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Globalization

What is it? Global capitalist

economy & diminishing political

power of nation-state governments(Marxists & Right-wingers)

Social relations- stretching

(Giddens)

Culturea sense of global

consciousness (Robertson)

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1) Globalization of Politics

- The end of the nation-state?

2) Globalization of Social Relations

- The stretching of social relations

3) Globalization of Culture

- Homogenization: Cultural imperialism

- Culture clashes

- Heterogenization

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Globalization of PoliticsNation-state has sovereign power:

- Treaty of Westphalia (1648)- Draws up defined borders

- Each state controls affairs in its ownterritory. SOVEREIGNTY

- Other states cannot interfere in a statesbusiness

Globalization undermines sovereignty of

states i.e. undercuts power of a state tocontrol things in its territory

Martin Albrow: the nation-state is rapidlylosing power

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Nation-state IS losing power

Economically:

1) power of TNCS

2)forces of world market

Politically:

1) International bodies and law

e.g. United Nations, European Union

2) Global protest movements e.g. GreensCulturally:

1) Cultural influences from all over world

2) Trans-national mediapublic opinion

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Nation-state IS NOT losing power

Hirst & Thompson:

- TNCs do not have total control of

national economies- States still have primary control over

taxes & welfare spending

- International bodies like UN made upof, and dependent on, nation-states

- States developing increasing control ofborders and migration e.g. passports

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Globalization of Social RelationsGiddens: the disembedding of social

relations

- social relations transformed from purely

local or national to more global

- communications technologies; travel

technologies

- dispersal of populations across globe:

migrations and diasporas

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Ulrich Beck:

Trans-national social connections- public life: trans-national business

relationships

- private life: relatives & friends indifferent countries; inter-marriage

between national groups, etc.

Multiple, non-national affiliations andidentities

Cosmopolitanism: a persons identity is

decoupled from the nation-state

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Undermining the idea of Society

John Urry, Ulrich Beck, Roland Robertson

1) Cannot use the idea of society any more

2) Invented in later 19th

century: Durkheim3) Society = bounded unit; a thing

Society = nation-state

e.g. British society, German society, etc4) Reflects out-dated social conditions

5) Need new ideas to reflect global conditions

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Undermining the idea of Society

Drop idea of society

Use other ideas from classical sociology

Max Weber: Sociality (social relations)Georg Simmel: Social networks

(Norbert Elias: social chains)

Global networks

facilitated through electroniccommunications networks

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Undermining the idea of Society

Ulrich Beck: Cosmopolitan sociology

1) The main focus is not society but the whole world2) Examine multiple, intersecting world-spanning processes

3) Avoid West-centric outlooks

John Urry: Sociology Beyond Societies

1) Global flows

2) Social processes like liquids

3) Liquids pouring rapidly across the world

- Flows unpredictable and uncontrollable

4) Unconstrained cross-border mobility of people and things

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Zygmunt Bauman:

Free & chosen mobility for wealthy- transnational business-people

- global tourism

Forced mobility for poor:

- migrant workers, refugees

- ever more controls on mobility of poor

Information mobility: world divides into

information rich and information poor

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Globalization of Culture

Emergence of a global culture?

What might this look like?

Positive: whole world shares sameideas and values?

World Cup, Olympic Games

Negative: local cultures destroyed?

Cultural homogenization?

Cultural heterogenization?

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Cultural ImperialismWesternisation / Americanisation of the

world

Domination ofAmerican consumerbrands:

McDonalds, Nike, Coca-Cola, Gap

(McWorld - Benjamin Barber)

Global cultural homogenisation

- Same consumer goods everywhere

- Same ways of thinking everywhere

This is bad (left-wing critics e.g. NoamChomsky)

This is good (right-wing critics e.g. FrancisFukuyama)

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Cultural Imperialism

Dominance of American mass media

Oligopoly of big media companies:

- Disney, Warner, Sony

Imbalance of cultural flows:

from core to periphery,

not vice versa

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Culture Clashes

Benjamin BarberJihad vs. McWorld

- Local identities, nationalisms, religioustraditions

- Develop in opposition to McWorld

- McWorldcreates Jihad

Samuel HuntingtonClash of

Civilizations

- European-Christian, Russian-Christian,

Arabic-Muslim, Chinese, etc.

- All in conflict: symbolically & materially

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Cultural heterogenizationRoland Robertson

1) People in local cultures reinterpret global culture

products in light of their own values & interests

2) Global culture is always limited by local cultures

3) Mixtures of global and local cultures:

- process ofglocalization- local becomes global; global becomes local

4) Perceived threats to local identity:

- strong assertion of local identity

Globalization reinforces local cultures

Globalization produces new local cultures

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Hybridization & CreolizationAnthropologists: Ulf Hannerz

1)No culture is ever pure

- Always a mixture of influences

2) Previously (relatively) separate cultures come

into contact with each other

3) Globalization = Complex mixtures of cultures

- creole cultures, hybrids

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Globalization of religion:

- other options than the local religion

- religious syncretism: mixing and matching

- New Age religions: bits of Christianity, Hinduism,Buddhism, Taoism, Celtic paganism & witchcraft,etc.

Globalization of food:

- fusion cuisine e.g. French-Japanese, Anglo-Indian

Globalization of music:- World music

- Buddhist-techno, Spanish rap, Hungarian rock

Relativization of ones own cultural traditions

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Limits of Hybridization Ideas

1) Local cultures commercialised:

Sold to Westerners by media and

big business; fashion trends

2) Enforced hybridization- Western culture imposedon non-West

- Westerners choose non-Western cultures

3) Most people still primarilyenmeshed in local culture?

Global culture has superficial effects?

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Points to Consider

Economic Globalization: spread of global

capitalism. Effects?

Political Globalization: decline of nation-

states power. True?

Social Globalization: stretching of social

relations across world. Everyone, equally?

Cultural Globalization: homogenization,

culture clashes, heterogenization. Which?

Which is most important?

How does each of these effect the others?