1) GLOBALISATION

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 a decoupling of space and time

Emphasis on instantaneous communications [internet, cell phone technology etc] enabling the easier and simultaneous sharing of knowledge around the world - The world getting smaller a global village - instant communication is possible through the Internet or at the switch of a TV channel. Ideas leap across state boundaries whether governments want them to or not . . .

GLOBALISATION AS ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

A primarily economic phenomenon, involving the increasing interaction, or integration, of national economic systems through the growth in international trade, investment and capital flows rise of economic blocs i.e. the European Union, NAFTA, BRICS etc.

Globalisation as triumph of capitalism

Globalisation means . . the whole world is being opened up to world capitalism. All the old barriers are coming down. Capital flows will bring a transfer of technology to the poor countries. . . all national cultural differences will disappear in a homogenised world of global brands. International capital flows are acting on the world like a giant blender. http://www.newyouth.com/globalization.asp

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).

A LIGHT-HEARTED VIEW OF GLOBALISATION

ANOTHER LIGHT-HEARTED VIEW

Example of the homogenisation view

Globalization has impacted on us in many ways. We drink Coke, eat at McDonalds, wear Nike runners and use Nokia mobile phones. We support American Basket Ball teams and English soccer clubs and watch 'Friends' on TV . . . [What-What does it mean to me? - Lisa Hayman at http:www.web-and-flow.com]

SERIOUSLY THOUGH!
Globalisation is the process of integrating national economies, political structures, and cultures into a single, world-wide, interdependent system.

Held and McGrew et al

. . . a widening, deepening and speeding up of interconnectedness in all aspects of contemporary social life from the cultural to the criminal, the financial to the spiritual. Held, McGrew et al, Global Transformations Politics, Economics and Culture (1999).

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

2) WHEN DID GLOBALISATION BEGIN?

Debates about the origins of globalisation . . . some argue that the term is merely a buzzword to describe networks of economic and political relations that have always existed, but have merely changed in one way or to a degree. Others argue that modern globalisation is unique and its consequences momentous both positive and negative in the areas of culture, politics, economics and technology.

OLD WINE IN NEW WINE SKINS?

Globalisation emerged as a buzzword in the 1990s but the phenomena it refers to are not entirely new. Indeed, the claim that globalisation is fundamentally new does not really make sense since we are talking of a phenomenon with ancient roots and of globalisation as an incremental process which has gone through different phases although globalism today is different from globalism of the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

Globalisations rather than globalisation?

The contention that there have been several globalisations and not only one i.e. Westerncentred globalisation emanating from the North Atlantic; Muslim globalisation of the Orient and Middle East, and Chinese globalisation in the Far East. It was only in the more recent times that the Western version prevailed over the others but, even then, they are other nodes of the process.

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]

19th century European imperialism

The next phase was the big expansion in world trade and investment in the late nineteenth century. [late nineteenth century imperialism the scramble for Africa- division of the world among the rich powers- manifest destiny/the white mans burden the First World War] interrupted by the Great Depression of the 1930s. [www.globalisationguide.org]

WW2 and after

The end of the Second World War brought another great expansion of capitalism with the development of multinational companies interested in producing and selling in the domestic markets of nations around the world. . . Then, de-colonisation created a new world order. Air travel and the development of international communications enhanced the progress of international business.

Collapse of the Soviet Union & the IT Revolution

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union ended the Cold War between the forces of capitalism and socialism with capitalism triumphant. The development of the internet made possible the organisation of business on a global scale with greater facility than ever before.

Globalisation not that new, however.

Therefore, Globalization is not new- however, technological developments of the past few decades have encouraged increases in crossborder trade, investment, and migration so large that many observers believe the world has entered a qualitatively new phase in its economic development.

WHAT ARE THE DRIVERS OF MODERN GLOBALISATION?

Globalisation is the result of many factors, including:

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.

MNCs; trading blocs & end of the Cold War

(c) Growth of multi-national companies with a global presence. (d) growth of global trading blocs with reduced national barriers i.e. European Union. (e) End of the Cold War collapse of the communist world and opening up of borders and adoption of democracy and market economies.

 (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 . . .