Book Description

This innovative introduction to international and global studies, updated and revised in a new edition, offers instructors in the social sciences and humanities a core textbook for teaching undergraduates in this rapidly growing field. Encompassing the latest scholarship in what is a markedly interdisciplinary endeavor, Shawn Smallman and Kimberley Brown introduce key concepts, themes, and issues and then examine each in lively chapters on essential topics that include the history of globalization; economic, political, and cultural globalization; security, energy, and development; health; agriculture and food; and the environment. Within these topics, the authors explore such timely and pressing subjects as commodity chains, labor (including present-day slavery), human rights, multinational corporations, and the connections among them. New to this edition: * The latest research on debates over privacy rights and surveillance since Edward Snowden's disclosures * Updates on significant political and economic developments throughout the world, including a new case study of European Union, Icelandic, and Greek responses to the 2008 fiscal crisis * The newest information about the rise of fracking, the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the decline of the Peak Oil movement, and climate change, including the latter's effects on the Arctic and Antarctica * A dedicated website with authors' blog and a teaching tab with syllabi, class activities, and well-designed, classroom-tested resources * An updated teacher's manual available online, including sample examination questions, additional resources for each chapter, and special assistance for teaching ESL students * Updated career advice for international studies majors