UNDERSTANDING THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

Leonardo N. Pasquito P a g e |1

Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION TO GLOBALIZATION

Lesson 1. Defining Globalization

Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to

1. Differentiate the competing conceptions of globalization
2. Identify the underlying philosophies of the varying definitions of globalization
3. Agree on a working definition of globalization for the course

Activity:

1. Introduce self to classmates and teachers

2. List expectations for the course
3. Recall course rules
4. Write a personal definition of globalization based on a concept map
5. Personal concept map of globalization
a. Students will engage in a free association exercise of ideas they associate with
“globalization.”
b. Based on the concepts they list, they will synthesize a personal definition of the concept.
6. News report critique
a. Students will find and read three newspaper op-eds (local or international) discussing
globalization. An op-ed (short for opposite the editorial page) is a written opinion of an
author usually not affiliated with the newspaper or magazine editorial board.
b. Before class, they will write 50-word summaries of each op-ed, identifying what the
underlying definitions of globalization the op-ed writers use.

DISCUSSION

Introduction

After centuries of technological progress and

advances in international cooperation, the world
is more connected than ever. Since ancient
times, humans have sought distant places to
settle, produce, and exchange goods enabled by
improvements in technology and transportation.
But not until the 19th century did global
integration take off.

Globalization is the word used to describe the

growing interdependence of the world’s
economies, cultures, and populations, brought
about by cross-border trade in goods and
services, technology, and flows of investment,
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people, and information. Countries have built economic partnerships to facilitate these movements over
many centuries. But the term gained popularity after the Cold War in the early 1990s, as these
cooperative arrangements shaped modern everyday life.

History of Globalization

The earliest globalization is known as the Archaic Globalization. This was followed by the Proto-
globalization or the early modern until the modern globalization is finally reached.

A. Archaic Globalization (earliest civilizations to the 1600s). When

did globalization begin? Many scholars say it started even before
Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the New World in 1492. People
traveled to nearby and faraway places exchanging their ideas,
products, and customs along the way. Thus, the Archaic
Globalization is the first globalization characterized by the
geographical spread of ideas and social norms at both local and
regional levels. There are three main prerequisites for
globalization to occur.
1. Adaption by the West. This is the adoption by the West of traditional ideas,
belief, and cultures from the East such as Asia, East of Europe, Mediterranean
region and the Arab World. These traditional ideas, belief, and cultures include
religion (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc), concepts of
cinema, cuisines, oriental medicine and others.
2. Access to another State. The first interactions of states were due to
technological advances which allowed one State to learn of others' existence.
3. Inter-dependency of States. This refers to mutual help, mutual commerce, and
other form of inter-State cooperation.

The Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes across China, Central Asia, and the
Mediterranean used between 50 B.C.E. and 250 C.E. is perhaps the most well-known
early example of early globalization attempt.

The Silk Road

The Silk Road primarily

refers to the land
routes connecting East
Asia and Southeast
Asia with South Asia,
Persia, the Arabian
Peninsula, East Africa
and Southern Europe.

The Silk Road was a

significant factor in the
development of
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civilizations from China, Indian subcontinent, Persia, Europe, and Arabia, opening long-
distance political and economic interactions between them. The following were the
effect of Silk Road Trade:

1. Major trade item from China including common goods such as salt and sugar
2. Religions, syncretic philosophies, and various technologies spread out
3. Diseases also
traveled along the
Silk Routes.
4. Served as a means of
carrying out cultural
trade among the
civilizations along its
network.
5. The movement of
people, such as
refugees, artists,
craftsmen,
missionaries, robbers, and envoys, resulted in the exchange of religions, art,
languages, and new technologies.

B. Early modern or Proto-globalization (1600-1800). This is characterized by the rise of the

following
1. Maritime European empires in the 15th and 17th centuries such as
a. Portuguese Empire
b. Spanish Empire
c. Dutch Empires
d. British Empires.
2. Trade arrangements
3. The shift of hegemony to Western Europe,
4. Larger-scale conflicts between powerful nations such as the Thirty Years' War,
5. Newfound commodities—most particularly slave trade.
6. The Triangular Trade within the Western Hemisphere.
7. The transfer of animal stocks, plant crops, and epidemic diseases also played a
central role in this process.

C. Modern Globalization. This is the direct result of the following

1. Industrial Revolution which allowed standardized production of household items.
2. More nations embraced international trade.
3. The conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars brought in an era of relative peace in Europe. The
Napoleonic Wars is a series of major conflicts between French Empire against European
powers led by Napoleon I.
4. Innovations in transportation technology which reduced trade costs substantially. Example
is the invention of steam ships, railroads, and shipping containers which helped advance
the globalization of commerce.
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5. Inventions of new industrial military technologies of European states and the United
States, which allow them to forcibly open up markets across the world and extend their
empires.
6. A gradual move towards greater liberalization in European countries.
7. Global agreements to advance international trade after World War II such as:
a. Bretton Woods Conference Agreement. This laid down the framework for
international monetary policy, commerce, and finance, and the founding of
several international institutions intended to facilitate economic growth by
lowering trade barriers.
b. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). This led to a series of
agreements to remove trade restrictions.
c. World Trade Organization (WTO). This is the GATT's successor, which provided a
framework for negotiating and formalizing trade agreements and a dispute
resolution process.
d. Doha Development Round Trade Negotiation. This agreement failed which led
many countries to shift to bilateral or smaller multilateral agreements, such as the
2011 South Korea–United States Free Trade Agreement.

Other causes of modern globalization was due to the following:

1. Open skies policies and low-

cost carriers which helped to
bring competition to the
market.
2. Low-cost communication
networks which cut the cost of
communicating between
different countries. More
work can be performed using
a computer without regard to
location.
3. Student exchange programs
which increases the
participants' understanding
and tolerance of other
cultures, as well as improving
their language skills and
broadening their social
horizons.
4. Expansion of capitalism and neoliberal ideologies which allowed for the privatization of
public industry, deregulation of laws or policies that interfered with the free flow of the
market. Through this policies, the country receiving monetary aid is required to open its
markets to capitalism, privatize public industry, allow free trade, cut social services like
healthcare and education and allow the free movement of giant multinational corporations.
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5. The migration and movement of people between the developing countries and least
developed countries (LDCs) as workers moved to areas with higher wages and most of the
developing world oriented toward the international market economy.
6. The collapse of the Soviet Union that not only ended the Cold War's division of the world,
but also left the United States its sole policeman and an unfettered advocate of free market.
7. Growing prominence of international institutions like the UN, and concerted international
action on such issues as the environment and human rights.
8. The Internet's becoming influential in connecting over a third of the world's human
population.
9. The Great Recession, which resulted in a sharp drop in international trade, rising
unemployment and slumping commodity prices. In effect, the governments and central
banks responded with better Fiscal policy and monetary policy initiatives to stimulate
national economies and reduce financial system risks which renewed interest in Keynesian
economic ideas on how to combat recessionary conditions.
10. Cross border flow, which the DHL Global Connectedness Index identified four main types of
cross-border flow: trade (in both goods and services), information, people (including
tourists, students, and migrants), and capital.

Competing Conceptions of Globalization and Their Underlying Philosophies

The following are the most common definition of Globalization

1. Globalization is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and
governments worldwide.
2. Globalization is a form of capitalist expansion which entails the integration of local and
national economies into a global, unregulated market economy.
3. Globalization refers to advances in transportation and communication technology.
4. Globalization is primarily an economic process of interaction and integration associated with
social and cultural aspects.
5. Globalization involves goods, services, the economic resources of capital, technology, and
data.
6. Globalization is the expansions of global markets liberalize the economic activities of the
exchange of goods and funds due to removal of cross-border trade barriers.
7. Globalization is the integration of economic, social and cultural relations across borders.

Instruments of Globalization

There are many instruments by which globalization is being promoted and enhanced. But the most
important instruments influencing this process are the multinational corporations and the new
revolution of information technology.

1. MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS. This is the main instrument of globalization. They possess

huge capitals and assets. Because of their size and their contributions to national economies in
terms of taxes and employments, they influence decision-making processes in those countries.
Once they established, none has the ability to stop them from withdrawing their investments or
moving their capitals from country to another. Their activities usually leave serious effects on
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many host economies such as civil unrests. This is because these companies control not only
markets, but also peoples (Wooldridge and Micklethwait, 2000).
2. NEW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. This is a product of the industrial revolution, in particular the
Internet and multimedia which remarkably contribute to the spread of globalization due to their
rapidity, easiness and availability. In spite of its huge benefits, the revolution is still possessed and
controlled by some advanced nations, which might use it as a means of cultural influence and
informational hegemony.

Components of Globalization

Globalization is composed of the following:

country's borders in a year and
serves as a measure of a country's
Human Development Index overall economic output.
(HDI).
 Industrialization is a process which,
driven by technological innovation,
Gross Domestic effectuates social change and
Product (GDP)
Industrializ economic development by
ation transforming a country into a
modernized industrial, or developed
Globaliza nation.
tion
 The Human Development Index
(HDI) comprises three components: a
country's population's life
 The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expectancy, knowledge and
the market value of all finished goods education measured by the adult
and services produced within a literacy, and income.

TYPES OF GLOBALIZATION

The three main classifications of globalization are:

1. POLITICAL GLOBALIZATION. Political globalization refers to the amount of political co-

operation that exists between different countries to prevent conflict. The League of Nations
established after WW1 was certainly one of the pioneers in this. Since then, global
organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), United Nations (UN), and more
regional organizations such as the EU have helped to increase the degree of political
globalization. Issues in global politics include economic, social and environmental questions
(non-security issues often referred to as low politics) as well as geopolitical concerns and the
emergence of regional and global law which challenges state sovereignty.
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2. SOCIAL GLOBALIZATION. This refers to the sharing of ideas and information between and
through different countries. Examples include showing internationally popular films, reading
international books and TV series such as Harry Potter and Twilight films making the characters
featured globally recognizable. However, this cultural flow tends to flow from the center from
developed countries such as the USA to less developed countries. The negative impact of social
globalization is the erosion of cultural differences between countries.

3. ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION. This

the interconnectedness of
economies of different countries
realized through production,
distribution, management, trade,
finance and the exchange of
resources making no national
economy to really operate in
isolation. For example, USA will
sell their technologies to
developed countries that need
them. This is usually accelerated
by multinational corporations
(MNCs) and foreign direct
investments (FDI). Example, in
1980’s, Japanese and US
investments increased and
Taiwan and South Korea have also
become major players.

4. MILITARY OR SECURITY GLOBALIZATION. This is the acquisition, deployment and use of

military force to achieve international security when nation-States can no longer control their
non-physical security requirements, such as protection of information and technology assets.
Agents of threats to international security can be the state or non-state groups and individuals,
such as ethnic militias, cults, organized crime and terrorism brought about by increasing
financial, trade and economic relations.

5. ENVIRONMENTAL GLOBALIZATION. This refers to the internationally coordinated practices and

regulations, often in the form of international treaties, regarding environmental protection
such as global warming, ozone depletion and acid rain.

Other Globalization Types

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1. GLOBAL MIGRATION. This is the

mass movement of people due to
the following factors:
1. Improvement of
Transportation
Technology. This
makes travel time and
costs decreased
dramatically. For
example, travel across
the Atlantic ocean
used to take up for
several weeks to only several days. This is due to modern aviation which has
made long-distance transportation quick and affordable.
2. Tourism or travel for pleasure. The low-cost airlines, and more accessible
airports have made many types of tourism more affordable. Some countries have
agreements with other countries allowing each other's citizens to travel between
them without visas.
3. Immigration. This is the international movement of people into a country where
they do not possess citizenship in order to settle or to take-up employment as a
migrant worker. For example, freedom of movement for workers in the European
Union means that people can move freely between member states to live, work,
study or retire in another country.
4. International education. More and more students are seeking higher education
in foreign countries and many international students now consider overseas
study a stepping-stone to permanent residency within a country.
5. Transnational marriage. This is a marriage between two people from different
countries. In an age of increasing globalization, where a growing number of
people have ties to networks of people and places across the globe, rather than
to a current geographic location, people are increasingly marrying across national
boundaries.

2. GLOBAL MOVEMENT OF INFORMATION. Before electronic communications, long-distance

communications relied on mail or electric telegraph. Global movement of information was
due to:
1. The Internet. This has been instrumental in connecting people across
geographical boundaries such as Facebook and other social networking service.
2. Global journalism. This provides massive information and relies on people
interacting, sharing ideas and describing or investigating people and their
actions, practices, problems, life conditions from different parts of the world.

Reading Materials:
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1. Manfred Stegger, Paul Battersby, and Joseph M. Siracusa, eds. 2014.The SAGE
Handbook of Globalization. Two vols. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
2. Chapter 2 of textbook: “Approaches to the Study of Globalization” by Manfred B. Steger
Steger, Manfred B.
3. “Ideologies of Globalization.” 2005. Journal of Political Ideologies 10(1): 11–30.

Assessment:
1. Quiz on the reading materials
2. Recitation

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Jan Aart Scholte (1997), “Global Capitalism and the State”, International Affairs, 73 (3), pp. 427-
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