Concept of Globalization

Reference for this topic

Globalization: A Very Short Introduction by Manfred Steger

Some Previously asked essay questions

The cyberworld: Its charms and challenges (2000)

Indian culture today: A myth or a reality? (2000)

The implications of globalisation for India (2000)

My vision of an ideal world order (2001)

Privatisation of higher education in India (2002)

The Masks of New Imperialism (2003)

As civilization advances culture declines (2003)

Globalisation and Its Impact on Indian Culture (2004)

Globalization Would Finish Small-Scale Industries in India
(2006)

Increasing Computerization Would lead to the Creation of a

Dehumanized Society (2006)

BPO boom in India (2007)

“Globalism” vs. “Nationalism” (2009)

Social media is inherently a selfish medium (2017)

Some general studies questions

To what extent globalisation has influenced the core of

cultural diversity in India? Explain. (2016)

Discuss the changes in the trends of labour migration within

and outside India in the last four decades (2015)

Discuss the positive and negative effects of globalization on

women in India (2015)

Critically examine the effect of globalization on the aged

population in India (2013)
The concept of globalization

Theodore Levitt coined the word “globalization” in 1983

Thomas L. Friedman’s book title, “The World Is Flat: A Brief

History of the Twenty-first Century”

Nayan Chanda’s book title, “Bound Together: How Traders,

Preachers, Adventurers, and Warriors Shaped Globalization”
Critics have rightly objected that the term 'globalization' is
often used vaguely and inconsistently. Can we formulate a
clear and helpful notion?

At least five general usages of the word 'globalization' can be

distinguished.

First, the word has often been taken to mean

internationalization, that is, an intensification of cross-border
interactions and interdependence between countries.

Second usage has treated globalization as liberalization, that

is, a process of removing government-imposed restrictions on
movements between countries in order to create an 'open',
'integrated' world economy.

Third conception has viewed globalization in terms of

universalization, that is, the spread of various objects and
experiences to people at all corners of the earth.
Fourth, many people (especially critics of cultural
imperialism) have defined globalization as westernization,
especially in an Americanized form.

Fifth, globalization is identified as deterritorialization, that is,

a shift in geography whereby territorial places, territorial
distances and territorial borders lose some of their previously
overriding influence.

These five conceptions overlap to some extent, but their

respective emphases are significantly different.
Definitions of globalization by eminent scholars

Anthony Giddens: “Globalization can ... be defined as the

intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant
local-societies in such a way that local happenings are shaped
by events occurring many miles away and vice versa.”

Martin Albrow: “Globalization refers to all those processes by

which the peoples of the world are incorporated into a single |
world society, global society.”

(Robert Cox: The characteristics of the globalization trend

include the internationalizing of production, the new inter-
national division of labor, new migratory movements from
South to North, the new competitive environment
that accelerates these processes, and the internationalizing of
the state ... making states into agencies of the globalizing
world.”
Rosabeth Moss Kanter: “The world is becoming a global
shopping mall in which ideas and products are available
everywhere at the same time.”

Martin Khor: “Globalization is what we in the Third World

have for several centuries called colonization.”

David Held: “Globalization can be thought of as a process (or

set of processes) which embodies a transformation of (the
spatial organization of social relations and §
transactions.”
The main arguments in favor of globalization

1. The pace of economic transformation is so great that it has

created a new world politics. States are
No longer closed units and they cannot control their
economies. The world economy is more interdependent than
ever, with trade and finances ever expanding.

2. Communications have fundamentally revolutionized the

way we deal with the rest of the world. We now live in a
world where events in one location can be immediately
observed on the other side of the world. Electronic
communications alter our notions of the social groups we
work with and live in.

3. There is now, more than ever before, a global culture, so

that most urban areas resemble one another. Much of the
urban world shares a common culture, much of it emanating
from Hollywood.
4. The world is becoming more homogeneous. Differences
between peoples are diminishing.

5. Time and space seem to be collapsing. Our old ideas of

geographical space and of chronological time are undermined
by the speed of modern communications and media.

6. There is emerging a global polity, with transnational social

and political movements and the beginnings of a transfer of
allegiance from the state to sub-state, transnational, and
international bodies.
7. A cosmopolitan culture is developing. People are beginning
to 'think globally and act locally'.

8. A risk culture is emerging, with people realizing both that

the main risks that face them are global pollution and health
(COVID-19) and that states are unable to deal with the
problems.
Some of the main arguments against globalization

1. One of the obvious objection to the globalization thesis is

that globalization is merely a buzzword to denote the latest
phase of capitalism.

2. In a very powerful critique of globalization theory, Hirst

and Thompson argue that one effect of the globalization thesis
is that it makes it appear as if national governments are
powerless in the face of global trends. This ends up paralysing
governmental attempts to subject global economic forces to
control and regulation.

3. Hirst and Thompson conclude that the more extreme

versions of globalization are 'a myth', and they support this
claim with five main conclusions from their study of the
contemporary world economy.
First, the present internationalized economy is not unique in
history. In some respects they say it is less open than the
international economy was between 1870 and 1914.

Second, they find that 'genuinely' transnational companies are

relatively rare; most are national companies trading
internationally. There is no trend towards the development of
international companies.

Third, there is no shift of finance and capital from the

developed to the underdeveloped world. Direct investment is
highly concentrated among the countries of the developed
world.

Fourth, the world economy is not global; rather trade,

investment, and financial flows are largely concentrated to
particular regions.

Fifth, they argue that this regents coordinate policies, regulate

global economic markets and forces.
Note that Hirst and Thompson are looking only at economic
theories of globalization, and many of the main accounts deal
with factors such as communications and culture more than
economics. Nonetheless, theirs is a very powerful critique of
one of the main planks of the more extreme globalization.

4. Globalization is very uneven in its effects. At times it

sounds very much like a Western theory applicable only to a
small part of humankind.

5. A related objection is that globalization may well be

simply the latest stage of Western imperialism. It is the old
modernization theory in a new guise. The forces that are being
globalized are conveniently those found in the Western world.
What about non- Western values? Where do they fit into this
emerging global world? The worry is that they do not fit in at
all, and what is being celebrated in globalization is the
triumph of a Western worldview, at the expense of the
worldviews of other cultures.
6. Critics have also noted that there are very considerable
losers as the world becomes more globalized. This is because
globalization represents the success of liberal capitalism in an
economically divided world. Perhaps one outcome is that
globalization allows the more efficient exploitation of less
well-off nations, and all in the name of openness.

7. Not all globalized forces are necessarily good ones.

Globalization makes it easier for drug cartels and terrorists to
operate, and the Internet's anarchy raises crucial questions of
censorship and preventing access to certain kinds of material.

8. Turning to the so-called global governance aspects of

globalization, the main worry here is about responsibility. To
whom are the transnational social movements responsible and
democratically accountable? If IBM or Shell or Google or
Facebook or Apple, becomes more and more powerful in the
world, does this not raise the issue of how accountable it is to
democratic control?
Impact of Globalization on Indian Society

Reference for this topic

NCRT class 12 Sociology book on “social change and
development”

In the present lecture, we will focus on four dimensions of

globalization: transformative, positive, negative and
alternative.

To understand these four dimensions, we need to figure out

the connections between
 the individual and society
 the micro and the macro
 the local and the global.

By asking the following questions to oneself about

globalization:
 How is the peasant affected in a remote village?
 How is she connected to global changes?
 How has it affected the chances of employment for the middle class?
 How has it affected the possibilities of big Indian corporations becoming transnational
corporations?
 What does it mean to the neighborhood grocer if the retail sector is opened up to big
transnational companies?
 Why are there so many shopping malls in our cities and towns today?
 How has it changed the way young people spend their leisure time?
 How has it impacted our security?
The impact of globalization in India: few examples

Historical snapshot of globalization from ancient times to

present in India

The famous Silk route, which centuries ago connected India to

the great civilizations of China, Persia, Egypt and Rome.

We also know that throughout India’s long past, people from

different parts came here, sometimes as traders, sometimes as
conquerors, sometimes as migrants in search of new lands and
settled down here.

The greatest grammarian in Sanskrit namely Panini, who

systematized and transformed Sanskrit grammar and
phonetics around the fourth century BC, was of Afghan
origin.

The seventh-century Chinese scholar Yi Jing learned his

Sanskrit in Java (in the city of Shri Vijaya) on his way from
China to India.
Modern capitalism had a global dimension from its very
inception. Colonialism was part of the system that required
new sources of capital, raw materials, energy, markets and a
global network that sustained it.

Independent India and the world

Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization (LPG) policy

reforms of 1991
Impact of globalization on different sectors

1. Economy (the role of international financial and trade

organizations)

2. Industry (the growth of transnational corporations)

3. Financial transactions (the development of electronic

economy)

4. Employment (the predominance of knowledge Economy

and feminization of work)

5. Advancements in global communication

 6. Education (E learning)

7. Globalization and culture (homogenization verses

glocalisation of culture)

8. Gender and culture

9. Culture of consumption

10. Effect on entertainment artisans indigenous

knowledge

11. Effect on environment and agriculture

12 increase in crimes and security threats

Thank you