Mazur, Allan. Global Social Problems.

• Author: Forster, Brenda
• Position: Book review

Mazur, Allan. Global Social Problems. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2007. vii + 237 pages. Cloth, $75; paper, $21.40.

Global Social Problems is a short book clearly intended for an undergraduate audience. It begins with a nine-page discussion of the issue of objectivity versus bias, using the concepts of Rashomon effect and group identity to explain the presence and development of conflicting accounts about the types, causes, and solutions of global social problems.

Mazur spends the first half of his book giving a brief, western-focused, historical background to "explain how the globe came to be divided by the major social boundaries that exist today." He begins with the appearance of humans about two million years ago. In a sweeping discussion, he proceeds in three chapters (half of his book) to outline human development from hunter-gatherer to agrarian to urban to industrial societies. He mentions the European expansion, colonialization, and world wars that eventually led to the rise of two superpowers--the United States and the Soviet Union--in the mid-twentieth century. He then summarizes the current situation for development of future superpowers, which he identifies as Russia, the European Union, Japan, and China.

Having provided this brief overview of human development to explain the current world political and economic structure, Mazur spends one chapter each (about twenty pages in length each) to discuss four global social problems: war, inequality, population growth, and the environment. In each case, he provides brief historical and descriptive accounts, with little attention to causes or solutions. In his chapter titled "Inequality," Mazur provides useful comparative information on global rankings, using the United Nations Human Development Index, and a discussion of human rights. In his chapter titled "Technology, Resources, and Environment," he offers a helpful comparative discussion of energy sources and the cost-benefit trade-offs involved for each. And in a brief (ten-page) final chapter titled "Prospects," the author summarizes global social-problem-solutions dilemmas for the future, which he believes rests on the need for international cooperation, shared development, and reduction of consumption.

Since this reviewer regularly teaches an undergraduate course titled "Social Problems" and has tried to add global-oriented content, I was eager to review this book, whose title and length sounded well-suited to my...