The non-Western dimensions of globalization are explored by authors like Amira Bennison, who writes about the role of Islam on the world stage. In fact, Islam was and in still is a driving force in the phenomenon of globalization. The authors and the editor Hopkins also describe the historical unfolding of globalization from a neutral perspective. "The antiquity and importance of non-Western forms of globalization" remains the central tenet of Hopkins's work.

China also played a central, albeit downplayed role, in the history of globalization. Author Hans van de Ven describes the ways by which the Tang dynasty impacted globalization. The most compelling aspect Globalization in World History is the way archaic or pre-modern globalization set the stage for current or post-modern globalization. Hopkins essentially re-maps but also re-conceptualizes globalization, to provide what the editor calls "a truly global history of globalization."

Globalization is also not a static phenomenon that...
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