Globalisation, Culture and Inequalities

Globalisation, Culture and Inequalities: In Honour of the Late Ishak Shari. 2004. Penerbit UKM: Bangi. ISBN 967-942-665-3 (paperback). 418 pp. RM 60.00. Abdul Rahman Embong.

Globalisation, Culture and Inequalities is a memorial volume to honour the work of the well-known Malaysian development economist and public intellectual, the late Professor Dr. Ishak Shari, Director of IKMAS (1997-2001). The book’s theme attempts to reflect Ishak’s central concerns, commitment and direction in his lifelong work whilst the chapters try to capture the spirit and intent of Ishak’s passion as scholar and humanist. They are written by scholars from a range of disciplines- economists, sociologists, political scientists, and other scholars working from a multidisciplinary perspective, and who had known or had been working in some capacity or other with Ishak. The book attempts to answer five sets of interrelated questions pertaining to the various dimensions of globalisation and their implications to developing countries like Malaysia. Upholding the spirit of scholarly inquiry and rigorous debate, each contributor examines the problem of globalisation from his or her own grounded perspective. The common spirit underlying most essays is that the globalisation as defined by the so-called Washington Consensus and its ideologues needs to be interrogated and re-defined. As globalisation should be seen in the plural rather than in the singular, scholars particularly those from the developing world should actively participate in this debate to make globalisation not only beneficial to the rich and powerful few, but more importantly, to the overwhelming majority of mankind irrespective of their colour, gender and creed. Such a stance reflects the emancipation of the mind, a prerequisite that will enable scholars to undertake serious reflections and offer alternatives for a better and just world that Ishak stood for. This book is a must read for scholars, policy makers, students and the general public who are concerned with the impact of market-driven globalisation on inequalities and culture, and their implications for the country and people.

ABDUL RAHMAN EMBONG, Ph.D., is Professor in Sociology of Development at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), UKM. Among his other works include, State-led Modernization and the New Middle Class in Malaysia (2002) by Palgrave, while works with Penerbit UKM are, Southeast Asian Middle Classes: Prospects for Social Change and Democratisation (2001), Southeast Asia into the Twenty First Century: Crisis and Beyond (2000), and Negara Bangsa: Proses dan Perbahasan (2000).

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