Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jul 2010

Book Review Essay: A Not-So-Flat World? Dominant and Alternative Accounts of Globalization

Aziz Choudry McGill University

Abstract

Thomas Friedman’s (2007) The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century has become seen as an authoritative text on globalization within some academic circles and a bestseller. In critically reviewing the book I put its framework, underlying ideas and assumptions into a dialogue with arguments in three recent scholarly books (Boron, 2005; Mathew, 2005; and McNally, 2002), which provide critical insights into the phenomena and debates associated with capitalist globalization. Further, I argue that The World is Flat reproduces a dominant narrative of American supremacy and anxiety in an era of rapid global change which obscures the historical, political and economic roots of capitalist globalization, ignores or dimisses its social costs, and views much of the world and its peoples through a deeply colonial and orientalist lens.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2010-07-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651910363368
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Closed
Topics
book reviews
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References (18)

  1. Boron, A. (2005)
    Empire and imperialism: A critical reading of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri
  2. Choudry, A. (2009)
    Fight back: Workplace justice for immigrants
  3. Churchill, W. (1993)
    Struggle for the land: Indigenous resistance to genocide, ecocide and expropriation in co…
  4. Cockburn, A. (2005)
    Counter-punch Diary
  5. Foster, J.B. (2006)
    Naked imperialism: The U.S. pursuit of global dominance
Show all 18 →
  1. Friedman, T.L. (2007)
    The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century
  2. Friedman, T.L. (2009)
    The great disruption
  3. Hardt, M. (2000)
    Empire
  4. Herman, E.S. (2003)
    Z Magazine
  5. Huntington, S. (1996)
    The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order
  6. International Monetary Fund. (2009)
    World economic outlook
  7. Karliner, J. (1997)
    The corporate planet: Ecology and politics in the age of globalization
  8. Lewis, B. (1990)
    Atlantic Monthly
  9. Mamdani, M. (2004)
    Good Muslim, bad Muslim: America, the Cold War and the roots of terror
  10. Mathew, B. (2005)
    Taxi! Cars and capitalism in New York City
  11. McNally, D. (2002)
    Another world is possible: Globalization and anti-capitalism
  12. Prashad, V. (2002)
    Dissident Voice
  13. Said, E. (1978)
    Orientalism
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