Localization is a manifesto to unite all those who recognize the importance of cultural, social and ecological diversity for our future - and who do not aspire to a monolithic global consumer culture. It is a passionate and persuasive polemic, challenging the claims that we have to be 'internationally competitive' to survive and describing the destructive consequences of globalization. This book is unique in going beyond simply criticizing free trade and globalization trends. It details self-reinforcing policies to create local self-sufficiency and shows clearly that there is an alternative to globalization - to protect the local, globally.
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About the Author
COLIN HINES is a Fellow of the International Forum on Globalization, former head of Greenpeace's International Economics Unit and co-author of The New Protectionism: Protecting the Future Against Free Trade.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Are the protesters of Seattle and Prague "a mere rabble of exuberant irrationalists" (The Economist, September 23, 2000) or are they visionaries who are addressing the limits of globalisation?
Colin Hines tackles the task of formulating a workable alternative with enthusiasm and imagination. It would be well for those firmly embedded in the'Washington consensus' that dominates the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO to read and think about what their critics have to say. In this reviewers opinion, three-quarters of the book makes very good sense and one-quarter is completely 'off the wall'. The problem is that only time will tell for sure which is which. But compared with turgid and unquestioning recitations of the benefits of globalisation that dominate the thinking of the rich and powerful (symbolised by The Economist), this book is refreshingly open. It even offers grounds for optimism.
Economists and ecologists, globalisers and localisers, doers and dreamers will all gain from reading this book.
David Piachaud, Professor, London School of Economics
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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4.0 out of 5 stars
3 reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Love it or Hate it
15 Jun 2005
By Richard R. Wilk
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Its really instructive to read the other reviews of this book. Anti-globalization folks love it, and anyone with even basic economics training will hate it. It tells you a lot about the division in world views that drives the debate over globalization, which is really about moral economics vs utilitarian economics. This is something people in the West have been arguing about for 200 years; anyone who read Polanyi or any of the romantic critics of British Utilitarianism will find the content of this book familiar.
I found the book a good statement of one of the more extreme, but increasingly popular positions of the anti-globalization camp, one which envisions a world where people become more self-sufficient, do more satisfying labor, and where justice is more important than profits. I have to agree with the sentiments. But unfortunately I can't go along with the program, which seems like the worst kind of romantic and unrealistic idealism. This does not mean I agree with the critics, who think the only alternative to localization is just more untrammeled free market capitalism. You would think that after 200 years people would have figured out that this particular set of polar opposites is pretty useless to think with!
I found the book a good statement of one of the more extreme, but increasingly popular positions of the anti-globalization camp, one which envisions a world where people become more self-sufficient, do more satisfying labor, and where justice is more important than profits. I have to agree with the sentiments. But unfortunately I can't go along with the program, which seems like the worst kind of romantic and unrealistic idealism. This does not mean I agree with the critics, who think the only alternative to localization is just more untrammeled free market capitalism. You would think that after 200 years people would have figured out that this particular set of polar opposites is pretty useless to think with!
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting about localization as opposed to globalization.
4 Mar 2002
By vagabundo
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Mr Hines has written an interesting book about localization as opposed to globalization. It may not be quite as good as Michael Shuman's Going local, but Hines gives us a viable alternative to the hypercapitalism which pits Third Worlds countries against each other in the race for foreign investments. ... there is an alternative to pro-trade economy, see for example Herman Daly (Beyond growth) or Hernando de Soto (The mystery of capital) for an excellent overview of why trade is not a road to proper development.
There is no spoon.
5 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A sustainable alternative to globalization
14 Mar 2001
By A Customer
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This excellent book explodes the myth that globalization is good for people or the environment, showing clearly how the harm it does usually outweighs any benefit. Localization, the proposed alternative, offers a real practical route to sustainable prosperity.
This book should be obligatory reading not only for decision makers in trade and politics but also for ever voter in a democratic society.
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