Introduction to Globalization

• Steger (2009)

  'Globalization is a variety of accelerating economic, political, cultural, ideological, and environmental processes that are rapidly altering our experience of the world, expanding and intensifying social relations and consciousness across world time and space'
• Holm and George (1998): 'Globalization is the intensification of economic, social, and cultural relations across borders, incorporating peoples into a single global society'
• Giddens (1990): 'Globalization is the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away'
• Khor (1995): 'Globalization has long been experienced by the Third World as colonization'
• Globalization as a process


  Relates to changes in technology and various aspects of human existence including cultural, economic, and political systems
• Sociologists Martin Albrow and Elizabeth King (1990): 'Globalization is all those processes by which the people of the world are incorporated into a single world society'
• Lechner and Boli (2012): 'Globalization is more people across large distances becoming connected in more and different ways'
• David Held and co-writers: 'Globalization is the transformation in the spatial organization of social relations and transactions generating transcontinental or inter-regional flows'
• Globalization


  • Intensification of worldwide social relations linking distant localities, shaping local happenings by events occurring far away
  • Reflection of the triumph of a capitalist world economy bonded by a global division of labor
  • Composed of multiple sameness and interconnectedness beyond nation states affecting individuals and organizations globally
  • Intensification of economic, social, and cultural relations across borders, incorporating peoples into a single global society
  • Condition where the world becomes a global shopping mall with ideas and products available everywhere simultaneously
  • Variety of accelerating economic, political, cultural, ideological, and environmental processes altering our experience of the world, expanding and intensifying social relations and consciousness across world time and space
• Kanter (1995): 'Globalization is a condition where the world is becoming a global shopping mall in which ideas and products are available everywhere at the same time'
• Globalization as a condition


  Creation of linkages between people located at different corners of the planet characterized by cultural, economic, and political interconnections and global flows, making any kind of barrier insignificant
• Mcgrew (1990): 'Globalization is composed of multiple sameness and interconnectedness that go beyond nation states where individuals and organizations in one part of the world are affected by the activities, affairs, and convictions in another part of the globe'
• Steger's definition of Globalization


  • Expansion means the creation of new social networks and the multiplication of existing connections cutting across traditional boundaries
  • Intensification refers to the expansion, stretching, and acceleration of these networks
• Wallerstein (1998): 'Globalization is a reflection of the triumph of a capitalist world economy bonded by a global division of labor'
• Paul James (2005): 'Globalization is the extension of social relations through changing world-time'
• Roland Robertson (1992): 'Globalization is the compression of the world and the intensification of the consciousness of the world as a whole'
• Suny Levin Institute: 'Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, driven by international trade and investment aided by information technology'
• Multiple Globalization (Arjun Appadurai)


  • ETHNOSCAPES- the migration of people across cultures and borders
  • MEDIASCAPES- the use of media that shapes the way we understand our imagined world
  • TECHNOSCAPES- cultural interactions due to the promotion of technology
  • FINANCESCAPES- the flux of capital across borders
  • IDEOSCAPES- the global flow of ideology
• Examples of Globalization


  • CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION- adoption of principles, beliefs, and costumes of other nations
  • ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION- development of trade systems within transnational actors
  • INDUSTRIAL GLOBALIZATION- enabling cross-border production for new markets
  • FINANCIAL GLOBALIZATION- rise of a global financial system
  • SOCIAL GLOBALIZATION- sharing of ideas and information between countries
  • ECOLOGICAL GLOBALIZATION- considering Earth as a single global entity
  • POLITICAL GLOBALIZATION- growing influence of international organizations
  • TECHNOLOGICAL GLOBALIZATION- interconnection through digital platforms
  • GEOGRAPHIC GLOBALIZATION- new organization and hierarchy of world regions
• Thomas Larsson (2001): 'Globalization is “the process of world shrinkage, of distances getting shorter, things moving closer” pertaining to “the increasing ease with which somebody on one side of the world can interact, to mutual benefit, with somebody on the other side of the world.”'
• Nature of Globalization


  • LIBERALIZATION- freedom of entrepreneurs to establish industries or trade ventures
  • FREE TRADE- free flow of trade relations among nations
  • GLOBALIZATION OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY- integrating domestic economy with world economies
  • LIBERALIZATION OF IMPORT-EXPORT SYSTEM- liberating import-export activity for free flow of goods and services
  • PRIVATIZATION- keeping state away from ownership and allowing free flow of economic activity
  • INCREASED COLLABORATIONS- encouraging collaborations for modernization and technological advancement
  • ECONOMIC REFORMS- encouraging fiscal and financial reforms for free world trade and market forces
• APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION

  1. WORLD SYSTEMS THEORY- developed by sociologists Immanuel Wallerstein. It is an approach to world history and social change that suggests that there is a world economic system in which some countries benefit while others are exploited
• Worlds System Theory

  • CORE COUNTRIES- These are dominant capitalist countries that exploit peripheral countries for labor and raw materials.
  • PERIPHERY COUNTRIES- These countries fall on the other end of the economic scale. These countries lack a strong central government and may be controlled by other states
  • SEMI- PERIPHERY COUNTRIES- These countries fall in the middle of the economic spectrum. These countries share characteristics of both core and periphery countries.
  • External areas - maintain their own economic systems and are, therefore, not part of the world systems.
• APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION

  2. GLOBAL CAPITALISM- It is backed by international policies that support the free movement and trade of goods
• CHARACTERISTICS OF GLOBAL CAPITALISM

  1. Production takes place on the global stage.
  2. Labor can be sourced around the world.
  3. The financial system operates globally.
  4. Power relations are transnational
  5. Global system of governance
• APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION

  3. INFORMATION SOCIETY- a major shift in the society; whereby the circulation and production of information is key in social and economic activity
• CHARACTERISTICS OF INFORMATION SOCIETY

  1. Information is a key economic resource in the information society - not that information is more widespread but it is now crucial to how businesses and the economy function.
  2. Consumers are key to the information society
  3. The economy in the information age has a specific infrastructure meant for the circulation and distribution of information.