Chapter 1 Defining Globalization PDF

Chapter 1 Defining Globalization  Globalization is 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. - Anthony Giddens Globalization is the representation of the...

Chapter 1 Defining Globalization  Globalization is 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. - Anthony Giddens Globalization is the representation of the triumph of a capitalist world economy tied together by a global division of labor. - Immanuel Wallerstein Globalization is a concept that refers both to the compression of the world and the intensification of consciousness of the world - Roland Robertson Definitions of globalization can be categorized into two (Aldama, 2018) Broad and exclusive – these definitions can include a variety of issues however sometimes vague Narrow and inclusive – they are better justified and more focused but can be limiting. Firstly, defining globalization is shaped by the perspective of the person who defines it. In effect, one’s definition and perspective could determine concrete steps in addressing the issues of globalization. Whether one sees it as something positive or negative or it could be deemed as the reason for a greater inequality among nations. Secondly, to paraphrase the sociologist Cesare Poppi: globalization is the debate and the debate is globalization. As Poppi (1997) wrote: “The literature stemming from the debate on globalization has grown in the last decade beyond any individual’s capability of extracting a workable definition of the concept. In a sense, the meaning of the concept is self-evident, in another, it is a vague and obscure as its reaches are wide and constantly shifting. Perhaps, more than any other concept, globalization is the debate about it. Thirdly, globalization is a reality that changes as the human society develops. It has happened before and it is still happening today. We should expect it to continue to happen in the future. The future of globalization is more difficult to predict “Globalization refers to the expansion and intensification of social relations and consciousness across world-time and worldspace.” - Steger’s (2013) FOUR CORE QUALITIES OR CHARACTERISTICS First, it involves both the creation of new social networks and the multiplication of existing connections that cut across traditional political, economic, cultural, and geographical boundaries The second quality of globalization is reflected in the expansion and the stretching of social relations, activities, and connections.  Third, globalization involves the intensification and acceleration of social exchanges and activities. Fourth, globalization processes do not occur merely on an objective, material level but they also involve the subjective plane of human consciousness METAPHORS OF GLOBALIZATION “SOLID” to describe the epochs before the era of globalization. The best example of this solidity was the erection and maintenance of the Berlin Wall in order to keep East Berliners in and Western influences out. When the Wall was erected, relations between West and East Berlin were virtually frozen in place – they solidified – and there was comparatively little movement of anything between them. “LIQUID” to describe the global world. This is exemplified in many areas, such as foreign trade, investment, and global financial transactions (Knorr Cetina, 2016), the globality of transactions and interactions on the Internet (e.g. Facebook, Twitter [Axford, 2016]) ‘’after all, liquids flow easily – far more easily than solids. Because so much of the world has “melted,” or is in the process of “melting,” and has become liquefied, globalization is increasingly characterized by great flows of increasingly liquid phenomena of all types, including people, objects, information, decisions, places, and so on.- (Appadurai, 1996; Rey and Ritzer, 2010)