Edward Ashbee examines the globalizing processes of the past thirty years and considers the extent to which there has been "deglobalization" or "slowbalization" and the reasons for these apparent shifts.

The book looks at the original promise held out by globalizing trends which became fully evident at the same time as the dot.com economy became part of everyday life. The book then charts the backlash against "globalism" and the ways in which it became pronounced across much of Europe, North America and Asia. And it asks how far has that backlash, together with the 2008 financial crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the rise of "techno-nationalism" led to a stalling or even reversal in globalizing processes.

The analysis disaggregates the different trends that collectively constitute "globalization" and surveys competing perspectives on globalization and reviews the arguments of those who argue that the concept is either myth or hyperbole. The book reveals how globalization is being reconfigured in ways that weaken its former associations with neoliberalism and Americanization thereby laying the basis for a new economic and social settlement.