Globalization, Culture and Inequality in Asia

Contemplating globalization from a sociological perspective, it is without doubt that the Asian region is a major site for social, political, economic and cultural change in the new millennium. The underlying theme of the book is the multi-dimensional ways in which globalization - in the form of ideas, practices and technology - have introduced social inequalities in specific contexts. The book draws on studies from several countries in the region and covers such areas as gender, class, labor, media, identity, cities and urbanization. Several chapters of this book look at macro phenomena such as patterns of international migration, business internationalization, educational reform and trends in values revealed in statistical surveys. Others examine ground-level change as experienced by particular social groupings: women in the workplace, casual laborers, yakuza gangsters and members of the Buraku community of former outcastes.