A concise exploration of globalization and its role in the contemporary era Driven by technological advancements and global corporations, more and more people are swept up by globalizing processes, creating new winners and losers. Globalization: The Essentials explores the flows, structures, processes, and consequences of globalization in the modern economic, political, and cultural landscape. This comprehensive introduction offers balanced coverage of areas such as global economic and cultural flows, environmental sustainability, the impact of technology, and racial, economic, and gender inequality ? providing readers with foundational knowledge of globalization. Extensively revised and updated, this second edition includes expanded coverage of human trafficking and migration, global climate change, fake news and information wars, and transnational social movements with increased emphasis on examples from Central and South America, Africa, and Asia: