Many authors who discuss the idea of globalization see it ascontinuing pre-established paths of development of modernsocieties. Post-modernist writers, by contrast, have lost sight ofthe importance of historical narrative altogether. Martin Albrowargues that neither group is able to recognize the new era whichstares us in the face. A history of the present needs an explicitepochal theory to understand the transition to the Global Age.When globality displaces modernity there is a generaldecentering of state, government, economy, culture, and community.Albrow calls for a recasting of the theory of such institutions andthe relations between them. He finds an open potential for societyto recover its abiding significance in the face of the decliningnation state. At the same time a new kind of citizenship isemerging.This important book will provoke both radicals andconservatives. Its scholarship ranges widely across the socialsciences and humanities. It is bound to promote widecross-disciplinary debate.

Introduction.1. Resuming the History of Epochs.2. The Construction of Nation-State Society.3. The Decay of the Modern Project.4. Globalization: Theorizing the Transition.5. Historical Narrative for the New Age.6. Configurations of the Global Age: Systems.7. Configurations of the Global Age: People.8. The Future State and Society.9. The Global Age Hypothesis.Notes.References.Index.