The

Contemporary World
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE
STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION

Prepared by: Jonalyn B. Joel, LPT

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION

1 |the
It has been said that arguing against Globalization is like arguing against Instructor:
laws of Jonalyn B. Joel
The Intended Learning Outcomes
At the end of this lesson, students are expected to have a better grasp of the concept of Globalization and
should be able to:

1. Differentiate the competing conceptions of globalization.

2. Identify the underlying philosophies of varying definitions of globalization.
3. Agree on working definition of globalization for the course.

What is Globalization?

Much has changed since time immemorial. Human beings have encountered many changes over the last
century especially in their social relationships and social structures. Aside from this, globalization encompasses a
multitude of processes that involves the economy, political systems, and culture. The Internet, for example, allows a
person from the Philippines to know what is happening to the rest of the world simply by browsing Google. The
mass media also allows for connections among people, communities, and countries all over the globe.

So what is globalization? This question is probably an easy one to answer. However, many scholars gave and
tried to formulate its definitions. This resulted in different, sometimes contradicting views about the concept. It
cannot be contained within a specific time frame, all people, and all situations (Al-Rhodan, 2006). Over the years,
globalization has gained many connotations pertaining to progress, development, and integration. On the one hand,
some view globalization as a positive phenomenon.

The term "globalization" has several contending meanings. We can rundown some of the widely accepted
definitions of globalization to prove this point.

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 Since its first appearance in the Webster in the Webster's Dictionary in 1961, many opinions about
globalization have flourished. The literature on the definitions of globalization revealed that definitions could be
classified as either (1) broad and inclusive or (2) narrow and exclusive.

The one offered by Ohmae in 1992 stated, globalization means the onset of the borderless world..." (p. 14).
This is an example of a broad and inclusive type of definition. Narrow and exclusive definitions are better justified
but can be limiting, in the sense that their application adhere to only particular definitions.

Robert Cox's definition suits best in this type: "the characteristics of the 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" (as cited in RAWOO Netherlands Development Assistance
Research Council, 2000, p. 14).

One can say that globalization is a very important change, if not, the "most important" (Bauman, 2003).

The reality and omnipresence of globalization makes us see ourselves as part of what we refer to as the
"global age" (Albrow, 1996).

Swedish journalist Thomas Larsson (2001) saw globalization as "the process of world shrinkage, of
distances getting shorter, things moving closer. It pertains to the increasing ease with which somebody on one
side of the world can interact, to mutual benefit with somebody on the other side of the world" (p. 9).

Some see it as occurring through and with regression, colonialism, and destabilization. Martin Khor, the
former president of Third World Network (TWN) in Malaysia, once regarded globalization as colonization.

Giddens defines it as the "intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a
way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa" (1990:64).

Robertson defines globalization as a concept that "refers both to the compression of the world and the
intensification of consciousness of the world as a whole..." (Robertson, 1992: 8).

Harvey (1989) introduced globalization as the compression of time and space and the annihilation of
distance.

The Sunny Levin Institute looks at globalization as a process of interaction and integration among the
people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment

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and aided by information technology. This process has effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems,
on economic development and prosperity, and on human physical well-being in societies around the world (Steger,
2005).

On the other hand, a group of globalization scholars does not subscribe to the sociological viewpoint.
Instead, they argue that internationalization and multinationalization are phases that precede globalization because
the latter heralds the end of the state system as the nucleus of human activities (Grupo de Lisboa, 1994, quoted in
DeSoussa Santos, 2002: 68). According to this group of scholars, we might witness the end of the nation-state.

Others explain globalization from the economic viewpoint; they think that the phenomenon is dominated
by global economic activities like the neoliberal regime, the reduction of tariffs, the creation of transnational
corporations and improvement of multilateral trade organizations.

No matter how one classifies a definition of globalization, the concept is complex and multifaceted as the
definitions deal with either economic, political, or social dimensions.

 Historians are more interested in determining whether globalization is really a modern phenomenon.
 Economists look into the changing patterns of international trade and commerce as well as the unequal
distribution of wealth.
 Political scientists focus more on the impact of the forces of globalization, such as the international non-
governmental organizations and international organizations, on the state and vice versa.

In a comprehensive study of 114 definitions by the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) in 2006, 67 of
them refer to economic dimension. These definitions include political and social dimensions as well. The sheer
number and complexity of definitions do not mean that there is a remarkable improvement in every definition given
by scholars.

Kumar (2003) took on a different argument about the issue. To him, the debate about what can be done
about globalization and what it is are similar. This is in relation to what some academics have claimed about defining
globalization-it is a useless task.

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 the structures they encounter and create that are barriers to, or expedite, those flows..." (p.
2). Generally, this definition assumes that globalization could bring either or both integration and/or

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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.

If so, 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 globalization is many things to many 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" (as cited in Chowdhury, 2006, p.
137). In a more recent study, Al-Rhodan (2006) wrote that definitions suggest the perspective of the author on the
origins and the geopolitical implications of globalization. It is a starting point that will guide the rest of any
discussions. In effect, 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.

Second, to paraphrase the sociologist Cesare Poppi: Globalization is the debate and the debate is
globalization. One became part and parcel of the other. As Poppi (1997) wrote: "The literature stemming from the
debate on globalization has grown in the last decade beyond any individual's capability of extracting a workable
definition of the concept. In a sense, the meaning of the concept is self-evident, in another, it is vague and obscure
as its reaches are wide and constantly shifting. Perhaps, more than any other concept; globalization is the debate
about it" (as cited in Kumar, 2003, p. 95).

Third, 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, multifaceted, and can be influenced by the people who define it. Moreover, the issues and
concerns involving globalization have a wide range from the individual to society, from small communities to nations
and states, and from the benefits we can gain from it to the costs it could carry. In his article, "The Globalization of
Nothing," Ritzer (2003) said, "attitudes toward globalization depend, among other things, on whether one gains or

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losses from it" (p. 190). Nevertheless, the task of defining globalization should stimulate more discussions about it.
More importantly, the fact that we experience globalization should give one the interest of engaging in the study of
it.

Origin of Globalization

Globalization was first used as a term in the academic circles in the decades of 1960s and 1970s (Nederveen
Peterse, 2012, Steger, 2005) but had gained wide interest in the 1990s.

Hardwired

According to Nayan Chanda (2007), it is because of our basic human need to make our lives better that made
globalization possible. Therefore, one can trace the beginning of globalization from our ancestors in Africa who
walked out from the said continent in the late Ice Age. This long journey finally led them 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 all throughout
history: trade, missionary work, adventures, and conquest.

Cycles

For some, globalization is a long-term cyclical process and thus, finding its origin will be a daunting task.
What is important is the cycles that globalization has gone through (Scholte, 2005). Subscribing to this view will
suggest adherence to the idea that other global ages have appeared. There is also the notion to suspect that this
point of globalization will soon disappear and reappear.

Epoch

Ritzer (2015) cited Therborn's (2000) six great epochs of globalization. These are also called "waves" and
each has its own origin. Today's globalization is not unique if this is the case. The difference of this view from the
second view (cycles) is that it does not treat epochs as returning. The following are the sequential occurrence of the
epochs:

1. Globalization of religion (fourth to seventh centuries)

2. European colonial conquests (late fifteenth century)
3. Intra-European wars (late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries)

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 4. Heyday of European imperialism (mid-nineteenth century to 1918)
5. Post-World War II period
6. Post-Cold War period

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. Gibbon (1998), for example, argued that
Roman conquests centuries before Christ were its origin. In an issue of the magazine the Economist (2006, January
12), it considered the rampage of the armies of Genghis Khan into Eastern Europe in the thirteenth century.
Rosenthal (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.

The recent years could also be regarded as the beginnings of globalization with reference to specific
technological advances in transportation and communication. Some examples include the first transatlantic
telephone cable (1956), the first transatlantic television broadcasts (1962), the founding of the modern Internet in
1988, and the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York (2001). Certainly, with this view, more and more
specific events will characterize not just the origins of globalization but also more of its history.

Broader, More Recent Changes

Recent changes comprised the fifth view. These broad changes happened in the last half of the twentieth
century. Scholars today point to these three notable changes as the origin of globalization that we know today. They
are as follows:

1. The emergence of the United States as the global power (post-World War II)

2. The emergence of multinational corporations (MNCs)

3. The demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War

Through its dominant military and economic power after WWII, the United States was able to outrun
Germany and Japan in terms of industry. Both Axis powers and Allies fall behind economically as compared to the
new global power. Because of this, the United States soon began to progress in different aspects like in diplomacy,
media, film (as in the Hollywood), and many more.

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 Before MNCs came into being, their roots were from their countries of origin during the eighteenth to early
nineteenth centuries. The United States, Germany, and Great Britain had in their homeland great corporations
which the world knows today. However, they did not remain there as far as their production and market are
concerned. For example, Ford and General Motors originated in the United States but in the twentieth century, they
exported more automobiles and opened factories to other countries.

More recent than the first two would be the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. This event led to the opening of
the major parts of the world for the first time since the early twentieth century. Many global processes-immigration,
tourism, media, diplomacy, and MNCs-spread throughout the planet. This paved way for the so-called "free" world.
China, even though the government remains communist, is on its way to becoming a major force in global capitalism
(Fishman, 2006). Moreover, China is also globalizing in terms of other aspects such as their hosting of the Olympics
in 2008.

Globalization Theories

We have established the many definitions of and issues in defining globalization and the metaphors that we
can use to understand easily the concept. We have also looked into its origins and history. This section will give you a
glimpse of the important theories on globalization. We will analyze globalization culturally, economically, and
politically in this book as reflected in the succeeding chapters. In the meantime, it would be helpful to assert that the
theories see globalization as a process that increases either homogeneity or heterogeneity.

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. Homogeneity in culture is often linked to cultural imperialism. This means, a given culture influences
other cultures. For example, the dominant religion in our country is Christianity, which was brought to us by the
Spaniards. Another example is Americanization, which was 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). In terms of the economy, there is recognition of the spread of neoliberalism, capitalism, and the market
economy in the world (Antonio, 2007). Global economic crises are also products of homogeneity in economic
globalization. Stiglitz (2002), for instance, blamed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its "one-size-fits all"
approach which treats every country in the world as the same. In the end, rich countries become advantageous in
the world economy at the expense of poor countries, which leads to increased inequality among nations. The
political realm also suffers homogenization if one takes into account the emerging similar models of governance in

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the world. Barber (1995) said that "McWorld" is existing. It means only one political orientation is growing in today's
societies.

On the other hand, heterogeneity pertains to the creation of various cultural practices, new economies, and
political groups because of the interaction of elements from different societies in the world. Heterogeneity refers to
the differences because of either lasting differences or of the hybrids or combinations of cultures that can be
produced through the different transplanetary processes. Contrary to cultural imperialism, heterogeneity in culture
is associated with cultural hybridization. A more specific concept is "glocalization" coined by Roland Robertson in
1992. To him, as global forces interact with local factors or a specific geographic area, the "glocal" is being produced.
Economic issues are not exempted from heterogeneity. The commodification of cultures and "glocal" markets are
examples of differentiation happening in many economies around the world. The same goes with political
institutions. Barber (1995) also provided the alternate of "McWorld"-the "Jihad." As Ritzer (2008) mentioned, it
refers to the political groups that are engaged in an "intensification of nationalism and that leads to greater political
heterogeneity throughout the world" (p. 576).

Dynamics of Local and Global Culture

Global flows of culture tend to move more easily around the globe than ever before, especially through non-
material digital forms. There are three perspectives on global cultural flows. These are differentialism, hybridization,
and convergence.

Cultural differentialism emphasizes the fact that cultures are essentially different and are only superficially
affected by global flows. The interaction of cultures is deemed to contain the potential for "catastrophic collision."
Samuel Huntington's theory on the clash of the civilizations proposed in 1996 best exemplifies this approach.
According to Huntington, after the Cold War, political economic differences were overshadowed by new fault lines,
which were primarily cultural in nature. Increasing interaction among different "civilizations" (such as the Sinic,
Islamic, Orthodox, and Western) would lead to intense clashes, especially the economic conflict between the
Western and Sinic civilizations and bloody political conflict between the Western and Islamic civilizations
(Huntington, 2004). This theory has been critiqued for a number of reasons, especially on its portrayal of Muslims as
being "prone to violence" (Huntington, 1996).

The cultural hybridization approach emphasizes the integration of local and global cultures (Cvetkovich
and Kellner, 1997). Globalization is considered to be a creative process which gives rise to hybrid entities that are not
reducible to either the global or the local. A key concept is "glocalization" or the interpenetration of the global and

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local resulting in unique outcomes in different geographic areas (Giulianotti and Robertson, 2007, p. 133). Another
key concept is Arjun Appadurai's "scapes" in 1996, where global flows involve people, technology, finance, political
images, and media and the disjunctures between them, which lead to the creation of cultural hybrids.

The cultural convergence approach stresses homogeneity introduced by globalization. Cultures are deemed
to be radically altered by strong flows, while cultural imperialism happens when one culture imposes itself on and
tends to destroy at least parts of another culture. One important critique of cultural imperialism is John Tomlinson's
idea of "deterritorialization" of culture. Deterritorialization means that it is much more difficult to tie culture to a
specific geographic point of origin.

Dynamics of Local and Global Culture

Global flows of culture tend to move more easily around the globe than ever before, especially through non-
material digital forms. There are three perspectives on global cultural flows. These are differentialism, hybridization,
and convergence.

Cultural differentialism emphasizes the fact that cultures are essentially different and are only superficially
affected by global flows. The interaction of cultures is deemed to contain the potential for "catastrophic collision."
Samuel Huntington's theory on the clash of the civilizations proposed in 1996 best exemplifies this approach.
According to Huntington, after the Cold War, political economic differences were overshadowed by new fault lines,
which were primarily cultural in nature. Increasing interaction among different "civilizations" (such as the Sinic,
Islamic, Orthodox, and Western) would lead to intense clashes, especially the economic conflict between the
Western and Sinic civilizations and bloody political conflict between the Western and Islamic civilizations
(Huntington, 2004). This theory has been critiqued for a number of reasons, especially on its portrayal of Muslims as
being "prone to violence" (Huntington, 1996).

The cultural hybridization approach emphasizes the integration of local and global cultures (Cvetkovich
and Kellner, 1997). Globalization is considered to be a creative process which gives rise to hybrid entities that are not
reducible to either the global or the local. A key concept is "glocalization" or the interpenetration of the global and
local resulting in unique outcomes in different geographic areas (Giulianotti and Robertson, 2007, p. 133). Another
key concept is Arjun Appadurai's "scapes" in 1996, where global flows involve people, technology, finance, political
images, and media and the disjunctures between them, which lead to the creation of cultural hybrids.

The cultural convergence approach stresses homogeneity introduced by globalization. Cultures are
deemed to be radically altered by strong flows, while cultural imperialism happens when one culture imposes itself

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on and tends to destroy at least parts of another culture. One important critique of cultural imperialism is John
Tomlinson's idea of "deterritorialization" of culture. Deterritorialization means that it is much more difficult to tie
culture to a specific geographic point of origin.

Globalization as a process, condition, and ideology

In the absence of a generally accepted definition, Steger (2005) explains that globalization has been
commonly understood either as a process, a condition, or an ideology.

Globalization as a process

Globalization is viewed as a multidimensional set of social processes that generate and increase "worldwide
social interdependencies and exchanges while at the same time fostering in people a growing awareness of
deepening connections between the local and the distant" (Steger, 2005: 13). This view argues that globalization is
about the compression of time and space brought about by changes in technology and the political, cultural, and
economic aspects of human existence.

If globalization is viewed as a process, which denotes happening over a stretch of time, can we trace its
beginning? In short, when did globalization start? Again, looking for an answer to this question is a difficult task since
globalizations scholars disagree on an answer. Scholars specializing in international relations, political science, media
studies, and economics date globalization from the 1970s, with the formation of global value chains and accelerated
communication (Nederveen Pieterse, 2012). Another variant of this periodization refers to neoliberal globalization,
1980-2000. In sociology, the timeline stretches wider since the point of interest is modernity, which began during the
period of Renaissance, followed by the Enlightenment, then the French Revolution and lasted up until the period of
Industrialization in the late 1700s and throughout the 1800s. In political economy, as well as the Marxist perspective,
the origin of globalization can be traced back to the 1500s, following Marx's dictum "the conquest of the world
market marks the birth of modern capitalism" (Ibid: 3). Therefore, the historic moments of globalization 1500s and
1800s, considered by political economists as the birth of modern capitalism. However, critics of these variants of
contemporary periodization, which focus on modernity, raise the issues of "Eurocentrism" and "intellectual
apartheid" (Hobson, 2004). Another issue raised is that by using modern capitalism (1500s) as a cutoff is equivalent
to ignoring earlier forms and infrastructures of capitalism (Nederveen Pieterse, 2012).

Table 1

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 Globalization according to Social Science and Humanities Disciplines

Disciplines Time Agency / Domain Keywords

Political Science, “Internationalization of the State”, Competitor states, post international
International Relations INGO’s politics, Global civic society

1980 Debt crisis, structural adjustment

Developmental Studies IMF, World Bank
policies

Geography Space, Place Local Global interaction, Globalization

Multinational corporations, Global corporations, world product,

Economics technologies, banks, finance hedge global value chains, new economy,

1970 funds sovereign wealth funds

Global village, Mc Donaldization,

Cultural studies Media, film, advertising, ICT
Disneyfication, hybridization

Philosophy 1950 Ethics Global problems, global ethics

Capitalism, Industrialism, urbanization,

Sociology 1800 Modernity
hybridization

Political Economy 1500 Modern Capitalism Conquest of the World Market

History, Historical 3000 Population movement, trade, The widening scale of global,
anthropology BCE technologies, world religions cooperation, Global flows, ecumene

Biology, Ecology Time Integration of ecosystems Evolution, Global ecology, Gaia

Source: Nederveen Pieterse, Jan (2012) ‘Periodizing Globablization: Histories of Globalization,” New Global Studies, Vol.
6, Issue 2, Article 1.

A different way of tracing the roots of globalization is by looking for signs of Globality, which is explained
earlier as the thickening of social linkages between people from different parts of the world. What we should look
for are historical evidence of growing worldwide connectivity. It implies a longer timeline because increasing

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connectivity is not a recent trend (Nederveen Pieterse, 2012). Viewed as such, globalization has no definite and exact
beginning. From this perspective, globalization is spurred by innovations in transportation and communication
technologies, and creation of institutions of commerce.

In this sense, economists emphasize that the beginning of globalization was in the 1820s when commodity
prices across continents converged (O'Rourke and Williamson, 2002, 2004). For Flynn and Giraldez (2006),
globalization is anonymous to permanent global trade, which began when all the major regions of the world
"exchange products continuously....and on a scale that generated deep and lasting impacts on all trading partners"
(Ibid: 244). They conclude that the birth of globalization took place in 1571, the year Manila was founded as a Spanish
entrepot connecting Asia and the Americas.

Following the line of thinking of economists, some scholars argue that the emergence of world economy
should be taken as a threshold of globalization. The world economy, borrowing from Braudel, is understood as the
merger of economic worlds. However, while the world economy is commonly believed to have started in the 1500s,
scholars still disagree on the definite period of its emergence. For Braudel and Abu-Lughod, the period is 1200s,
which is concurred in by researches on Asia and Southeast Asia (Nederveen Pieterse, 2012). John Hobson (2004)
dates the emergence of world economy much earlier to 3500 BCE and the big expansion of global trade, for him,
happened in post-600 period. Hobson concludes that that 500 CE was the beginning of globalization, which he
particularly refers to as oriental globalization.

A slightly different view explains that globalization began with the unfolding of commercial revolution back
in 1000 BCE. Around this time, complex commercial ties linked a vast portion of the world including eastern
Mediterranean, South China, India, Europe, West Africa, East Africa, Indonesia, Central Asia, the north Pacific and the
Western Pacific (Nederveen Pieterse, 2012).

Globalization is not a new idea. For thousands of years, people-and, later, corporations-from great distances
have been trading with each other, such as the famed Silk Road across Central Asia that connected China and Europe
during the Middle Ages.

The era of the commercial revolution also coincided with a revolution in the metaphysical, intellectual,
ethical and religious aspects of man's life. Major new traditions developed in religion and ethical philosophy:
Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Confucianism and the teachings of Lao Tzu, Judaism, Greek philosophy, and Christianity.
These significant developments indicate growing global consciousness. Moreover, it shows that globalization goes

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beyond the economic and material, it also includes other aspects of human existence like culture, politics and
society. The succeeding parts of this book shall elucidate that point further.

Globalization as a Condition

Globalization is also referred to by scholars as globality. Scholte (2008) refers to globality as social condition
characterized by trans-planetary connectivity and supra territoriality. In terms of trans-planetary relations, globality
is about the establishment of social links between people located at different places of our planet. Here, our planet
is not treated as a collection of geographical units but as a social space or an arena of social life. Meanwhile, supra-
territorial relations are "social connections that transcend territorial geography" (Scholte, 2008: 1480). In other
words, globalization as a social condition is characterized by thick economic, political, and cultural interconnections
and global flows that render political borders and economic barriers irrelevant (Steger, 2008). The experience of Dr.
Vihn Ching, a US-based medical doctor and was once a Vietnamese refugee, illustrates how this present world has
become increasingly interconnected. "That could have been me," he said in an interview at CNN about the
photograph of a lifeless body of a Syrian boy found lying with face down in the beach of Turkey in September 2015.
This chilling photo of the lifeless body of a Syrian boy, which spread in various social media networks, is a fine
example of globalization as a process and condition as it moved people from across the world to express their
concern over the plight of the Syrian refugees and disappointment with the apathy shown by the international
community. Months after the photo became viral, the United States and Russia negotiated with the hostile Syrian
groups for temporary cessation of hostilities in order to save the Syrian refugees that were caught in the crossfire.

Globalization as an ideology

Steger (2005), following the line of reasoning of globalization scholar Michael Freeden, explains that
globalization exists in people's consciousness because it consists of a set of coherent and complementary ideas and
beliefs about the global order. In other words, globalization is a political belief system that benefits a certain class.
He argues that globalization as an ideology is defined by six (6) core claims:

1. Globalization is about the liberalization and global integration of markets, or as stated succinctly in a
Business Week article published in the late 1990s: "Globalization is about the triumph of markets over governments"
(quoted in Steger 2005). The decade of 1990’s was a turning point for most globalization because it saw the
downfall of communism with the collapse of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

2. Globalization is inevitable and irreversible. State leaders pushing for neoliberal policies have been heard
proclaiming that globalization is happening and cannot be stopped, as it was a global wave that has been sweeping

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the world. This determinist language resembles the words used by Karl Marx and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
when they described the course of human history.

3. Nobody is in charge of globalization. Picking up from the classical liberal notion of the "self-regulating
market." Steger (2005) explains that globalization does not promote the agenda of any specific class or group. In
this sense, globalists are not dictating their own agenda on people. What unfold, instead, are events that follow the
immutable imperatives of "transcendental force much larger than narrow partisan interest (Ibid: 20)

4. Globalization benefits everyone in the long run. Free trade and free market, globalists believe, will bring
wealth and prosperity to everyone, this claim is often backed up by several success stories of businessmen from
underdeveloped countries that have embraced globalization. A fine example is Chinese businessman Jack Ma,
founder and executive chairman of the Alibaba Group, who gained wealth and fame by pioneering e-commerce in
China back in the 1990s when using the internet needed so much patience.

5. Globalization furthers the spread of democracy in the world. Globalists share the belief that democracy,
freedom, free markets, free trade are synonymous terms. Although democracy and freedom comprise a particular
type of political system while free markets and free trade refer to a particular economic system, globalization
scholars and state leaders argue about the interconnection of the two (2) systems. Francis Fukuyama, for instance,
thinks that a certain level of economic development brought about by globalization would be conducive to the
creation of complex civil societies with a powerful middle class (Steger, 2005).

6. Globalization requires a global war on terror. This belief, which resulted from the 9-11 attack, combines the
idea of economic globalization with American brand of right-wing foreign policy (openly militaristic and
nationalistic). Prior to 9-11 attack, the economic globalization dominated by the core states in Western Europe,
United States and Japan defined the world order, which was openly challenged during the 9-11 attack by the global
network of terror led by Osama Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda. Globalization scholars think that the ensuing aggressive,
militaristic US foreign policy is a response to protect the gains of globalization.

The Impact of Globalization on the Academe

The advent of globalization in the 1970s had affected greatly affected the academic world as it immediately
gained the interest and attention of most social scientists, [which] were occupied with social phenomena related to
globalization. The impact can be seen in the surge in the number of scholarly works about globalization. Over the
years, the literature on globalization has been enriched with the inclusion of new research areas and topics, such as
studies on transnational sexualities, global tourism, evolution of state institutions, the restructuring of work and the

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improvement of working conditions, transnational care-giving, transnational crime syndicates, and the global media
to name a few. Clearly, the wide array of globalization-related research topics that scholars can choose from points
to the ubiquity of the effects of globalization (Appelbaum and Robinson, 2005).

By way of reiteration, the burgeoning literature on globalization reflects the enormity of human activities
that can be studied. Also, it shows the extent of globalization's impact on human lives; it shows how different we
have become compared to our predecessors in terms of the level of sophistication and cosmopolitanism. The
globalization literature suggests that there are two major branches of research: (1) those studying specific problems
or issues as they relate to globalization; (2) those studying the concept of globalization itself-theorizing the very
nature of the process. Both areas entail a great deal of theorizing in order to make sense of the various phenomena
comprising globalization. How do we theorize on this phenomenon that we call globalization? What types of
theories have been developed to explain social change in the 21st century? Are the major theories of the traditional
social science disciplines adequate to explain the various phenomena within globalization? Or, do we need new
theoretical models?

Domain Questions

As mentioned above, the burgeoning literature on globalization resulted in the generation of several
theories and conceptual frameworks. Each of these theories gives us a distinct way of interpreting the social realities
that form part of the phenomenon of globalization. Given their contradicting assumptions about the globalized
world, it would not be incorrect for us to think that these theories are engaged in a debate. The subsequent
discussion will attempt to cover the major theoretical paradigms that serve the function of a lens that we can use in
order to get a clear view of globalization. The discussion on the theories of globalization, according to Robinson
(2005), should be based on domain questions, which provide the assumptive bases for theorizing.

The following are the domain questions: globalization

1. When did globalization begin? This is likely the most important domain question since it involves the
underlying ontological issue in studies;

2. Is the core of the process economic, political or cultural? Is there a material or an ideational determinacy?
Are there multiple determinations and how would they be ordered? These questions involve the causal
determination(s) in globalization; underlying

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 3. Does globalization refer to a process or a condition? Most theories view globalization as a process of
transformation. Some theorists make a distinction between globalization as a process and globality as a condition.
How do modernity and post modernity relate to globalization?

4. What is the relationship between globalization and the nation-state? Is the nation-state being
undermined or has it retained its primacy and relevance? Or, has the nation-state experienced unprecedented
transformation due to globalization? Does globalization involve internationalization (seen as an increased intensity
of exchanges among nation-states) or transnationalization (involving emerging structures, processes and
phenomena that transcend the nation-state system)?

5. Lastly, to what extent is the relationship between social structure and territoriality being redefined by
globalization? What is the relationship between the local and the global? How are space and time being
reconfigured?

These questions shall form the backbone of the discussion on the theoretical paradigms associated with
globalization.

1. World Systems Paradigm – Immanuel Wallerstein, the principal proponent of the theory, views
globalization not as a recent phenomenon but as virtually synonymous with the birth and spread of world capitalism,
c. 1500. For him, the appropriate unit of analysis for macro-social inquiry in the modern world is neither class, nor
state/society, or country, but the larger historical system, in which these categories are located. This paradigm
adheres to the idea that capitalism has created a global enterprise that swept the 19th century leading to the
present time. That is why the followers of this paradigm argue that globalization is not at all a new process but
something that is just continuing and evolving.

A key structure of the capitalist world-system is the division of the world into three great regions, or
geographically based and hierarchically organized tiers. The first is the core, or the powerful and developed centers
of the system, originally comprised of Western Europe and later expanded to include North America and Japan. The
second is the periphery, those regions that have been forcibly subordinated to the core through colonialism or other
means, and in the formative years of the capitalist world-system would include Latin America, Africa, Asia, the
Middle East and Eastern Europe. Third is the semi-periphery, comprised of those states and regions that were
previously in the core and are moving down in this hierarchy, or those that were previously in the periphery and are
moving up. Another key feature of this world-system is the centrality and immanence of the inter-state system and
inter-state rivalry to the maintenance and reproduction of the world-system. The world-system paradigm does not

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see any transcendence of the nation-state system or the centrality of nation-states as the principal component units
of a larger global system.

2. Global Capitalism Paradigm – The theories under this school of thought treat globalization as a novel
stage in the evolving system of world capitalism (hence these theorists tend to speak of capitalist globalization). As
such, globalization has its own unique features that distinguish it from earlier epochs. They focus on new global
production and financial system; both are seen to have superseded earlier national forms of capitalism. They also
emphasize the rise of processes that cannot be framed within the nation state/inter-state system, which lies at the
core of the world-system theory and most traditional macro-social theories. The seminal studies of Sklair (2000,
2002) have showcased the theory of the global system, which espoused the 'transnational practices' (TNPS) as
operational categories for the analysis of transnational phenomena. His theory argues that the TCC has emerged as a
new class that brings together several social groups who see their own interests in an expanding global capitalist
system: the executives of transnational corporations; 'globalizing bureaucrats, politicians, and professionals, and
consumerist elites' in the media and the commercial sector (Sklair, 2000).

Meanwhile, the major studies of Robinson (2003, 2004) have advanced a related theory of global capitalism
involving three planks: transnational production, transnational capitalists and a transnational state. For him,
globalization creates new forms of transnational class relations across borders and new forms of class cleavages
globally and within countries, regions, cities and local communities, in ways quite distinct from the old national class
structures and international class conflicts and alliances.

3. The Network Society School of Thought – In its simplest explanation, this paradigm of globalization does
not subscribe to the contention that capitalism fuels globalization. Instead, it puts forth the premise that technology
and technological change are the underlying causes of the several processes that comprise globalization. In fact,
this idea is articulated in the important collection of works of Manuel Castells called The Rise of the Network Society
(1996, 1997, 1998), which features his techno logistic approach to globalization. is: (1) informational, knowledge-
based; (2) global, in that production is organized on a global scale; and (3) networked, in that productivity is
generated through global networks of interaction. In Castells' view, the networked enterprise makes material the
culture of the informational, global economy: it transforms signals into commodities by processing knowledge
(1996: 188).

4. Space, Time and Globalization – For Anthony Giddens, the conceptual essence of globalization is 'time-
space distanciation'. Giddens defines time-space distanciation as the intensification of worldwide social relations

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which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away
and vice versa social relations are "lifted out from local contexts of interaction and restructured across time and
space (1990: 64). In a distinct variant of this spatio-temporal theme, David Harvey, in his now classic 1990 study The
Condition of Post-modernity, argues that globalization represents a new burst of 'time-space compression produced
by the very dynamics of capitalist development.

Another key figure in the globalization theories involving space and time is Saskia Sassen's, who wrote The
Global City (1991), which has had an exceptionally broad impact across the disciplines and left an indelible mark on
the then emergent field of globalization studies. Sassen's study is grounded in a larger body of literature on 'world
cities' that view world-class cities as sites of major production, finances or coordinating of the world economy within
an international division of labor, and more recent research on 'globalizing cities'. Sassen proposes that a new
spatial order is emerging under globalization based on a network of global cities and led by New York, London and
Tokyo. These global cities are sites of specialized services for transnationally mobile capital that is so central to the
global economy (this will be further discussed in a separate chapter on global cities).

Roland Robertson introduced and popularized the concept of "glocalization". This catchy term means that
the ideas about home, locality and community have been extensively spread around the world in recent years, so
that the local has been globalized. And, the stress upon the significance of the local or the communal can be viewed
as one ingredient of the overall globalization process (Robertson 1995).

5. Transnationality and Transnationalism - In the globalization literature, transnationalism generally refers to

an umbrella concept encompassing a wide variety of transformative processes, practices and developments that
take place simultaneously at the local level and global level. Transnational processes and practices are defined
broadly as the multiple ties and interactions -economic, political, social and cultural - that link people, communities
and institutions across the borders of nation-states. Scholars such as Levitt (2001), Smith and Guarnizo (1998), and
Portes and his colleagues (1999) point to the novel character of transnational links in the era of globalization.
Transnational ties among recent immigrants are more intense than those of their historical counterparts due to the
speed and relatively inexpensive character of travel and communications and that the impact of these ties is
increased by the global and national context in which they occur (Levitt, 2001; Portes, 1995; Portes et al, 1999).

6. Global Culture paradigm – These theorists emphasize the rapid growth of the mass media and resultant
global cultural flows and images in recent decades, evoking the image famously put forth by Marshall McLuhan of
the global village'. Cultural theories of globalization have focused on such phenomena as globalization and religion,

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nations and ethnicity, global consumerism, global communications and the globalization of tourism. For instance,
Ritzer (1993, 2002) coined the now popularized term 'McDonaldization' to describe the sociocultural processes by
which the principles of the fast-food restaurant came to dominate more and more sectors of US and later world
society. Ritzer, in this particular homogenization approach, suggests that Weber's process of rationalization became
epitomized in the late 20th century in the organization of McDonald's restaurants along seemingly efficient,
predictable and standardized lines - an instrumental rationality (the most efficient means to a given end)- yet results
in an ever deeper substantive irrationality, such as alienation, waste, low nutritional value and the risk of health
problems, and so forth.

The above-mentioned approaches are just some of the major theoretical underpinnings that seek to provide
a clear conceptualization of globalization. While it cannot be denied that the formulation of these theories have
resulted in seemingly endless academic debates centered on the correct way of interpreting globalization, they have
also helped us in correcting some of the wrong notions and misconceptions about globalization. The discussion that
follows is focused on these misconceptions.

Misconceptions about globalization

Scholte (2008), in his attempt to clarify the meaning of globalization, criticizes the several flawed analyses of
globalization pointing out that they end in failure to produce new knowledge. In other words, he defines
globalization by telling us what it is not. Below are the misconceptions of globalization.

Globalization as internationalization

Although the terms internationalization and globalization are interchangeable there is a big difference in
their meanings. Internationalization includes activities by entities such as corporations, states, international
organizations, private organizations, and even individuals with reference to national borders and national
governments. Globalization, on the other hand, includes a gamut of human activities that do not require reference
to a state's national borders. For instance, exchanges of romantic words in a social media platform such as Facebook
between a Filipina located in the Philippines and a German residing in his country fall within globalization do not
need their respective government's permission to do so.

Globalization occurs in this "Facebook era", where social networking sites have drawn people closer more
than ever (Source: The Shining Gem - WordPress.com). Facebook is a social networking site with at least 2.19 billion
active users in the first quarter of 2018.

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 The problem is "when globalization is interpreted as internationalization, the term refers to a growth of
transactions and interdependence between countries" (Ibid: 1473). Most accounts of globalization-as-
internationalization stress that contemporary trends are a repetition of the past. For example, some scholars note
that the levels of cross-border trade, direct investment and permanent migration were as great or greater in the late
19th century as they were a hundred years later (Hirst and Thompson, 1999; and O'Rourke and Williamson, 1999).
These claims of familiarity and historical repetition become the basis for its rejection. Scholte points out his critique
through a question: if globality is nothing other than internationality - except perhaps larger amounts of it-then why
bother with new vocabulary? (2008: 1474)

Globalization as liberalization

Another misconception in the analyses of globalization is treating it as synonymous to liberalization.

Liberalization is commonly understood as the removal of barriers and restrictions imposed by national
governments so as to create an open and borderless world economy. In this sense, globalization is realized when
national governments "reduce or abolish regulatory measures like trade barriers, foreign exchange restrictions,
capital controls and visa requirements" (Scholte, 2008: 1475).

The problem with this, Scholte explains that it confines the study of globalization within the debate
concerning the neoliberal macroeconomic policies. On one side of the debate are the academics, business
executives, and policymakers that have supported neoliberal policies of liberalization, privatization, deregulation,
and fiscal restraint would in time bring prosperity, freedom, peace and democracy for all. On the other side, the
critics in the so-called anti-globalization movement have opposed neoliberal policies, arguing that a laissez faire
world economy produces greater poverty, inequality, social conflict, cultural destruction, ecological damage and
democratic deficits (Ibid: 1475). In addition, this misconception carries with it a political implication that neo-
liberalism is the only available policy framework for a truly global world. Finally, debates about the advantages and
disadvantages of laissez faire economics have gone on for centuries without involving the language of globalization.

Globalization as universalization and westernization

A final cul-de-sac appears in the analyses of globalization when it is thought of as universalization and
westernization. Universalization denotes a process of spreading various objects, practices, and experiences to the
different parts of the planet. Hence, there is globalization when things, values, and practices have spread worldwide.
This interpretation of globalization entails homogenization of culture, politics, economy, and laws. As
homogenization progresses, globalization destroys several indigenous cultures and practices. If Western modernity

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spreads and destroys local cultures, this variant of universalization is known as Westernization, neo colonialism,
Americanization, or McDonaldization.

Scholte (2008) notes that there are issues arising from these misconceptions. First, universalization is not a
new feature of world history. The migration of the human species that took place a million years ago is one great
example of globalization in the ancient times. The continuous spread of the major religions like Christianity and Islam
since their foundation constitutes another instance of globalization which is not confined to contemporary period.

Second, westernization is not the only path that can be taken by globalization as shown by the studies on
oriental globalization.

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