The distribution of the world#s material wealth is far from even. And while most of the western world may be accustomed to a commercial culture, there are other cultures (e.g., Amish, Islamic, peasant) that are not commercial or are uncomfortable with commercial definition. Because cultural meaning is not universally defined through the market, "globalization," as it is currently understood, is not necessarily a universal aspiration. Why then, is there so much talk of globalization? In this Third Edition of Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective, author Philip McMichael provides a narrative of how development came to be institutionalized as an international project, pursued by individual nation-states in the post-colonial era. This new edition has been updated and revised to incorporate the treatments of fundamentalism, terrorism, the AIDS crisis, and the commercialization of services via the World Trade Organization. The evident failure of many countries to fulfill this promise of development and the world#s growing awareness of environmental limits have forced a reevaluation of the development enterprise. Development and Social Change traces the changing fortunes of development efforts, the shortcomings of which have produced two responses. One is to advocate a thoroughly global market to expand trade and spread the wealth. The other is to reevaluate the economic emphasis and to recover a sense of cultural community.