Contemporary

World
 Course Description

This course introduces students to the contemporary world by examining the

multifaceted phenomenon of globalization. Using the various disciplines of
the social sciences, it examines the economic, social, political, technological
and other transformations that have created an increasing awareness of
interconnectedness of people and places around the globe. To this end, the
course provides an overview of the various debates in global governance,
development, and sustainability. Beyond expecting the student to the world
outside the Philippines, it seeks to inculcate a sense of global citizenship
and global ethical responsibility.
 Learning Objectives

1.Describe the contemporary world

2.Differentiate the meaning of globalization,
globality, and globalism from one another
3.Be familiar with the dimensions,
characteristics, and theories of globalization
1. Compare the life centuries
ago with the life we have in
the 21st century.
2. What is the meaning of
contemporary?
 CONTEMPORARY

 It is derived from Medieval Latin contemporārius, from Latin com-

together + temporārius relating to time, from tempus time
 It literally means belonging to the same age; living or occurring in
the same period of time
 Contemporary is the historical period that is immediately relevant
to the present and is a certain perspective of modern history.
 It describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the
present.
Issues in the Contemporary World
 Lesson 1
What is
GLOBALIZATION?
Globalization: A Working Definition
 Globalization

It is considered a historical process of fast-

growing interconnectedness in every
sphere of social, political and economic
life across political and national frontiers.
 Globalization

It is considered a historical process of fast-

growing interconnectedness in every
sphere of social, political and economic
life across political and national frontiers.
 According to…

Globalization is the intensification of

worldwide social relations which link distant
localities in such a way that local happenings
are shaped by events occurring many miles
and away. In a conference in 2000, Giddens
explained, “globalization is not a single set of
processes and does not lead into a single
direction. It produces solidarities in some
A. Giddens
places and destroys them in others.
 According to…

For Mcgrew (1990) globalization is

composed of multiple sameness
and interconnectedness that go
beyond nation states where
individuals and organizations in one
part of the world is affected by the
activities, affairs, and convictions on
another part of the globe.
According to…

Manfred Steger
 EXPANSION

Expansion refers to both the

creation of new social networks
and the multiplication of existing
connections that cut across
traditional political, economic,
cultural, and geographical
boundaries.
 INTENSIFICATION

Intensification refers to the

expansion, stretching, and
acceleration of these networks.
Not only are global connections
multiplying, but they are also
becoming more closely-knit and
expanding their reach.
Globality signifies a future social
condition characterized by thick
economic, political and cultural
interconnections and global flows
that make currently existing political
borders and economic barriers
irrelevant.
Globalism means globalization as
an ideology reflecting shared ideas,
norms, values accepted as truth
DYNAMICS OF
GLOBAL AND
LOCAL
CULTURE
 AMERICANIZATION

Americanization as defined by Kuisel

(1993) as “the import by non-
Americans of products, images,
technologies, practices, and behavior
that are closely associated with
America/Americans” (p.96).
 MCDONALDIZATION

This is the process in which

Western societies are dominated
by the principles of fast food
restaurants. It involves the global
spread of rational systems, such
as efficiency, calculability,
predictability, and control.
CULTURAL DIFFERENTIALISM

It emphasizes the fact that cultures are

different and are superficially affected
by the global flows. The interaction of
cultures often leads to “catastrophic
collision”. This theory has been
disagreed by others because of its
portrayal for Muslims as being “prone to
violence” (Huntington, 1996).
REGIONALIZATION

Regionalization can be conceived

as the growth of societal
integration within a given region,
including the undirected
processes of social and economic
interaction among the units (such
as nation-states; see Hurrell 1995a,
39)
 DIASPORIZATION

It refers to the mass

dispersion of a
population from its
indigenous
territories.
THEORIES OF
globalization
 1. Theory of Liberalism

Liberalism sees the process of

globalization as market-led
extension of modernization. At the
most elementary level, it is a result
of ‘natural’ human desires for
economic welfare and political
liberty.
 2.Political Realism

Advocates of this theory are interested in

questions of state power, the pursuit of
national interest, and conflict between
states. According to them states are
inherently acquisitive and self-serving, and
heading for inevitable competition of power.
Some of the scholars stand for a balance of
power, where any attempt by one state to
achieve world dominance is countered by
collective resistance from other states.
 3. MARXISM

Marxism is principally
concerned with modes of
production, social exploitation
through unjust distribution, and
social emancipation through
the transcendence of
capitalism.
 4. Constructivism

Globalization has also arisen

because of the way that people
have mentally constructed the
social world with particular
symbols, language, images and
interpretation. It is the result of
particular forms and dynamics of
consciousness.
 5. POST- MODERNISM

Postmodernism is an intellectual
stance or mode of discourse
defined by an attitude of skepticism
toward what it considers as the
grand narratives and ideologies of
modernism, as well as opposition to
epistemic certainty and the stability
of meaning.
 6. FEMINISM

It puts emphasis on social

construction of masculinity and
femininity. All other theories have
identified the dynamics behind the
rise of trans-planetary and supra-
territorial connectivity in technology,
state, capital, identity and the like.
7. Trans-formationalism
 8. Eclecticism

Each one of the above six ideal-type of social

theories of globalization highlights certain forces
that contribute to its growth.
Jan Art Scholte synthesises them as forces of
production, governance, identity, and knowledge.