THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
globalization is many things to many
1. The increasing interaction of people,
states, or countries through the growth
of the international flow of money, ideas,
and cultures. Thus, globalization is
primarily focused on economic process
of integration that has social and cultural
aspects.
2. It is the interconnectedness of people
and business across the world that
eventually lead to global, cultural,
political, and economic integration.
3. It is the ability to move and
communicate easily with others all over
the world in order to conduct business
internationally.
The Task of Defining Globalization
• “...globalization means the onset of the
borderless world...” (Ohmae, 1992) – an
example of a broad and inclusive
definition.
• A more recent definition was given by
Ritzer (2015), “globalization is a
transplanetary process or a set of
processes involving increasing liquidity
and the growing multidirectional flows of
people, objects, places, and information
as well as structures they encounter and
create that are barriers to, or expedite,
those flows...”
Why are we going to spend time
studying this concept? How can we
appreciate these definitions? How
can these help us understand
globalization?
• First, the perspective of the person
who defines globalization shapes its
definition.
• The overview of definitions implies that
different people.
• In 1996, Arjun Appadurai said,
“globalization is a ‘world of things’ that
have ‘different speeds’ axes, points of
origin and termination, and varied
relationships to institutional structures in
different regions, nations, or societies”.
• One’s definition and perspective could
determine concrete steps in addressing
the issues of globalization.
• For example, if one sees globalization
as positive, the person can say that it is
a unifying force.
• On the other hand, if it is deemed as
creating greater inequalities among
nations, globalization is negatively
treated.
• “Globalization is the debate and the
debate is globalization”
• “Globalization is a reality. It is changing
as human society develops. It has
happened before and is still happening
today. We should expect it to continue
to happen in the future. The future of
globalization is more difficult to predict.”
• What we could expect in the coming
years is what has happened over the
past 50 years and that is the fluidity and
complexity of globalization as a concept,
which made more debates, discussions,
and definitions than agreements on it.
• Overall, globalization is a concept that
is not easy to define because in reality,
globalization has a shifting nature. It is
complex, multi faceted, and can be
influenced by the people who define it.
Four (4) Basic Aspects of
Globalization as identified by The
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
1. Trade and transactions
2. Capital and investment movements
3. Migration of knowledge
4. Dissemination
Metaphors of Globalization
• To better understand the concept of
globalization.
• Metaphors make use of one term to
help us better understand another term.
• In our case, the states of matter – solid
and liquid – will be used.
• In addition, other related concepts that
are included in the definition such as
structures and flows will be elaborated.
Solid
• Solidity also refers to barriers that
prevent the movement of things or make
it difficult.
• Solids can either be natural or man-
made.
• Man-made barriers include the Great
Wall of China and the Berlin Wall.
• An imaginary line such as the nine-
dash line used by the People’s Republic
of China in their claim to be South China
Sea is an example of modern man-
made solid.
• This creates limited access of Filipino
fishers to the South China Sea.
Liquid
• As a state of matter, takes the shape
of its container.
• Moreover, liquids are not fixed.
• Liquidity refers to the increasing ease
of movement of people, things,
information, and places in the
contemporary world.
• Today’s liquid phenomena change
quickly and their aspects, spatial and
temporal, are in continuous fluctuation.
• This means that space and time are
crucial elements of globalization.
• Another characteristic of liquid
phenomena is that their movement is
difficult to stop.
Indicators of Globalization
• The jet engine, internet, e-banking, e-
books, e-bike, LRT, MRT and other
intervention of science and technology
are attributable to the spread of
globalization.
• These development that people enjoy
today in this contemporary world have
been major factors in globalization
which have generated further
interdependence in economic and
cultural activities among nations.
• Likewise, environmental challenges
such as global warming, cross-boundary
water, air pollution, and over-fishing of
the ocean are linked with globalization.
• The improvements that people enjoy
today in this contemporary world have
been major factors in globalization
which have generated further
interdependence in economic and
cultural activities among nations.
• Likewise, environmental challenges
such as global warming, cross boundary
water, air pollution, and over-fishing of
the ocean are linked with globalization.
Reasons for Globalization
1. Rapid shrinking of time and distance
across the globe.
2. Domestic markets are no longer rich
as a consequence of many interlocking
factors.
3. Companies and institutions go global
to find political and economic stability
which is relatively good in other
countries than the country of origin.
4. To get technological and managerial
know-how of other countries due to their
advancement in science, technology,
education, health, and other fields of
discipline.
5. To reduce high transportation costs if
one goes globally using the advance
tools of communication and information.
6. To be close to raw materials and to
markets for their finished products which
are not available in the country of origin.
Advantages of Globalization
1. An open economy spur fast
innovation with fresh ideas from abroad.
2. Export jobs often pay more than other
jobs.
3. Capital flow keeps interest rates low.
4. Living standards go up faster.
5. Productivity grows more quickly when
countries produce goods and services in
which
they are of comparative advantage.
6. Countries liberalize their visa rules
and procedures so as to permit the full
flow of people from country to country.
Disadvantages of Globalization
1. Several people lose their jobs when
companies import cheap labor or
materials or shift production abroad.
2. Workers face pay cut demands from
employers who often threatens to export
jobs.
3. Unregulated globalization can cause
serious problems to poor and
developing countries in terms of labor
force, wages, benefits, job termination,
and others.
4. High foreign stake on industries
where it is not necessarily needed could
affect the economic growth of domestic
enterprise.
5. Sovereignty of a country and
company/ institution may be at stake.
Homogeneity
• Refers to the increasing sameness in
the world as cultural inputs, economic
factors, and political orientations of
societies expand to create common
practices, same economies, and similar
forms of government.
• It is often linked to cultural imperialism
which means a given culture influences
other culture
• Example: Christianity, Americanization,
global economic crisis
• Blame it to the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) for its “one-size-fits all”
approach which treats every country in
the world as the same.
Media Imperialism
• Global flow of media is often
characterized as media imperialism. The
internet can be seen as an arena for
alternative media.
• Global media are dominated by small
number of large corporations.
(Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, Google,
and Apple’s itunes)
• Hacktivists – extend activism to the
internet by hacking into computer
programs to promote a particular cause.

McDonaldization
• The process by which Western
societies are dominated by the
principles of fast-food restaurants.
• McDonaldization involves the global
spread of rational systems, such as
efficiency, calculability, predictability,
and control.
The Dimensions of McDonaldization
> Efficiency- optimum method for
getting from one point by another.
> Calculability- emphasis on the
quantitative aspects of products sold
and services offered.
> Predictability- assurance that
products and services will be the same
over time and in all locales.
> Control- nonhuman technology
comes to exert control over human
workers and customers.
Advantages of McDonaldization
- a wider range of goods and services is
available to a much larger portion of the
population than ever before.
- availability of goods and services
depend less on time and geography.
- products are often more economical.
- quality is often more uniform.
- certain products are safer in a carefully
regulated and controlled system.
- people are more likely to be treated
similarly regardless of sex, race, or
sexual orientation.
- most popular products of one culture
are more easily diffused to another.
Heterogeneity
- The creation of various cultural
practices, new economies, and political
groups because of the interaction of
elements from different societies in the
world.
Competition
• Even if you want top avoid the
globalization movement, you often have
no choice but to compete. The influx of
foreign competitors in the U.S. limits the
number of companies in some industries
that can succeed domestically.
The Theory of Comparative
Advantages
• This theory states that countries that
are good at producing particular good
are better off exporting it to countries
that are less efficient at producing that
good.
• Conversely, that latter country can
then export the goods that it produces in
an efficient manner to the former
country which can be deficient in the
same.
• The underlying assumption is that not
all countries are good at producing all
sorts of goods and hence they benefit
by trading with each other.