Bio: (1940-) British sociologist. Leslie Sklair received his doctorate from the London School of Economics and spent his academic career at the same university. In the beginning, Sklair dealt with the sociology of progress and how science and technology influence the development of society. In the late 1980s, he began to study the process of globalization, which made him one of the pioneers of the sociology of globalization. In his works, he claims that there are two rival systems of globalization - one is the dominant system of neoliberal capitalist globalization, while the other is the socialist and alter-globalist system of globalization. He is a sharp critic of neoliberal globalization and one of the most influential proponents of socialist/alternative globalization.

"Transnational practices" are most important for the process of neoliberal globalization. Sklair defines globalization as " as a particular way of organizing social life across existing state borders " (2002). He believes that as transnational practices are becoming more dominant, state borders are becoming less and less important. Transnational practices have created major changes in three key areas: the economy, politics, and the cultural and ideological spheres. In the sphere of the economy, the most important actors are transnational corporations. These corporations changed global capitalism, which was an international system, into a globalized system, operating separately from any individual state. Sklair singles out, as the most influential, companies that are on the list of "Global 500 corporations", a list compiled every year by Fortune magazine. Transnational corporations achieve their economic goals through foreign direct investment. Foreign direct investment does not represent the majority of the income of some corporations, however, these investments have a huge impact on the economy and politics of less developed countries, which often depend on these investments.

The most important product of transnational practice in the sphere of politics is the "transnational capitalist class". This class does not only contain the owners of capital but consists of four separate "fractions", which act more or less uniquely. What unites these four fractions is that: they have more global than local economic interests; they have political control, both at the state and world level; they spread the same cultural and ideological matrix; they see themselves more as citizens of the world than as citizens individual states, and they share a similar luxury lifestyle. The four fractions of the transnational capitalist class, according to Sklair's interpretation, are: 1) the corporate fraction - directors and managers of transnational corporations; 2) the state fraction - politicians and appointed bureaucrats who control state policy, but also international political institutions (UN, EU, etc.); 3) the technical fraction - globalized professionals; 4) the consumerist fraction - key individuals who control the media and the trade sector.

The third sphere in which transnational practices have had the greatest influence is what Sklair calls the  "culture-ideology of consumerism." He introduces this notion to emphasize the breadth and importance that the practice and values ​​of the culture-ideology of consumerism have on the economy, politics, and everyday behavior of people. The media and retail chains are key players in the spread of consumerism. The mass media implant the cultural ideology of consumerism in the minds of individuals while they are still children. The mass media blurs the boundaries between information, entertainment, and product promotion to sell the products they advertise to customers, but also to spread a consumerist view of the world. Retail chains, primarily through shopping malls, create places where the experience of buying goods merges with the experience of going to an amusement park. The final effect is the creation of a cultural need, fully internalized by individuals, for products created by capitalist corporations.

Sklair is one of the most influential and vocal advocates of socialist/alternative globalization. He believes that the only real alternative to neoliberal capitalist globalization is socialist globalization. As the main actors who can resist neoliberal globalization and lay the groundwork for socialist globalization, Sklair sees new social movements (alter-globalist, environmental, women's) and their organizations. According to Sklair, the goals of socialist globalization should be: reviving the local economy that would be controlled by the local community, negotiating the reduction of the external debt of states, expanding production cooperatives and consumer cooperatives, developing cultural ideology of human rights (especially economic and social rights).

Main works

Sociology of Progress (1970);

Organized Knowledge: Sociological View of Science and Technology (1973);

Assembling for Development: the Maquila Industry in Mexico and the United States (1989);

Sociology of the Global System (1991);

Capitalism and Development (1994);

Transnational Capitalist Class (2001);

Capitalism and its Alternatives (2002);

The Icon Project: Architecture, Cities, and Capitalist Globalization (2017);

The Anthropocene in Global Media: Neutralizing the Risk (2020).