Module 1

Topic 2: Metaphors of Globalization

The Contemporary World (Coworld)

Metaphors of Globalization
The metaphors of globalization describe
the process of globalization and how
these phenomena can be best
articulated. In general, it is described in
two opposing poles – the solid and
liquid, and how it flows.

Solid and Liquid

Solidity refers to barriers that prevent or
make difficult the movement of things.
Furthermore, solids can either be
natural or man-made.
• Liquidity refers to the increasing ease of movement
of people, things, information, and places in the
contemporary world.
• Liquid phenomena change quickly and their aspects,
spatial and temporal, are in continuous fluctuation.
• Space and time are crucial elements of globalization.
Flows
Flows is the movement of people, things, places, and
information brought by the growing “porosity” of global
limitations (Ritzer, 2015). As Landler (2008) put it: “in the global
financial system, national borders are porous”. This means that a
financial crisis in a given country can bring ramifications to other
regions in the world.
 Defining Globalization
• The term globalization first appeared in Webster’s Dictionary in 1961; it is
then classified as either (1) broad and inclusive or (2) narrow and
exclusive;
• Ohmae (1992) stated that “globalization means onset of the borderless
world” – an example of a broad and inclusive type of definition
• Robert Cox’s definition is narrow and exclusive – “the characteristics of
globalization trend include the internationalizing of production, the new
international division of labor, new migratory movements from South to
North, the new competitive environment that accelerates these
processes, and the internationalizing of the state.. Making states into
agencies of the globalizing world”.
Recent definition by Ritzer (2015) – “globalization is a
transplanetary process or a set of processes involving increasingly
liquidity and the growing multidirectional flows of people, places,
and information as well as the structures they encounter and
create that are barriers to, or expedite, those flows”; this assumes
that globalization could bring either or both integration and/ or
fragmentation; although things flow easily in a global world,
hindrances or structural blocks are also present, these blocks
could slow down one’s activity in another country or could even
limit the places a person can visit.