Globalisation

• Globalisation


  The process whereby the world is becoming smaller and becoming one place, occurring in economics, culture and politics
• Steven (2004): 'Despite huge differences in distance, upbringing and social context, many of us now listen to the same music, read the same books and watch the same films and television'
• Cochrane and Pain (2000): 'The lives of ordinary people everywhere in the world seem increasingly to be shaped by events, decisions and actions that take place far away from where they live and work'
• Globalisation


  • Transformation in the concepts of time and space
  • Transformation of economic production and trade
  • We increasingly have shared problems, as a world
• Technological innovations have enabled journeys that once took weeks to now be completed in hours, and digital technology allows instant communication across the world
• Increasingly, goods produced in one country are consumed in another, national economies are now wholly interconnected and cannot really be considered separately
• The global economy is characterised by transnational corporations and global supply lines and international trading in stocks, shares and currencies
• Economic problems in one country are felt in countries on the other side of the world
• Global problems are increasingly shared by everyone, rather than being a problem just for one country, such as economic, environmental, health, crime and terrorism problems
• There is an increasing need for shared solutions to global problems, as individual governments cannot solve them alone
• Hyper globalists


  Sociologists who argue that globalisation is occurring and see it as an overwhelmingly positive phenomenon
• Pessimistic globalists


  Sociologists who recognise that globalisation is happening, but see most of its impact on the world as wholly negative
• Traditionalists


  Sociologists who question whether globalisation is really happening at all, or suggest it is just the continuation of international capitalism and processes that have been occurring for centuries
• Transformationalists


  Sociologists who argue that while globalisation is happening, it is not as overwhelming and irreversible as most globalists see it, and it is possible for governments to take the positive aspects and reform or resist the more damaging aspects
• Types of globalisation

  • Economic
  • Cultural
  • Political
• Economic globalisation involves the development of transnational corporations and global brands, which can change local cultures as well as economic practices
• Cultural globalisation involves the spread of local and regional cultures around the world, which can be seen as either cultural hybridity or cultural imperialism/westernisation
• Political globalisation involves increasing international cooperation and supranational institutions to deal with global problems, but also political reactions against globalisation
• Globalisation links to core sociological themes of culture and identity, and power