GENERAL EDUCATION - 3

THE
CONTEMPORARY
WORLD
 DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU EXPERIENCE
GLOBALIZATION EVERYDAY IN YOUR LIVES?

• You may not be aware of it but some examples

are the food you eat just like those sold in Jollibee
which are distributed worldwide. IPhones used to
connect people all over the world, books you can
access through the Internet, among others.
In the past, the planet was a large society where
human activities and their effects were nearly
compartmentalized within nations, with sectors,
(energy, agriculture, commerce and the like), and
within broad areas of socio-economic and
environmental concerns. However, these
compartments have long been dissolved with the
emergence of globalization.
CONCEPTS OF GLOBALIZATION

Globalization in terms of global interdependence

started centuries ago although the term was just used
recently (Toffler, 1981. pp.490-91). For James
and Steger (2014), it is an extraordinary and
complicated concept that was rarely used until the
1990’s but with processes that had been happening for
centuries.
In the contemporary context, the term “is used to indicate
the global nature of capital, the emergence of a single
global economy, and tremendous speed of exchange
across vast distance. (Kakepoto, 2005).

The globalization process in vogue greatly impacts on

ideological, intellectual, economic, political, and
above all social spheres.
The essence of globalization is the individual’s
increasing awareness of other peoples, culture, and
religions as a result of technological advances in
communications and travel.
With the expansion of awareness, the concept of personal
identity has also broaden. For example, surveys show that in
Europe, most of the people between the ages of 18 and 30
find their identity moren in relationship to the concept off “
Europe” than to the other country in which they live
(Wishard, 1999)
 UNDERLYING PHILOSOPHIES OF THE VARYING
DEFINITION OF GLOBALIZATION

According to the dictionary, globalization means different

things to different people. Since its earliest appearance in the
1960’s “globalization” has been used in both popular and
academic literature to described a wide variety of
phenomenon, including a process, an outcome, a condition, a
system a force, an age, and an ideology (Steger, 2017)
Immanuel Wallerstein defines “Globalization, represents
the triumph of a capitalist world economy tied together by
global division of labor”

David Harvey, “Globalization is the compression of time and

space”.
Martin Albrow, Globalization is all the process by which the
people of the world are incorporated in a single world society.
Anthony Giddins, Globalization canthus be defined
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.

Kenichi Ohmae, “Globalization means the onset of

the borderless world”.
Steger (2005) used the term globality to signify a
future social condition characterized by thick
economic, political, and cultural interconnections
and global flows that make currently existing
political borders and economic barriers irrelevant.

He proposed that the core of Globalization is the

unprecedented compression of time and space as a
result of political, economic, and cultural change,
as well as powerful technological innovations.
He then developed the six core claims of globalism;

• Globalization is about the liberalization and global integration

of markets;
• Globalization is inevitable and irreversible.
• Nobody is in charge of globalization.
• Globalization benefits everyone (i.e., in the long run);
• Globalization furthers the spread of democracy in the world;
• Globalization requires a global war on terror.
Student activities:
• How do cross-cultural differences influence our
personal and social life?
• What do you think are the drivers of globalization?
Support you answer.
• Go to YouTube and watch the video “Globalization
video” and formulate your own working definition of
globalization for the course.