In this work of political philosophy Nielsen (emeritus, philosophy, U. of Calgary, Canada) criticizes capitalist globalization as increasing inequality and damaging prospects for genuine democracy. He sets out a critical theory of society that incorporates portions of Frankfurt school critical theory and portions of analytical Marxianism. He then proposes a egalitarian theory of justice and opposes it to the theories of Robert Nozick, Daniel Bell, John Rawls, and others. His conception of social justice is then argued to require global democratic socialism to achieve. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)