Globalization is the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas, and other aspects of culture. Put in simple terms, globalization refers to processes that promote worldwide exchanges of national and cultural resources. Advances in transportation and telecommunications infrastructure, including the rise of the Internet, are major factors in globalization, generating further interdependence of economic, and cultural activities. Globalization’s contribution to the alienation of individuals from their traditions may be modest compared to the impact of modernity itself, as alleged by existentialists such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Globalization has expanded recreational opportunities by spreading pop culture, particularly via the Internet and satellite television. Religious movements were among the earliest cultural forces to globalize, spread by force, migration, evangelists, imperialists and traders. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and more recently sects such as Mormonism have taken root and influenced endemic cultures in places far from their origins. Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world’s population. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of globalization and cultural openness. The book examines the subtle mechanisms of globalization and its effects namely, adding wealth and prosperity to a few while misery and devastation to societies in Asian, Latin American and African countries and especially India. The book shows that globalization perpetuates and worsens the already existing uneven development in the world.

Contents: • Introduction • Economic Globalization • Society • Features of Globalization • Social and Cultural Impacts of Globalization • Globalization and its Effect on Cultural Diversity • Globalization, Equality and Non-discrimination • Globalization and Migration: Emerging Dilemmas and Policy Implications • Modernization Theory and Globalization Theory • The Future of Rural Communities in a Global Economy