Revitalising Communities in a Globalising World

Revitalising Communities in a Globalising World explores the opportunities and constraints that the dynamics of globalisation present for human development in a range of different countries and situations. Arguing that globalisation is currently a system of organising social relations along neoliberal lines, this timely volume examines practical examples of how people respond to significant social changes in their communities. The idea of communities is deconstructed to show that globalisation has collapsed the boundaries of time, space and place in ways that have exacerbated inequalities, at the same time giving rise to unparalleled riches for some. The book encompasses a number of case studies that speak to policymakers, practitioners, educators and students interested in studying globalisation and making the most of its potential for change.

This is the third in the series of volumes of essays that Robin Fox began with Reproduction and Succession and continued with The Challenge of Anthropology. Fox who has been described as "the conscience of anthropology" continues to have the same aim: to expose readers in the social sciences and beyond to the consequences of "the biosocial orientation," and to assess the "state of the art" in anthropology in particular and the social sciences in general.As always he encompasses a wide range of topics: Why do bureaucracies fail? Are we really an innovative animal? Is nationalism a purely constructed phenomenon? What is the role of sexual competition in epic literature? In all these enquiries he tries to show in non-technical language how the evolutionary approach throws new light on old problems--and even raises new and more interesting problems. He pursues the issue of whether we have a naturally developed moral sense, and if so what it could possibly be (on the way attempting a definitive definition of the good); he looks at the status of the idea of self-interest in economic and biological science; he examines the current state of archaeology as a basis for a renewed scientific anthropology; and he tries to adjudicate the debate between the scientific and humanistic camps in the social sciences.