Global Change Processes Research Articles

Global factors in dynamics of petrophysical processes

In classical description of structural-tectonic fragments of earth crust vast territories of ancient platforms are represented as geodynamically passive elements of lithosphere. That is why nature of various phenomena occurring on platform (landslides and karst-suffosion processes, rock bursts and gas explosions in mines, pipeline breaks, etc.) is usually associated solely with processes of exogenous changes in geological environment, formed by rocks of sedimentary cover [Natural Hazards in Russia, 2002]. However, results of many years investigations of geodeformation regimes of geodynamically (seismically) active and platform regions allowed experimentally establish [Rudakov, 2009] that in preparation of catastrophic geodynamic phenomena (earthquakes and volcanic eruptions) prominent role played by processes of global change of stress-strain state of lithosphere due to processes of self-organization under influence of Earth velocity rotation variations. In particular, it was shown that these processes are reflected in changes of fluid dynamic regimes of fault structures of East European Platform (EEP), influencing processes of exogenous geological environment transformation, and, appearing in rocks of sedimentary cover by local geodynamic processes and phenomena. For example, it was found that dynamics of accidents on routes of gas pipeline networks of EEP is connected with wave motion of platform, as well as with processes of cyclic fluid transmission in fault transcontinental and regional tectonic formations that form dynamics of karst-suffosion processes in territories of Moscow depression [Rudakov, 2008]. Continuing to investigate links in chain of cause-effect dependence of local geodynamic phenomena and processes from processes of global change in stress-strain state of earth's crust, we made spectral and correlation analysis of a half century (49 years) time series of mean annual cases of karst gap formation in Dzerzhinsk, Nizhny Novgorod region in comparison with variations of water level in Oka River, which flows in area, variations in Earth's rotation and change in solar activity. It allowed to trace development of karst-suffosion processes influenced by changes in fluid dynamic regimes in region controlled by variations in stress-strain state of earth's crust in region associated with variations in Earth's rotation and changes in solar activity, controlling climate changes on Earth as a whole, and in each particular region of planet. Note that problem of assessing influence of solar-terrestrial relationships in processes of terrestrial atmosphere, hydrosphere, and even biosphere, after A.L. Chizhevsky concerned by many researchers [Rivin, 1989] but geological and geophysical aspects of this problem are practically not affected. Especially not enough investigated processes that control in platform conditions development of exogenous processes, such as karst-suffosion. And in this respect opportunity to examine longterm observations, of the Dzerzhinsk karst observatory” of Nizhny Novgorod region allowed, as it seems to us, to take another step toward assessing extent of planetary processes influence on dynamics of geodynamic processes of local scale. Fig. 1 shows original time series of mean annual variations of Earth's rotation velocity (relative value), solar activity (Wolf numbers), cases of karst gaps in Dzerzhinsk and water level in Oka river, which were analyzed on basis of calculation spectral-temporal and correlation characteristics of these time series and their components identified by energy filtering. Fig. 2 shows calculated values of cross-correlation function (CCF) between analyzed time series.

A globalizing economy, sustainable livelihoods and equality of opportunities: the case of Hong Kong

This article uses the concepts of sustainable livelihoods and equality of opportunities to frame the analysis of effects of unprecedented scale of globalization and the financial and economic crises on the labour market, with severe consequences for those low-skilled workers and their dependent children in Hong Kong. Dramatic economic restructuring and social transformation have radically challenged the established structure of the welfare regime in Hong Kong. Like other East Asian economies significantly affected in the globalization era and in the midst of economic crises, Hong Kong can no longer guarantee high economic growth and low unemployment. Economic restructuring and social transformation have brought significant changes in post-industrial society. New social risks arising from increasing global and complex societies and a breakdown of traditional and informal risk-sharing mechanisms bring enormous difficulties for certain social groups. New social risks have engendered a growing demand for public services while there are only limited resources meeting the growing needs. It is widely recognized that global processes of economic change have significantly shaped national economic and social policies. Economic competitiveness gives national governments impetus to adopt a welfare pluralist approach and thus further exacerbates unequal access to public services. These policy reforms may further widen the gaps between the haves and the have-nots and contribute to a divided society. In a changing and globalizing economy of Hong Kong, the extent to which welfare restructuring attains productive employment and sustainable livelihoods and ensures equal opportunities for people's future development is the current focus of debate.

Simulating the impact of biofuel development on country-wide land-use change in India

Abstract India’s growing population and economy generate an increasing demand for energy. Facing the decline of global fossil fuel resources, the Indian government and energy industry are considering the long-term expansion of biofuel production in order to increase energy security. This development leads to a strong competition of energy crops versus food crops for land and may result in an increasing pressure on natural resources. In a pilot scenario study, the LandSHIFT model is applied to assess the impact of biofuel production on land-use change in India up to the year 2030. The model aims at the spatially explicit simulation of land-use change and its relation to other global change processes on the national up to the global scale. It explicitly addresses competition between land-use activities such as human settlement, biofuel production and food production as well as the resulting effects on the spatial extent of natural land. Baseline of the study is a simulation with drivers from the “Order from Strength” scenario of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. To illustrate the consequences of expanded biofuel production for the extent of natural land, we calculate three scenarios of bioethanol production to substitute 5%, 10% and 20% of the expected petrol demand in 2030. In the simulations shown, a comprehensive linkage is made between driving forces (such as population change) and policies (such as biofuel usage) that will affect land-use change over the coming decades.

Strategic resource or ideal source? Discourse, organizational change and CSR

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how discourse used as a strategic resource can facilitate change in gender and corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy and practice in a global mining company.Design/methodology/approachAn existing model of discourse and organizational change was applied to illuminate the contours of a particular organizational change process. This paper draws on empirical data in the form of talk and text in oral and written form.FindingsThe research highlights the challenge of finding the right balance between organizational receptivity and resistance, so that discursive boundaries around gender and CSR can be contested and challenged, but where new concepts and subjectivities are not rejected before they have an opportunity to generate shared meaning within the organization. Findings confirm that the involvement of a range of company personnel, particularly from the operational level, is important for generating knowledge and shared meaning, which can lead to enactment. This aligns with observations made in this journal that the management of meaning as opposed to management of change provides a useful analytical and practical focus.Originality/valueThe paper analyses one of the first attempts by a global mining company to articulate a change agenda for gender and community relations within a CSR framework. Unique insights into the internal world of a global mining company and CSR change processes are provided. The paper utilizes a well‐articulated model that facilitates a discursive analysis of organizational change to advance knowledge and understanding.

The contribution of physical geography to environmental public policy development in Mexico

In recent years, physical geography in Mexico has contributed to the enterprise of geographical science by integrating with fields of study closely related to topics of sustainable development. This paper outlines the contribution of the discipline to environmental public policy development, particularly ecological land use planning and integrated watershed management. In terms of applications, physical geography appears to have reached a stage of maturity in Mexico. However, it must offer a stronger leadership in areas such as ecoregional analysis (in an integrated fashion, and not only from the biological-ecological perspective) and regional vulnerability to global change processes. An excellent opportunity exists for scientists and decision makers to develop a common agenda.

Slum dwellers response to flooding events in the megacities of India

Megacities in developing countries are rapidly transforming places. Under the impetus of global change processes and consequent transformations at the environmental, social, cultural, political and economical scales; factors causing disasters and losses are changing every day. These changes are also altering society’s ability to respond to hazard events. This paper examines the response of slum dwellers who are the most vulnerable and marginal section of urban population and often located in places with high hazard risk with less or no means to reduce the impact of flood events. Marginal population groups in megacities suffer the negative consequences of large scale global change processes and do not benefit from the risk mitigation strategies adopted by city authorities. The paper therefore argues that people living in informal settlements instead have to employ a combination of structural means and complex networks of assistance to recover from floods. Based on the results deduced from data collected with the help of household surveys in the slums of Mumbai, the study demonstrates the types of coping strategies used by slum dwellers and the changing characteristics of these mechanisms under the influence of global change processes in megacities. Furthermore, results show that capacity to respond is not equally distributed among slum dwellers due to underlying socio cultural divisions and emerging economic and political constraints. The paper concludes that to address existing discrepancies in urban societies and within slum settlements, flood mitigation strategies will have to be (1) more inclusive of marginal population (2) sensitive to the limitations and scope of old and new social structures and (3) incorporate innovative networks of support to deal with the consequences of global change.

The effects of primary process of global change on biological invasion in coastal ecosystem

The effects of primary process of global change on biological invasion in coastal ecosystem

The effects of primary process of global change on biological invasion in coastal ecosystem

The effects of primary process of global change on biological invasion in coastal ecosystem

Sustainable development and climate change

In 1987, the authors of Our common future argued that unless the world embraced and operationalized sustainable development, it would risk being overwhelmed by a series of interlocking crises related to population growth, urbanization, poverty and environmental degradation. Since then, many authors have argued that the world is on a worst case scenario trajectory. Post-Rio assessments of progress towards sustainable development have been largely negative. Since 1987, climate change has added a new stressor to the mix while shortening the time frame for transformation. In the context of accelerating change and converging stresses is the concept of sustainable development as compelling today as it was twenty years ago? Is it reasonable to believe there are means by which to reduce poverty and simultaneously protect the environment? This article briefly reviews the global challenges that first stimulated the concept of sustainable development and asks how contemporary processes of global change are affecting both these challenges and this approach to addressing them. While there are some grounds for optimism, several variables are identified that make sustainable development increasingly difficult to design and implement. The article concludes with an evaluation of how these difficulties might be overcome, and why it is essential that we try.

Holocene carbon burial by lakes in SW Greenland

AbstractThe role of the Arctic in future global change processes is predicted to be important because of the large carbon (C) stocks contained in frozen soils and peatlands. Lakes are an important component of arctic landscapes although their role in storing C is not well prescribed. The area around Kangerlussuaq, SW Greenland (66–68°N, 49–54°W) has extremely high lake density, with ∼20 000 lakes that cover about 14% of the land area. C accumulation rates and standing stock (kg C m−2), representing late‐ to mid‐Holocene C burial, were calculated from AMS 14C‐dated sediment cores from 11 lakes. Lake ages range from ∼10 000 cal yr bp to ∼5400 cal yr bp, and reflect the withdrawal of the ice sheet from west to east. Total standing stock of C accumulated in the studied lakes for the last ∼8000 years ranged from 28 to 71 kg C m−2, (mean: ∼42 kg C m−2). These standing stock determinations yield organic C accumulation rates of 3.5–11.5 g C m−2 yr−1 (mean: ∼6 g C m−2 yr−1) for the last 4500 years. Mean C accumulation rates are not different for the periods 8–4.5 and 4.5–0 ka, despite cooling trends associated with the neoglacial period after 4.5 ka. We used the mean C standing stock to estimate the total C pool in small lakes (<100 ha) of the Kangerlussuaq region to be ∼4.9 × 1013 g C. This C stock is about half of that estimated for the soil pool in this region (but in 5% of the land area) and indicates the importance of incorporating lakes into models of regional C balance at high latitudes.

Tourism In Turkey The Process Of Globalization

This paper examines the effects of globalization on tourism in Turkey as geographical. Defined as the integrated treatment of the multidimensional relations between political, social and cultural structures following the complete transforma- tion or reorganization of world’s economic geography, globalization has affected tourism to a great extent. Having become one of the largest industries of the world with the effects of globalization, tourism has economic, social and environmental effects on all countries and there are important results on social of this effects. Turkey is a country with immense tourism potential thanks to its rich natu- ral and cultural landscape unique among Mediterranean countries. Although Turk tourism isn’t completely used from this potential, it has been improved with the process of global and has economic, social and environmental effects on Turkey. In this context, it is intended to handle the issue of globalization, to mention the major problems with tourism in Turkey, to determine the effects of the process of global change on tourism in Turkey.

Physical injury stimulates aerobic methane emissions from terrestrial plants

Abstract. Physical injury is common in terrestrial plants as a result of grazing, harvesting, trampling, and extreme weather events. Previous studies demonstrated enhanced emission of non-microbial CH4 under aerobic conditions from plant tissues when they were exposed to increasing UV radiation and temperature. Since physical injury is also a form of environmental stress, we sought to determine whether it would also affect CH4 emissions from plants. Physical injury (cutting) stimulated CH4 emission from fresh twigs of Artemisia species under aerobic conditions. More cutting resulted in more CH4 emissions. Hypoxia also enhanced CH4 emission from both uncut and cut Artemisia frigida twigs. Physical injury typically results in cell wall degradation, which may either stimulate formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) or decrease scavenging of them. Increased ROS activity might explain increased CH4 emission in response to physical injury and other forms of stress. There were significant differences in CH4 emissions among 10 species of Artemisia, with some species emitting no detectable CH4 under any circumstances. Consequently, CH4 emissions may be species-dependent and therefore difficult to estimate in nature based on total plant biomass. Our results and those of previous studies suggest that a variety of environmental stresses stimulate CH4 emission from a wide variety of plant species. Global change processes, including climate change, depletion of stratospheric ozone, increasing ground-level ozone, spread of plant pests, and land-use changes, could cause more stress in plants on a global scale, potentially stimulating more CH4 emission globally.

Observations of Environmental Change in Cuba

Observations of Environmental Change in Cuba Lisa Davis, David M. Brommer, and Enrique Rodriquez-Loeches Diez-Argüelles Introduction Analysis of global processes of change at the regional scale is vitally important to not only better predict and prepare for change occurring at the regional scale but also to better understand the drivers of change, as they tend to be spatially and temporally complex. The importance of regional analyses to questions of globalization, development, and environmental change in the Caribbean and the Southeastern United States has been recognized (Torres 2005), as have the importance of connecting regional scale changes occurring in the Southeastern United States to global and transnational processes (Lecce and Alderman 2004). Comparative geography, as a means of analysis, is a useful way to explore the economic, social, cultural, and environmental trajectories of two locations that share certain historical and physical commonalities. Through comparative analysis diverging and converging paths of socio-cultural and environmental change can be identified and new insight gained concerning the impacts of ongoing change, as well as future directions of change. Moseley (2005) exemplified the comparative geographic technique in his comparison of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Southeastern United States. In the following, we discuss observations of ongoing environmental change occurring in the Caribbean nation of Cuba made during a trip to Cuba in May 2008 and highlight some of the environmental changes that are taking place both in Cuba and the Southeastern United States. Why Cuba? At first glance there may appear to be few similarities between the Southeastern United States and a socialist island nation located in the Caribbean, but the two locations have many similarities, including being locations of civil wars in the past, having agricultural histories that include plantation agriculture of sugar cane and tobacco, having temperate climates, and their geographic proximity to each other. Gamble (2004) also noted connections between Caribbean nations and the Southeastern United States extending back to the 1700s through a variety of socio-economic, political, and cultural processes, as well as the environment and physical geography, in essence viewing the Caribbean and the Southeastern United States as a region not defined by [End Page 84] political boundaries but by similar physical and socio-economic traits. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Political mural, with Che Guevara at the forefront, that reads, "of these men a town begins." It is not our intention to present an exhaustive discussion of environmental change in Cuba or to discuss all of the social, cultural, and natural processes responsible. But instead to discuss major environmental changes taking place in Cuba and to identify the environmental changes that are similar to those experienced in the Southeastern U.S., shedding light on processes of global environmental change relevant to the region as a whole. Ongoing environmental change in Cuba largely stems from the liberalization of specific sectors of the Cuban economy and regional climate variability. Our observations, therefore, focus on these vectors of change. Socio-Economic Change and Resulting Urban and Physical Landscape Change Cuba's cultural and physical landscapes have abundant visual reminders of Cuba's socialist government (Figure 1), history with the former Soviet Union and the United States (Figure 2), and complex relationship with the United States (Figure 3). Equally as tangibly represented in the cultural and physical landscape are examples of social, economic, and cultural change affecting the physical environment. As might be expected, some of the socio-cultural drivers of environmental change in Cuba are similar to those occurring in many Caribbean nations, but others are relatively unique to Cuba because they are related to liberalization of the tourism and agricultural economies. As is common in many locations in the Caribbean, growth in the tourism industry has had direct impacts on the environment. Most evident of these is the conversion of natural beaches and coastlines into large resorts for packaged tourism. There are roughly 300 Cuban beaches (Sainsbury 2006) used by tourists, mainly from Europe, including Spain, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany but also [End Page 85] Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 2. Combining Soviet and U.S. cultural representations in Cuba, a Soviet Lada drives on the Malécon...

Mediterranean forest dynamics and forest bird distribution changes in the late 20th century

AbstractProcesses derived from global change such as land‐use changes, climate warming or modifications in the perturbation regime may have opposite effects on forest extent and structure with still unknown consequences on forest biodiversity at large spatial scales. In the present study, we aimed at determining forest dynamics associated with global change processes (forest spread, maturation and fire) that have driven the variation in forest bird distributions in Mediterranean forest ecosystems in recent years. The study was located in Catalonia (NE Spain) and used changes in richness of specialist and generalist forest bird species in the last 20 years of the 20th century as indicators of forest biodiversity change. Forest bird distribution changes showed strong spatial patterns and appeared to be related to population processes occurring beyond sampling units (10 km × 10 km squares). Forest maturation appeared as the most important driver of such changes because most of the studied species have a non‐Mediterranean origin and are associated with more mature forests. To a lower degree, forest spread also contributed to forest bird distribution changes whereas the impact of forest fires was not associated to a decrease in the richness of either group of forest species. Given the relatively coarse scale at which our study was conducted, caution should be taken when extrapolating our results to the possible future impacts of climate change on fire regime and forest bird distribution. Our results indicate that large‐scale forest maturation and spread due mainly to land abandonment in Catalonia has overridden the potentially negative effects of fires on forest bird distributions and are currently driving changes in forest biodiversity patterns across the region.

Modeling GCM and scenario uncertainty using a possibilistic approach: Application to the Mahanadi River, India

Climate change impact assessment on water resources with downscaled General Circulation Model (GCM) simulation output is characterized by uncertainty due to incomplete knowledge about the underlying geophysical processes of global change (GCM uncertainties) and due to uncertain future scenarios (scenario uncertainties). Disagreement between different GCMs and scenarios in regional climate change impact studies indicates that overreliance on a single GCM with a scenario could lead to inappropriate planning and adaptation responses. This paper focuses on modeling GCM and scenario uncertainty using possibility theory in projecting streamflow of Mahanadi river, at Hirakud, India. A downscaling method based on fuzzy clustering and Relevance Vector Machine (RVM) is applied to project monsoon streamflow from three GCMs with two green house emission scenarios. Possibilities are assigned to all the GCMs with scenarios based on their performance in modeling the streamflow of the recent past (1991–2005), when there are signals of climate forcing. The possibilities associated with different GCMs and scenarios are used as weights in computing the possibilistic mean of the CDFs projected for three standard time slices 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s. The result shows that the value of streamflow at which the CDF reaches 1 reduces with time, which shows the reduction in probability of occurrence of extreme high flow events in future. Historic record of monsoon streamflow of Mahanadi river also shows similar decreasing trend, which may be due to the effect of high surface warming. Reduction in Mahandai streamflow is likely to pose a major challenge for water resources engineers in meeting water demands in future.

Persisting Inequalities

This article analyses the central themes running through the collection of papers in this special issue of Childhood, which were all given as papers at the XVI Durban World Congress of Sociology, 23—29 July 2006. These themes encompass the ways in which global processes of social change combining modernity with tradition have become important for both the perception of childhood and for childrens real lives. They also include the ways in which those processes intertwined with social inequalities — of gender, generation and socioeconomic status — among children and between children and other age groups. The article goes on to provide an outline of the ways in which more general theoretical concerns in the sociology of childhood globally are related to local situations, to a variety of practical settings, to the conceptual concerns in different sociological fields and other social science disciplines in South Africa, Ethiopia, Taiwan, Germany, Sweden, and Italy.

Geodetic Observations Help Scientists Understand Geohazards and Mitigate Disasters: The GGOS Contribution to GEOSS and an Observing System for Geohazards and Disaster Prevention; Frascati, Italy, 5–6 October 2007

Modern space‐geodetic observations have revolutionized our understanding of geohazards, and these observations have a great potential for further scientific discovery and applications, including early warning.To discuss this, about 50 scientists from the geodetic and geohazards communities took part in a workshop organized by the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS) of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) as a contribution to the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO). Highest‐level representatives of space agencies (European Space Agency, NASA, and Agenzia Spaziale Italiana) emphasized the fundamental importance of the geodetic reference frames for satellite missions and Earth observation. Although high, the present accuracy of these reference frames still is a key limitation in quantifying global change processes such as changes in ice sheets and sea level. Improvements of the reference frame are a pivotal step toward a better understanding of these processes and their impact on society. The representative of GEO identified GGOS as a core element in the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), which aims to integrate Earth observations in order to better serve users in a number of societal benefit areas, including disasters.

Determination of pre-compression stress of a variously grazed steppe soil under static and cyclic loading

In many land use systems all over the world soil deformation is a major problem due to increasing land use intensity. On arable soils machine traffic is continuously intensified with respect to load and wheeling frequency leading to (sub-)soil compaction and deeper soil degradation concerning hydraulic or pneumatic functions. Altered soil functions, in particular reduced hydraulic conductivities and impeded aeration, may decrease crop growth and productivity as well as the filtering and buffering capacity of soils. Prevented gas exchange and longer lasting anoxia in soils due to the reduced pore continuity and pore functioning also affects global change processes. In order to evaluate potential risks for irreversible soil deformation, it is necessary to quantify their mechanical stability. A commonly applied method is the determination of the pre-compression stress, commonly under static loading conditions in oedometer tests. The determination of pre-compression stresses under static loading may not quite resemble the conditions encountered in the field where soils are loaded repeatedly with a sequence of short intermittent loading–unloading–reloading events. Such dynamic loading conditions are encountered, e.g. at multiple wheel passes or in grassland soils due to animal trampling. In this study we present a comparison of a standard (static loading) and a modified (cyclic/dynamic loading) oedometer test using data of a Calcic Chernozem from the Inner Mongolian steppe under various grazing intensities. Static loading lasted for 10 min per loading step, while the dynamic/cyclic loading was carried out by 30 s loading and following 30 s unloading (=1 cycle) for in total 20 cycles. Differences between statically and cyclically determined pre-compression stresses at an identical time of loading show lower values for the statically determined pre-compression stress values compared to those determined cyclically. Among the dynamically determined pre-compression stresses, the values decrease with increasing number of loading steps and loading time, respectively. This is particularly true for the ungrazed sites. Thus, it could also be proofed that increased grazing intensities lead to structure deformation and increased sensitivity to wind- and water erosion followed by severe land degradation of grassland soils, particularly in semi-arid areas. Furthermore, hydraulic effects, e.g. positive pore water pressure due to intense shearing and kneading processes induced by grazing animals can enhance this structural deterioration. Thus, dynamic or cyclic loading results in an intense soil deformation which also causes serious changes in ecological and soil physical properties like hydraulic conductivity or gas flux.

Climate change mitigation through afforestation/reforestation: A global analysis of hydrologic impacts with four case studies

The implicit hydrologic dimensions of international efforts to mitigate climate change, specifically potential impacts of the Clean Development Mechanism-Afforestation/Reforestation (CDM-AR) provisions of the Kyoto Protocol (KP) on global, regional and local water cycles, are examined. The global impact of the redistribution of water use driven by agriculture and land use change, of which CDM-AR can be a contributing factor, is a major component of ongoing global change and climate change processes. If converted to forest, large areas deemed suitable for CDM-AR would exhibit increases in actual evapotranspiration (AET) and/or decreases in runoff. Almost 20% (144 Mha) of all suitable land showed little or no impact on runoff and another 28% (210 Mha) showed only moderate impact. About 27% (200 Mha) was in the highest impact class, exhibiting an 80–100% decrease in runoff, and prevalent in drier areas (based on Aridity Index (AI)), the semi-arid tropics, and in conversion from grasslands and subsistence agriculture. Significant impacts on local hydrologic cycles were evident, however large impacts were not predicted at regional or global scale due primarily to the current limit on carbon offset projects under the Kyoto Protocol. Predicted decreases in runoff ranged from 54% in drier areas to less than 15% in more humid areas, based on four case studies located across a range of biophysical conditions and project scenarios in Ecuador and Bolivia. Factors other than climate, e.g. upstream/downstream position, were shown to be important in evaluating off-site impacts. This study demonstrates that it will become increasingly important to consider implications on local to regional water resources, and how the hydrologic dimension of CDM-AR impacts on issues of sustainability, local communities, and food security.

Social sciences, globalisation and regionalism. Reflections on Alain Touraine's keynote speech

In his keynote address to the International Forum on the Social Science – Policy Nexus held in Argentina and in Uruguay in February 2006, Alain Touraine stressed the dominance of capitalism within contemporary processes of global change. He argued that, as a result, the distance between the forces of global economy and the social and political universe has grown to such an extent that major social institutions have fragmented and splintered. Anis A. Dani's reply to Touraine expresses a more positive view of globalisation which, when account is taken of the diversity of regional impacts and perspectives, offers opportunities as well as challenges. In particular, the need for states to work together on issues of common concern may offer answers to many of the concerns raised by those sceptical of market-led globalisation.