Human life cannot be reduced to market transactions and human beings cannot only be treated as economic actors. When the power of the market increases, human beings will always try to protect themselves. Given the differences that exist in social and cultural traditions, these protective responses are likely to differ from one society to the next. This is why, even in a global market, diversity is always likely to persistThis book investigates the question of whether economic globalization is likelyto lead to full convergence between political models and ways of life, or whether - even in a completely globalized world economy - there is likely to bescope for alternative solutions.Ringmar argues that this is a question of the extent to which the market has the powerto recreate the rest of society in its own image. Neo-classical economistsand radical critics alike tend to believe that markets have this power, butlooking at the question in a historical perspective it is clear that this is not thecase. Individuals and social groups have been very clever in protectingthemselves against encroachments by market forces. The author speculates alternative kinds of protective responses that might appear in the future and what society would be like without any kinds of protection at all.