an overview of globalisation

8/12/2019 An overview of Globalisation

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1) GLOBALISATIONWHAT IS GLOBALISATION?

WHEN DID GLOBALISATION BEGIN?

WHY DID IT HAPPEN?WHAT IDEOLOGY DRIVES IT?



DEFINING GLOBALISATION

• GLOBALISATION MEANS DIFFERENT THINGSTO DIFFERENT PEOPLE – MORE A BUZZWORDTHAN A CLEAR CONCEPT – ECONOMISTS,POLITICAL SCIENTISTS, HISTORIANS,GEOGRAPHERS, SOCIOLOGISTS,ENVIRONMENTALISTS, AND COMMUNICATIONEXPERTS WILL DEFINE THE PHENOMENONDIFFERENTLY ACCORDING TO THEIR FIELDS



A Contested term

• Globalisation is an imprecise and contested term used to describe a series of changingeconomic, technological, commercial,

political, ideological, social and culturalprocesses at the global level . . . usuallyassociated with financial markets, neo-liberaleconomics, international relations anddevelopment politics, modern culturalprocesses, multinational businesses . . . (and)the erosion of state power.



Globalisation as a decoupling of spaceand time

• Emphasis on instantaneous communications[internet, cell phone technology etc] enablingthe easier and simultaneous sharing ofknowledge around the world - The worldgetting smaller – ‘a global village’ - instantcommunication is possible through the

Internet or at the switch of a TV channel.Ideas leap across state boundaries whethergovernments want them to or not . . .



GLOBALISATION ASECONOMICINTEGRATION

• A primarily economic phenomenon , involvingthe increasing interaction, or integration, ofnational economic systems through thegrowth in international trade, investment andcapital flows – rise of economic blocs i.e. theEuropean Union, NAFTA, BRICS etc.



Globalisation as triumph of capitalism

• Globalisation means . . “the whole world isbeing opened up to world capitalism. All theold barriers are coming down. Capital flowswill bring a transfer of technology to the poorcountries. . . all national cultural differenceswill disappear in a homogenised world of

global brands. International capital flows areacting on the world like a giant blender”.

• http://www.newyouth.com/globalization.asp

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 self-determination in the process and cultivatingnew tastes and cultural values (Consumerism).



A LIGHT-HEARTED VIEW OFGLOBALISATION



ANOTHER LIGHT-HEARTED VIEW



Example of the homogenisation view

• Globalization has impacted on us in manyways. We drink Coke, eat at McDonalds, wearNike runners and use Nokia mobile phones.We support American Basket Ball teams andEnglish 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 integratingnational economies, political structures, andcultures into a single, world-wide, inter-dependent system.



Held and McGrew et al

• “. . . a widening, deepening and speeding upof interconnectedness in all aspects ofcontemporary social life from the cultural tothe criminal, the financial to the spiritual”.

• Held, McGrew et al, Global Transformations”Politics, Economics and Culture (1999).



Stiglitz

• Globalisation “is the closer integration of thecountries and peoples of the world . . .brought about by the enormous reduction ofcosts of transportation and communication,and the breaking down of artificial barriers tothe 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 socialrelations, via which far away places are linkedtogether in such a way that events in oneplace are affected by processes taking placemany miles away and vice versa.

• (Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity,1990)



Thus,•

Globalisation is commonly associated with awide range of socio-economic, political,technological and cultural aspects whichconnect states, cultures and regions within aglobal network of multi-faceted relations. . .(it) has brought the various regions in theworld closer together but also . . . (increased)differences between rich and poor, powerfuland powerless. . . . We are all increasinglyconnected to each other and interdependent.



A WORKING DEFINITION• Globalization is a process of interaction and

integration among the people, companies, andgovernments of different nations, a process driven byinternational trade and investment and aided byinformation technology. This process has effects onthe environment, on culture, on political systems, oneconomic development and prosperity, and onhuman physical well-being in societies around the

world .• [www.globalization101.0g/What_is_Globalisation.html

http://www.globalization101.0g/What_is_Globalisation.html

http://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 abuzzword to describe networks of economic

and political relations that have alwaysexisted, but have merely changed in one wayor to a degree. Others argue that modernglobalisation is unique and its consequencesmomentous – both positive and negative inthe areas of culture, politics, economics andtechnology.



OLD WINE IN NEW WINE SKINS?

• Globalisation emerged as a buzzword in the1990s but the phenomena it refers to are notentirely new. Indeed, the claim that

globalisation is fundamentally new does notreally make sense since we are talking of aphenomenon with ancient roots and ofglobalisation as an incremental process whichhas gone through different phases – althoughglobalism today is different from globalism ofthe 16 th , 17 th , 18 th and 19 th centuries.



Globalisations rather thanglobalisation?

• The contention that there have been severalglobalisations and not only one i.e. Western-centred globalisation emanating from theNorth Atlantic; Muslim globalisation of theOrient and Middle East, and Chinese globalisation in the Far East. It was only in the

more recent times that the Western versionprevailed over the others but, even then, theyare other nodes of the process.



EARLY PHASES

• The first great expansion of Europeancapitalism 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 theTriangular trade – the rise of capitalism inEurope and colonialism/imperialism]



19 th century European imperialism

• The next phase was the big expansion in worldtrade and investment in the late nineteenthcentury . [late nineteenth century imperialism

– the scramble for Africa- division of the worldamong the rich powers- manifest destiny/thewhite man’s burden – the First World War] – interrupted by the Great Depression of the1930s.

[www.globalisationguide.org ]



WW2 and after

• The end of the Second World War broughtanother great expansion of capitalism with thedevelopment of multinational companies interested in producing and selling in thedomestic markets of nations around theworld. . . Then, de-colonisation created a new

world order. Air travel and the development ofinternational communications enhanced theprogress of international business.



Collapse of the Soviet Union & the ITRevolution

• The fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse ofthe Soviet Union ended the Cold War betweenthe forces of capitalism and socialism withcapitalism triumphant. The development ofthe internet made possible the organisation ofbusiness 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 fewdecades have encouraged increases in cross-border trade, investment, and migration solarge that many observers believe the worldhas entered a qualitatively new phase in its

economic development.



WHAT ARE THE DRIVERS OF MODERNGLOBALISATION?

• Globalisation is the result of many factors,including: –



Communication techonology

• (a) Advances in technology (Internet) – changes in the field of information andcommunication played a central role, with theinternet a symbol of globalisation –



Financial/production changes

• the globalisation of financial markets, thespeed with which large sums are transferredacross the globe and the organisation of trans-national production would be impossiblewithout this technology.



Transport improvements

• (b) Improved transport – reduced transportcosts and increased speed of transport – transport costs have declined dramatically andgoods can be transported more quickly – travel has become easier and faster anddatabases can be sent across the globe in

seconds.



MNCs; trading blocs & end of the ColdWar

• (c) Growth of multi-national companies witha global presence.

• (d) growth of global trading blocs withreduced national barriers i.e. European Union.

• (e) End of the Cold War – collapse of thecommunist world and opening up of bordersand adoption of democracy and marketeconomies.



• (f) Global challenges/problems (climate,

migration, crime)- the need for internationalconsciousness and activism i.e. Greenpeace,amnesty International etc. have becomeglobal players in areas of environmental

preservation and human rights.



Neo-liberal ideology

• (e) Liberalisation- liberalisation of trade underGATT or the WTO . . . removal of trade barriersor promotion of free trade and the doctrine ofthe free market.

QUESTION:• What is liberalisation and what are the

ideological roots of this concept?



Laissez faire – from Adam Smith toRonald 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 connectednessof economic activities; enormous growth intrade or direct investments, globalisation offinancial markets, transnational integratedproduction, emphasis on regional rather thannational economies – these processes mostly

in North America, Europe and South- EastAsia.



• Environmental - (includes the effects ofhuman activity on the environment) - globalwarming due to the depletion of the ozonelayer by chemical emissions, deforestation ofthe tropical rain forests; spread of biologicalsubstances such as pathogens or genetic

materials that affect human health and well-being, as well as the spread of the AIDS virusare examples of environmental globalism



• Socio-Cultural – World becoming a globalvillage due to the easy movement of ideas,information, images and people ; emergenceof new communication societies (chat, e-mail)communicating across great distances;Hollywood productions and Western musicdisseminated worldwide; the pervasiveness ofthe English language the homogenisation or‘Americanisation’ of culture. However, localand regional cultures do not become extinctbecause of this . . . ‘ glocalisation ’.



• Political/Military - a wider spread of globalpolitical ideas and standards i.e. democracy;elections; human rights issue; greatercoordination of actions by governments andother institutions across the globe; as well aslong-distance networks of interdependence inwhich force, and the threat or promise of force,

are employed. i.e. the ‘balance of terror’between the US and the Soviet Union during theCold War; the ‘war on terror ’ . . .

an overview of globalisation

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