Power, Powerlessness, and Globalization

Contemporary Politics in the Global South

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, International, International Relations, History, World History
Cover of the book Power, Powerlessness, and Globalization by Opoku Agyeman, Lexington Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Opoku Agyeman ISBN: 9780739195222
Publisher: Lexington Books Publication: August 20, 2014
Imprint: Lexington Books Language: English
Author: Opoku Agyeman
ISBN: 9780739195222
Publisher: Lexington Books
Publication: August 20, 2014
Imprint: Lexington Books
Language: English

This book is about imperialism-driven globalization, its historic impact on Africa, Latin America, and Asia, and, over time, the varied responses of the national political units and regional entities in these continents to the challenges of building countervailing power and laying foundations for independent development. Where genuine recovery and empowerment have emerged, this has been the result not only of the pursuit of “dignitalist” political and economic values that emphasize robust and sustained productivity geared toward uplifting the living standards and dignity of all the members of the national society, but also of the creation of indigenous institutions whose relations with the external world are defined by equality rather than dependence and subordination.

Opoku Agyeman argues that “dignification” is the fundamentally necessary response to imperialism’s inevitable afflictions of national/racial humiliation. It is the most crucial ingredient in the complex of motivations that propel formerly weak nation-states and regional communities to rise up and defend the honor of their people. As Mao Zedong told the world in 1949: “Ours will no longer be a nation subject to insult and humiliation. We have stood up.”

This study argues emphatically that it is a country’s or region’s developed or developing capabilities, not its historic and continuing victimization or habitual dependence on “charitable aid” and other “altruistic” interventions from the “international community,” that determines its success in escaping the scourge of powerlessness and underdevelopment. It further maintains that a people who have been brought low through brutal, dehumanizing imperialism cannot bypass the need for redemptive empowerment if they wish to regain honor and a proper place in the world. Finally, it takes issue with Joseph Stiglitz, Jeffrey Sachs, and others like them whose moralistic critiques of the rapacity of imperialistic globalization carry the unfortunate implication that it is possible for a fair and just world social order to come out of incremental reforms of philanthropically-motivated developed, powerful countries, in the structure and operations of global capitalism.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

This book is about imperialism-driven globalization, its historic impact on Africa, Latin America, and Asia, and, over time, the varied responses of the national political units and regional entities in these continents to the challenges of building countervailing power and laying foundations for independent development. Where genuine recovery and empowerment have emerged, this has been the result not only of the pursuit of “dignitalist” political and economic values that emphasize robust and sustained productivity geared toward uplifting the living standards and dignity of all the members of the national society, but also of the creation of indigenous institutions whose relations with the external world are defined by equality rather than dependence and subordination.

Opoku Agyeman argues that “dignification” is the fundamentally necessary response to imperialism’s inevitable afflictions of national/racial humiliation. It is the most crucial ingredient in the complex of motivations that propel formerly weak nation-states and regional communities to rise up and defend the honor of their people. As Mao Zedong told the world in 1949: “Ours will no longer be a nation subject to insult and humiliation. We have stood up.”

This study argues emphatically that it is a country’s or region’s developed or developing capabilities, not its historic and continuing victimization or habitual dependence on “charitable aid” and other “altruistic” interventions from the “international community,” that determines its success in escaping the scourge of powerlessness and underdevelopment. It further maintains that a people who have been brought low through brutal, dehumanizing imperialism cannot bypass the need for redemptive empowerment if they wish to regain honor and a proper place in the world. Finally, it takes issue with Joseph Stiglitz, Jeffrey Sachs, and others like them whose moralistic critiques of the rapacity of imperialistic globalization carry the unfortunate implication that it is possible for a fair and just world social order to come out of incremental reforms of philanthropically-motivated developed, powerful countries, in the structure and operations of global capitalism.

More books from Lexington Books

Cover of the book The Other Hybrid Archipelago by Opoku Agyeman
Cover of the book France's Lost Empires by Opoku Agyeman
Cover of the book International Dimensions of Authoritarian Persistence by Opoku Agyeman
Cover of the book Art for Social Change and Cultural Awakening by Opoku Agyeman
Cover of the book What Movies Teach about Race by Opoku Agyeman
Cover of the book Religious Rhetoric by Opoku Agyeman
Cover of the book The Crisis of Welfare in East Asia by Opoku Agyeman
Cover of the book The Political Life of Bella Abzug, 1920–1976 by Opoku Agyeman
Cover of the book Reexamining Economic and Political Reforms in Russia, 1985–2000 by Opoku Agyeman
Cover of the book Understanding Legitimacy by Opoku Agyeman
Cover of the book Social Phenomenology by Opoku Agyeman
Cover of the book Wretched Aristotle by Opoku Agyeman
Cover of the book Contemplating Dis/Ability in Schools and Society by Opoku Agyeman
Cover of the book Digital Media Strategies of the Far Right in Europe and the United States by Opoku Agyeman
Cover of the book State–Society Relations and Governance in China by Opoku Agyeman
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy