The Notion of Globalization - Essay Example

?Globalisation Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Concept of Globalisation 4 Critical Analysis of the Features of Globalisation 7 Differing Perspectives on Globalisation 10 Conclusion 12 References 13 Bibliography 16 Introduction Since the early 1900s, the particular term ‘globalisation’ has been under rigorous scrutiny in the international forefront where experts have been incessantly concentrated on the development of a structured all inclusive definition of globalisation. According to Rothenberg (2003), “globalisation is the acceleration and intensification of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations” (pp: 1). Today, with the altering viewpoints, globalisation has emerged as “neologism of the new millennium” (Putko, 2006: 1). Consequently, it has made a resounding effect on the picturesque of mankind playing a pivotal role in the social aspect and thereby making drastic changes in the welfare of the civilisation of mankind. Hence, globalisation can be referred as a process of amalgamation through which exchange of world views, products, ideas and different facets of cultures takes place (Lee & Vivarelli, 2006). Based on this context, the paper will be concentrated on explaining the concept of globalisation as an on-going phenomenon by critically discussing the major features of the terminology. Emphasising on the vividness of the term ‘globalisation’, an explanation will also be provided in the discussion henceforth, elaborating the theoretical context of the phenomenon. Concept of Globalisation Globalisation can be referred as one of the major outcomes of the continuous expansion of trade activities and exchanges taking place since ages in the progressively integrated and borderless international economy. There have been extraordinary developments in the trade and exchange related activities, through services, production functions and also through the interaction of currencies in the capital movements (Ojeili & Hayden, 2006). Consequently, globalisation has emerged as one of the revolving strata, opening the doors in the international economy and leading towards the assimilation in relation to markets on a global basis. Although the phenomenon is much debated and illustrated in the economic sphere of the world economy, it has also been playing a crucial role in influencing the social sphere of mankind, interrelating and apparently comparing one culture with another. This also provides a broader scope of harmony and uniformity within the global social atmosphere. Hence, it is on the basis of these rudiments that globalisation has often been regarded as a ‘mega-phenomenon’ rather than a mere change process (Stefanovic, 2008; Houghton & Sheehan, 2000). It is in this context that globalisation process is often argued to facilitate ways for trade liberalisation as well as economic liberalisation heading towards the reduction of conservative and monopolistic trade contributing largely in the development of a liberal world. The description provided by Archibugi & Iammarino (2002) further illustrates that “the pace of globalisation and that of technological change have in fact been strictly interrelated and, from a long-term perspective, it appears less important to establish which one should be considered responsible for triggering the other rather than to establish that they mutually enforced each other” (pp. 99). Hence, globalisation can also termed as a change driver in today’s context. For instance, globalisation have often been observed to influences changes within organisations, economies, as well as social environment of various cultures facilitating technological changes through resource mobilisation rendering greater chances for innovation and development. Another vital dimension of globalisation, which has often been identified in its conceptual framework, is its role to augment better communication within the various participants. Contextually, the major communicators or drivers of globalisation have been identified in terms of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) which emphasises on higher mobilisation of resources, innovation as well as global collaborations through strategic procedures (Ritzer, 2011). Majority of theoreticians have proposed technical aspects as one of the important issues for the emergence of globalisation in particular. For instance, by the end of 19th century, the goods demanded and capital required was witnessed to be increased substantially within a short-run period because of some substantial interventions, such as steam engines, electricity and telephones. The upsurge in the demand of such interventions in the neighbouring economies gradually gave rise to free trade operations in the economic sphere. This particular phenomenon can further be observed to continue even in the 21st century context where the technological base of modern globalisation comprises the recent activities of innovation which includes systems of telecommunications, new processes of transportation and augmented uniformity in resource allocation. Studying the chronology of globalisation, the terminology can be identified in three distinct phases, i.e. the period of 1870-1914, the period of 1915-1980 and after the period of post-1980s (Rakic, 2006). From the above description, it can be apparently observed that technology has been the prime force to drive globalisation since the early days. However, with increasing concern and consequently with greater collaboration of various aspects with the terminology such as requirements for social and cultural developments through adequate resource allocation, the phenomenon has indeed taken a shape of a ‘mega-phenomenon’. Today, it not only inculcates the dimensions of technological progresses, but illustrates the effect of any and every kind of change being transmitted from one location to another. In the words of Stefanovic (2008), “globalisation can also be defined as a compression of time and space in a way that events in one part of the world have instantaneous effects on distant locations…as a historical structure of material power…[representing] historical transformation in the economy, politics and culture” (pp. 264). Critical Analysis of the Features of Globalisation The initial and mostly considered characteristic of globalisation is that it is a continuous phenomenon which is further multidimensional in nature. To be elaborated, rather than acting as a single process, it acts in multiple directions from technology advancements to social welfare and global sustainability. It also acts as a changing force towards diversity and innovations. The current trend also reflects that globalisation has provided rooms for transportation advancements, structures in telecommunication systems containing the augmentation of internet services that provided better stability in the civilisation of mankind and has also helped in certain cultural as well as economic activities that are mutually interdependent. Today, globalisation can no more be termed as identical to globalism, which mainly features the objectives for an end state of activities wherein the principles are been shared by or related to the world’s population, their environment and their roles as inhabitants of the country either in terms of consumers or producers (Reich, 1998). It is in this context that globalisation imposes both advantageous and disadvantageous effects on the participants which again tend to be depended on various attributes such as economic and social policy concerns of different economies, the divergences of global economies and differences of perspectives deciphered by the players including MNCs, governments and societies towards change. For instance, a positive view to its recent trend depicts that globalisation has instigates rapid alterations in the economic and technological spheres. Conversely, a negative perspective depict that globalisation has simultaneously caused certain cultural and political consequences in terms of social and economic segregation and unhealthy competition at a larger extent. Contextually, globalisation has also be accused to cause disembedding in the current day context which implies towards the changes occurring in social structured where people are distracted from the local aspects of the environment in the want for competitive global position (Intriligator, 2003). Globalisation has also been examined to facilitate communication and transportation which are further considered to be the major drivers of change in the modern day context. Hence, globalisation can also be termed to play the role of a major change driver. For instance, the impact of globalisation have been emerged as increasingly visible since the 20th century when telecommunication networks were witnessed to grow incessantly bringing change within the organisational, economic as well as social contexts (Eriksen, 2007). Apart from playing the role of a change driver, globalisation, in various instances has been witnessed to act as a metaphor towards standardisation of a particular economy, culture or society. An in-depth perspective towards the phenomenon depicts that globalisation have been influencing higher level of comparability amid economic drivers and communal standards which were completely unidentified in earlier centuries. Notably, it has been with the effects of telecommunication facilities that people today have become much aware regarding the developments instigated in the comparatively advanced world. This further tends to influence the other nations to strive for a similar position in the global forefront. However, such standardisation features deciphered by globalisation has also been observed as a contributor to international integration, uniformity and harmony (Eriksen, 2007). Being a process of divergences, alterations and consequent improvements, globalisation has also acted as a vital ingredient in social as well as cultural and economic mixes of distinct ideologies, philosophies and rationalities. This particular feature of globalisation can be well identified with reference to the act of immigration and migration. Even though migration has been a vital facet of human culture since ancient times, globalisation has influenced more frequent migration activities through transportation and technology advancements. This has virtuously resulted in cultural diversities where the mixture of cultural dimensions has gained enhanced importance. From a philosophical perspective, globalisation necessitates the awakening of the new era and replicates the destruction of boundaries among people to lead a peaceful life. For instance, in the recent context, it can be observed that there has been continuous flow of capital as well as other basic necessities in the global economy facilitating uniform allocation of resources (Eriksen, Differing Perspectives on Globalisation Studying the wider context of the phenomenon in the recent day context, it can be affirmed that different perspectives suggested by different authors in the context of globalisation, commonly implies increasing and expanding interactions between individuals and organisations across the world (Lechner, 2009). It has often been argued in this context that globalisation proposes the relationship between territoriality and authority from a state level point of view towards cosmopolitan and sub-national units offering more on operational developments rather than on fundamental issues. However, globalisation also implies distinctively in various instances, deciphering positivity as well as negative implications in accordance with different structures and processes related to the political as well as economic functionalities as an effect of the changing characters of the goods and possessions (Reese, 2010). It also suggests that through globalisation, greater emphasis is rendered towards economic and political aspects. Based on a similar context, Beynon & Dunkerley (2000) stated that globalisation denotes the processes through which the divergent rudiments of the world scenario are combined into a distinct cluster, which can further be signified as the global society. This suggests globalisation is a process to provide reunion with the environmental characteristics (Beynon & Dunkerley, 2000). As can be observed, the dimensions of globalisation are indeed wide-spread and lack adequate explanation to mitigate the perplexities witnessed in its theoretical descriptions. With this concern, various theoretical explanations were developed to comprehensively describe the features of globalisation. For instance, the theory of divergence emphasises on the cultural unevenness of the world economy and replicates how those differences effects the enactments of people, organisations and economies at large towards a particular issue which provides a generalised perspective towards globalisation as a change driver. As per the rudiments of this theory, the phenomenon of globalisation is also grounded on the issues related to practical judiciousness and aims of human understandings and experiences through the construction of meaningful and subject related works. Therefore, globalisation attempts to recognise the key dimensions of cultural unevenness where each dimension is characterised by precise practices or interpretations. Similarly, the theory of convergence, aims at explaining the reasons owing to which the organisations are becoming increasingly alike when compared in the global context. The convergence theory also refers to a set of constraints that are rooted in the context of the global economy which directly effects the re-structuring of organisations causing similarities within the business, economic as well as social rudiments (Stohl, 2004). Conclusion The above description based on the conceptualisation of the phenomenon termed as ‘globalisation’ apparently reveals that the terminology presents a complex and multidimensional viewpoint towards the changes occurring within the global context. It has often been argued in this context that the recent trends depict greater degree of interdependency and uniformity in the global scenario where economies are becoming increasingly clustered in a singular business environment. One of the basic reasons to such alterations have been identified as globalisation which further can be identified with the illustration of trade liberalisation, technology advancements, transportation facilities, innovations, and communication. It is worth mentioning in this context that wider researches and analysis is required to develop a furthermore comprehensive explanation to the aspect of globalisation distinguishing its various dimensions. References Archibugi, D. & Iammarino, S., 2002. The Globalization Of Technological Innovation: Definition And Evidence. Review of International Political Economy, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 98–122. Beynon, J. H. & Dunkerley, D., 2000. Globalization: The Reader. Routledge. Eriksen, T. H., 2007. Globalization: The Key Concepts. Dimensions of Globalization. [Online] Available at: http://folk.uio.no/geirthe/Globalization.html [Accessed November 13, 2012]. Houghton, J. & Sheehan, P., A Primer on the Knowledge Economy. CSES Working Paper No. 18. Intriligator, M. D., 2003. Globalization of the World Economy: Potential Benefits and Costs and a Net Assessment. University of California. Lechner, F. J., 2009. Globalization: The Making of World Society. John Wiley & Sons. Lee, E. & Vivarelli, M., 2006. The Social Impact of Globalization in the Developing Countries. Discussion Paper No. 1925. Ojeili, C. E. & Hayden, P., 2006. Critical Theories of Globalization. Palgrave McMillan. Putko, C. M., 2006. Defining and Quantifying Globalization. USAWC Strategy Research Project. Rakic, B., 2006. Economic Aspects of Globalization. Economics and Organization, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 13 - 20. Rothenberg, L. E., 2003. The Three Tensions of Globalization. Occasional Papers from the American Forum for Global Education. Ritzer, G., 2011. Globalization: The Essentials. John Wiley & Sons. Reese, S. D., 2010. Journalism and Globalization. Sociology Compass, Vol. 4, No. 6, pp. 344–353. Stohl, C. 2004. Experiencing Globalization. Globalization Theory, pp. 223-261. Stefanovic, Z. Globalization: Theoretical Perspectives, Impacts and Institutional Response Of The Economy. Economics and Organization, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 263 - 272. Bibliography Boudreax, D. J., 2008. Globalization. Abc-Clio. Hogan, J. P., 2005. Cultural Identity, Pluralism and Globalization. Cultural Pluralism and Democratic Freedom, Vol. VII, No. 13. Osterhammel, J. & Petersson, N.P. 2005. Globalization: A Short History. Princeton University Press. Steger, M. B., 2010. Globalization. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. Waters, M., 2001. Globalization. Routledge. Read More