Richard Sandbrook
- Courses4
- Reviews20
- School: University of Toronto
- Campus: St. George Campus
- Department: Political Science
- Email address: Join to see
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Location:
Toronto, ON - Dates at University of Toronto: April 2003 - December 2017
- Office Hours: Join to see
Political Leanings:
| Liberal | Conservative |
Biography
University of Toronto St. George Campus - Political Science
professor emeritus at University of Toronto
Research
Richard
Sandbrook
Toronto, Canada Area
I am a Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Toronto who recently "retired" after 41 years of service. However, I remain active as a teacher and writer. I have focused my research since 2000 on three related topics: the experience of the democratic left in the Global South, the relevance of social-democratic thinking to the reshaping of the neoliberal global order and the utility of a framework based on Karl Polanyi's "double movement" for understanding counter-hegemonic struggles. I have conducted field work mainly in Africa, especially in Kenya, Ghana and Mauritius, and have also travelled widely in Latin America and Asia. I have published about 60 scholarly articles and chapters and 12 books, most recently Reinventing the Left in the Global South: the Politics of the Possible (Cambridge University Press, August 2014) and Civilizing Globalization: A Survival Guide (SUNY Press, June 2014 - a co-edited, revised and expanded edition with Ali Burak Guven).
Experience
University of Toronto
Professor Emeritus
Richard worked at University of Toronto as a Professor Emeritus
Education
University of Toronto
M.A.
political science
University of Toronto
Professor Emeritus
Carleton University
B.A.
Political Science
University of Sussex
D.Phil
Comparative Politics
Publications
Civilizing Globalization: A Survival Guide. revised and expanded edition
State University of New York Press
The first edition of the book (2003) was conceived at a time of growing popular discontent with globalization. From Seattle in 1999 to Washington, Genoa, Zurich and Québec City in later years, mass demonstrations provoked fierce police reactions and hostile responses from mainstream media. This wholly revised and expanded edition, incorporating trends emerging during the past decade, comes at an equally crucial juncture. The first few years following the release of the first edition were marked by an unprecedented surge in trade and financial flows, which translated into high economic growth rates in every region. It appeared that neoliberal globalization would finally deliver on its promise. Yet this revived optimism was illusory; it ignored the many undesirable trends associated with the global triumph of neoliberalism. The world-wide economic crisis of 2008 dramatically illustrated the gravity of the challenges. Yet, despite these challenges, concrete initiatives for changes in the global regime remain insubstantial. This edition brings together a distinguished set of scholars and activists to discuss, in clear, non-technical language, the innovative political strategies, participatory institutional frameworks, and feasible regulatory designs capable of taming global markets so that they assume the role of useful servants rather than tyrannical masters.
Civilizing Globalization: A Survival Guide. revised and expanded edition
State University of New York Press
The first edition of the book (2003) was conceived at a time of growing popular discontent with globalization. From Seattle in 1999 to Washington, Genoa, Zurich and Québec City in later years, mass demonstrations provoked fierce police reactions and hostile responses from mainstream media. This wholly revised and expanded edition, incorporating trends emerging during the past decade, comes at an equally crucial juncture. The first few years following the release of the first edition were marked by an unprecedented surge in trade and financial flows, which translated into high economic growth rates in every region. It appeared that neoliberal globalization would finally deliver on its promise. Yet this revived optimism was illusory; it ignored the many undesirable trends associated with the global triumph of neoliberalism. The world-wide economic crisis of 2008 dramatically illustrated the gravity of the challenges. Yet, despite these challenges, concrete initiatives for changes in the global regime remain insubstantial. This edition brings together a distinguished set of scholars and activists to discuss, in clear, non-technical language, the innovative political strategies, participatory institutional frameworks, and feasible regulatory designs capable of taming global markets so that they assume the role of useful servants rather than tyrannical masters.
Social Democracy in the Global Periphery: Origins, Challenges, Prospects
Cambridge University Press
The book focuses on social-democratic regimes in the developing world that have, to varying degrees, reconciled the needs of achieving growth through globalized markets with extensions of political, social and economic rights. We show that opportunities exist to achieve significant social progress despite a global economic order that favours core industrial countries. The findings derive from a comparative analysis of four exemplary cases: Kerala (India), Costa Rica, Mauritius and Chile (since 1990). Though unusual, the social and political conditions from which these developing-world social democracies arose are not unique, we contend; indeed, pragmatic and proactive social-democratic movements helped create these favourable conditions. The four exemplars have preserved or even improved their social achievements since neoliberalism emerged hegemonic in the 1980s. This record suggests that certain social-democratic policies and practices – guided by a democratic developmental state – can enhance a national economy’s global competitiveness.
Civilizing Globalization: A Survival Guide. revised and expanded edition
State University of New York Press
The first edition of the book (2003) was conceived at a time of growing popular discontent with globalization. From Seattle in 1999 to Washington, Genoa, Zurich and Québec City in later years, mass demonstrations provoked fierce police reactions and hostile responses from mainstream media. This wholly revised and expanded edition, incorporating trends emerging during the past decade, comes at an equally crucial juncture. The first few years following the release of the first edition were marked by an unprecedented surge in trade and financial flows, which translated into high economic growth rates in every region. It appeared that neoliberal globalization would finally deliver on its promise. Yet this revived optimism was illusory; it ignored the many undesirable trends associated with the global triumph of neoliberalism. The world-wide economic crisis of 2008 dramatically illustrated the gravity of the challenges. Yet, despite these challenges, concrete initiatives for changes in the global regime remain insubstantial. This edition brings together a distinguished set of scholars and activists to discuss, in clear, non-technical language, the innovative political strategies, participatory institutional frameworks, and feasible regulatory designs capable of taming global markets so that they assume the role of useful servants rather than tyrannical masters.
Social Democracy in the Global Periphery: Origins, Challenges, Prospects
Cambridge University Press
The book focuses on social-democratic regimes in the developing world that have, to varying degrees, reconciled the needs of achieving growth through globalized markets with extensions of political, social and economic rights. We show that opportunities exist to achieve significant social progress despite a global economic order that favours core industrial countries. The findings derive from a comparative analysis of four exemplary cases: Kerala (India), Costa Rica, Mauritius and Chile (since 1990). Though unusual, the social and political conditions from which these developing-world social democracies arose are not unique, we contend; indeed, pragmatic and proactive social-democratic movements helped create these favourable conditions. The four exemplars have preserved or even improved their social achievements since neoliberalism emerged hegemonic in the 1980s. This record suggests that certain social-democratic policies and practices – guided by a democratic developmental state – can enhance a national economy’s global competitiveness.
Reinventing the Left in the Global South: The Politics of the Possible
Cambridge University Press
The book offers a fresh perspective on the nature and significance of the democratic left in the Global South. This "new" Left includes parties and social movements that not only are avoiding the familiar pitfalls that ensnared socialists and social democrats in the twentieth century, but also are coping with the realities of the twenty-first century, especially neoliberal globalization. The book answers three related questions. Is there a leftist perspective on "development" that is distinctive even in relation to the post-Washington consensus? Is it accurate to say that neoliberalism has failed as a development doctrine, and therefore needs to be replaced with a more progressive approach? And are there feasible and desirable strategies of the left - at the national, local and global level - that might be emulated in other countries with similar conditions?
