Network Power
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The Social Dynamics of Globalization
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David Singh Grewal
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A new framework for understanding how globalization works
For all the attention globalization has received in recent years, little consensus has emerged concerning how best to understand it. For some, it is the happy product of free and rational choices; for others, it is the unfortunate outcome of impersonal forces beyond our control. It is in turn celebrated for the opportunities it affords and criticized for the inequalities in wealth and power it generates.
David Singh Grewal’s remarkable and ambitious book draws on several centuries of political and social thought to show how globalization is best understood in terms of a power inherent in social relations, which he calls network power. Using this framework, he demonstrates how our standards of social coordination both gain in value the more they are used and undermine the viability of alternative forms of cooperation. A wide range of examples are discussed, from the spread of English and the gold standard to the success of Microsoft and the operation of the World Trade Organization, to illustrate how global standards arise and falter. The idea of network power supplies a coherent set of terms and concepts—applicable to individuals, businesses, and countries alike—through which we can describe the processes of globalization as both free and forced. The result is a sophisticated and novel account of how globalization, and politics, work.
David Singh Grewal is a member of the Harvard Society of Fellows and an affiliated fellow of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School.
"This is a major, learned and wide-ranging contribution to our understanding of the processes of globalization. Grewal, whose knowledge of sociological theory is thorough, studies globalization as the development of a complex and often contentious civil society across borders. He focuses on the diverse forms of network power and on the conflicts among conceptions of cooperation (particularly in the world economy). He also pays attention to the battle between this civil society of multiple networks, and the political sphere of multiple sovereignties that have not abdicated their traditional powers. An indispensable work."—Stanley Hoffmann, Harvard University
"A splendid book. Grewal's account of network power is elegant and compelling, and his approach to debates on globalization is bold."—Jedediah Purdy, author of For Common Things and Being America
"In Network Power, David Grewal offers a unifying lens with which to view a set of otherwise disparate and confusing phenomena, thus helping us to understand better the underlying dynamics of present day globalization."—Sanjay Reddy, Barnard College and School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
“Grewal’s range is impressive … an expansive and thoughtful book.” - Jon Garvie, Times Literary Supplement
Publication Date: June 16, 2008
