THE STRUCTURES OF

GLOBALIZATION
INTRODUCTION
• THE GLOBAL ECONOMY HAS CHANGED IN VERY
SIGNIFICANT WAYS DURING THE SEVERAL DECADES
AND THESE CHANGES ARE ROOTED IN HOW THE
GLOBAL ECONOMY IS ORGANIZED AND GOVERNED.
• GLOBAL ECONOMY CAN BE STUDIED AT DIFFERENT
LEVELS OF ANALYSIS
1. MACRO LEVEL
2. MESO LEVEL
3. MICRO LEVEL
1. MACRO LEVEL
THESE ARE
INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS AND
REGIMES THAT ESTABLISH
RULES AND NORMS FOR
THE GLOBAL ECONOMY.
• WORLD BANK
• INTERNATIONAL MONETARY
FUND
• WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATION
• INTERNATIONAL LABOR
2. MESO LEVEL
MESO-ECONOMICS CAN BE
DEFINED AS THE
INTERMEDIARY LEVEL
BETWEEN MACRO-ECONOMICS
AND MICRO-ECONOMICS. THE
FIELD OF MESOECONOMICS IS
SUBDIVIDED INTO THE STUDY
OF REGIONAL ECONOMICS AND
THAT OF SECTORAL
DEVELOPMENTS OR THE
3. MICRO LEVEL
THERE IS A GROWING
LITERATURE ON THE
RESISTANCE OF
GLOBALIZATION BY
CONSUMER GROUPS,
ACTIVISTS, AND
TRANSNATIONAL SOCIAL
MOVEMENT (LABOR ISSUES
AND ENVIRONMENTAL
ABUSES).
MANY THEORIES RELATED TO ECONOMIC
SOCIOLOGY INCORPORATE THE GLOBAL
ECONOMY IN THEIR FRAMEWORK BUT
THEY DIFFER IN THE DEGREE TO WHICH IT
IS CONCEPTUALIZED AS A SYSTEM THAT
SHAPES THE BEHAVIOR AND MOTIVATION
OF ACTORS INSIDE IT, OR AS AN ARENA
WHERE NATIONALLY DETERMINED ACTORS
MEET, INTERACT, AND INFLUENCE EACH
OTHER.
WHAT IS REALLY NEW ABOUT THE
GLOBAL ECONOMY?
1. THE INCREASINGLY
SEAMLESS WEB OF
INTERNATIONAL
PRODUCTION AND
TRADE NETWORKS THAT
GIRDLE THE GLOBE
APPEARS TO BE
DISTINCTIVE FEATURE
AND IT REQUIRES A NEW
KIND OF
ORGANIZATIONAL
PERSPECTIVE THAT HAS
BEEN GROWN RAPIDLY.
 2. A CLOSER LOOK AT
HOW AND WHY
PRODUCTION AND
TRADE HAVE BEEN
REORGANIZED IN THE
GLOBAL ECONOMY IN
THE CONTEMPORARY
ERA.
REASON? = RESEARCH BY A
DIVERSE GROUP OF RESULT? = REALIZATION THAT THE INTEGRATION
SCHOLARS FROM ECONOMICS, OF TRADE AND DIINTEGRATION OF PRODUCTION
BUSINESS SCHOOLS, ON A GLOBAL SCALE, ALTER THE IDEAS WHAT
CONNECTS NATIONAL ECONOMIES, FIRMS, PLACES
SOCIOLOGY, AND ECONOMIC
AND PEOPLE
3. IT REVIEWS
SELECTED
INSTITUTIONAL
AND
ORGANIZATION
PERSPECTIVES ON
THE GLOBAL
ECONOMY.
• VARIETIES OF CAPITALISM
LITERATURE
• NATIONAL BUSINESS
SYSTEMS
•
HOW NEW IS THE GLOBAL ECONOMY?
MUCH OF THE GLOBALIZATION
DEBATE HAS BEEN FUELLED BY
DIFFERENT CONCEPTIONS OF WHAT
IS HAPPENING “OUT THERE” IN THE
GLOBAL ECONOMY AND WHETHER
IT REALLY REPRESENTS
SOMETHING NEW.
THE ORIGIN OF GLOBAL ECONOMY

IT CAN BE TRACED
BACK TO THE
EXPANSION OF LONG
DISTANCE TRADE
DURING THE PERIOD OF
1450-1640, WHICH
WALLERSTEIN HAS
LABELLED THE “LONG
FROM THE 15TH ONWARD
NUMBERED OF
CHARTERED TRADING
COMPANIES EMERGED IN
EUROPE.

• EAST INDIA COMPANY

• HUDSON’S BAY
COMPANY PURPOSE? = TRADE AND
EXCHANGE RATHER THAN
PRODUCTION
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY
WAS INITIALLY CREATED IN
1600 TO SERVE AS A TRADING
BODY FOR ENGLISH
MERCHANTS, SPECIFICALLY
TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EAST
INDIAN SPICE TRADE. IT
LATER ADDED SUCH ITEMS AS
COTTON, SILK, INDIGO,
SALTPETER, TEA, AND OPIUM
TO ITS WARES AND ALSO
PARTICIPATED IN THE SLAVE
TRADE.
THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY
(HBC), FAMOUS FOR THEIR
ICONIC POINT BLANKETS AND
THEIR ROLE IN STARTING THE
FUR TRADE INDUSTRY IN
CANADA, IS NAMED AFTER THIS
LARGE BODY OF WATER. HBC
WAS INCORPORATED ON MAY
2ND 1670 AND IS THE OLDEST
CORPORATION IN NORTH
AMERICA (AND IS AMONG THE
OLDEST IN THE WORLD).
THE DYNAMICS OF
THE CAPITALIST
WORLD SYSTEM
LAID THE
FOUNDATION FOR A
PROCESS OF
INDUSTRIALIZATIO
N AND NEW
INTERNATIONAL
DIVISION OF LABOR=
DIVISIONS OF SPECIALIZATION OF WORKERS IN
LABOR IN GLOBAL DIFFERENT PARTS OF PRODUCTION