Globalization Challenged: Conviction, Conflict, Community

by George Rupp, Jagdish Bhagwati (With), Jeremy Waldron (With), Wayne Proudfoot (With)

Overview

In Globalization Challenged, George Rupp, president of the International Rescue Committee, outlines the steps necessary to engage the contemporary conflict between traditional religious belief and Western secularism.

According to Rupp, the key objective is to build a community that is inclusive without denying the validity of particular commitments. While he acknowledges the threat of "resurgent fundamentalism," Rupp also criticizes secularists who fail to recognize or acknowledge the role of religion and its ideological equivalents in influencing public policy. All views, he asserts, are subject to comparative appraisal. The challenge is to develop ways to evaluate different approaches responsibly, leading to a greater understanding of one's own convictions as well as the positions of others.

Rupp reinforces his critical and theoretical analysis with dramatic accounts of recent events in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan—places where the International Rescue Committee operates. He then addresses the role of globalization in fueling instability worldwide. Inadequately regulated privatization has compromised health care, education, and social programs in many countries, whereas an inclusive community would encourage a more equitable distribution of resources.

Essays by Jagdish Bhagwati, Jeremy Waldron, and Wayne Proudfoot expand Rupp's arguments, and in a final chapter Rupp responds to the issues they raise. Essential reading for anyone who hopes to understand the roots of today's geopolitical tensions, Globalization Challenged asks that we shed our complacency, recognize the legitimate role of conviction, and take actions to shape a more just and inclusive society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231511353
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	10/24/2006
Series:	Leonard Hastings Schoff Lectures
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
File size:	814 KB

About the Author

George Rupp is the president of the International Rescue Committee, an agency that provides assistance to refugees around the world. He is the former president of Columbia University and Rice University and the author of numerous articles and four previous books, including Beyond Existentialism and Zen: Religion in a Pluralistic World and Commitment and Community.

Table of Contents

Preface
Part I. Conviction, Conflict, Community
1. Conviction in an Age of Globalization
2. Local Conflict, Global Migration
3. Globalization and the Challenge of Inclusive Community
Part II. Critical Responses to Globalization Challenged
4. Arguing for Pluralism, by Jagdish Bhagwati
5. Secularism and the Limits of Community, by Jeremy Waldron
6. Religious Convictions and Global Justice, by Wayne Proudfoot
Part III. Globalization Challenged—Again
7. Another Look at Conflict, Community, and Conviction
Index

What People are Saying About This

Mark Taylor

In Globalization Challenged, Rupp brings together his theoretical reflection and practical engagement in his work with the displaced and outcast. The result is a work that could not be more timely and that should provoke considerable discussion.

— Mark Taylor, Cluett Professor of Humanities, Williams College

Madeleine Albright

George Rupp's lectures, and the responses to them in Globalization Challenged, confront profound choices with lucid insights and provocative prose. Thoughtful people everywhere should welcome this timely and humane contribution to the globalization debate.

— Madeleine Albright, former United States secretary of state

Harvey Cox

In this lively book George Rupp takes on two paramount concerns of the twentieth century. First, in an informed and evenhanded way, he addresses globalization and the often confusing arguments for and against it. Then he tackles what the proper role of religion should be in public policy discussions. The book is readable and persuasive, and it includes responses to Rupp by three scholars in different fields. Together they have already begun an engaging conversation the reader will surely want to join.

— Harvey Cox, author of When Jesus Came to Harvard

Tom Brokaw

George Rupp has given us fresh insights and a real understanding of a growing international problem exacerbated by political oppression, economic deprivation, and natural disasters. The global refugee crisis will have profound long term consequences for all societies unless we recognize the issue now and begin to act immediately.

— Tom Brokaw, former anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw