What is globalisation?

What is globalisation?

One can be sure that virtually every one of the about 3000 academic papers on globalisation written in one year included its own definition, as would each of the nearly new books on the subject published yearly.

Many see it as a primarily economic phenomenon, involving the increasing interaction, or integration, of national economic systems through the growth in international trade, investment and capital flows.

However, one can also point to a rapid increase in cross-border social, cultural 14414b116o and technological exchange as part of the phenomenon of globalisation. The sociologist, Anthony Giddens, defines globalisation as a decoupling of space and time, emphasising that with instantaneous communications, knowledge and culture can be shared around the world simultaneously.

A Dutch academic who maintains a good website on globalisation[1], Ruud Lubbers, defines it as a process in which geographic distance becomes a factor of diminishing importance in the establishment and maintenance of cross-border economic, political and socio-cultural relations

Left critics of globalisation define the word quite differently, presenting it as worldwide drive toward a globalised economic system dominated by supranational corporate trade and banking institutions that are not accountable to democratic processes or national governments.

Globalisation has taken off as a concept in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and of socialism as a viable alternate form of economic organisation.

Try this: Globalisation is the rapid increase in cross-border economic, social, technological exchange under conditions of capitalism.

David Held and Anthony McGrew write in their entry for Oxford Companion to Politics that globalisation can be conceived as a process (or set of processes) which embodies a transformation in the spatial organization of social relations and transactions, expressed in transcontinental or interregional flows and networks of activity, interaction and power.[2]

When did globalisation begin?

There is no agreed starting point, but understanding of globalisation is helped by considering the following.

The first great expansion of European capitalism took place in the 16th century, following the first circumnavigation of the earth in 1519 to 1521.

There was a big expansion in world trade and investment in the late 19th century. This was brought to a halt by the First World War and the bout of anti-free trade protectionism that led to the Great Depression in 1930. Some see this period as an interruption to the process of globalisation commenced in the late 19th century.

A sense that the world was united was generated by the establishment of the International Date Line and world time zones, together with the near global adoption of the Gregorian calendar between 1875 and 1925. During that period, international standards were also agreed for telegraphy and signalling.

The end of WW2 brought another great expansion of capitalism with the development of multinational companies interested in producing and selling in the domestic markets of nations around the world. The emancipation of colonies created a new world order. Air travel and the development of international communications enhanced the progress of international business.

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union ended the cold war between the forces of capitalism and socialism with capitalism triumphant. The development of the internet made possible the organisation of business on a global scale with greater facility than ever before[3].

Enlightenment/Modernization (15^th century and onwards)

decoupling of religion and science

rationalization of life

individualization

rise of capitalism

democratic nation-state formation

colonization

An era of three worlds (1945-1989)

end of World War 2

establishment of two families of IGOs* : the UN and First World organizations like the OECD, IMF, World Bank, GATT

era characterized by international law, IGO-system and Cold War

decolonization; nation building around the globe

Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) are bodies based on a formal instrument of agreement between the governments of nation states; including three or more nation states as parties to the agreement; possessing a permanent secretariat performing ongoing tasks. One of the oldest IGOs is the World Postal Union (WPU), which was founded in 1874. The WPU became responsible for regulating the international traffic of mail and realized that letters from one country would always be accepted by other countries. The world has seen an incredible growth of the number of IGOs in the past hundred years. Today there are about 1800 IGOs, ranging from narrow technical to highly idealistic organizations. IGOs also are an important motor of globalization. The IMF, World Bank and OECD for example have always been ardent proponents of globalization. Many IGOs are also dealing with the consequences of globalization and work on reducing social, democratic, environmental and security deficits.