Introduction to Globalization

Wednesday, March 6, 2024 11:18 PM

Globalization
• Defined as the process by which more people across large distances become connected in more and
different ways through experiencing same things.
• Refers to the interconnectedness and interdependence of economies, cultures, societies, and nations on
a global scale.
• Globalization involves growing diffusion (expanding or increasing trend in adoption of phenomenon),
expanding interdependence, more transnational institutions, and an emerging world culture and
consciousness.
• Equate with "deterritorialization," the process through which the constraints of physical space lose their
hold on social relations.
• Defies globalization with the process by which capitalism expands across the globe as powerful
economic actors seek profit in global markets and impose their rules everywhere, a process often
labeled "Neoliberalism".

Theories of Globalization
1. World System Theory
a. Views the world as a complex system with core, semi-peripheral, and peripheral countries.
Globalization is seen as a product of the capitalist world economy, where core nations exploit
peripheral nations for economic gain.
b. Emphasizes that through globalization, countries are interconnected and interdependent.
c. In this theory, countries are categorized based on their economic and political positions:
i. Core countries - the most economically developed. They are advanced and typically
industrialized. They often dominate and control global economic activities.
ii. Peripheral countries - also known as periphery, are less economically developed and are
often dependent on core countries for support and resources.
iii. Semi-peripheral countries - fall between the core and peripheral nations. They are
developed but not as advanced as core countries. They serve as intermediaries in global
trade.
d. This perspective suggest hierarchical structure and provides understanding of the dynamics of
global economic relationships and power imbalances.
2. World Polity Theory
a. Is a sociological/theoretical perspective that focuses on the global system of nation-states and the
emergence of a shared world culture and set of institutions.
b. This theory suggests that there is a global culture of governance that influences the behavior and
policies of nation-states. It argues that nations around the world tend to adopt similar ways of
doing things, like educational systems or legal structures, because there's a shared global culture.
c. Guided by this model, particular states widely varying circumstances organize their affairs in
surprisingly similar fashion. Note that adoption can occur but there is difference on how each
countries put them into practice.
3. World Culture theory
a. This perspective agrees that world culture is indeed new and important, but it is less homogenous
than world-polity scholars imply.
b. In this model, world society is governed not by a particular set of values but by the confrontation
of different ways of organizing these relationship.

Reasons why Globalization will not make the World Homogeneous

1. General rules and models are interpreted in light of local circumstances. Regions respond to similar
economic constraints in different ways, they have great leeway in constructing their own policies.
2. Growing similarity provokes reactions. Claims and advocacy to protect identity or heritage of certain
 nation or culture stands as the differences of each countries.
3. Cultural and political differences have themselves become globally valid. The notion that people and
countries are entitled to particular distinctiveness is part of global culture.

Emergence of Globalization
• Many scholars point to 16th century Europe as the original source of globalization.
• Economically and culturally the modern world system already existed nearly five centuries ago.
• Others point the 19th century as a period of intense globalization where many migrated, trade expands,
and new norms and organization came to govern international court.
• The 20th century stress the free movement of people, goods, and finance across national boarders.

Globalization and the Expanding Market

• Karl Marx noted that "Capitalism knows no bound," it is seen with profit-seeking activities done by
merchants around the world.
• In the recent years, the integration or combining of financial markets has added a new kind of
interdependence.
• Globalization is not an economic project. Although economy stand a driving force in global changes in
some periods, but its effects depend on what happens outside of world markets.

Globalization determining local events

• There's a notion that globalization necessarily leads to the abandonment of local autonomy and
traditions. It emphasizes that globalization is not a one-way street; rather, local and global events are
becoming more intertwined.
• Local and global events are interconnected. For instance, how the global "war on terror" has
unexpectedly enhanced educational opportunities for some Muslim women. It also highlights the role of
global institutions in dealing with the aftermath of major regional events.
• Even if globalization does not necessarily “determine” local events, there is no escaping. As world society
integrates, individuals become conscious of being enveloped in global networks, subject to global forces,
govern by global rules.

The Interdisciplinary understanding of Globalization

1. Political Scientist
a. Under globalization, politics can take place above the state through political integration schemes
such as the European Union, and through the intergovernmental organizations such as the
International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization.
b. Political activity can also transcend national borders through global movements and Non-
Governmental Organizations (NGO’s). Some civil society organizations form alliances with
organizations in other countries instead of working with their national governments.
2. Economist
a. Economists have their own view of globalization.
i. It is integration through international trade of markets in goods and services as a reflected in
variety of possible measures (tariffs, transportation costs, trade volumes, and price related
measures).
ii. It also means foreign direct investment, increased trade in intermediate product,
international outsourcing (ex. Call centers and BPO), and international movements of
persons (ex. OFWs).
iii. It includes international spread of ideas like technological patents, management principles,
and accounting standards.
3. Sociologist
a. According to sociologists, globalization is an ongoing process that involves interconnected changes
in cultural and social spheres.
b. This process it involves the spread and diffusion of ideologies-values, ideas, norms, beliefs and
expectations-that foster, justify and provide legitimacy for economic and political globalization.
 c. This process is fueled by globally integrated communication systems like social media such as
Facebook and Twitter.
4. Historian
a. For historians, globalization is not new as a phenomenon but the word took hold only in 1930
when it was first used and it shows that usage soared suddenly in 1990's.
b. Globalization is "hot" now because, according to Hunt, globalization defined as the
interconnection of places far distant from each other.
c. Globalization is still too much entangled with world history, global history, and transnational
history. An example is when the Soviet Union collapse and ended the Cold War, globalization filled
the ideological vacuum and created division between Capitalism and Communism.

Market Globalism
• Is an idea that reflects the concepts of globalization.
• It seeks to provide or supply globalization with free market norms and neoliberal meanings. More
narrowly focused on the economic and market-oriented dimensions of global integration.
• In late 1980's the term 'globalization' gained currency.
• In 1900s, from public discourse, specific meanings were associated to the term.
• With the collapse of Soviet-style communism in Eastern Europe, power elites (such as chief corporate
managers, executives of transnational corps., corporate lobbyist, high military officers, etc.) attempted
to sell their versions of 'globalization' in the form of 'market globalism'.
• By mid-1990s, significant portion of the population embraced the core ideas of globalism.
This involved adopting key principles of neoliberalism, such as supporting the deregulation of markets,
liberalizing trade, and privatizing state-owned enterprises.

The Five (5) Core claims of Market Globalism

1. Globalization is about liberation and global integration of markets
a. Suggests that a worldwide order should be based on the idea of a self-regulating market, a
concept rooted in neo-liberal thinking.
b. This view holds that free markets are essential for economic rationality and efficiency, and are
capable of promoting social cohesion and material improvement.
c. According to this perspective, the benefits of the market system can only be fully realized in
societies that uphold democracy and individual freedoms.
d. This claim aims to define globalization in a specific way for the general public, emphasizing the
importance of market mechanisms as the backbone of global integration and progress.
e. The driving idea behind of globalization is free-market capitalism – the more you let market forces
rule and the more you open your economy so free trade and competition, the more efficient your
economy will be, globalization means the spread of free-market capitalism to virtually every
country in the world.

2. Globalization is inevitable and irreversible

a. Posits that globalization is an unavoidable outcome of market forces and technological
advancements that lead to the global integration of economies.
b. This view holds that such integration is irreversible, driven by innovations that render any
opposition or alternative approaches by governments, political entities, or social movements
moot. Essentially, these groups are left with no option but to adapt to this inevitability, focusing
their efforts on facilitating the seamless integration of national economies into the global
marketplace.
c. Suggests that resistance to globalization is not only futile but also counterproductive, as it goes
against the natural course of economic and technological evolution.

3. Nobody is in charge of globalization

a. Globalization is not seen as the result of actions by any particular social class or group with a
 specific agenda. Instead, it is presented as the outcome of broader market forces that no single
entity controls.
b. By framing globalization as an uncontrollable, leaderless process, the discourse aims to depoliticize
public debate and weaken global justice movements, suggesting that resistance or alternative
approaches are futile.
c. This mode of framing globalization seeks to justify and strengthen global capitalism by portraying
it as an inevitable, leaderless process that operates beyond the realm of political challenge or
alteration.

4. Globalization benefits everyone

a. Carries the idea that market globalism, through its narrative of globalization, posits globalization as
a positive or "good" phenomenon, primarily justified by the promise of benefits for everyone in
terms of economic growth and prosperity.
b. Material gains, such as economic growth and prosperity, as the primary benefits of globalization
for all.
c. Beyond material benefits, the notion of "benefits for everyone" is connected to a broader concept
of progress, drawing from both liberal progressive views and socialist visions of an equitable
economic paradise—albeit realized through a global capitalist, consumerist utopia.
d. While recognizing the potential for and existence of unequal distribution of globalization's
benefits, market globalists maintain that market mechanisms will, over time, correct these
disparities.
e. The narrative that "globalization benefits everyone" is continuously promoted and reinforced
through a variety of media channels—television, radio, internet—using affirmative imagery,
advertisements, and messages. This media presence helps to embed the neoliberal framework
within public consciousness, maintaining the optimism surrounding globalization's outcomes.

5. Globalization furthers the spread of democracy in the world

a. Globalist tend to treat freedom, free markets, free trade and democracy as synonymous terms.
b. This compatibility is frequently accepted as common sense within public discourse, leading to a
lack of critical examination of how these concepts interact or conflict with each other.
c. To garner support for the conflation of democracy with market principles, neoliberal strategies
include discrediting traditionalist and socialist ideologies. These ideologies are presented as either
outdated (in the case of pre-capitalist traditions) or as failed experiments (in the case of socialism),
thus positioning the market-driven approach as superior.
d. While discrediting traditionalism may be straightforward, the discourse acknowledges that
challenging socialism is more complex, possibly due to socialism's enduring appeal and critique of
capitalist systems.
e. It was emphasized that the rejection of pre-capitalist traditions and the victory over socialist
alternatives have been pivotal for the technological and scientific advancements attributed to
modern market economies.

Globalization Experience
• No one experience globalization in all its complexity but globalization is significant insofar as it reshapes
the daily lives of billions of people
• There is no exact experience of globalization but there are commonalities in global experiences of
globalization.
• To one degree of another, globalization is real to almost everyone. It transforms the prevailing sense of
time and space, now globally standardized. It envelope everyone in new institutions. It poses a
challenge, in the sense that even marginally affected groups must take a stance toward the world.
Globalization raises identity problems for societies and individuals alike.

Neoliberalism - is a political and economic philosophy that emphasize the value of free-market capitalism as
the best path to economic growth and prosperity.
 ○ It advocates for reducing government intervention in the economy, promoting privatization of state-
owned enterprises, deregulation of industries, and free trade agreements.
○ Neoliberal policies prioritize individual entrepreneurial freedoms, open markets, and a strong private
sector as the drivers of innovation and efficiency.
○ Critics argue that neoliberalism can lead to increased inequality and marginalization of the less privileged
in society, as it tends to prioritize economic growth over social welfare.

Privatization - the process of transferring an enterprise or industry from the public sector to the private sector.
Example, Philippine Airlines (PAL), Philippine Long Distance Corporation (PLDT), Manila Electric Company
(MERALCO) and Manila Waterworks and Sewage System (MWSS) which are now Maynila Water Services and
Manila Water Company. These corporations are controlled by the government before and are now privately
owned by business people.

Characteristics of Neo-liberalism:
1. Government must limit subsidies
2. Make a reforms to tax law in order to expand tax base
3. Reduce deficit spending
4. Limit protectionism
5. Open markets
6. Removal of fixed exchange rates
7. Back deregulation
8. Privatization

○ In so far as neoliberalism values market exchange as an ethic in itself, capable of ethical beliefs, it
emphasizes the significance of contractual relations, in the market place. It holds that the social good
will be maximized by maximizing the reach and frequency of market transactions, and it seeks to bring,
all human action into the domain of market (Harvey, 2015).