I.

Globalisation - vocabulary

• Developing countries are countries with little industrial and economic activity
where people generally have low incomes.
• Developed countries are countries with a lot of industrial and economic activity
where people generally have high incomes.
• emerging economy or emerging market economy which means a nation’s
economy progressing toward becoming developed and advanced.

• Global village – the idea that we became a single community due to affordable
and effective transportation, mass media, and electronic communications.

• Global economy refers to economy of the world comprising economies of

different countries closely interrelated.

• Global trade (international trade) is simply the exchange of goods and services
between countries.

• Sweatshop (sometimes sweat factory) is a workplace with unacceptably severe

conditions and usually extremely low wages.

• Outsourcing means just what it says – going out to find the source of what you
need. In the globalization context we usually use the term outsourcing to describe
a situation when businesses outsource production to countries with developing
economies.

• loss of identity.

• Prosperity the state of being successful usually by making a lot of money.

• Standard of living could be described as a quality of life or level of material

prosperity available to an individual or a group of people.
Example : The standard of living includes factors such as: income, disposable
income, availability of employment, affordability of housing, quality of healthcare,
and many others.
• consumerism. It is the belief that it is good for people and society to spend a lot
of money on goods and services.
• Emigration / Immigration.

-To immigrate means to settle in a foreign country. It suggests permanent

relocation and applies to people.

-To emigrate means to leave one country in order to settle in another.

• cultural convergence which is a tendency for cultures to blend and become more
alike

• cultural divergence which describes things that make separations of cultures.

• World Trade Organization (WTO) – global organization that helps countries and
producers trade fairly and effectively.
• International Monetary Fund (IMF) Intergovernmental organization with its
headquarters in Washington, D.C. that focuses on maintaining international
economic stability.

• Anti-globalization movement – a social movement critical of the globalization of

corporate capitalism.
• local (relating to a particular area, city or town) / national (relating to an entire
nation or country) / domestic (relating to, or made in your own country)
• integration (the act of bringing together smaller components into a single system
that functions as one) / cooperation (a situation in which people work together to
do something)
• multilateral (involving more than two groups or countries) / unilateral (involving
only one group or country)
• progress (the process of improving or developing something over a period of
time) / development ( the act or process of growing or causing something to grow
or become larger or more advanced)
• national sovereignty – the idea that independent nations, which have declared
their independence, have a right to exist without other nations interfering.
• to accelerate – cause (something) to happen sooner or more quickly.
• affluence - wealth
• to dominate – to have control of or power over (someone or something)
• economic growth drivers – something that provides development and growth of
economy
• imbalance / inequality – a state or condition in which different things do not
occur in equal or proper amounts
• superpower – an extremely powerful nation
• tariff – a tax on goods coming into or leaving a country
• trade barrier – a government-induced restriction on international trade
• subsidy (subsidies) - money given by a government or
an organization to reduce the cost of producing food, a product, etc. and
to help to keep prices low
 • quota -limit on imports
• borders – boundaries between countries
• fair trade – trade in conformity with a fair-trade agreement
• interdependence – the mutual reliance between two or more groups

II. Globalisation – history

Although many people consider globalization a twentieth century phenomenon, the process
has been happening for millennia. Examples include the following:

• The Roman Empire. Going back to 600 B.C., the Roman Empire spread its
economic and governing systems through significant portions of the ancient
world for centuries.

• Silk Road trade. These trade routes, which date from 130 B.C. to 1453 A.D.,
represented another wave of globalization. They brought merchants, goods and
travellers from China through Central Asia and the Middle East to Europe.

• Pre-World War I. European countries made significant investments overseas in

the decades before World War I. The period from 1870 to 1914 is called the
golden age of globalization.

• Post-World War II. The United States led the effort to create a global economic
system with a set of broadly accepted international rules. Multinational
institutions were established such as the United Nations (UN), International
Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade Organization to promote
international cooperation and free trade.

III. Benefits of globalization

Globalization enables countries to access less expensive natural resources and lower cost
labour. As a result, they can produce lower cost goods that can be sold globally. Proponents
of globalization argue that it improves the state of the world in many ways, such as the
following:

• Solves economic problems. Globalization moves jobs and capital to places that
need these resources. It gives rich countries access to lower cost resources and
 labour and poorer countries access to jobs and the investment funds they need
for development.

• Promotes free trade. Globalization puts pressure on nations to reduce tariffs,

subsidies and other barriers to free trade. This consequently promotes economic
growth, creates jobs, makes companies more competitive and lowers prices for
consumers.

• Spurs economic development. Theoretically, globalization gives poorer countries

access to foreign capital and technology they would not otherwise have. Foreign
investment can result in an improved standard of living for the citizens of those
nations.

• Encourages positive trends in human rights and the environment. Advocates of

globalization point to improved attention to human rights on a global scale and a
shared understanding of the impact of people and production on the
environment.

• Promotes shared cultural understanding. Advocates view the increased ability to

travel and experience new cultures as a positive part of globalization that can
contribute to international cooperation and peace.

IV. Negative consequences of globalization

Many proponents view globalization as way to solve systemic economic problems. But critics
see it as increasing global inequality. Among the critiques of globalization are the following
issues:

• Destabilizes markets. Critics of globalization blame the elimination of trade

barriers and the freer movement of people for undermining national policies and
local cultures. Labour markets in particular are affected when people move
across borders in search of higher paying jobs or companies outsource work and
jobs to lower cost labour markets.

• Damages the environment. The transport of goods and people among nations
generates greenhouse gas and all the negative effects it has on the environment.
Global travel and trade also can introduce, sometimes inadvertently, invasive
species to foreign ecosystems. Industries such as fishing and logging tend to go
 where business is most lucrative or regulations are less strict, which has resulted
in overfishing and deforestation in some parts of the world.

• Lowers living standards. When companies move operations overseas to minimize

costs, such moves can eliminate jobs and increase unemployment in sectors of
the home country.

• Facilitates global recessions. Tightly integrated global markets carry a greater risk
of global recessions. The 2007-2009 financial crisis and Great Recession is a good
example of how intertwined global markets are and how financial problems in
one country or region can quickly affect other parts of the world. Globalization
reduces the ability of individual nations to effectively use monetary and fiscal
policy to control the national economy.

• Damages cultural identities. Critics of globalization decry the decimation of

unique cultural identities and languages that comes with the international
movement of businesses and people. At the same time, the internet and social
media are driving this trend even without the movement of people and
commerce.

• Increases the likelihood of pandemics. Increased travel, critics say, has the
potential to increase the risk of pandemics. The H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak of
2009 and coronavirus in 2020 and 2021 are two examples of serious diseases that
spread to multiple nations quickly.