GLOBALIZATION

CONCEPTS
CHAPTER 1
GLOBALIZATION
 Globalization Concepts, Meanings,
Features, and Dimensions
Globalization is the process in which people, ideas and goods spread
throughout the world, spurring more interaction and integration between the
world's cultures, governments and economies .

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 .

Globalization is about growing worldwide connectivity.

 There were similarities in features of those
prevailing wave of globalization before the outbreak
of the First World War in 1914 to the current wave.
There is an increase cross border- trade, investment,
and migration due to policy and technical
developments in the past few decades. It is in the
area of economic development that observers
believe the world has entered a new phase. Today’s
globalization is farther faster, cheaper, and deeper in
compared to earlier wave of globalization.
 One principal driver of globalization is technology.
Economic life is dramatically transformed by
advancement in information technology. All sorts of
individual economic actors like consumers, investors,
and businesses which are valuable new tools for
identifying and pursuing economic opportunities,
including faster and more informed analyses of
economic trends around the world, easy transfers of
assets, and collaboration with far-flung partners are
provided by information technologies
 Globalization is the process of integration of
economies across the world through cross-border
flow of factors product and information . According
to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
globalization is the growing economic
interdependence of countries worldwide through
increasing volume and variety of cross border
transactions in goods and services and of
international capital flows and also through the
more rapid and wide diffusion of technology.
 Globalization is an expansion, and
intensification of social relations and
consciousness across world time and
world space. It is about growing
worldwide connectivity according to
Steger.
 Globalization is considered a multi-
dimensional process involving economic, political,
technological, cultural, religious and ecological
dimensions. It suggests a dynamic process of
change that results in either positive or negative
development. It leads to the creation of something
new; it involves the multiplication of social
connections and various activities that transgress
traditional and political, economic, cultural and
geographical lines
 Attributes, Qualities or Characteristics of
Globalization

1. It involves both the creation of new social

networks and the multiplication of existing
connections that cut across traditional, political,
economic, cultural, and geographical boundaries.
2. Globalization is reflected in the expansion and the
stretching of social relations, activities, and connections

3. Globalization involves the intensification and

acceleration of social exchanges and activities

4. Globalization processes do not occur merely or an

objective, material level but they also involve the
subjective plane of human consciousness. Without erasing
local and national attachments, the compression of the
world into a single place has increasingly made global the
frame of reference for human thought and action.
 Historical Periods of Globalization
q The Prehistoric Period (10000 BCE-3500 BCE) In this earliest phase of
globalization, contacts among hunters and gatherers – who were
spread around the world – were geographically limited. In this period
due to absence of advanced forms of technology, globalization was
severely limited.

q The Pre-modern Period (3500 BCE- 1500 CE) In this period the invention
of writing and the wheel were great social and technological boosts
that moved globalization to a new level. The invention of wheel in
addition to roads made the transportation of people and goods more
efficient. On the other hand writing facilitated the spread of ideas and
inventions
q The Early Modern Period (1500-1750) It is the period between
the Enlightenment and the Renaissance. In this period,
European Enlightenment project tried to achieve a universal
form of morality and law. This with the emergence of European
metropolitan centers and unlimited material accumulation
which led to the capitalist world system helped to strengthen
globalization.

q The Modern Period (1750-1970) Innovations in transportation

and communication technology, population explosion, and
increase in migration led to more cultural exchanges and
transformation in traditional social patterns. Process of
industrialization also accelerated
q The Contemporary Period (from 1970 to present)
The creation, expansion, and acceleration of
worldwide interdependencies occurred in a
dramatic way and it was a kind of leap in the
history of globalization.
 Dimensions of Globalization
1. Economic Dimension This refers to the extensive development
of economic relations across the globe as a result of technology
and the enormous flow of capital that has stimulated trade in both
sources and goods .
q Major players in the current century’s global economic order
§ Huge international corporations (General Motors, Walmart, Mitsubishi)
q International Economic Institutions (IMF, World Bank, The World Trade
Organization)
q Trading Systems
2. Political Dimension This refers to an enlargement and
strengthening of political interrelations across the globe.

3. Cultural Dimension This refers to the increase in the amount of

cultural flows across the globe. Cultural interconnections are at
the foundations of contemporary globalization.

4. Religious Dimension Religion is a personal or institutionalized set

of attitudes, beliefs, and practices relating to or manifesting faithful
devotion to an acknowledged ultimate reality or deity . It is the
most important defining element of any civilization as contrasted
with race, language, or way of life.
5. Ideological Dimensions Ideology is a system of widely
shared ideas, beliefs, norms and values among a group
of people. It is often used to legitimize certain political
interests or to defend dominant power structures.
Ideology connects human actions with some
generalized claims .Globalization is a social process of
intensifying global interdependence while globalism is
an ideology that gives the concept of neo-liberal
values and meanings to globalization.