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Professor Martin Albrow is one of the foremost sociologists in the English-speaking world and one of the greatest experts on globalization， perhaps the most significant driving force of our times. In his pioneering work The GlobalAge （1996）， written when the term 'globalization' itself was quite new， he set out the main dimensions of the profound changes that had begun to transform world society. In its most fundamental meaning， 'globalization' refers to the intensifying interdependence ofindividuals， institutions and states across the globe.

One dimension is economic-the spread of a world marketplace， a massively complex division of labour between and within companies and their workforces， coupled with financial institutions of global scope. However， globalization is also political and cultural. Increasing globalization confers many benefits， at the same time as it opens up new stresses and strains. Think， for example， of the case of China itself which， when the country opened itself out to the wider world some three decades ago， travelled all the way from mass starvation to a level of prosperity that once would have seemed inconceivable. There are still many who live close to the breadline. Yet in China's prospering cities today one of the main health issues is the very opposite： rising levels of obesity， a condition not of scarcity but of abundance.
　　Many in current times speak of globalization going into reverse. The reverberations of the global economic crisis are still being felt， especially in Western countries. Whole segments of those countries have not shared in the rising levels of abundance experienced by the majority. There are significant cultural divisions too. Cosmopolitan values-a welcoming of cultural diversity， equality between the sexes and a comfort with geographical mobility-have flowered in many larger cities. In other regions， especially those that have not shared in rising prosperity， there has been a marked reaction against these values. Resentment against immigration， hostile or racist attitudes towards 'foreigners'， and towards ethnic or cultural minorities， has again become commonplace. These are the attitudes that have helped fuel the rise of populist parties in the West， parties which explicitly set themselves against globalization and wish to return to the more traditional nation-state. The most significant consequence in global terms is the ascent of Donald Trump to power in the United States， a leader who wants to reverse what he sees as America's declining power and who blames globalization for the US's problems rather than seeing it as the source ofits relative prosperity.