Globalization represents a range of loosely connected ideas designed to describe new forms of political-economic governance based on the extension of market relationships globally. it replaces an earlier view of governance that implied the provision of goods ans services as a way of ensuring social wellbeing of a national population. In contrast, the dominant view of globalization -- widely referred to as "neo-liberal"-- is associated with a preference for the minimalist state, concerned to promote the instrumental values of competition, economic efficiency and choice, to deregulate and privatize state functions. As Peck and Tickle (2002:394) maintain, as a constellation of ideas, neoliberal globalization promotes and normalizes a 'growth-first approach' to policy, relegating social welfare concerns as secondary. It rests on a pervasive naturalization of market logics, justifying them on the grounds of efficiency and even 'fairness'. It emphasizes the notion of choice, and privileges 'lean' government, privatization, deregulation and competitive regimes of resource allocation over the notions of a centralized state. It stresses global regimes of 'free trade', applying to both goods and services, even to services such as health and education that were traditionally marked by their highly national character.