Republic of the Philippines
SORSOGON STATE UNIVERSITY
Bulan Campus
Bulan, Sorsogon
MODULE 1 in Contemporary World
1ST SEM Sem 2024 - 2025
Prepared by : MONTISSO G. NAVARRO, MEEd
Instructor
Republic of the Philippines
SORSOGON STATE UNIVERSITY
Bulan Campus
Bulan, Sorsogon
CONTEMPORARY WORLD
Module 1
LESSON #1 :
INTRODUCTION :
What Is Globalization?
Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people,
companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international
trade and investment and aided by information technology. This process has effects on
the environment, on culture, on political systems, on economic development and
prosperity, and on human physical well-being in societies around the world.
Globalization is not new, though. For thousands of years, people—and, later,
corporations—have been buying from and selling to each other in lands at great
distances, such as through the famed Silk Road across Central Asia that connected
China and Europe during the Middle Ages. Likewise, for centuries, people and
corporations have invested in enterprises in other countries. In fact, many of the
features of the current wave of globalization are similar to those prevailing before the
outbreak of the First World War in 1914.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES :
Familiarize students with the principles and central ideas of important
globalization theories that they are likely to encounter in the social science
discipline.
Demystify the concept of globalization and help students see application of global
structures and processes in their everyday activities.
Help students become more systematic and thoughtful critical thinkers.
Provides students with an overview and brief history of how globalization as an
intellectual topic is developing.
KEY CONCEPTS :
Week 1
Introduction to Globalization
•Defining Globalization
Nikko is a college student. He drinks Milo with his usual corned beef, egg and
rice for breakfast every school day. While eating, he watches Cartoon Network on cable
TV to make his morning light. Afterwards, he rushes to brush his teeth using Colgate.
Then, he is good to go. Once inside the SSC Bulan Campus, he sends an I am at
school message to his mom using his iPhone 13 pro. Likewise he sends his chat “Hi”
message to his special friend Mike via his Samsung S9 ultra. More so, Nikko and his
friend Kevin love to wear Vans shoes and use Vans backpacks. They love to hangout in
their favorite fast food store, McDonalds, and happily eat their favorite burger, chicken
nuggets and Coke float, he talks to his dad who works in Dubai via Skype on Saturday
and Sunday nights.
This trend is a clear indication that many Filipino lives are, especially in urban, in
one way or another, affected by global economic imperialism. Simply put, economic
imperialism is a situation in which one nation assumes economic power or influence
over the others. Clearly, this is the age of “Westernization and/or Americanization” of
contemporary Filipinos, that is, Filipinos adopt ideas and behavior that are characteristic
of the West and North America while relegating the ideas and behavior traditional in
their culture.
One thing is sure: globalization is a phenomenon. It is something that is difficult
to understand.
Globalization Before the 19th century
The Age of Discovery brought a broad change in globalization, being the first
period in which Eurasia and Africa engaged in substantial cultural, material and biologic
exchange with the New World. It began in the late 15th century, when the two Kingdoms
of the Iberian Peninsula – Portugal and Castile – sent the first exploratory voyages
around the Cape of Good Hope and to the Americas, “discovered” in 1492 by
Christopher Columbus. Shortly before the turn of the 16th century, Portuguese started
establishing trading posts (factories) from Africa to Asia and Brazil, to deal with the
trade of local products like slaves, gold, spices and timber, introducing an international
business center under a royal monopoly, the House of India.
Introduction to the Study of Globalization
Native New World crops exchanged globally: Maize, Tomato, Potato, Vanilla,
Rubber, Cacao, Tobacco. / Wikimedia Commons
Global integration continued with the European colonization of the Americas initiating
the Columbian Exchange,[10] the enormous widespread exchange of plants, animals,
foods, human populations (including slaves), communicable diseases, and culture
between the Eastern and Western hemispheres. It was one of the most significant
global events concerning ecology, agriculture, and culture in history. New crops that had
come from the Americas via the European seafarers in the 16th century significantly
contributed to the world’s population growth
The 19th century witnessed the advent of globalization approaching its modern
form. Industrialization allowed cheap production of household items using economies of
scale, while rapid population growth created sustained demand for commodities.
Globalization in this period was decisively shaped by nineteenth-century imperialism.
After the First and Second Opium Wars, which opened up China to foreign trade, and
the completion of the British conquest of India, the vast populations of these regions
became ready consumers of European exports. It was in this period that areas of sub-
Saharan Africa and the Pacific islands were incorporated into the world system.
Meanwhile, the conquest of parts of the globe, notably sub-Saharan Africa, by
Europeans yielded valuable natural resources such as rubber, diamonds and coal and
helped fuel trade and investment between the European imperial powers, their colonies,
and the United State
19th century Great Britain becomes the first global economic superpower, because of
superior manufacturing technology and improved global communications such as
steamships and railroads. / Wikimedia Commons
The first phase of “modern globalization” began to break down at the beginning
of the 20th century, with World War I. The European-dominated network were
increasingly confronted with images and stories of ‘others’, thus, then took it upon
themselves to take the role of world’s guardians of universal law and morality. Racist
and unequal practices became also part of their practices in search of materials and
resources that from other regions of the world. The increase of world trade before
beginning in 1850 right before World War I broke out in 1914 were incentives for bases
of direct colonial rule in the global South. Since other European currencies were
becoming quite largely circulated, the need to own resource bases became imperative.
[14]
The novelist VM Yeates criticized the financial forces of globalization as a factor in
creating World War I.
Globalization, since World War II, is partly the result of planning by politicians to break
down borders hampering trade. Their work led to the Bretton Woods conference, an
agreement by the world’s leading politicians to lay down the framework for international
commerce and finance, and the founding of several international institutions intended to
oversee the processes of globalization. Globalization was also driven by the global
expansion of multinational corporations based in the United States and Europe, and
worldwide exchange of new developments in science, technology and products, with
most significant inventions of this time having their origins in the Western world
according to Encyclopedia Britannica.[17] Worldwide export of western culture went
through the new mass media: film, radio and television and recorded music.
Development and growth of international transport and telecommunication played a
decisive role in modern globalization.
What Is Globalization?
Globalization is the spread of products, technology, information, and jobs across
national borders and cultures. In economic terms, it describes an interdependence of
nations around the globe fostered through free trade.
Key Takeaways
Globalization is the spread of products, technology, information, and jobs across
nations.
Corporations in developed nations can gain a competitive edge through globalization.
Developing countries also benefit through globalization as they tend to be more cost-
effective and therefore attract jobs.
The benefits of globalization have been questioned as the positive effects are not
necessarily distributed equally.
One clear result of globalization is that an economic downturn in one country can create
a domino effect through its trade partners.
Globalization & the Global Society
For as long as humans have lived on Earth, it has been shaped like a globe. Yes, we
may have thought it was flat for a while, but in reality, it was a sphere. Furthermore,
humans have lived on this global sphere in just about every place. This has been true
for hundreds of thousands of years, so why are we only now making such a fuss about
a global community?
Well, despite the fact that international trade is far from something new, modern
technology and transportation have connected people on an unprecedented scale. You
may have heard of the term globalization, or the integration of international economies,
politics, and culture. Why does globalization matter? Because, for the first time in
human history, we may actually be facing a true global society, or a unified social
community that encompasses the entire world.
Understanding the Global Society
International trade, international politics, and even the sharing of cultures, is nothing
new. What truly defines the global society is the idea that people are completely
integrated with each other. It's not that we don't have differences; it's that we all rely on
the same community networks. Just think of the world as one gigantic, spherical city. Do
you know everyone in your city? Probably not, and you probably don't have everything
in common with them either. However, you do rely on the same economy, the same
cultural values, the same structures of government, and so forth. These things define a
society, and we're starting to see them emerge on a global scale.
Social Dimension of Globalization
The social dimension of globalization encompasses the effects of globalization
on individuals, families, and communities, influencing aspects such as
employment, culture, identity, and social cohesion.
Overview of the Social Dimension
The social dimension of globalization refers to how globalization impacts the life
and work of people, their families, and their societies. It includes various aspects
such as employment conditions, social protection, cultural identity, and
community cohesion. As globalization progresses, it brings both opportunities
and challenges, leading to divergent views on its social implications.
Week 2 and 3
The Structure of Globalization
The Global Economy
Economic globalization refers to the mobility of people, capital, technology,
goods and services internationally. It is also about how integrated countries are in the
global economy. It refers to how interdependent different countries and regions have
become across the world.
In the eighteen hundred in the world economy generally, people and capital
crossed borders with ease, but not goods. In this century, people do not cross borders
easily, but technologies, capital and goods do.
Over the past two to three decades, under the framework of General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and World Trade Organization, economic globalization has
been expanding at a much faster pace. Countries have rapidly been cutting down trade
barriers and opening up their current accounts and capital accounts.
Economic Globalization: Trends, Risks and Risk Prevention BY Gao Shangquan
Economic globalization is an Irreversible Trend
Economic globalization refers to the increasing interdependence of world economies as
a result of the growing scale of cross-border trade of commodities and services, flow of
international capital and wide and rapid spread of technologies. It reflects the continuing
expansion and mutual integration of market frontiers, and is an irreversible trend for the
economic development in the whole world at the turn of the millennium. The rapid
growing significance of information in all types of productive activities and marketization
are the two major driving forces for economic globalization. In other words, the fast
globalization of the world’s economies in recent years is largely based on the rapid
development of science and technologies, has resulted from the environment in which
market economic system has been fast spreading throughout the world, and has
developed on the basis of increasing cross-border division of labor that has been
penetrating down to the level of production chains within enterprises of different
countries.
The advancement of science and technologies has greatly reduced the cost of
transportation and communication, making economic globalization possible. Today’s
ocean shipping cost is only a half of that in the year 1930, the current airfreight 1/6, and
telecommunication cost 1%. The price level of computers in 1990 was only about 1/125
of that in 1960, and this price level in 1998 reduced again by about 80%. This kind of
‘time and space compression effect’ of technological advancement greatly reduced the
cost of international trade and investment, thus making it possible to organize and
coordinate global production. For example, Ford’s Lyman car is designed in Germany,
its gearing system produced in Korea, pump in USA, and engine in Australia. It is
exactly the technological advancement that has made this type of global production
possible. Moreover, the development of the networking-based economy has given birth
to a large group of shadow enterprises, making the concept of national boundaries and
distance for certain economic activities meaningless.
END OF MODULE 1
Prepared by
Name: MONTISSO G. NAVARRO, MEEd
Position/Rank: Instructor III
Institution: Sorsogon State University – Bulan Campus
Institution’s Address: Zone 8, Bulan, Sorsogon
