Globalization and Sustainable Development—Toward a Transatlantic Agenda

Abstract

Globalization is an issue of increasing significance to society as we enter the new millennium. While the precise nature and implications of globalization remain unclear (Clark 1997), the concept is imbued with multiple meanings, it is open to multiple interpretations, and is the subject of intense debate (Gladwin 1998). When globalization is considered in relation to the equally elusive, contested and normative notion of sustainable development (Lélé & Norgaard 1996) we might be forgiven for wanting to hide away from global change in some “imagined rural idyll.” A vernacular cottage removed from the infrastructure of telephone, television, and Internet, without convenient access to an international airport hub or a local expressway spur, far removed from the complexity of choice presented by the world products available at the hypermarket, the electrical goods displayed in the superstore, or the choice of international equity funds at, say, http://asiancapital.com. However, the reality is that the pressures of globalization and the demand for sustainable development are ubiquitous. There is no place left in which to hide from their effects.