SS111(The Contemporary World)

Course Description:
This course introduces students to the contempo-
rary world by examining the multifaceted phenom-
enon of globalization. Using the various disciplines
of the social sciences, it examines the economic,
social, political, technological, and other transfor-
mations that have created an increasing awareness
of the interconnectedness of peoples and places
around the globe.
 COURSE CONTENT/ SUBJECT
MATTER

Unit 1: The Structures of Globalization

 

1.1 What is Globalization

1.2 Ideologies of Globalization

 Unit 2: Global Economy

 1.International Trading Systems
 2. The Bretton Woods System
 3. Neoliberalism and Its Discontents
 4. Global Financial Crisis and the Challenge to Neoliber-
alism
 Unit 3: Global Governance
1. Global System
2. The United Nations

Unit 4: A World of Regions

1. Global Divides: North and South
2. Asian Regionalism
 Unit 5: A World of Ideas

1. Global Media Cultures

2.Globalization And Religion

 Unit 6:
Global Population and Mobility

1. Global City
2. Global Migration

Unit 7: Global Citizenship

 Part 1:
THE STRUCTURES OF
GLOBALIZATION

What is Globalization?
A. Defining Globalization
B. Globalization Theories
C. Origins and History of Globalization
 Introduction

How globalized are you?

Make an inventory of everything that you
possess that are of foreign brands.

.
 Defining
Globalization
 GLOBALIZATION

-“Borderless world”

- the expansion and intensification of

social relations and consciousness
across world time and across world-
space

-all those processes by which the

people of the world are incorporated
into a single world society.

Pic. Source: https://www.newamerica.org/oti/events/dig-

ital-globalization-the-new-era-of-global-flows-and-what-
it-means-for-the-united-states/
 - we are the object or subject of
Globalization

- it is a process that increases either

homogeneity or heterogeneity
Homogeneity is often linked to
cultural imperialism
Imperialism

It is a broad concept that

describes various methods
employed by one country to
gain control of another
country and then to exercise
control, especially political,
economic, and territorial, over
that country, and perhaps
many other countries.

Pic. Source: https://philosophersforchange.org/2015/02/17/the-

new-imperialism/
 HETEROGENEITY is associated
with
CULTURAL HYBRIDIZATION
Example: glocalization, glocal, creolization, amalgamation

Challenge: How do you interrelate local, national and global

culture? How can local/national identity survive in the face of an
emerging global culture?
 Theories of Globalization
.
 World System Theory
-CORE: rich & developed states

-PERIPHERY: poor & dependent states

-SEMI-PERIPHERY: the ‘in-between; semi-

industrialised states
Pic. Source: http://greenfieldgeography.wikispaces.com/Dispar-
ities+and+change
Theory of the Global System
The model involves TNPs at three levels:

-the economic, whose agent is transnational

capital;

-the political, whose agent is a transnational

capitalist class (TCC);

-the cultural-ideological, whose agent is

cultural elites.
 Network Society
-”technologistic” approach to globalization or ”Age of
information” or “informationalism”

-digital connectivity and empowerment of the

internet and the World Wide Web

-Generation Z or Gen Z (also known as iGeneration 

or iGen and Post-Millennials
LIBERALISMS

-Welfare and freedom

POLITICAL REALISMS
-Power

-Importance of sovereign states (balance of power,

dominant state at a particular moment;
consequent interests)

-Stressing the uneven nature of globalization

 
MARXISMS
-Class relations/conflict
-Production, distribution, (social class)
emancipation
-Excessive emphasis on class (conflict)
CONSTRUCTIVISMS
- Transplanetary connectivity due to the
importance of symbols, language, interpretation,
etc. in constructing the social world
Postmodernisms

-emphasize relativity or
Subjectivism and individuality
-critique include universalist notions
of objective reality, morality and truth
 
Feminisms
-Subordination/marginalization of women

-feminization of poverty

-According to study (Rios, 2015) women are poorer

than men in every state, regardless of education or
geographic location. 
Eclecticism
-does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or
set of assumptions, but instead draws upon
multiple theories
Origins and History of
Globalization
- Started when our ancestors
walked out from their place to
make lives better

- Through trade, missionary work,

adventures, and conquest
(Chanda,2007)
Globalization of Religion

-Most significant event is the personal

decision of the Roman Emperor Constantine
to favour Christianity

- The spread of Islam expanded rapidly after

the death of Muhammad
through military conquests and trade
European Colonial Conquests
The European colonial period was the
era from the 15th century to 1914 when
countries such as Spain, Portugal,
Britain, Russia, Sweden, France, the
Netherlands, Germany, Italy and
Belgium established colonies outside 
Europe.
 
 Colonialism generally
involves settlers as well as
much more formal
mechanisms of political
control than those of
imperialism. It often entails
the creation by the colonial
power in the country that has
been colonized of an
administrative apparatus to
run its internal affairs,
including its settlements.

Pic. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/

File:Flag_map_of_Colonial_Africa_(1945).png
European Imperialism
-state policy, practice,
or advocacy of extending power and
dominion or by gaining political
and economic control of other
areas.
 
 The Emergence of the United
States as the global power
-American Century' to describe
American dominance throughout
the 20th century.
 
The Emergence of Mutinational
Corporations or worldwide
enterprise 
-a corporate organization that
owns or controls production of
goods or services in at least
one country other than its
home country.
 
May God bless us
 Learning Activity

#Hashtags for the Day

Essay: “Globalization I-The Upside” Video Evaluation
Chart
Watch Crash Course World History #41: Globalization I-
The Upside Hosted by John Green. Use this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SnR-e0S6Ic and
answer the following questions below.

1. Your response to the video in 10 words:

2. In 10 words, explain the purpose/theme/aim of the

video.

3. Make a summary of the video in 20 words.

4. In ten words, what are the values you learned from

video?