The Concept of Globalism - Essay Example

VARIOUS ELEMENTS INVOLVED IN THE DISOURCE ON GLOBALISM Table of content page Table of content Introduction .. 2 (i) Origin ...3 (ii) Application of Globalism ....4 Impact of Globalism .5 (i) Positive impact of globalization ..5 (ii) Negative impact of Globalism 7 Conclusion 8 References 9 Introduction There have been many attempts from different people and institutions to define the concept of Globalism. In its simple definition, Globalism can be defined as globalisation with a vision of a world without borders. It is a new phenomenon that has taken the word and which has not spared even the remotest parts of the world. Therefore the correct definition of Globalism can be held in the definition of globalization. Globalization is the process that has led to increased interaction and integration of people, companies, and governments of different nations. It is a process that is driven by increased level of technology which has enabled some international trade and investment mainly aided by information technology. It is the process that has a lot of effect on life and economic development of the world and on the overall well-being of humans in all the societies of the world. (Manfred 2003, p. 97) Globalism is therefore the phenomenon that transforms some things from local to global ones. It is the unification of the whole world into a single society that is judged by the same benchmark in all the spheres of life. Though it has found most of its definition on the economic front, it has lot of effect of the social cultural life of the people. However in our real definition, Globalism and globalization does not mean the same thing. Though they may be both referring to the concept of bringing the world closer, there is a difference in the application of the two terms. Globalism describes the realism of interconnecting the world. This means that it is the aspect of one region being interconnected to the rest of the world and in reference to the world it is the aspect of having the entire world becoming interconnected. Globalization on the other hand can be described as the speed at which these connections increase or the speed at which these connections decreases. Therefore the two terms though referring to the same aspect of creating a global village are different in their application. In this paper will apply the two terms to mean the same aspect of interconnecting the world to a global village. (Nye, 2002) Globalism describes a world that is characterised by interconnected networks which reduces the distance between continents. It understands all the interconnection of the modern world and also highlights all the patterns underlying most of these connections. On the other hand globalisation refers to the forces and the dynamisms of the changes that are taking place in the world that shapes these interconnections. Globalism is also used in other instances to describe the positive aspect of the process of globalization. In this case it is opposed to mundialism which can be described as anti globalisation. Therefore Globalism can also be taken as an aspect of globalization which supports the need to have the process take root in the world as it portray the pro-globalization views. (i) Origin The origin of the terms can be traced back to a long time ago but the real experience of the term surfaced in the 1980s, although the concept took root in the world in the 1990s and late 1980s. However the earliest written concept globalisation can be traced to 1897 when Russell described corporate giants referring to corporations which were spreading their wings beyond their mother locations. Globalisation can be traced back to early 16th century when Portuguese explores began to find sea routes which could be used for trade. This apparently marked the beginning of Globalism although it has become a familiar subject of interest and study in the recent past. What we call globalism today can be seen as nothing but more of a modern globalism which has been marked by post-second world war events. One example of thin Globalism can be traced to the Silk Road which was saw increased economic integration of Europe and Asia. For a very long time, corporations have been using this Silk Road between Central Asia through China and Europe to buy and sell from each other in the middle ages. This gave business a chance to invest in the two continents. It has been shown that many of the features that mark the modern globalism were the same as those which were seen in the period before the Second World War in 1914. (The Levin Institute, 2008) Apparently the modern Globalism has its roots in regionalism. One of the features that characterized the post World War II was increased regionalism where countries formed regional blocs which were apparently defining the powers of the regions. One of the characteristics of these regional blocs was ideologism which was expressed in trade, political and social spheres of life. This saw the emergence of capitalist bloc led by America and the socialist bloc which was led by Soviet Union. Both blocks entered into a cold war period and globalisation can be said to have taken effected only after the end of the cold war period. (ii) Application of globalization Globalisation has been applied in many ways in the world. It has found its application in business and in culture. Apparently these have been the two factors that have marked all the characteristics of globalisation. Business globalisation has seen numerous industries including automotive, telecommunication, are others enter into a global market and spread their operations all over the world. Since 1950, it has been shown that the trade in the world has increased by about 20 times and statistics shows that from 1997 to 1999 the flow of foreign invention doubled all over the word. The process has just been described as further, faster, cheaper, deeper and taking the world more close. It has led to opening of economies including one of the longest closed economies of china which has apparently become the leading world exporter. Globalism has buried protectionalism. There has been also globalisation of currencies with the introduction of Euro and dollarization of many of Latin American currencies, and many other factors. Cultural Globalism has seen the emergence of the same culture of the world which is judged by the same cultural benchmarks. There has been increased disappearance of the community cultures which has actually seen a homogenisation of the same culture. There has been increased mix up of culture all over the world and aspects of culture like language, music, foods, clothing and others are becoming more and more homogenised. The cultures of free trade have been leading in the spread of common culture in the world that is judged by same ethical values. The globalisation of children has seen a change in the way children are brought up and motherhood these days is judged by same aspects of children rights as laid down in the UN charter. Impacts of Globalization Globalisation has come with many effects to the world and to each individual country. It has come to be referred as the new world order which has apparently its effect on many aspects of the word. There have been positive and negative effects of the concept which has seen it being supported and criticised in the same manner. (i) Positive impacts of globalisation (Globalism) Proponents of Globalism argue on many dimensions from economic, social and cultural aspects. Globolisim has been support in the sense that increase call for free trade in the world helps to build economies of the world which apparently leads to improve life of the people in the world. Increased trade between nations has helped even the developing nations to build their economies and uplift the life of its people. Opening of the market has apparently seen more and more people get involved in trade as people explore new market opportunity that are open up. (Warwick 2006, p. 62) Globalism has also come with increased liquidity of capital which has allowed investors to invest in the developing nations and in all parts of the world. This has seen increased growth of economies of the whole world and increased life of the people. There has been the entry of multinational companies to the domestic market of the developing nations. It has also given corporations a greater flexibility to operate across the borders. (Wolf 2004, p. 49) Globalism has also seen increase flow and sharing of information between countries in the world. This has also given the media chance to work together which has seen nations become open to the scrutiny of the world. In this regard there has been increased openness in governance which has seen national leaders become more accountable to the world as their nations are taken to scrutiny of the world. Increased flow of information between different countries in the world has enabled the sharing of information and increased awareness of many issue in the world. (Guy 2000, p. 142) There has been a great reduction of cultural and social barriers in the integration of different communities in the world. This has increased global village effect which has seen the rise of same market culture in the world. This has also helped to spread political culture which has seen increase flow of democratic ideals all over the world even in countries which has been opposing the ideals. (Amartya 2001, p. 316) It has increased interdependent between nations which have seen reduced likelihood of wars. As nation depends on each other, there has been decreased likelihood of nations engaging in war as they protect the economy of the other nation. This has so led to increased environmental protection. (ii) Negative impacts of globalism (Mundalism) Opponents of globalism have been advancing various arguments against the ides. They have argued in the line of that Globalism leads to increased shift of skilled and non skilled jobs from nation to nation and corporations have been seeking cheaper sources of labour. In this regard this has led to loss of jobs to individual in the developed nations. There is increased likelihood of economic discontinuity or any other form of disruption of economic systems in one nation which may affect other nations as the interdependence between nations increase. This has an effect of disrupting the normal life of the citizens of these nations. It has also been shown that corporate influence on nation or state affairs exceeds that of civil society and their organisations and the individual persons and hence in a way corporation drives the nation instead of individual persons. This creates a threat of having a world that is led by corporations and therefore loss of individual control of the society. (Stiglitz 2006, p. 63) In an attempt to preserve culture, there is likelihood of violence. There has been increased risk of spreading of materialistic and consumption culture and attitude which drives the world economies. Already this has taken negative effect on nations like the United States which has seen economic effects of this culture. This comes with increased infiltration of national sovereignty as international bodies like UN and WTO and others take charge of nationals' affairs. Increased competition for resources from the developed world has seen increased likelihood of civil strife in the developing world and opens wars in the developed world. The environment has also suffered as the corporations work to outdo the other in the production process. (Gavin 2001, p. 41) Conclusion As we stand in this 21st century, we cannot refute that the new world order has taken root and that the world has been moving close to a one village. This has been expressed in the increased interdependence between nations. The world has come open to the scrutiny of every individual as there is increased flow of information. This means that a closed world cannot work anymore. As we have seen there are many pros and cons of embracing the concept of globalism as far as has been witnessed in the world and as far as the world anticipate. We have to accept that we cannot go back to the world of yesterday and the only thing that we can do is to forge forward with what we have achieved. But it seems the corporate world has been the main driving force behind globalism and all other aspects have been forgotten. However globalisation has been largely driven by economic perspective. The question that I would like to pose here is can we achieve more in Globalism if we take social and cultural views as drivers of globalims Reference Amartya, S. (2001). Development and freedom; New York: Oxford University Press Gavin, K. (2001). Social Justice as expressed by globalization. Penn State Press Guy, A. (2000). Global communication. INUPRESS, Geneva, October 2000 Manfred, S. (2003). Globalization: Introduction. New York: Norton Nye, J. (2002). Globalism vs. Globalisation; Retrieved from http://www.theglobalist.com/StoryId.aspxStoryId=2392 on 19th April 2008 Stiglitz, E. (2006). Globalization and its Discontents; New York: Norton. The Levin Institute, (2008). What is Globalisation Retrieved from http://www.globalization101.org/What_is_Globalization.htmlon 19th April 2008 Warwick, M. (2006): Geographies of globalization. New York: Routledge Wolf, M. (2004). Why does Globalization works. New Haven: Yale University Press Read More