Global Political Economy In The Information Age

Introduction: 20th-21st century imaginings and realities Section 1: Time/Space Frameworks 1. States and Markets: understanding geospatial time 2. Virtual Realities: exploring sociospatiality 3. The Political Economy of Time: historical time, speed and mobility Section 2: Borders and Inequality 4. Transcendence and Communication 5. Inequality as Driver 6. Embedding Patriarchy: feminism and inequality in the Internet era Section 3: Technofutures and Power 7. Complex Hegemony in the 21st Century: power and inequality Conclusion Review: Youngs is the Susan Strange for the new century. Craig N. Murphy, Wellesley College, USA Youngs merges expertise in media, communications and global political economy to produce one of the most informed, insightful and accessible accounts to date of power and inequality in the Information Age. With a wealth of knowledge and a gentle hand, Youngs puts us on alert, spurs critical thinking, and points us forward. This fresh, engaging account deserves the widest possible audience. Spike Peterson, University of Arizona, USA In this original and timely contribution, Gillian Youngs offers new insights into the increasingly complex, mediated sphere of the global political economy. In the process she challenges us rethink the nature and forms of contemporary global power and inequalities. John Tomlinson, Nottingham Trent University, UK Youngs's book is immensely ambitious, covering huge areas in order to embed a discussion of technology within major economic and political shifts in international relations. In her discussions she goes to the heart of ongoing tensions within the technological determinism of our modern information society, deconstructing the human-technology interface (with some discussion of genetics and nanotechnologies [45]). In looking at power and inequality, she brings together a diverse set of literature, from feminist critiques of the economy, gender and development, and science and technology to transnational debates on United Nations' indexes, poverty, and welfare. - Wendy Harcourt, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society (Autumn 2008)