Globalisation - Literature review Example

Globalisation is the process in which the political, social, cultural and political relations across international boundaries are intensified. It brings in the world as one unit and not as units performing things together. The trade barriers are broken and the markets are opened up to all. There arises mobility of labour and capital; trade becomes free across the nations. The term globalisation brings about the formation of capitalism around the world. Internationalisation is not the same as globalisation as it still recognises the units involved whereas globalisation takes the aggregate total to be a single society. Liberalisation can be used as a synonym for globalization in the perspective that the there are domestic liberalisation and foreign liberalization where the former is seen to influence the markets to conform to the standards of the markets abroad. The administrative barriers are removed to ensure that there is free mobility of services, goods, trade and capital which may be taken in two ways, that is, foreign direct investment and portfolio direct flow Chossudovsky, Michel(1997). In globalisation, the economies, cultures and societies are interlinked together to form a global network which is through transportation, communication and trade and hence brings all the people together. Globalisation has had many impacts, some of which are positive to others whereas at the same it is viewed as a source of contemporary ills to others. These ranges from political, social, economic and even cultural as the people take what others possess or do. Although this has happened, it has been a process of change and not spontaneous as propounded by Godimier, N, (1998). It has been viewed to raise the welfare of the people as they can be able to produce with an assurance of a ready market. Subsequently, this has aggregated to raising the economic growth of the developing countries and increasing their revenues. The rise of this has helped to reduce the poverty that as so much levelled the development activities in these regions. In addition to this, it has assisted in raising the social, political and economic activities in these regions and making that to be sustainable. In some parts of the world, growth has been unevenly distributed bringing a new shape of economic geography. In this regard, few developing countries have been seen to grow at minute percentages while most of them have drifted downwards, the result of globalisation has been that the poor have grown poorer and the rich have grown richer, further widening the gap between the two and developing a class system. This is the case which has been seen with china rapidly growing and India having minute changes. The industrial powers have gained an upper hand from the globalization process, the liberalisation rules and the production systems. The MNE’s in Biersteker, T.J’s (1998) book, have increased their market power and have also taken the opportunities of better investments in the emerging markets which have higher returns. The original NIE’s of East Africa have been noted to have increased their foreign direct investment and this has occurred with increased levels of exports. There has been the exclusion of some f the parts like the sub-Saharan Africa from globalisation. This has led them to end up in more poverty, civil strife, poor governance, illiteracy and to remain in unreachable areas. In addition to this, their primary products have been purchased at very low costs. This has further led them to remain in the vicious cycle of poverty. To try and save themselves, the governments in these areas have taken foreign loans which they have inadvertently been unable to pay due to their poor conditions and have ended up being in debt crisis. Protectionism in the industrialised countries and the restriction for imports plus the setting of the quality standards has increased their misery. In some cases, there has been misallocation of resources due to financial openness. This has increased the real cost of capital. Mowlana, H (1998) said that the causes of these are the information failures that have resulted to foreign donors to fund the wrong investments which may not be viable. Due to such investments, the government has raised interest rates so that the stability of the exchange rate will be maintained. Globalisation has also affected finances especially in the developed countries where the taxes have been reduced by a margin from 37.6 to 30.8 percent in the 30 world richest countries between 1996 and 2003. Unemployment cases have increased with the rise of globalisation. This has been seen in Latin America, the Caribbean and South East Asia. The major cause was the 1990’s financial crisis. However, there was an increase in the rate of self employment in most regions with the exception of east and south East Asia. Most of the women have been displaced as they are known to be the ones who mostly spend their time in the tilling of the gardens. This is because their produce has been substituted by even cheaper products. There has also been gender bias with the rise of globalisation due to the barriers that exist in the new economic opportunities and the micro-enterprises that they predominate however, those who have gained enough skills through training and skills, have been absorbed in the system and are doing as well as their male counterparts. Global awareness has arisen with the majority of the people now thinking globally. It has led to the reduction of the disparities in information on social rights, liberty and also what is happening in the political environment. This has led to transnational solidarity and the rise of a global community as depicted through the global coalitions like that of labour as highlighted by Obadina, T (1998) in his observations. Globalisation has led to the erosion of the peoples cultures with most of them having to adopt the western culture, mostly that of the USA. This erosion and integration has increased the levels of peace among nations as this has brought about social issues like intermarriages. The businesses are now able to compete on a global scale. This gave the consumers a better advantage as they have a variety to choose from and also they can choose the best among these. This has also led t the efficiency of businesses and the labour in the countries has been able to do what its best at. This led to specialisation. China and India have become prosperous with the mega economic booms due to the globalization Devet, J.M, (1993). There has been an increased flow of foreign capital taking an example of India where many industries have invested in it. These have attracted a lot of foreign investment and the reserves have therefore been pushed up. Foreign trade has been on the rise as many countries have institutionalised it where the WTO has been formed to help in the regulation of trade activities in these regions. At the same time, technical knowhow has increased with a lot of innovations in these regions especially the western world. This has led to new medicines to be discovered especially due to the free flow of information. The economic and political knowledge has freely flown far and wide and the benefits of Ayurveda and Yoga are being enjoyed by the western nations while their antibiotics are now in the Indian markets and this has led to the improvement in the quality of life of other people like he Indians, other than those who invented them. Different practices have been adopted from the diversity of the cultures; some people have left their flows and followed those of others. There have been intermarriages and societies becoming larger due to the incorporation of other cultures and the reform the formation of new cultures. Desai, Meghnad, Redfern Paul (1995) The styles of music and the languages used plus the dancing styles have been intermingled with the locals in different areas as well as the forms of art having to be copied beyond the borders. It has become easier to get the type of education that you want. One can move in the globe in search of the best educational facilities and some courses which may lack in the home country e.g. the managers in America have been shifting to Japan to get the modern best practices in mass production and have introduced this in their units of production Global terrorism has been curbed through international agreements. There is no longer the limited jurisdiction in the case of the criminals being prosecuted. The criminals no longer have a hiding as the security agencies have an agreement with the police to curb the terrorism like what is happening currently in the hunt of Al-shabaab in Somalia by Kenyan soldiers. These have brought about moral and ethical effects. Reference list: Biersteker, T.J (1998) “Globalisation and the models of operation of major institutional Actors” Oxford Development studies, volume 20, N O, T, pp15-31. Chossudovsky, Michel: (1997). The Globalization of Poverty: Impacts of IMF and World Bank Reforms. London: 2nd Edition Book Ltd. p. 17. Desai, Meghnad, and Redfern Paul, (1995). Global Governance, Ethics and Economics of the World Order. Pinter, London. Devet, J.M. (1993). Globalization and local and Regional competitiveness”, STL REVIEW. pp 89-122 Godimier, N. (1998). Cultural Globalization: Living on a frontier less Land” Cooperation South. No. 2 pp16-21 Mowlana, H. (1998). Globalization of mass media: opportunities and challenges for the societies. Co-operation south. No 2 pp 22-39 Obadina, T. (1998). Globalization, human rights and development, Africa today (October) pp 32-33 Read More