Overview

Global Futures: Key Concepts for Social Transformation provokes us to rethink some of the key words and concepts which define the current global order. Prompted by crises around the world, it seeks to re-energise our desire for a better future. The book takes seven key concepts from the new global studies and considers how they are used and whether they are adequate for addressing the twenty-first century's increasingly complex global order. The topics covered include widely used concepts such as development, modernity, history, and politics, as well as more unusual themes such as desire, complexity, and alternative futures. The core message of this book is that we need to grasp the complex and contradictory reality behind these important concepts in order to foster a new way of thinking, seeing, and acting for a future fit for human purpose. Written by Ronaldo Munck, a key social theorist and social activist with a Latin American and European background, this book will be perfect for students and researchers of sociology, politics, international relations, and global development.

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9781032893389

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Reviews

""A provocation to engage, think, rethink and hope. Ronaldo Munck provides a fresh and nuanced critical engagement with some of the key concepts that shape our understanding of the world and provides a lens to the future. Global Futures is a must read."" Mo Hume, University of Glasgow, Scotland. ""An impressive effort to explore the concepts necessary to transform the world. This book is a tour de force. It helps us explain and reconstruct the ‘keywords’ or concepts we take for granted. It challenges us to rethink our understanding of the world. An essential book for the activist thinker."" Pablo Pozzi, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. ""Channelling the master-key sensibility of Raymond Williams’ beloved classic, these essays seek to equip us for the work of social transformation in these disheartening times. Ronaldo Munck’s reflections on a replenished set of keywords skilfully combine theory and history to open up a new vocabulary of possibility."" Chandana Mathur, Maynooth University, Ireland. ""Concepts are key tools for conceiving other possible futures. But we cannot use concepts created to justify existing power arrangements. Ronaldo Munck critically reviews the ""keywords"" on which the main debates in the social sciences have been articulated. Global Futures is inspiring for creating a new vocabulary for social transformation."" Alberto Martín Álvarez, University of Girona, Catalunya. ""At a time when the western path to modernity has lost momentum and international institutions have proved incapable of addressing deficits of peace, shared development and cooperation, and at a time when increased awareness of the rich variety of human civilisations indicates the importance of mutual respect and understanding instead of the continued imposition of one way, this contribution to the reassessment of frequently used concepts is an important intervention in the quest for better world."" Michael Dunford, Emeritus Professor, School of Global Studies, University of Sussex, UK. Affiliate, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

Author Information

Ronaldo Munck is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Dublin City University and a visiting professor at the University of Buenos Aires and St. Mary’s University, Nova Scotia. Professor Munck has researched and written widely on global development issues such as labour and social movements, international migration, and contemporary Latin America from an engaged perspective.

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