, rate structures, and managing the vagaries of global trade. Interlocking ownership is one of the important forces in the conference system that organized global shipping. While the authors do well in discussing the impact of de- regulation, especially the demise of the conference system, it appears significant to consider what happened to the ownership structure with de-regulation, especially considering the owners lost their exemption from anti-trust law. An explanation for how stability was maintained during and after deregulation is also needed. When I worked in the industry, we were keenly aware of the system’s critical vulnerability to labor action, especially the powerful West Coast longshoremen union. From this 117 JOURNAL OF WORLD-SYSTEMS RESEARCH perspective, Bonacich and Wilson’s argument about labor’s ability to bring the system of production, distribution, and consumption to a screeching halt is absolutely correct. Labor used this threat multiple times, especially during the early 1970s when a new generation of mixed roll- on & roll-off and container able ships hit the docks threatened to further reduce jobs with mechanization. Despite these actions, jobs were lost, wages reduced, and benefits cut. Despite the vulnerability capital was well positioned in the relations of power, especially with state tools like the Taft-Hartley Act, to contain labor’s threat and move forward with the logistics revolution that made neoliberal globalization possible. In today’s transportation world, the relations of power remain in the favor of capital. The current collapse in the global capitalism, however, offers the opportunity for labor to strike back. Bonacich and Wilson’s recommendations for collective action offer an important strategy for undoing the negatives of the logistics revolution and building a more just world for transportation workers and other laborers in global production facilities. Glen David Kuecker Department of History DePauw University gkuecker@depauw.edu canaryinstitute.org Ritzer, George, ed. 2007. The Blackwell Companion to Globalization. New York: Wiley- Blackwell. 731 Pages, ISBN13 978-1-4051-3274-9 Cloth ($175.00). Now decades into what many scholars are calling the global era, the term “globalization” simultaneously evokes strong sentiments both inside and outside the academy, while eluding concrete definition. There are perky cheerleaders that extol the worldwide penetration of a particularly Western, if not solely American, set of economic, political, and cultural norms and values. Of this group, the neoliberalists are only the most vocal proponents of this (third-wave?) imperialism. There are also virulent opponents, those actively resisting the imposition globalization from above and who are now frequently labeled as terrorists by the other side. They object to the assault on labor, environmental destruction, and social disintegration that they link to globalization. There are those who claim globalization is nothing new, just the continuation of trends toward systemic integration that began millennia ago, and others who proclaim its death while asserting the emergence of a post-globalization period. And of course there is the amorphous middle, the “undecided,” who sense that something may be different but are not sure how or why or what to say about it. Attempting to provide comprehensive coverage of “globalization,” this volume, edited by George Ritzer, is a hefty book both in terms of price and trees killed. Yet even at 700+ pages, it is impossible in one volume to provide depth across the myriad issues that accompany this all- encompassing process; indeed, library shelves are filling with monographs on globalization covering just one of the many subjects broached here. The text, as a whole, is therefore not dense. Instead, it is constructed of thirty-five brief survey-style chapters, most in the fifteen- to twenty- page range, separated into three sections (“Introduction, Major Domains, Major Issues and Conclusions”), each section led by a thorough and thoughtful introduction by Ritzer. The obvious BOOK REVIEWS 118 goal is for the book to act as a reference piece containing the important arguments and issues, with enough detail to generate greater than cursory knowledge, with references to the appropriate sources for those whose interests run deeper. This is a survey of the historical present – not the globalization as evolutionary process that many world-systems scholars have been tracing but the changes that have taken place only within the last few decades. You will be disappointed if looking for la longue durée - fifty years is a long time in most of the chapters. Rare exceptions exist, such as the discussion of colonialism’s devastating legacy in the agrarian South by Philip McMichael and in the measurement of income inequality since 1820 in chapters by Glenn Firebaugh and Brian Goesling, and by Roberto Patricio Korzeniewicz and Timothy Patrick Moran. While suffering from this relative presentism, which leaves the origin of globalization to the imagination, world- systems theory and analyses based on it receives its share of attention in an overview by William Robinson, in the works on income inequality by Korzeniewicz and Moran, on the hierarchy of world cities by Michael Timberlake and Xiulian Ma, and it is also mentioned in the introduction by Ritzer and in the chapter on the features of globalization by Roland Robertson and Kathleen E. White. And, as expected in a book on globalization, systemic processes are at the core of each chapter, even when not made explicit. The book touches on most of the most salient topics in the globalization scholarship on the recent past and present, and offers some projections into the future. It begins by introducing the debate over the nature and meaning of “globalization.” Ritzer offers a unifying definition of globalization as a set of processes and flows that are typified by the adjective MORE: faster speeds, increasing integration and interconnectivity, and encompassing greater numbers of spaces in the world. Agreement on what globalization is, even if abstract, is critically important if we are to progress as a science and I think few would object to this definition. But descriptions of the effects of MORE attract more dissension. Indeed, in the first chapter of the book, Anthony McGrew must generate a series of Cartesian quadrants to help the reader understand all the various perspectives and positions. Within this particular text are the world polity school (e.g., John Boli and Velina Petrova) and others who see mostly positive trends toward world-wide isomorphism and convergence on various measures such as democracy, education, health, and income. And there are those who see divergence (e.g., Korzeniewicz and Moran), with globalization increasing the divisions between the haves and those without. There is even a review of the popular press in Robert J. Antonio’s trenchant critique of Thomas Friedman – whose unabashed sanguinity makes him an easy but necessary target. Just within the academy the range of positions is large, although for the most part the authors in this text find globalization to be somewhat ambiguous in its effects, with both positive and negative changes, but with more of the latter for most of the authors. Part one of the book includes the aforementioned discussion of globalization as general phenomenon (e.g., McGrew; Robertson and White; Antonio; Boli and Petrova) and an encyclopedic overview of the major institutions, organizations, and other actors involved by George M. Thomas. A survey of the most prominent theories is provided by William Robinson. Ulrich Beck, in an aphorism-filled piece, describes the necessity of cosmopolitanism as an advance from the parochialism of national perspectives. To my pleasant surprise, a chapter on methodology – often but inexplicably missing in many volumes, is provided by Salvatore Babones, whose statistical mastery, well known to JWSR readers, is presented here in an accessible manner. Methods are also front and center in the competing within- and between- 119 JOURNAL OF WORLD-SYSTEMS RESEARCH nation inequality analyses, contained in part three of the book. The debate is now a classic: on one side are Firebaugh and Goesling, using purchasing power parity (PPP) and finding lessening inequality; on the other are Korzeniewicz and Moran, using foreign-exchange rates (FX) and reporting growing inequality. China and India are the heavyweights whose trajectories will exert strong influences on the future of these studies. Part two covers “the major domains” of analysis. The environmental effects of globalization, one of the most pressing concerns of our times, are discussed by Steve Yearley. A proponent of ecological modernization theory, Yearly states that “studies conducted to date do not allow us to determine the environmental pros and cons of globalization” (p. 252), but ecological modernization theory has failed most empirical tests (e.g., York, Rosa, and Dietz 2003) and the global South has experienced an unequal share of the environmental costs of extraction, production, and waste disposal (e.g., Jorgenson 2007). We need not be ambiguous on this point. There is, however, recent evidence of the positive affect of environmental NGOs in reducing levels of degradation in the South (e.g., Shandra et al. 2008). But would the NGOs be needed if the negative effects of, particularly economic, globalization were not weakening the ability of people to protect their environment without external intervention? The political economy of globalization, while more or less present in many chapters, receives large coverage in this section. Here, and also in many other chapters, the authors dispel various claims about globalization. Subhrajit Guhathakurta, David Jacobson and Nicholas C DelSordi consider the national backlashes and the creation of state barriers against immigration, noting how wrong projections about a global melting pot as the end of globalization have turned out. The debate over the relevance of the nation-state is one of the most common in the globalization literature of course. The authors in this text take a position similar to Saskia Sassen (2006), who argues in a recent book that the state is the birthplace of the global and retains a significant amount of control over global processes but that the global and state remain in a tango as each has particular institutional capabilities and a subject to a mutual feedback loop. Likewise, Peter Dicken finds that transnational corporations, while global in reach, are still shaped by the state of their origin and subject to state regulation, providing an opportunity to constrain their formidable power. The shape and structure of the polity is changing, according to Gerard Delanty and Chris Rumford, with the development of a global normative culture and non-territorial politics, but with the state still a major site of power. Tim Blackman also considers the role of the state, but from an examination of “smart” states that invest in education, R & D, and infrastructure and succeed in the new terrain and “dumb” states that do not. One of the features of TNCs, and global capitalism, is outsourcing, an example of noncreative destruction for Ritzer and Craig Lair, particularly when analyzing it from a social and not purely economic lens. Similarly, agro-industrial production, dislocation, and supermarkets are revealed for their calamitous effects by McMichael, who decries monocrops, and the loss of control over food and livelihood that have resulted, particularly in the global South. A description of Chinese non-market capitalism declared in a book by Giovanni Arrighi (2007) as “accumulation without dispossession” because of the persistence of rural labor would seem to provide a better model, but replication of the unique path of China is no doubt highly improbably given the different historical trajectories of different nation-states. However, as McMichael notes, hunger amidst scarcity has been replaced by hunger against abundance (p. 224) and it is hard to imagine that the plight of peasants in China is markedly better. BOOK REVIEWS 120 There are a number of chapters that feature discussion of cultural effects. The central questions are whether globalization is a wholly homogenizing force - called “grobalization” by Ritzer, defined as "the growing imperialistic influence of business, states, and so on" (p.7) - or if there is room left for the continued existence of unique localness, or some combination. The latter, called “glocalization,” is considered by Melissa L. Caldwell and Eriberto P. Lozada Jr., who call for more critical analysis of the recursive effects between the global and local by taking a position in the “militant middle-ground (p.509). John Tomlinson calls for new, more flexible, cultural concepts needed to explain the myriad systems of meaning and multiple identities that exist in cultures throughout the globe. Manfred B. Steger takes on globalism as a hegemonic ideology based on the market and more recently militarism and US empire, while Douglass Goodman focuses on consumption, with Western uniformity globally but also with mass- marketed uniformity in local differences. Organizations, and MBA programs, are seen as promulgating a U.S.- styled business model that has led to global isomorphism in a chapter by Stewart Clegg and Chris Carter. Douglas Kellner and Clayton Pierce discuss the transmission of ideology in media, as well as media as source for disseminating symbols and information of resistance, such as the Zapatista movement on the internet and radio. Howard Tumber and Frank Webster also focus on the role of media – and information and communication technology more generally – in reporting on war and as a weapon in warfare. War and terrorism appear later as the topics of chapters by Gerald Schneider and by Gus Martin. The major social institutions, in addition to the polity and economy are each taken as object and subject of globalization. Religion, in a chapter by Peter Beyer, is becoming more plural within regions as migration and missionaries are taking their beliefs and practices across borders. An explosion of higher education has also become a global phenomenon, according to Peter Manicas, a claim echoed earlier by Boli and Petrova. Medicine and healthcare, as discussed by Farnoosh Hashemian and Derek Yach, is unequally distributed as the global South experiences the highest levels of mortality and disease. But the emergence of borderless diseases, whose spread is facilitated by travel and trade, may be an unwelcome example of a flattening of the world. Sport, a contender for inclusion as a leading institution, is an example of a glocal phenomenon by David L. Andrews and Andrew G. Grainger, and also by Caldwell and Lozada Jr. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the Olympics, here national pride mixes simultaneously with global spectacle. Missing from this analysis of institutions are chapters dedicated to kinship and law; if the book could stand another fifty pages these would be warranted. Part three captures “major issues and conclusions.” Carolyn Warner discusses the possibility of a reduction in political and business corruption through the adoption of American standards. Given the continuous stream of indictments and forced resignations (“to spend more time with family”) in the US, it seems that global corruption may increase instead. The expansion of discrimination based on sexuality and the growth of the sex-trade is another effect of globalization according to Kathryn Farr, who also considers the opportunities to counter them. The forms and possibilities of resistance to global processes, particularly the movements opposing neoliberal capitalism, are featured in a chapter by Richard Kahn and Douglas Kellner. Anti-systemic forces (cf. Arrighi, Hopkins, and Wallerstein 1997) and openings for contestation are often mentioned in chapters throughout the volume, helping to put holes in the armour of what is often portrayed as inexorable and monolithic. In this way, the book provides a modicum of hope. 121 JOURNAL OF WORLD-SYSTEMS RESEARCH But this is not an overly optimistic text. Telling is Ritzer’s choice of closing with Bryan Turner’s vision of an already developing global anarchy, in which Mad Max roams through a chaotic wasteland bespeckled by the occasional fortress of the wealthy. A future in which only robots and cockroaches remain to clean up our mess would be a logical next step. The book, then, leaves the reader less hopeful than despondent. But the future is probably not for the faint- hearted. Global warming is already occurring and its pace seems to continually exceed previous forecasts; together with the dramatic increase in population, denudification of the landscape, and ocean acidification that have occurred since industrialization in the mid-nineteenth century, geologists are claiming that we are now in a new era – named the Anthropocene for its human causes (Zalasiewicz et al. 2008). Of course, the possibility of a better world is possible. Immanuel Wallerstein (2004) has proclaimed the approach of a bifurcation point in which the world will be different following its conclusion, only how different and in what ways it is difficult if not impossible to forecast. The only certainty is that humans will play the most significant role in constructing the future. Christopher Chase-Dunn (e.g., 2002, 2005) envisions the emergence of a global democratic commonwealth, if the progressive movements captured in the World Social Forum and other anti- systemic forces continue to move in positive directions and ultimately prevail (see Thomas and Tumber and Webster on the WSF in this text). It is also (equally?) possible that the world enters another dark age as energy shortages lead to a reduction in complexity. (For some interesting projections on the future, see Patomaki 2008; Wagar 1999). The future remains to be seen and experienced of course. Overall, the volume performs quite well. And I must admit a certain level of apprehension accompanies my approach to edited volumes in general and handbooks and reviews specifically. They tend to leave me unsatisfied by their sacrifices; breadth for depth, omission of important topics or perspectives or authors, inclusion of material that does not meet my needs or seems unnecessary – like the B-side songs on most pop-music albums. This book is better than most of those in its class, providing sufficient depth as well as breadth of most of the material I wanted, or learned that I needed, with little filler. Of course, every reader will have different interests and expectations when engaging an edited handbook so one person’s highlight will often be another’s chapter to skim or skip altogether; the perfect volume, then, may not exist for the individual. But I would wager that The Blackwell Companion to Globalization will achieve high marks for all but the most narrowly focused or those with abundant expertise in the area. Regardless of what happens, twentieth- and now twenty first- century globalization is an incredibly important phenomenon with both positive and negative effects that requires awareness and understanding from all those affected; i.e., everyone. The Blackwell Companion to Globalization promises to deliver much more than that and does so fairly well. This book is ideally suited for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in a survey-style course and most all would benefit from engagement with at least some of the topics, discussions, and analyses. To be sure, the formidable price will complicate the decision formula for many. But this is a quality reference source that will not suffer the fate of the less expensive but once and done books filling many of our shelves. BOOK REVIEWS 122 Kirk S. Lawrence Department of Sociology University of California, Riverside klawr001@ucr.edu REFERENCES Arrighi, Giovanni. 2007. Adam Smith in Beijing: Lineages of the Twenty-First Century. New York: Verso. Arrighi, Giovanni, Terence K. Hopkins, and Immanuel Wallerstein. 1997. Antisystemic Movements. New York: Verso. Chase-Dunn, Christopher. 2002. "Globalization from Below: Toward a Collectively Rational and Democratic Global Commonwealth." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 581:48-61. ______. 2005 “Social Evolution and the Future of World Society” Journal of World-Systems Research 11(2):171-192. Jorgenson, Andrew K. 2007. “Does Foreign Investment Harm the Air We Breath and the Water We Drink? A Cross-National Study of Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Organic Water Pollution in Less-Developed Countries, 1975-2000.” Organization & Environment 20:137-156. Patomaki, Heikki. 2008. The Political Economy of Global Security: War, Future Crises and Changes in Global Governance. London: Routledge. Sassen, Saskia. 2006. Territory, Authority, Rights: From Medieval to Global Assemblages. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Shandra, John M., Eran Shor, Gary Maynard, and Bruce London. 2008. “Debt, Structural Adjustment and Deforestation: A Cross-National Study.” Journal of World-Systems Research 14(1):1-21. Wagar, W. Warren. 1999. A Short History of the Future, 3rd Edition. Afterword by Immanuel Wallerstein. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Wallerstein, Immanuel. 2004. World-System Analysis: An Introduction. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. York, Richard, Eugene A. Rosa, Thomas Dietz. 2003. “Footprints on the Earth: The Environmental Consequences of Modernity.” American Sociological Review 68:279-300. Zalasiewicz, Jan, Mark Williams, Alan Smith, Tiffany L. Barry, Angela L. Coe, Paul R. Brown, Patrick Brenchley, David Cantrill, Andrew Gale, Philip Gibbard, F. John Gregory, Mark W. Hounslow, Andrew C. Kerr, Paul Pearson, Robert Knox, John Powell, Colin Waters, John Marshall, Michael Oates, Peter Rawson, and Philip Stone. 2008. “Are we now living in the Anthropocene?” GSA Today 18(2):4-8. 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