How Globalisation is Transforming Contemporary Societies - Coursework Example

How Globalisation is Transforming Contemporary Societies Introduction The concept of globalisation, though relatively known a few decades ago, is now widely used in business, the media and even politics. Seldom defined but often discussed, Giddens and Griffiths refer to globalisation as the phenomenon of people increasingly living in one world making nations, groups and individuals interdependent (50). Broadly considered, it entails the increased impact on human activities from forces spanning national boundaries. As observed by Cohen, Kennedy and Kennedy, the effects of globalisation attract a lot of debate in contemporary world affairs (10). It arouses passion from supporters and criticism from its critics. Whereas a majority of people appreciate that there are transformations in the world because of globalisation, the extent of validity of this claim has been greatly contested (Giddens and Griffiths 60). This could be the case because of the unpredictable and turbulent nature of the phenomenon. Therefore, globalisation has transformed contemporary societies economically, culturally religiously and intellectually in either a favourable or unfavourable fashion. Economic Transformation Globalisation has provided countries, especially third world countries, with greater opportunities for trade. Because of the associated integration of markets through global financial flows, world trade and production of multinational corporations, international economies grow. Further, globalisation has been noted to promote global division of labour and propagate free movement of goods across national borders. Furthermore, because of the intensified competition, having adopted a global arena, businesses stand to benefit immensely from improved quality and processes. It has also been noted to allow access to foreign products allowing for a balance between quality and cost (Pearce, Ramirez and Branyiczi 163). Therefore, globalisation has caused countries to realise more economic gains from their interaction with others. However, critics perceive globalisation as having negative impact to the society with regards to economy. Such critics argue that globalisation has propagated poverty and economic disempowerment in the society. It would be important at this juncture to appreciate the argument by Pearce, Ramirez and Branyiczi that currency speculation informs every aspect of internalisation (157). It is this speculation which the scholars cite as the source for destabilisation of vulnerable national currencies leaving citizens of such nations exposed. Speculation in its real sense involves the buying and selling of currencies aimed at benefitting due to price movements as opposed to financing international trade. This results in a myriad of social consequences, not only for developing nations but also the first world countries, evidenced by the example given by Dowling (201) of Russia, Asia and Latin America and even Africa having been affected by forced currency devaluation. To put this matter into perspective, Dowling observes that 95% of currency transactions have no relation to real goods in trade (203). With the daily currency turnover having risen from $70 billion to $1.5 trillion between 1970 and 2001, currency speculation is indeed a major limitation in globalisation. If investors speculate currency devaluation, they would borrow loans and convert them to stronger currencies. In the event of devaluation, they quickly sell off the currencies, pay off the loans and pocket their profits. This causes market destabilisation. Dowling gives the example of Russia, Latin America and South-East Asia where the 1992/1993 currency crisis in the European Union and the 1997 Asia financial and banking crisis could be attributed to similar scenarios (204). This led to an increase in unemployment and inflation, forcing national governments to reduce spending so as to stabilise the economy. With healthcare and education falling victim of the situation, malnutrition, child labour and prostitution rose. The same case could be said of Mexico where the 1994 peso devaluation caused a 30% reduction in wages causing an increase of the poor population in Mexico by 2.2 million giving a total of 40 million. In Russia, the 1998 devaluation caused an increase of 22 million poor people in the economy. This affects not only the involved countries but also their neighbours with whom they have political and economic links. Increased public debt implies an increase in foreign ownership of the economy. Such economic destabilisations could also be propagated by vast transfers of capital (Giddens and Griffiths 57). Propagated by electronic money transfer capabilities, such transfers could cause economies to collapse causing international financial crises such the 1998 financial crisis which spread from the tiger economies of Asia to Russia and even beyond. Cultural Impact The increased application of information and communications technology in the global front has had profound transformation on the intensity and scope of telecommunication flow globally. Countries with advanced telecommunication infrastructure have greater links with the outside world. With Giddens and Griffiths citing about 140 million people using the Internet globally as of 1998, growing to about 1 billion in 2005, the Internet should be appreciated as an increasingly critical communication tool while analysing globalisation transformations (51). It plays a crucial role of compressing space and time. This has made people around the world from previously isolated regions to be more interconnected. Despite the differences on connectivity among various countries around the world, a majority are now able to communicate internationally than the previous situation would allow. The flow of information links people to the global context. For example, the US terrorist attack of September 11 2001 unfolded to the global audience through the media. Such events have thus caused people to reorient their level of thinking from the national scope to the global scope. This transformation causes the global community to appreciate that social responsibility extends beyond the national borders. As such, they now acknowledge injustices and disasters affecting people in other parts of the globe not just as misfortunes but as a cause for legitimate action and intervention (Giddens and Griffiths 53). This explains the actions witnessed by the international community in case of a crisis in a country which include technical and humanitarian assistance. For example, the Turkey and Armenia earthquakes, famine in Africa and the Bangladesh and Mozambique flooding have all drawn international intervention and assistance. This also extends to assistance in case of war and ethnic violence. In essence, globalisation has transformed the world to share in a global culture, the Internet fuelling such transformations. Cohen, Kennedy and Kennedy particularly note that the world has adopted a global culture resembling European and North American cultures (122). In fact, Azzouzi goes further to brand globalisation a creation of American and Western project (153). This has propagated beliefs in values like equality in gender, freedom of speech and democratic participation in governance. Even though the Internet has been said to foster values like global communication and access to unlimited information, it has been noted to operate in tandem, in fact fostering, traditional values. Giddens and Griffiths give the example of Kuwait where despite being influenced by the European and American culture such that its television stations broadcast American and English football, there would always be breaks for the Muslim county to answer to calls for prayers (65). This supports the argument by Mazlish that “globalisation is not simply a product of the West but results from the interplay of many nations and peoples” (104). Even so, there has been a divergent view which postulate that instead of countries adopting this Western ideology, they, particularly Third World Countries, have adopted measures to shield themselves from being influenced in an effort to retain their traditions. Even so, there have been arguments on the negative cultural impact of globalisation. Particularly, globalisation has been noted to propagate individualism where people have active constructions of their identities. This has caused well established traditions and values to retreat, paving way for the new global order (Giddens and Griffiths 68). Furthermore, those social codes that guided the choices that people make and activities they undertake have been fading away with time. As such, traditional identity frameworks have been noted to fade away as new identity patterns emerge. Even what people wear or eat and the way they approach their healthcare would be pegged on the creation and recreation of their self identities. How Globalisation has Transformed Religion Undoubtedly, religion has been affected by globalisation to a large extent. These two, globalisation and religion have been noted to have a persistently flexible relationship that relies on each other. Even though religions still hold onto their homes within specific territorial spaces of origin, their general purpose and inner nature prompted adoption across the world (Giddens and Sutton 73). Thus, the success of these religions across the world would be pegged on globalisation and the associated technologies. This made it easy for religion to spread across the world transforming people religiously based on the religion that reached them. Mazlish gives the example of two dominant religions around the world, Christianity and Islam, whose competition and similar belief in their values targeting everyone caused their rapid spread across the world (57). Islam started in Mecca city, specifically in the Arabian Peninsula, and spread fast in the 12th Century. Historically, it would be appreciated that these religions were limited by political strife and geography from spreading. However, with globalisation, these religions occur worldwide. Thus, globalisation is credited for making religion gain considerable significance as non-territorial identity touchstone. Whereas globalisation has caused a majority of religions to break loose from their roots, it has been observed to have caused conflicts. According to Azzouzi, allowing religions to come into contact with one another provided an avenue for conflict to flourish (152). This could be attributed to the paradoxical impact of making religions, through their leaders, self-conscious of being world religions. This reinforces their specific identities, propagated by globalisation, which cannot intermingle or hybridise. For example, the difference in the way Muslims and Christians worship and conduct their religious activities as noted by Mazlish (101) makes Islam and Christianity to contradict and thus incompatible. As such, these two cannot be homogenised or hybridised even though they are always in contact. Such situations cause religions to be more inclined towards competition and clashes (Giddens and Sutton 75). It would therefore be said that globalisation transforms the contemporary religion into a system of conflicting and competing religions, this being alluded to the failure and erosion of hybridity. Intellectual Transformation Just as globalisation provokes anxiety in humans, it also does the same to humans’ intellectual pursuits. Globalisation provides an understanding that allows people to take advantage of their strengths and dedications to achieve new knowledge. This provides humans with a way to strategically take advantageous positions in the modern world. Indeed, Mazlish appreciates that knowledge is power and thus the ability for orienting oneself (104). The need for power is what pushes people to cross national boundaries in search of knowledge. Mazlish gives the example of social science disciplines which all emerged from the Industrial and French revolutions to help in the understanding of the new world (104). Furthermore, multinational corporations and institutions such as the World Bank, IMF and the UN exist in different parts of the world because of the intellectual conceptions they arouse. The Internet provides a way through which the entire globe connects, although differentially. Globalisation has also made it possible for people from around the world to attend various conferences, opportunities used to exchange knowledge from different quarters. Interestingly, in as much as globalisation could arouse intellectual anxiety, it has the potential of also quelling such feelings (Cohen, Kennedy and Kennedy 77). This would be the case if countries fail to adopt new knowledge sets as they emerge, choosing to instead stick to outdated knowledge that they have traditionally had. Conclusion Globalisation, leveraging on the advent of information and communication technology and the role played by media, has fostered the blurring and de-territorialisation of geographical boundaries and spaces. Globalisation has been noted to provide greater opportunities for trade through expanded market. It has however been noted to threaten economies by promoting currency speculation and thus devaluation issues. It has also been noted to culturally transform people from being limited to national focus to adopt a global perspective. This comes with the threat of creating a unitary global culture, particularly resembling the Western culture. Whereas it has caused religion to spread across the world, globalisation has been cited as the source of competition and conflicts among religions due to the lack of hybridity among different religions. Finally, it has also been appreciated that globalisation fosters intellectual transformation, supporting knowledge exchange among various countries. Therefore, globalisation could be said to be instrumental in causing humans to adopt a global perspective of economic, cultural, religious and intellectual aspects, positively and negatively transforming their lives. Works Cited Azzouzi, M. E. “Religion and Globalisation: Benefits and Challenges.” Political Science and International Religion 10.1, (2013): 150 – 154. Cohen, R., P. M. Kennedy and P. T. Kennedy. Global Sociology. 2nd ed. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Print. Dowling, E. “Strategies for Change – The Tobin Tax.” The Political Economy of New Slavery. Ed. C. Anker. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. 201 – 216. Print. Giddens, A. and P. W. Sutton. (Eds.). Sociology. 7th ed. Cambridge, CB: Polity, 2013. Print. Giddens, A. and S. Griffiths. Sociology. Cambridge, CB: Polity, 2006. Print. Mazlish, B. The New Global History. Oxon, OX: Routledge, 2006. Print. Pearce, J. L., Ramirez, R. R. and Branyiczi, I. “Leadership and the Pursuit of Status: Effects of Globalisation and Economic Transformation.” Advances in Global Leadership 1.2 (2001): 153 – 178. Read More