GLOBALIZATION: HISTORY, CHARACTERISTICS, CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

The globalization is a political, social, technological, economic and cultural large - scale process that connects the different countries of the world, entwining their markets and social characteristics. It is a dynamic process that relies mainly on technology and the extensive communications network that exists today.

Globalization is a complex concept that has had different definitions throughout its development. Professor James H. Mittelman (1944), for example, states that globalization consists of a fusion of domestic structures with international processes that allows the culture, politics and epistemology of one nation to penetrate another country.

Globalization is a dynamic process that relies mainly on technology and the extensive communications network that exists today. Source: pixabay.com

Furthermore, according to Mittelman, globalization is induced by the market (that is, by economic exchange between countries) and is not a process governed by politics. For this author, globalization is a stage in the history of capital that has made it possible to unite different countries in the same system. Therefore, it can be perceived as a continuous dialectic between nations.

On the other hand, Professor Rodolfo Cerdas (1939-2011) established that globalization is an accelerated process that has been developing worldwide in all areas related to human beings, especially in the military, financial, economic and IT aspects., technological and cultural.

Likewise, the author Klaus Bodemer, in his text Globalization. A concept and its problems (1998) affirms that there are two perspectives on globalization; one pessimistic and one optimistic. For pessimistic theorists, globalization consists of the predominance of capital over a minority, which will cause large migrations from third world countries.

There are also those who say that globalization will cause loss of income and jobs, as well as material and labor security. In other words, there will be an increase in inequality and poverty.

In contrast, the optimistic version - defended mainly by neoliberals - considers that globalization processes symbolize a new era of wealth and growth, with opportunities for small countries. According to this view, globalization increases profits worldwide. However, distributive struggles at the international and national level are recognized.

History of globalization

Background

Desembarco de Colón, by Dióscoro Puebla, via Wikimedia Commons There are many theories about the beginning of globalization. For the economist Aldo Ferrer (1927-2016), this phenomenon began in 1492 when the discovery of the New World occurred, since from this moment on a maritime network was established that connected the planet.

On the other hand, the philosopher Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) considered that as early as the 1960s the media were building a global connection that would keep countries connected in real time.

Other authors claim that globalization began with the invention of the chip in 1958, along with the arrival of humans on the Moon. This process is also considered to have started with the creation of the Internet in 1969, one of the most important and revolutionary inventions in the history of man.

However, the beginning of globalization is generally located with the end of the Cold War, when the Soviet Union was dissolved and the fall of the Berlin Wall occurred in 1989. This date was chosen because it is considered that the collapse of the Soviet Union it demonstrated the impossibility of nations to maintain projects where societies were closed and with protected markets.

The globalizing process today

At present, there are some international organizations that consider themselves as promoters of globalization, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

However, globalization is a civil and commercial process that is managed independently of political institutions. Despite this, there is a private body known as the World Economic Forum, whose objective is to support the globalization process.

Characteristics of globalization

It is a dynamic process

Globalization is a dynamic and continuous phenomenon, which does not necessarily adapt to the laws of each nation.

Creation of new markets

Globalization implies a drastic reduction in physical barriers between countries. This has allowed the market to diversify and expand, increasing the production of goods and services.

As a result of diversification, new markets have emerged. Some critics of globalization point out that this has created an ideal platform for richer countries to take advantage of the benefits of working with poorer countries, since labor in those countries is cheaper.

Exploitation of the telecommunications market

Globalization constantly feeds the telecommunications market, since it is in charge of establishing networks of participation and alliance between nations. According to the text of Klaus Bodemer, in 1995 this market reached a value of one trillion three hundred thousand million dollars.

Origin of a computer society

The globalizing phenomenon has generated the birth of an information society, where the population in the near future will be divided into two classes: the digitally literate and those who do not have communication systems or technological participation.

Establishment of free trade

The globalizing process favors and increases free trade, which results in the implementation of treaties where services and goods are traded between countries around the world; this with the aim of expanding production and increasing the economy.

International financial system

With the advent of globalization, the financial system had to internationalize, which led to the world capital market. Currently there are institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, whose responsibility is to develop financial policies that protect global corporations.

Exchange between different cultures

The globalizing process has generated that countries around the world exchange values, traditions and customs. Thanks to communication networks, human beings can stay connected even though they are thousands of miles away. However, this has also generated controversy in societies that are more conservative.

International regulations

A globalized world gives priority to global regulations over those of each country or region. This gives rise to world organizations that develop international regulations on issues as varied as crime, business, intellectual property, environmental protection, labor standards, access to health, competition policies, among other aspects.

International regulations, in many cases, have more value than local regulations. According to some detractors of globalization, this situation can be detrimental for some countries because it can reduce autonomy.

Threats to sovereignty

In the framework of globalization, international bodies promote regulations that, in many cases, go beyond the local regulations of the countries.

Scholars indicate that this can result in the internal laws of each nation being undervalued, bringing negative results in different areas, such as commercial, economic, social and cultural.

International social movements

Globalization allows people from different countries to interact and form groups according to similar concerns or interests.

Thanks to this, it is possible to see that social movements arise sensitive to the conservation of the environment, the protection of refugees, the care of disadvantaged people, among other areas.

Greater tolerance

Globalization has given rise to people from different regions living together in a common space, which encourages them to observe and interact.

Globalization also allows us to know different realities through cinema, television, literature and art, among other manifestations, and gives the space to understand them from their own context.

Causes

One of the causes of globalization is the Computing Revolution, whose advances developed technologies that make it possible to establish connections in real time. Source: pixabay.com

One of the main causes of globalization was the geopolitical restructuring that occurred worldwide at the end of the Cold War. This happened because the years after this confrontation were characterized by being full of changes that fostered the beginning of new trends within world economic movements.

Added to this event is the Information Technology Revolution, whose advances developed technologies that allow real-time connections to be established. It is also necessary to add the acceleration of economic openings, which generated the liberation of the stock markets and capital markets throughout the world.

Consequences

Globalization can create a strong gap between those who have access to computers and those who do not. In fact, digitally literate people generally live in industrialized countries, yet they do not make up even half the population; in reality, it is estimated that 80% of people lack access to telecommunication media.

For example, in Africa - where 12% of the world's population lives - only 2% of the inhabitants have access to connections. This situation could improve over the years, but most researchers warn that globalization may continue to increase the technology gap between nations.

However, not all the consequences are negative; Some authors affirm that globalization has generated an increase in world collaboration, since countries have opened a space for dialogue and analysis of the political and social problems that affect certain regions.

Types of globalization

Cultural globalization

Within culture, globalization generates integration and contact between different societies. For example, currently anyone can consume film, music or literature that belongs to an artist located on another continent.

Such is the case of the musical genre known as K-pop, whose style, despite being produced in South Korea, has achieved notable popularity throughout the American continent. A similar phenomenon occurs with films produced in Hollywood, whose fame has spread across the globe for several decades now.

Some sociologists establish that cultural globalization has its negative aspects, since it can influence the disappearance of a certain society or of a particular lifestyle. For example, if technological advances are introduced to an indigenous people, they may abandon their traditions and adopt Western customs.

Economic globalization

Economic globalization refers to the independence and integration of national and regional economies around the planet through an increase in border transactions of services, technologies, goods and capital.

This globalization is driven by the significant increase in the information it makes known about new production methods, commercialization models, among other aspects. In turn, this aspect of the globalization phenomenon is constituted by the internationalization of finance, technology, markets, corporations and jobs.

Political globalization

Political globalization refers to the process of creation and development of institutions and mechanisms in charge of promulgating laws that are global in scope; this with the aim of organizing and delimiting the other types of globalizations.

In other words, political globalization builds organizations that regulate or block the different economic and social events worldwide. An example of these institutions can be the United Nations, where guidelines are established that seek to ensure the good of all countries.

Political globalization also makes it possible to regulate the development and use of weapons by government leaders. It also limits military activities of an interventionist nature.

References

1. Bodemer, K. (1998) Globalization. A concept and its problems. Retrieved on January 24, 2020 from library.ues.edu.sv
2. Flores, M. (2012) Globalization as a political, economic and social phenomenon. Retrieved on January 24, 2020 from Redalyc.org
3. Mittelman, J. (1996) Globalization: critical reflections. Retrieved on January 24, 2020 from rienner.com
4. Morales, A. (sf) 7 key characteristics of globalization. Retrieved on January 24, 2020 from Significados.com
5. Morales, F. (sf) Globalization: concepts, characteristics and contradictions. Retrieved on January 24, 2020 from Dialnet.net
6. SA (2004) A fair globalization: creating opportunities for all. Retrieved on January 24, 2020 from Google books: books.google.com
7. SA (sf) Globalization. Retrieved on January 24, 2020 from Wikipedia: eswikipedia.org
8. Sassen, S. (2007) A sociology of globalization. Retrieved on January 24, 2020 from Scielo.org