Key Terms :

Globalisation: The growing interdependence of countries worldwide through the

increasing volume and variety of cross-border transactions in goods and services
and of international capital flows, and through the more rapid and widespread
diffusion of capital (IB definition).

Internationalism: The extension of economic activities across national boundaries.

This is often referred to as the stage before globalization.

Glocalisation: When TNCs adapt their products to suit the local market place e.g.
McDonald in India won't sell beef and in the Middle East they won't sell pork
because of the religious beliefs of locals.

Grobalisation: The imperialistic ambitions of nations, corporations and organisations

to impose themselves on various geographic areas.

Nationalism: Refers to an ideology, a sentiment, a form of culture, or a social

movement that focuses on the nation.
Global Village: The term global village was popularised by Marshall McLuhan in
1962. He used it to refer to how the world had been contracted into a village by
electric technology.

Homogenisation: The process of everything become the same. Critics of

globalisation say that globalisation is making the world more homogenised.

Cultural Diversity: The increased variety of different cultures from around the world
e.g. different foods, music, film, etc.

Disneyfication, Mcdonaldisation, Toyotarisation: Various TNC names have been used

to describe the process of globalisation and that particular company taking over a
large share of the global market place.

Anti-capitalism: A broad term that is given to any challenge to capitalism.

The KOF index of Globalisation

The KOF index is a score each country is given out of 100, the higher the number the
more Globalised the country is considered to be.
The KOF Index of Globalization measures the three main dimensions of globalization:

economic

social

and political.

In addition to three indices measuring these dimensions, we calculate an overall index

of globalization and sub-indices referring to

actual economic flows

economic restrictions

data on information flows

data on personal contact

and data on cultural proximity.

How useful is the KOF index?

Although the KOF index can give us an idea of overall globalization, it has got some
critics, particularly about the accuracy and relevancy of the data. Criticisms include:
Measures like international letters per capita are very dated. Most people now use
e-mail because it is quicker and cheaper. Also trade in newspapers is slightly dated,
more and more people now access there news via the internet. Again trade in books
is also becoming dated as more people buy e-books or visit libraries and borrow.
Anything to do with trade can be hard to measure because many countries do not
know the true size of their informal economy (black market). Many black markets
are actually involved in globalized trade e.g. human trafficking, smuggling of wild
animals and drugs.
Measuring foreign populations can be hard because of inaccurate record keeping
and illegal immigrants. Countries like the US have millions of unaccounted
immigrants.
It is hard to calculate the true number of internet users. Many people don't have a
home computer but access the internet at their workplace or in internet cafes.
Some countries are small and don't have many embassies and instead rely on
embassies and consulates in neighbouring countries e.g. Monaco will use embassies
in France, other countries share embassies e.g. Commonwealth countries like New
Zealand and Australia
Some countries choose to stay neutral and not join international organisations e.g.
Switzerland - this does not mean they are any less globalized.
Some countries have a large number of domestic tourists, but not many
international. In large countries domestic tourists can actually be very ethnically
and culturally diverse, but this is not recognised. (Greenfield Geography)
There is also an argument whether it is good or bad to be at the top or bottom of
the globalisation list. Some people may say it is good because there is cultural
diversity and that you have access to people and products from around the world.
Others may argue that this is a bad thing because your culture is being lost and that
your country is possibly becoming more homogenised.
Core and Periphery
The world can be perceived as a core / periphery dichotomy where core countries
are characterized by high levels of development, a capacity at innovation and a

convergence of trade flows. The core has a level of dominance over the periphery
which is reflected in trade and transportation. Accessibility is higher within the
elements of the core than within the periphery. Most of high level economic
activities and innovations are located at the core, with the periphery subjugated to
those processes at various levels. This pattern was particularly prevalent during the
colonial era where the development of transport systems in the developing world
mainly favored the accessibility of core countries to the resources and markets of
the periphery, a situation that endured until the 1960s and 1970s. The semiperiphery has a higher level of autonomy and has been the object of significant
improvements in economic development (China, Brazil, Malaysia, etc.). The
accessibility of the semi-periphery also improved, permitting the exploitation of its
comparative advantages in labor and resources.