''Revitalizing Communities'' is designed around the exciting premise of exploring the opportunities and constraints that the dynamics of globalization present for human development in a range of different countries and situations. Arguing that globalization currently is a system of organizing social relations along neoliberal lines, it examines practical examples of how people respond to significant social changes in their communities. The idea of communities is deconstructed to show that globalization has collapsed the boundaries of time, space and place in ways that have exacerbated inequalities at the same time as giving rise to economic growth that has produced unparalleled riches for some. The book encompasses a number of case studies that speak to policymakers, practitioners, educators and students interested in studying globalization and making the most of its potential for change in realizing human aspirations for producing better living conditions for all at a time when the degradation of the physical environment is presenting its own challenges for economic developments that ignore the links between people and the conditions under which they live.