Globalization Theories

Vida Narag-Banguibang
CBEA Faculty
 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.
• Ex. Christianity, Americanization
• IMF- one size fits all, that treats countries in
the world the same, making rich countries
 advatageous over the poor countries.
• McWorld is existing- only one political
orientation is growing in today’s societies.
• TV, music, books and movies are perceived as
imposed on developing countries by the West.
• It undermines the existence of Al Jazeera and
Bollywood.
• Global media are dominated by small number
of large corporations.
• Ex. Microsoft, facebook, Twitter, Google,
Apple’s iTune.
• McDonaldization- the process by which
Western societies are dominated by the
principle of fast food restaurants.
• Glocalization-Global and local localization
• Glocalization- wherein nations, corporations
etc. Impose themselves on geographic areas
inorder to gain profits, power and so on.
• Globalization can also be seen as a flow of
“nothing” as opposed to “something”
involving the spread of non-places, non-
things, non-people and non services.
 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.
• 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 process.
• Cultural hybridization
• McWorld in homogeneity there is also the
Jihad in heterogeneity. Political groups that
are engaged in an intensification of
nationalism that leads to greater political
heterogeneity in the world.
 Dynamics of Local and Global Culture
• Cultural differentialism emphasizes that
cultures are essentially different are only
superficially affacted by global flows.
• After Cold war, political economic differences
were overshadowed by new fault lines which
is primarily cultural in nature.
• Islamic, Orthodox and Western lead intense
clashes.
• Cultural hybridization is the integration of
local and global cultures.
• Cultural convergence- stresses homogeneity
• Deterritorialization – difficult to tie culture to
a specific geographic point of origin.
 Globalization of Religion
• Information technologies, transportation means
and the media provide countless information
about religion giving pieces of information and
explanations about different religions at the
disposal of any person regardless of his/her
geographical locations.
• Religion being the source of identity and pride
practitioners promote it that could reach the level
of globality and be embraced as many people as
possible.
• Globalization brought religions to a circle of
competition and conflicts.
• Such conflict in religions exhibits a solid prood
confirming the erosion and the failure of
hybridization.
• Since religions have distinct internal
structures, their connections to different
cultures and their rituals and beliefs
contradict.
• Less developed countries make religion
related cultures and identities take defensive
measures to protect themselves.
• Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
• The imperialist aspirations of globalization and
its incompatibility with islam make
globalization completely alien to the Muslim
realities.
• Islam and Christianity in some ways mostly
incompatible with each other. This religion
cannot be hybridized or homogenized even if
they often come in contact.
• Religion seeks to assert its identity in the light
of globalization.
• Globalization is also associated with the
westernization and Americanization.
• Religion takes caution against the norms and
the values related to globalization. It
challenges globalization since it does not
approve the hybridization.
 Globalization and Regionalization
• Regional organizations prefer a regional
partners over the rest. Regional organizations
respond to the state’s attempt to reduce the
perceived negative effects of globalization.
• Europeans consider globalization brings
negative effects to the societies.
• “managed globalization” an attempt to make
globalization more palatable to citizens.
• ASEAN, EU, NAFTA
• The development of regionalization is not a
barrier to political globalization but on the
contrary, entirely compatible with it- if not
indirect encouragement.
• Increasing developments in interegional
cooperation shows that the regionalization
process is global in nature.
• Regionalization is linked to globalization.
• Region- is a group of countries in the same
geographically specified area.
• Regionalism is the formal process of
intergovernmental collaboration between two
or more states.
• Economic motivations are the forces behind
contemporary regionalization.
• Asian states may gain power over flows of
capital and enhance their bargaining power
against the Transnational Corporations
(TNC’s).
• With this domestic companies may benefit
from belonging to a regional market big
enough to allow them scale economies while
still being protected from global competitions.
• These TNC’s not part of a given regional trade
agreement find themselves disadvantage.
Thus they will lobby their national
governments to sign similar trade agreements
in order to end their disadvantaged
commercial situation.