The Ritzer`s Globalization - Essay Example

Globalization: A Basic Text by George Ritzer by of the of Location of the The author, Ritzer, introduces the book in a unique way. He develops a wide perspective of the term ‘globalisation’ and uses it to introduce discussions of numerous topics. The author uses a lot of materials including literature review, journals, magazines, newspapers and empirical research. The author utilises maps throughout the book to elaborate key points about globalisation. The book’s introduction shows how the world has become a global village. In other words, the global connectivity has significantly increased. The book introduces the key drivers of globalisation including technology, cost, government and economy. The author talks about how technology is critical to globalisation. He shows how the ever-changing information technology, for example, the invention of the World Wide Web (WWW), has enhanced connectivity of people across the world. According to the author, global organisations have benefited a lot from increased globalisation. A global organisation with its head office in US can easily manage its branch in China owing to advanced information technology. This is possible with the Internet whereby operations reports in China may be sent to the head office. The author shows how the invention of containerisation has boosted globalisation. Goods can now move from one corner of the world to the other at a lower cost compared to a couple of decades ago. A global organisation can manufacture goods in United States and transport them to China for sale at competitive prices due to decrease in transport costs. According to the author, governments have as well fueled globalisation by elimination of trade barriers. The author compares international trade today to international trade a couple of years ago. The author shows how globalisation has boosted international trade by elimination of trade barriers. Many countries have entered into trade agreements eliminating the trade barrier. Global organisations have benefited immensely from this because goods can move freely from one country to another. The book shows how the increased competition in the world of business has fuelled globalisation. Businesses have spread operations beyond borders to take advantage of the large global market. This has increased movement of goods, services and people, thus enhancing globalisation. Global organisations are taking advantage of the emerging markets, for example, Brasil, China, and India, where there is an increasing demand for goods and services as their middle class grows rapidly. The author also looks into a few processes that relate to globalisation, for example, westernisation and imperialism. According to the author, globalisation has brought imperialism. Strong systems of government are able to take over weak systems of government because of globalisation. The book shows how this was difficult, and in some cases impossible, a couple of decades ago. This is because accessing a country’s information was difficult, but is now easy because of globalisation. Westernisation is a reality because of globalisation. This is common in developing countries where their citizens are copying the Western ways of life. This has contributed to erosion of cultures and it is predicted that in a couple of decades to come, the world will have one culture. Westernisation has made it difficult to identify people based on their culture. For example, it would be difficult to identify a youth based on nationality because almost all the youths across the globe share everything, e.g. dressing and other tastes and preferences. The author talks about Americanisation. According to him, many people are copying American ways of life. This is from clothing to consumption. Ritzer (2010, p. 89) states, ‘America has become one of the most influential countries in the world, politically and socially’. Many developing countries, for example, have copied the American systems of government. The book shows how the increased connectivity has made this a reality. The book shows how the global economy has been structured by emergence of numerous international institutions. An example of global institutions is the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. These global financial institutions influence the world economy. Their operations have been enhanced by increasing global connectivity making it possible for them to coordinate their operations. Economic integration has been on the rise because of globalisation. Many countries and continents are coming together to form trade blocs. An example is the European Union that is made up of European countries. All this has been made possible by the increased connectivity across nations. They have contributed significantly to enhancement of international trade because of elimination of trade barriers between countries and continents. The author talks about how globalisation has increased the flow of oil energy across the world. Many countries, which did not have access to oil energy a couple of decades ago, now have access. These countries, especially the developing countries, have benefited a lot from oil energy, which is fuelling their increased productivity and economic growth. The author shows how outsourcing within a global organisation has become a reality. Global organisations are shifting their operations from the developed countries to developing ones to take advantage of cheap labour. The move has been necessitated by increasing their competitiveness, which is critical to surviving the stiff competition in the global market. The book shows how increased connectivity has promoted migration of people. People can now easily move from one location to another across the globe. A couple of decades ago, it was difficult for people to move across nations because of high cost of transport. However, invention of high-speed jets and electric trains has enhanced movement of people and goods from one corner of the world to another. According to the book, increased connectivity has boosted the tourism sector significantly. In today’s world, tourists can now move from one location to the other within hours, if not minutes. The book talks about how globalisation has enhanced the gaps among countries. According to the author, while other countries benefit immensely from globalisation, e.g. developed countries, developing countries are losing out. The book shows how globalisation has made it possible for developed countries to exploit resources in developing countries. According to Ritzer (2010, p. 203), ‘exploitation of mineral resources in developing countries by the developed countries is one of the reasons why the gap among nations has widened’. The author talks about the negative global flows. The author shows how the increased connectivity has boosted illegal activities, e.g. terrorism. Other forms of crime such as piracy in global waters has risen. Wars between nations have as well increased because of increased connectivity. References Ritzer, G., 2010. Globalisation: a basic text. 3 ed. Malden, MA: Wiley, pp. 1-1009. Read More