San Antonio College Library

Ha-Joon Chang has some startingly original things to say about the future of globalization. He argues that, although in theory, the world's wealthiest countries and supra-national institutions want to see all nations developing into modern industrial societies, in practice they are 'kicking away the ladder' to progress.

"This book asks readers to be politically realistic about what is happening to the overwhelming majority of people in Third World countries. With three exceptions (Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan), development has not come. A myriad of people in feeble infant-states have been born - children of self-determination, but not of economic and scientific progress. State-driven, communist, and neo-liberal development models have failed most of these people....

Despite privatization, state-owned enterprises still account for a large share of developing countries' economies. This report shows how divestiture and other reforms can improve the economy, why politics often impede reform, and how countries that reformed successfully overcame these obstacles.

Globalization is a powerful force for poverty reduction as societies and economies around the world are becoming more integrated. Although this international integration presents tremendous opportunities for developing countries, it also has raised concerns about rising inequality, shifting power, and cultural uniformity. This report assesses the impact of globalization and addresses the ensuing anxieties. It proposes an agenda for action aimed at...

Development may be best understood in terms of the fluid and variable interplay between capital accumulation, the state and class. Subject to globalizing structures, classes, in turn, are examined in their interactions with culture, especially gender and religion as well as ecology. Case-studies - Brazil, the Asian newly industrializing countries. China and Mozambique - reveal three possibilities for overcoming underdevelopment: joining, leaving,...