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Nicholas J. Rowland, Offshoring By John Urry Polity Press. 2014. 200 pages. $19.95 paper, $64.95 hardback, Social Forces, Volume 94, Issue 4, June 2016, Page e108, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sou129
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Longtime readers of John Urry will get more of the same conceptual sensitivity they enjoyed in Mobilities (2007), the sense of urgency provided in Societies beyond Oil (2013), and the unyielding attentiveness to world phenomena found in Global Complexity (2002). Urry gives readers the feel that even at 30,000 feet, he can still see the world clearly, and, like an ever-diligent docent, he helps the reader to as well.
In Offshoring (2014), Urry offers insight into patterns of offshore activity ranging from now-predictable practices—such as outsourcing labor and hiding money in Treasure Island–like tax-havens—to less expected formations—such as the world of offshore pleasure and leisure, the grand scale of waste shipped offshore, and those dense, imbricated webs of non-local security-upon-security precariously supporting “order” back home. At minimum, the book is timely. No doubt, understanding how offshoring and globalization have dovetailed ought to be essential reading for anyone curious about global politics and the world wealth gap. I do mean anyone; the book is not pedantic in the slightest, and is well suited for upper-level undergraduates.
