CHAPTER 1;

DEFINING GLOBALIZATION
 INTRODUCTION
 Much has changed since time immemorial. Human
beings have encountered many changes over the last
century especially in their social relationships and social
structures. Of these changes, 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). 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 GLOBALIZATON?

 This question is probably an easy one to

answer. However, many scholars give 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). Aside from this,
Globalization encompasses of multitude of
processes that involves the economy,
political system, and culture. Social
structures, therefore, are directly affected by
 Over the years, globalization has gained many
connotations pertaining to progress, development, and
integration. On the one hand, some view globalization as
a positive phenomena. For instance, Swedish Journalist
Thomas Larsson (2001) saw globalization as “the
process of the world shrinkage, of distance getting
shorter, things move closer. It pertains to the increasing
ease with which somebody on one side of the world”.
On the other hand, some see it as occuring through and
with regression, colonialism, and destabilization. In the
mid-1990’s, Martin Khor, the former president of Third
World Network (TWN) in Malaysia, once regarded
globalization as colonization.
 In this chapter, definitions of globalization
will be discussed.. The task of
conceptualizing it reveals a variety of
prespectives. To understand further the
concept, different metaphors will also
allow an appreciation of earlier ephocs
before globalization and the present
globalized world. The final lesson in this
chapter will be devoted to a general
discussion of globalization theories. The ff.
section will highlight the different views
scholars have toward globalization.
THE TASK OF DEFINING GLOBALIZATION
 Since its first appearance 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…”. This
is an example of a broad and inclusive type of
definition. If one uses such, it can include a variety
of issues that deal with overcoming traditional
boundaries. However, it does not shed light on
the implications of globalization due to its
vagueness.