Contemporary

• Contemporary World


  Refers to the circumstances and ideas of the present age, synonymous with modern times, modern world, and present times
• Much has changed in our society through different ages in our history – economy, technology, human lifestyle, culture, way of living and thinking, etc.
• Even the society itself that we are living has changed tremendously
• Contemporary World is the outcome of many interlinking factors that have come into play as a result of global development


  Cannot be characterized without the concept of globalization
• Contemporary World is an ever-changing mix of economic, social, and political changes
• Challenges of the 21st century

  • Emerging technologies
  • Health care
  • Overpopulation
  • Climate change
  • Poverty
  • Illiteracy
  • Migration
  • Diseases and pandemics
• Reason to study the Contemporary World: to avoid parochialism or a perspective that is limited to one’s immediate community
• An individual is parochial if his views are only concerned with his own family, community, or even country
• By learning the contemporary world, our imagination and outlook will be broadened because we will be exposed to new/unfamiliar ideas and cultures that may spark our interests in them
• Reason to study the Contemporary World: this course will teach more about ourselves and our country because it will allow us to compare and contrast our societies with others
• Probably we will gain lessons from the experiences of other nations by applying what they successfully did or provide us warning as to those that brought them problems
• Reason to study the Contemporary World: Because we are and will be interacting with it more and more intensely as time progresses
• With the advent of the media and the internet which are our windows to the contemporary world, it is inevitable that we will be bombarded with information and issues of global concern and interest that we cannot escape
• The COVID-19 pandemic that we experienced was an example of a global issue
• We have to be aware regarding the spread and the dangers of this dreaded disease. And most of us are aware of these. Why? That is because of our constant interaction with the world
• The contemporary world cannot be characterized without the concept of globalization
• There are contrasting points of view concerning globalization
• Globalization presents positive as well as negative aspects that make it beneficial or detrimental to every society and to the world
• Globalization is a societal phenomenon wherein social barriers no longer exist and the only thing that separates people from each other is time and not geographical restrictions
• Human interactions will no longer be confined by territorial means because people will coexist as inhabitants of a single community with the aid of technology and other innovations in communication, transportation, etc.
• Globalization has been a "buzzword" since the early 19th century
• The term "Globalization" was popularized through former Harvard Business School Professor Theodore Levitt's article entitled "The Globalization of Markets"

  1983
• Globalization refers to the existence of free exchange of goods, services, culture, and even people between and among countries
• Under the banner of globalization, countries have discarded taxes on imported goods (tariffs) and opened their doors to highly skilled workers and professionals
• Through globalization, people became more interested in travel, learning new languages, and immersing themselves in new cultures and lifestyles
• There are manifold concepts, perspectives, and ideas about globalization
• Many scholars have tried to formulate the definition of globalization, resulting in different, sometimes contradicting, views about the concept
• Manfred Steger: 'The term 'globalization' has been used to describe a process, a condition, a system, a force, and an age'
• Thomas Larsson: 'Globalization is the process of world shrinkage, of distances getting shorter, things moving closer'
• Martin Knor: 'Globalization has been regarded as colonization'
• Arjun Appadurai: 'Globalization occurs on multiple dimensions of integration called "scapes" such as ethnoscape, mediascape, technoscape, financescape, and ideoscape'
• UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development): 'Economic globalization is the closer integration of national economies through trade and financial flows as well as cross-border migration of people'
• Financial regulations are aimed at encouraging investors to invest more and retain their ability to pull out their investments at any time with ease
• Free movement of persons is achieved through the loosening or abolition of visa restrictions and barriers to migration
• UNCTAD’s definition of globalization: 'It is simultaneously and partly a process, a condition, a system, a force, and an age, an era that has a beginning and a prospective end'
• Globalization according to Political Scientists

  • Challenges to the nation-state
  • Strength of regional blocs
  • Development of global political standards
• Globalization according to Economists

  • Increasing free trade
  • Speed of trade
  • Presence of global economic organizations
• Globalization according to scholars of culture and communication

  • Creation of global village due to technological revolutions
  • Communications technology shrinking our world
  • Cultural imperialism
• Globalization according to Manfred Steger

  The expansion and intensification of social relations and consciousness across world-time and across world-space
• Attributes of globalization process deduced from the working definition given