What do you think?
Rate this book
The battleground of the twenty-first century will pit fundamentalism against cosmopolitan tolerance. In a globalising world, where information and images are routinely transmitted across the globe, we are all regularly in contact with others who think differently, and live differently, from ourselves. Cosmopolitans welcome and embrace this cultural complexity. Fundamentalists find it disturbing and dangerous. Whether in the areas of religion, ethnic identity, or nationalism, they take refuge in a renewed and purified tradition--and, quite often, violence.Giddens is not coy about where he stands: "We can legitimately hope that a cosmopolitan outlook will win out." In what is sure to be a controversial chapter, he examines sex and family life through the prism of this fundamentalist-cosmopolitan divide. He is severely critical of what he calls the "traditional family," which he considers an aspect of fundamentalism the world over and an enemy of sexual equality: "I remember what my great aunt once said to me. She must have had one of the longest marriages of anyone, having been with her husband for over 60 years. She once confided that she had been deeply unhappy with him the whole of that time. In her day there was no escape." Runaway World is certain to provoke a lively debate--Giddens would surely have it no other way. --John J. Miller
121 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
「失控的世界」谈的是全球化的影响,只不过它是以社会学的观点切入,毕竟全球化所影响到的层面本就不只有经济活动,每一个人的生活层面或多或少都会受到这隻看不见的手所扰动,包括家庭、政治等,透过这样一本书让人可以用更全面的观点来看待全球化这个议题。
书是薄薄的一本,只是也不知道是天气太热、题材太过严肃,抑或是翻译翻得太差,虽然隐约可以了解作者想要表达的意思,然而在阅读过程中始终无法从文字中接收到清楚的讯息,这也是让我感到比较遗憾的地方。