Defining Globalization: A Lesson Overview PDF

UNIT 1: Lesson 1 DEFINING GLOBALIZATION Several definitions of globalization have been written in various materials over the years. It was defined as a process, a concept and an ideology to mention a few. So how do we fully understand the term? In this lesson, we will try to discuss the con...

UNIT 1: Lesson 1 DEFINING GLOBALIZATION Several definitions of globalization have been written in various materials over the years. It was defined as a process, a concept and an ideology to mention a few. So how do we fully understand the term? In this lesson, we will try to discuss the concept of globalization using different perspectives. Globalization cannot be defined clearly in one term or one definition. It’s definition can be different depending on the field, situation, or events (Al- Rodhan,2006). The meaning of globalization may reflect one's point of view, may it be political, cultural, historical and others. In a journal, Steger (2005) said that the term globalization should be confined to a set of complex, sometimes contradictory, social processes that are changing our current social condition based on the modern system of independent nation-states. Globalization includes economic integration; the transfer of policies across borders; the transmission of knowledge; cultural stability; the reproduction, relations, and discourses of power; it is a global process, a concept, a revolution, and an establishment of the global market free from socio-political control. It is also a concept that has been defined variously over the years, where most of it refers integration and cooperation, development, progress, integration and cooperation, colonialism, regression, and destabilization. Nevertheless, these challenges do not change the true purpose of this term that brings with it a multiple hidden agendas. An individual's political ideology, geographic location, social status, cultural background, and ethnic and religious affiliation also provide a background that determines globalization. Let the following diagram aid us in our discussion. Martin Khor, in 1995, referred to globalization as colonization. From one country to another, colonizers left us with political, cultural, historical and economic influences many of which are very evident up to this day and age. At the same time, Swedish journalist Thomas Larsson, in his book The Race to the Top: The Real Story of Globalization (2001), said that globalization make the world shrink with distances getting shorter and things moving closer. It refers to the increasing ease with which somebody on one side of the world can interact, to mutual benefit, with somebody on the other side of the world. Almost similar to the definition given by David Harvey in his book The Condition of Post-Modernity (1989) where he stated that globalization is the compression of time and space. In today's time, we don't need to spend too much time to reach a particular destination, connect with someone from afar or talk to a family member from the other side of the world real time. Globalization gives us this convenience in the form of technological innovations. On the other hand, Kenichi Ohmae in his book The Borderless World: Power and Strategy in the Global Marketplace (1992) said that globalization is the onset of a borderless world. With globalization, there is an increasing interconnectedness among the countries around the world. There is diffusion of values, beliefs, practices and technology. There is continuous exchange of goods and services. The process of Compression of world shrinkage GLOBALIZATION time and space (Larsson, 2001) (Harvey, 1989) The onset of borderless world. It is what we in the Third World (Ohmae, 1992) have for several centuries called colonization. (Khor, 1995) Figure 1. What is globalization? The difficulty in defining globalization is far from disappearing. Nevertheless, exploring the different meanings and idea behind globalization, we are able to see how the concept has been identified over the course of a relative number of years.