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WHAT IS GLOBALISATION? WHEN DID GLOBALISATION BEGIN? WHY DID IT HAPPEN? WHAT IDEOLOGY DRIVES IT?
DEFINING GLOBALISATION
GLOBALISATION MEANS DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE MORE A BUZZWORD THAN A CLEAR CONCEPT ECONOMISTS, POLITICAL SCIENTISTS, HISTORIANS, GEOGRAPHERS, SOCIOLOGISTS, ENVIRONMENTALISTS, AND COMMUNICATION EXPERTS WILL DEFINE THE PHENOMENON DIFFERENTLY ACCORDING TO THEIR FIELDS
A Contested term
Globalisation is an imprecise and contested term used to describe a series of changing economic, technological, commercial, political, ideological, social and cultural processes at the global level . . . usually associated with financial markets, neo-liberal economics, international relations and development politics, modern cultural processes, multinational businesses . . . (and) the erosion of state power.
Globalisation as homogenisation
Globalization as westernization/modernization (the Cocacolization/Macdonaldisation/ Americanisation of the world). . . a process, whereby the social structures of modernity (capitalism, rationalism, industrialism, etc.) are spread the world over, normally destroying pre-existent cultures and local selfdetermination in the process and cultivating new tastes and cultural values (Consumerism).
SERIOUSLY THOUGH!
Globalisation is the process of integrating national economies, political structures, and cultures into a single, world-wide, interdependent system.
Stiglitz
Globalisation is the closer integration of the countries and peoples of the world . . . brought about by the enormous reduction of costs of transportation and communication, and the breaking down of artificial barriers to the flows of goods, services, capital, knowledge, and people across borders [Stiglitz, Globalisation and its Discontents)
Anthony Giddens
Sociologist Giddens defines globalisation as an intensification of worldwide social relations, via which far away places are linked together in such a way that events in one place are affected by processes taking place many miles away and vice versa. (Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 1990)
Thus,
Globalisation is commonly associated with a wide range of socio-economic, political, technological and cultural aspects which connect states, cultures and regions within a global network of multi-faceted relations. . . (it) has brought the various regions in the world closer together but also . . . (increased) differences between rich and poor, powerful and powerless. . . . We are all increasingly connected to each other and interdependent.
A WORKING DEFINITION
Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. This process has effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems, on economic development and prosperity, and on human physical well-being in societies around the world. [www.globalization101.0g/What_is_Globalisation.html
EARLY PHASES
The first great expansion of European capitalism took place in the 16th century, following the first circumnavigation of the earth in 1519 to 1521. [www.globalisationguide.org] [Columbus and the Columbian Exchange the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the Triangular trade the rise of capitalism in Europe and colonialism/imperialism]
Communication techonology
(a) Advances in technology (Internet) changes in the field of information and communication played a central role, with the internet a symbol of globalisation
Financial/production changes
the globalisation of financial markets, the speed with which large sums are transferred across the globe and the organisation of transnational production would be impossible without this technology.
Transport improvements
(b) Improved transport reduced transport costs and increased speed of transport transport costs have declined dramatically and goods can be transported more quickly travel has become easier and faster and databases can be sent across the globe in seconds.
(f) Global challenges/problems (climate, migration, crime)- the need for international consciousness and activism i.e. Greenpeace, amnesty International etc. have become global players in areas of environmental preservation and human rights.
Neo-liberal ideology
(e) Liberalisation- liberalisation of trade under GATT or the WTO . . . removal of trade barriers or promotion of free trade and the doctrine of the free market.
QUESTION: What is liberalisation and what are the ideological roots of this concept?
Laissez faire from Adam Smith to Ronald Reagan & Margaret Thatcher
The invisible hand or free market forces The government that governs the least, governs the best. Free trade Vs Protectionism. Neo-liberalism and current globalisation
Dimensions of globalisation
Economic: -the greater global connectedness of economic activities; enormous growth in trade or direct investments, globalisation of financial markets, transnational integrated production, emphasis on regional rather than national economies these processes mostly in North America, Europe and South- East Asia.
Environmental - (includes the effects of human activity on the environment) - global warming due to the depletion of the ozone layer by chemical emissions, deforestation of the tropical rain forests; spread of biological substances such as pathogens or genetic materials that affect human health and wellbeing, as well as the spread of the AIDS virus are examples of environmental globalism
Socio-Cultural World becoming a global village due to the easy movement of ideas, information, images and people ; emergence of new communication societies (chat, e-mail) communicating across great distances; Hollywood productions and Western music disseminated worldwide; the pervasiveness of the English language the homogenisation or Americanisation of culture. However, local and regional cultures do not become extinct because of this . . . glocalisation.
Political/Military- a wider spread of global political ideas and standards i.e. democracy; elections; human rights issue; greater coordination of actions by governments and other institutions across the globe; as well as long-distance networks of interdependence in which force, and the threat or promise of force, are employed. i.e. the balance of terror between the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War; the war on terror . . .