The enormous turnout in Washington, D.C., for Barack Obama's presidential inauguration and the worldwide rejoicing at this signal of change offered a tangible demonstration of people's desire for a new world order. In the waning months of the Bush administration, crushing global recession dealt a critical blow to the neoliberal project. The hegemony of the United States and of the international institutions it has used to maintain its economic dominance has been in decline for some years now, suggesting the need to explore alternative ways to carry out globalization's imperatives. In Globalization and Beyond, leading scholars take up the challenge of examining the current state of economic crisis and the variety of ways in which different countries (as well as different groups) are responding to it.