Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments of different nations - a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. This process has effects on the environment, culture, political systems, economic development and prosperity, and human physical well-being in societies around the world. Globalization is not new, though. For thousands of years, people—and, later, corporations—have been buying from and selling to each other in lands at great distances, such as through the famed Silk Road across Central Asia that connected China and Europe during the Middle Ages. Social transformation implies a fundamental change in society, which is in contrast with the social change viewed as gradual or incremental changes over time. Although the idea of social change is more or less universal, sometimes there are disagreements on the directionality of change as with the mechanisms of change. This book will be an ideal reference guide for a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in departments of sociology, political science and business studies.