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Q. What is meant by globalisation and what are the causes behind it ?
Ans. According to Anthony Giddens, globalisation refers to ‘intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa’. Jan Aart Scholte has argued that globalisation leads to growth of ‘supraterritorial’ relations among people around the world as ‘transborder’ connections make territorial boundaries irrelevant.
Globalisation is a general term for the increasingly global nature of business, economics and politics. The number of multinational corporations has risen sharply in recent decades, and the world’s economy has become increasingly interdependent. Developments in transportation, communications and information technology have enabled closer integration between countries on every continent, though there are still many barriers to the free flow of people, services, money and goods around the globe.
There are five features that can be associated with globalisation. One, it leads to deterritorialization, meaning the geographical borders become less relevant as internet and media bring the world to our homes. The happenings in one country are immediately transmitted to other countries through TV and online news. Second feature is interconnectedness. Due to blurring of geographical borders, there is growing connectivity between the actors at local, regional and global level. For example, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) used online media and social networking sites to allure youths from all over the world to its cause Young recruits sitting at their homes have been in contact with their bosses through internet which has been facilitated by growing interconnectedness between them by forces of globalisation. The popular image of globalisation is that it is a top-down process where a single global system is being established. Here, globalisation is linked to homogenization as political, cultural, economic and social diversity is being destroyed in favour of uniformity (globalisation from above). However, there is also a shift towards indigenization as western consumer goods and images have been absorbed into more traditional cultural practices (globalisation from below). Third feature is speed, as people, information, goods and services are travelling at an intensified speed which accelerates social activity. Fourth feature of globalisation is that it is a long-term process. Experts agree that globalisation is not a contemporary phenomenon as its features have existed since humanity itself, although they disagree when exactly globalisation started. Lastly, globalisation is a multi-pronged process as it impacts areas like politics, economy, culture and technology at the same time.
2) Explain the concept of digital globalisation.
Ans. The present phase of globalisation described as ‘Globalisation 4.0. he era of internet and rapid transport and communication dawned in the 1980s. People and businesses were connected; by pressing a button on computer, millions of dollars could be transferred from one end to anther of the world. E-banking and e-commerce began. What is more, internet allowed further global integration of value chains. From the sourcing of raw material to manufacturing and final consumption all became integrated. In the year 2000, global exports had reached a staggering one-fourth of the global GDP. Trade, the sum of imports and exports, consequentially grew to about half of world GDP. Yet another wave of globalisation is upon us. The new frontier of this round of globalisation is the cyber world. The digital economy has now arrived through e-commerce, digital services, 3D printing. Technologies of the Fourth Industrial
Revolution, Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics etc are the enablers of this latest wave of globalisation. One cannot escape the effects of the technological progress unleashed by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
3) What are the reaction against globalisation.
Ans. the left liberal political circles, there is an acknowledgement that globalisation has not benefitted all; rather it has left many behind. Rising inequality, social instability, cultural tensions, global warming etc are the legacy of globalisation. There is a global mood to fight against the ill- consequences of globalisation. Some want to reject it in toto. Conservatives who until the other day championed globalisation are also turning away from it. In US, UK and several countries in Europe, there is reaction against immigration. It is said that immigration of people who belong to different ethnic and religious communities poses a threat to the national cultures. Economic protectionist and nationalist tendencies have become strong in US and elsewhere; it is said that other countries have taken undue advantage of liberalized trade and immigration system in the US, UK and other countries. As a result, there is spread of sentiments against globalisation both in the left-liberal and conservative political circles.
4) What are the Types Of globalisation.
Ans. Economic Globalisation – It reflects the idea that no economy in the world is isolated today and there is an inter-locking global economy which has absorbed various economies around the world. Demise of Soviet Union acted as a catalyst for global economic integration as the last major block of countries were absorbed into global capitalist system. Economic globalisation has reduced capacity of national governments to manage their economies and to resist their restructuring along free market principles.
Cultural Globalisation – This is a process by which images and information produced in one part of the world diminish cultural differences between individuals, nations and regions by entering the global flow. It has often been portrayed as the process of McDonaldization. However, culture may also constrain forces of globalisation instead of serving them as sensitivity towards local cultures is required to become a global business brand.
Political Globalisation – This is evident from growing importance of international organizations which exercise transnational jurisdiction like the United Nations and European Union. Most of these organizations have come up in the post-1945 period. The inter-state emphasis of political globalisation distinguishes it from economic and cultural globalisation as they highlight the role of non state and market based actors.
David Held has highlighted the military aspect of globalisation. He has defined military globalisationas “the process which embodies the growing extensity and intensity of military relations among the political units of the world system. Understood as such, it reflects both the expanding network of worldwide military ties and relations, as well as the impact of key military technological innovations (from steamships to satellites), which over time, have reconstituted the world into a single geostrategic space.”
