From the Local to the Global: Key Issues in Development Studies

"Think globally, act locally" is a phrase that is often used nowadays to describe the importance of popular activism and an awareness of the issues surrounding globalization. This book is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the key concepts in development that are central to understanding the causes of poverty, inequality and injustice in developing countries.With insightful contributions from development experts and activists from the North and the South, this book questions the capacity of governments to regulate markets and harness them to meet social needs. Critically assessing the role of multilateral organizations - and in particular the trade and debt regulations of the World Trade Organization and the World Bank - the contributors examine crucial international topics such as the environment, sustainability, the arms trade, interdependence, human rights, racism and stereotyping, setting them within the broader context of the global economy.