Global Ordering

Book excerpt: Despite myriad global forces influencing the lives of individuals, societies, and polities, people continue to value their personal and communal independence. They insist on shaping the conditions of their existence to the fullest extent possible. At the same time, many formal and informal institutions � from transnational legal and financial regimes to new governance arrangements for aboriginal communities in environmentally sensitive regions � are evolving, adapting to meet new challenges, or failing to adjust rapidly enough. Global Ordering examines the key institutions and organizations that mediate the ever-more complex relationship between globalization and autonomy. Bringing together an outstanding group of scholars, this ground-breaking book contributes significantly to the work of re-imagining the circumstances under which integrative systemic forces can be brought into alignment with irreducible commitments to individual and collective autonomy. It is an important work that maps the new frontier of globalization studies.