1. What is Globalization?

The term globalization should be used to refer to a set of social processes that are thought
to transform our present social condition into one of globality. At its core, globalization is
about shifting forms of human contact

Globalization is defined here as a set of economic and political structures and

processes deriving from the changing character of the goods and assets that comprise the
base of the international political economy - in particular, the increasing structural
differentiation of those goods and assets.

2. Qualities and Characteristics of Globalization

Globalization is Not a New, Western Concept:

When ancient Indian scriptures mentioned “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”, they had already
viewed the world as a small global village of linked families. When our grandmother started
her stories with “Saat samundar paar…”, she also meant that we are not alone in this
Universe, and the world is cohabited by others too at far off places.

Globalization is Basically a ‘Mindset’:

Usually, Globalization is seen as another economic theory to enhance business & trade. It
must be understood that Globalization is basically a mindset that is ready to encapsulate the
whole universe into its scheme of things; a mindset that is broader & open to receive all
ideas; that takes the whole globe as an area of operation.

Globalization is an Opportunity:

It is often feared that the implementation of Globalization will open up our domestic
economy for foreign competition, thereby endangering economic progress & survival of
local firms. While it does open our markets for entry of multinationals, it also opens all other
markets in the whole world for our products & services too. Why can’t it be seen as an
opportunity to scale up our operations globally?

Globalization means “Interdependence”:

We have all grown reading history wherein either a country is independent or a slave of
another country. With the advent of Globalization, it has been understood that no country
can be said to be totally independent, not needing anything from any other country. Hence,
a culture of interdependence has been established between nations.

Globalization means “Caring & Sharing”:

The world today is more united and concerned about common problems being faced by the
people- be it global warming, terrorism, or malnutrition etc. natural disasters faced or
atrocities encountered at any part of the world attract immediate attention all over.

Globalization puts Technology in Service of Mankind:

The world would not have shrunk into a small global village without the support of
technological innovations like Computers, Internet, Telecommunication, E-Commerce etc.
Thus, technology has proved to be the major source of the concept of Globalization, and for
bringing people nearer.

Globalization is Inevitable & Irreversible:

There have been attempts by fundamentalist forces all over the world to oppose and stop
the process of Globalization over past quarter century. Yet, despite differences in political
ideologies, the ruling parties have gone ahead with implementation of Globalization
policies. It is rightly said, “You can not stop the advent of an idea whose time has
come”. Globalization is one such idea.

Globalization has Linked Politics with Economics:

Earlier, political ideologies and relations between nations have determined the fate of
people over centuries; with economics being subservient to politics. However, in the new
era, it is the economics, employment generation and public welfare that determine the
need & strength of relations between nations.

Globalization means Raised Standards of Living:

With consumers having more choice to pick quality items at right price, and with no
boundary restrictions on flow of goods & services, the markets have turned from ‘Sellers
Market’ to ‘Buyers Market’. This has helped in raising the standard of living for vast
populations across the world. It has also raised aspirations among billions of people to
upgrade their lifestyles.

Globalization Demands and Respects Excellence:

With global level opportunities available to all the countries, the field is wide open for the
excellent companies, products and people from any remote part of the world to showcase
their excellence and win over markets and contracts. There is pressure on everyone to
continuously improve to meet the raised bar of expectations.

3. Westernization or Globalization?

Is globalization really a new Western curse? It is, in fact, neither new nor necessarily
Western. And it is not a curse.
Over thousands of years, globalization has contributed to the progress of the world through
travel, trade, migration, spread of cultural influences and dissemination of knowledge and
understanding (including that of science and technology).

These global interrelations have often been very productive in the advancement of different
countries. They have not necessarily taken the form of increased Western influence. Indeed,
the active agents of globalization have often been located far from the West.

To illustrate, consider the world at the beginning of the last millennium rather than at its
end. Around 1000 A.D., global reach of science, technology, and mathematics was changing
the nature of the old world. But the dissemination then was, to a great extent, in the
opposite direction of what we see today.

The high technology in the world of 1000 A.D. included paper, the printing press, the
crossbow, gunpowder, the iron-chain suspension bridge, the kite, the magnetic compass,
the wheelbarrow and the rotary fan. A millennium ago, these items were used extensively in
China — and were practically unknown elsewhere. Globalization spread them across the
world, including Europe.

A similar movement occurred in the Eastern influence on Western mathematics. The

decimal system emerged and became well developed in India between the 2nd and 6th
centuries. It was used by Arab mathematicians soon thereafter.

These mathematical innovations reached Europe mainly in the last quarter of the 10th
century and began having an impact in the early years of the last millennium, playing an
important part in the scientific revolution that helped to transform Europe.

The agents of globalization are neither European nor exclusively Western, nor are they
necessarily linked to Western dominance. Indeed, Europe would have been a lot poorer —
economically, culturally and scientifically — had it resisted the globalization of mathematics,
science and technology at that time.

And today, the same principle applies, though in the reverse direction (from West to East).
To reject the globalization of science and technology because it represents Western
influence and imperialism would not only amount to overlooking global contributions —
drawn from many different parts of the world — that lie solidly behind so-called Western
science and technology, but would also be quite a daft practical decision, given the extent to
which the whole world can benefit from the process.

Certainly, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution were great
achievements — and they occurred mainly in Europe and, later, in America. Yet many of
these developments drew on the experience of the rest of the world, rather than being
confined within the boundaries of a discrete Western civilization.

Our global civilization is a world heritage — not just a collection of disparate local cultures.
When a modern mathematician in Boston invokes an algorithm to solve a difficult
computational problem, she may not be aware that she is helping to commemorate the
Arab mathematician Mohammad Ibn Musa-al-Khwarizmi, who flourished in the first half of
the ninth century. (The word algorithm is derived from the name al-Khwarizmi.)

There is a chain of intellectual relations that link Western mathematics and science to a
collection of distinctly non-Western practitioners, of whom al-Khwarizmi was one. (The term
algebra is derived from the title of his famous book Al-Jabr wa-al-Muqabilah.)

Indeed, al-Khwarizmi is one of many non-Western contributors whose works influenced the
European Renaissance and, later, the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. The
West must get full credit for the remarkable achievements that occurred in Europe and
Europeanized America, but the idea of an immaculate Western conception is an imaginative
fantasy.

The first printed book was an Indian Sanskrit treatise, translated into Chinese by a half-Turk.
The book, Vajracchedika Prajnaparamitasutra (sometimes referred to as “The Diamond
Sutra”), is an old treatise on Buddhism.

It was translated into Chinese from Sanskrit in the 5th century by Kumarajiva, a half-Indian
and half-Turkish scholar who lived in a part of eastern Turkistan called Kucha but later
migrated to China. It was printed four centuries later, in 868 A.D. All this involving China,
Turkey, and India is globalization, all right. But the West is not even in sight.

All of this is why, in my view, the misdiagnosis — that globalization of ideas and practices
has to be resisted because it entails dreaded Westernization — is so misplaced.

It only incites parochial tendencies and undermines the possibility of objectivity in science
and knowledge. It is not only counterproductive in itself. Given the global interactions
throughout history, it can also cause non-Western societies to shoot themselves in the foot
— even in their precious cultural foot.

Sources:

Trainer, J. K. F. C., & KhatriCorporate, J. (n.d.). Ten Basic Characteristics of

Globalization. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ten-basic-characteristics-
globalization-prof-jagdish-khatri

Does Globalization Equal Westernization? (2016, October 6). Retrieved from

https://www.theglobalist.com/does-globalization-equal-westernization/