The Contemporary World (CONWORLD 103)

ORIGINS AND HISTORY OF GLOBALIZATION

There are five different perspectives regarding the origins of globalization.

1.Hardwired
According to Nayan Chanda, it is because of our basic human needs to
make our lives better that globalization started. Therefore, one can trace the
beginning of globalization to our ancestors in Africa who walked out from the
said continent in the late Ice Age. This long journey finally led to all known
continents today, roughly after 50,000 years.

Chanda (2007) mentioned that commerce, religion, politics, and warfare

are the “urges “of people toward a better life. These are respectively
connected to four aspects of globalization and they can be traced throughout
history; trade, missionary work, adventures, and conquest.

2. CYCLES
It explains that there is no single point of origin in globalization but is a
long-term cyclical process. This is a notion to suspect that this point of
globalization will soon disappear and reappear.

3. EPOCH
The difference between this view from the second view (cycles) is that it
does not treat epochs as returning. Epoch is also known as waves. It explains
that there are waves of globalization that took place in the past and each of
them has its origin.
The following are the sequential occurrences of the epochs
1. Globalization of religion (4th to 7th centuries
2. European colonial conquest (late 15th century)
3. Intra-European wars (late 18th to early 19th centuries
4. Heyday of European imperialism (mid-19th century to 1918)
5. Post-world War II period,
6. Post-cold war period

4. EVENTS
Specific events are also considered as part of the fourth view in explaining
the origin of globalization. If this is the case, then several points can be treated
as the start of globalization.
For example:

1. Rosental (2007), gave premium to voyages of discovery- Christopher

Columbus’s discovery of America in 1942, Vasco da Gama in Cape of
Good Hope in 1498, and Ferdinand Magellan’s completed
circumnavigation of the globe in 1522.
 2. The recent years could also be regarded as the beginnings of
globalization concerning specific technological advances in
transportation and communication, such as the first transatlantic television
broadcasts, the founding of the modern internet in 1988, and the terrorist
attack on the Twin Towers in New York.

5. More Recent Changes

Recent changes comprised the fifth view. These broad changes happened
in the last half of the twentieth century.
1. The emergence of the United States as a global power (post-World War II)
2. The emergence of MNCs or multinational corporations
MNC- is a company that has business operations in another country other
than its home country and generates revenue.
Example; Ford and General Motors from the US., Apple, Amazon, Microsoft,
McDonalds, etc.

3. The demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.
Finally, the last event was the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. This led to the
opening of the major parts of the world for the first time. Many global processes-
immigration, tourism, media, diplomacy, and MNCs- spread throughout the
globe, paving the way to the so-called “ Free” world.

GLOBAL DEMOGRAPHY

Demography is the statistical study of human populations. It examines the size,

structure, and movements of population over space and time

Why do we study demography?

Demographic Transition- the historical process of change that accounts

for the trends in births, deaths, and population growth that occurred in today’s
industrialized societies, especially European societies (Frank W. Notestein, 1945)

Demographic Transition Theory- a pattern of demographic change from

high fertility and high mortality to low fertility and low mortality when society
progresses from a largely rural illiterate society to a dominant urban, industrial,
literate, and modern society.
Mortality- the number of deaths in a given time or space.

Fertility- the birthrate of a population.

Migration- crossing the boundary of a political or administrative unit for a
minimum period of time.
1. Internal migration- permanent movement of people over varying
distances to change places of residence. It occurs within the boundaries
of a given country.
2. External migration- crossing the boundary of one country to another.

Immigration vs Emigration
Immigration- is when people are moving into a country.

-an act of entering a foreign country, oft to change places of residence

for permanent residency.
Emigration- is when people are leaving or exiting a country.

-the act of leaving one’s own country often to settle permanently in

another country.

Why do people leave their country?

Push and Pull Factor of Migration
Push factor —negative things that make people want to move to a new area.
Pull factor - the positive aspect that attracts people to move to a place.