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What is globalization?

  1. May 25, 2003 #1
    What is globalization?
    I think this question would probably appear in oral exams but I totally have no idea about it. Any help would be appreiciated. :wink:
    Last edited: May 25, 2003
  2. jcsd
  3. May 25, 2003 #2
    Globalization - To encompass the globe.
  4. May 25, 2003 #3
    Where things, inclusive of companies get world wide.

    e.g. having mcDonalds in every country.
  5. May 25, 2003 #4
    It has to do with the 'Global Economy'

    and trade between nations, dropping trade barriers to increase the exchange of goods flowing between nations, etc.
    It is a big subject.
  6. May 25, 2003 #5
    Globalization is the new term for imperialism. The old term of imperialism has too many evil connotations associated with it because of the abuses of every industrialized country which tried colonizing less mechanically developed countries, so the propagandists chose the new term. The new method of imperialism which the globalists employ is financial, which they control through the World Bank and other such institutions which are all in lockstep with each other. Of course, as the U.S. has recently proved, they are still not adverse to using the old fashioned method when they need their oil in a hurry.
  7. May 25, 2003 #6
    good points john... although i think another important component of globalization is the erradication of most forms of nationalism... i think globalization is pushing for a more universal u.n. system regarding all aspects of human interaction...
  8. May 25, 2003 #7
    Globalization typically refers to the integration of econmies on a global scale.

    This means a large amount of international trade, region- and country-specific economic specialization, and the movement of resources and money around the world, rather than mostly just inside national boundaries. Economies become very interdependent.

    For example, today, a British citizen might invest in a Japanese electronics firm by purchasing stock on an US exchange; the money might be used to finance a new South Korean plant which produces products for export worldwide.
  9. May 25, 2003 #8
    Are there any aspects, besides economy or politicies, related to globalization.

    For example, lots of scientists are doing researchers on sars now. Is it an example of globalization?(Lots of people in the world are doing this event together) Or am I saying something nonsense?
  10. May 26, 2003 #9
    Globalization, concept that encapsulates the growth of connections between people on a planetary scale. Globalization involves the reduction of barriers to trans-world contacts. Through it people become more able—physically, legally, culturally, and psychologically—to engage with each other in “one world”. Global connections take many forms. For instance, jet aeroplanes transport passengers and cargo across any distance on the planet within a day. Telephone and computer networks effect near-instantaneous interpersonal communication between points all over the Earth. Electronic mass media broadcast messages to world audiences. Countless goods and services (such as Nissan cars and Club Med holidays) are supplied to consumers in global markets. Moreover, some articles (including much clothing and electronics) are manufactured through trans-world processes, where different stages of production are located at widely dispersed locations on the Earth. The US dollar and the Euro are examples of currencies that have global circulation. In global finance, various types of savings and credits (for example, offshore bank deposits and Eurobonds) flow in the world as a single space. Many firms (for example, Exxon), voluntary associations (for instance, Amnesty International), and regulatory agencies (such as the World Trade Organization) operate across the globe. Climate change (so-called “global warming”) and stratospheric ozone depletion are instances of anthropogenic (that is, human-induced) ecological developments that unfold on a planetary scale. Finally, people experience global consciousness, inasmuch as we define the realm of our lives in trans-world, planetary terms. Globalization is the trend whereby these various kinds of global relations emerge, proliferate, and expand. As a result of globalization, social geography gains a planetary dimension. “Place” comes to involve more than local, provincial, country, regional, and continental realms. With globalization the world as a whole also becomes a social space in its own right.
    Globalization has also not encompassed all of humanity to the same extent. In terms of territorial location, for example, global networks have involved the populations of North America, Western Europe, and East Asia much more than other parts of the world. In terms of class, global finance has been a domain of the wealthy far more than the poor. In terms of gender, men have linked up to global computer networks much more than women. Needless to say, this unevenness of globalization has important implications for social power relations. People with connections to supraterritorial spaces have access to important resources and influence that are denied to those who are left outside. In this regard, some commentators have deplored “global apartheid”, as manifested in the so-called “digital divide” and other inequalities. Others have objected to a “cultural imperialism” of Hollywood and McDonald’s in contemporary globalization. Since the mid-1990s such discontents have provoked a so-called “anti-globalization movement” marked by regular mass protests against global companies, the International Monetary Fund, and other prominent agents of trans-world relations. Historians have dated the onset of globalization at various points. Taking the longest view, we could say that globalization began a million years ago with the first transcontinental migration of the human species out of Africa. Alternatively, we could date the start of globalization from the 5th and 6th centuries bc with the birth of two of the earliest “world” religions, namely Zoroastrianism and Buddhism. A secular global imagination arose in the 15th and 16th centuries when, for example, voyagers first undertook a circumnavigation of the Earth (see Exploration, Geographical). Technologies for high-speed global connections initially appeared in the mid-19th century with the advent of intercontinental telegraph lines. The second half of the 19th century also saw the arrival of long-distance telephony, global commodity markets, global brand names, a global monetary regime, and global associations in several social movements, including labour and feminist activism. The consolidation of intercontinental colonial empires (see Colonies and Colonialism) in the late 19th century facilitated the development of many of these trans-world connections. Whenever one dates the onset of globalization, it is clear that the process has unfolded on an unprecedented scale in contemporary history. Most manifestations of global connectivity have seen most of their growth during the past half-century. Consider the recent spread of jet travel, satellite communications, facsimiles, the Internet, television, global retailers, global credit cards, global ecological problems, and global regulations. To take but one indicator, the world count of radio receivers rose from fewer than 60 million in the mid-1930s to over 2,000 million in the mid-1990s. Today’s society is more global than that at any earlier time. What generates globalization? What makes it happen? Different social theories offer different interpretations of how and why trans-world connections have grown. For example, liberal economics stresses the role of unfettered market forces in a context of technological change and deregulation. In contrast, Marxist political economy highlights the dynamics of the international capitalist system as the engine of globalization. For many sociologists, meanwhile, globalization is a product of modern rationalism. Others find their explanation of globalization in a combination of these causes. Technological innovation has contributed to globalization by supplying infrastructure for trans-world connections. In particular, developments in means of transport, communications, and data processing have allowed global links to become denser, faster, more reliable, and much cheaper. Large-scale and rapid globalization has depended on a host of innovations relating to coaxial and later fibre-optic cables, jet engines, packaging and preservation techniques, semiconductor devices, computer software, and so on. In other words, global relations could not develop without physical tools to effect cross-planetary contacts. Next to technology, regulation has also played an enabling role for globalization. Supraterritorial links would not be possible in the absence of various facilitating rules, procedures, norms, and institutions. For example, global communications rely heavily on technical standardization. Global finance depends in good measure on a working world monetary regime. Global production and trade are greatly promoted by liberalization, that is, the removal of tariffs, capital controls, and other state-imposed restrictions on the movement of resources between countries. Tax laws, labour legislation, and environmental codes can also encourage (or discourage) global investment. In short, globalization requires supporting regulatory frameworks. Capitalism has been a further force for globalization. Already in the 1850s, Karl Marx noted in his Grundrisse der Kritik der Politischen Ökonomie (A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, 1859) that “capital by its nature drives beyond every spatial barrier” to “conquer the whole Earth for its market”. More specifically, global markets offer prospects of increased profits through higher sales volumes. In addition, larger production runs to feed global markets promise enhanced profits due to economies of scale. Capitalists also pursue globalization since it allows production facilities to be sited wherever costs are lowest and earnings greatest. Furthermore, global accounting practices enable prices and taxes to be calculated in ways that raise profits. Finally, global connections themselves (telecommunications, electronic finance, and so on) create major opportunities for profit making. What, then, are the consequences of globalization? We have already noted the most direct impact, namely, that globalization changes the contours of social geography. However, since geography is intertwined with other dimensions of social relations, it is not surprising that globalization also has wider implications, inter alia for economics, politics, and culture. In terms of economics, for example, globalization substantially alters the organization of production, exchange, and consumption. Many firms “go global” by setting up affiliates across the planet. Many enterprises also form trans-world alliances with other companies. Countless mergers and acquisitions occur as business adjusts to global markets. Questions of competition and monopoly can arise as a result. In addition, corporations relocate many production facilities as globalization reduces transport and communications costs. Globalization also expands the “virtual economy” of information and finance, sometimes at the expense of the “real economy” of extraction and manufacturing. All of this economic restructuring in the face of globalization raises vital issues of human security related to employment, labour conditions, poverty, and social cohesion. In relation to politics, globalization has significant implications for the conduct of governance. Territorially based laws and institutions through local, provincial, and national governments are not sufficient by themselves to regulate contacts and networks that operate in trans-world spaces. Globalization, therefore, stimulates greater multilateral collaboration between states as well as the growth of regional and trans-world governance arrangements like the European Union and the United Nations. In addition, private-sector bodies may step in to regulate areas of global relations for which official arrangements are lacking, as has occurred regarding certain aspects of the Internet and trans-world finance, for instance.

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