Jihad vs. McWorld: Terrorism's Challenge to Democracy

· Sold by Ballantine Books
3.5
2 reviews
Ebook
432
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

Jihad vs. McWorld is a groundbreaking work, an elegant and illuminating analysis of the central conflict of our times: consumerist capitalism versus religious and tribal fundamentalism. These diametrically opposed but strangely intertwined forces are tearing apart--and bringing together--the world as we know it, undermining democracy and the nation-state on which it depends.

On the one hand, consumer capitalism on the global level is rapidly dissolving the social and economic barriers between nations, transforming the world's diverse populations into a blandly uniform market. On the other hand, ethnic, religious, and racial hatreds are fragmenting the political landscape into smaller and smaller tribal units. Jihad vs. McWorld is the term that distinguished writer and political scientist Benjamin R. Barber has coined to describe the powerful and paradoxical interdependence of these forces. In this important new book, he explores the alarming repercussions of this potent dialectic for democracy.

A work of persuasive originality and penetrating insight, Jihad vs. McWorld holds up a sharp, clear lens to the dangerous chaos of the post-Cold War world. Critics and political leaders have already heralded Benjamin R. Barber's work for its bold vision and moral courage. Jihad vs. McWorld is an essential text for anyone who wants to understand our troubled present and the crisis threatening our future.

Ratings and reviews

3.5
2 reviews
A Google user
July 21, 2018
This is a terrible book. With little to offer beyond giving the average American yokel a vague understanding that the world is globalized and interdependent, the overall analysis is stale and shallow, characteristic of the liberal commentariat at the Atlantic. By the end it reduces complex political frictions into an overarching globalism vs anti-globalism narrative, and with a tepid acknowledgment that the former isn't ideal.
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candace dahlin
December 31, 2013
Excellent!
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About the author

Benjamin Barber was an internationally renowned political theorist, the Kekst Professor of Civil Society at the University of Maryland, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos in New York City. He died in 2017.

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