CORRESPONDENCE LEARNING MODULE

Second Semester | Academic Year 2024–2025

THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

CONW 1013

Prepared by:

CONW 1013 INSTRUCTORS

Reviewed by:

CLAIRE T. GUMARANG, MAEd

Political Science and Social Science Department Head

Recommended by:

HERBERT S. CORPUZ, Ed.D.

Academic Dean

Approved by:

LUISA B. AQUINO, Ed.D.

Vice President for Academics
 CORRESPONDENCE LEARNING MODULE
CONW 1013 (The Contemporary World)
Academic Year 2024–2025

Lesson 2: Aspects, Flows, Metaphors, Concepts and Theoretical Paradigms of Globalization

Aspects of Globalization,
Topic: Flows and Metaphors of Globalization, and
Concepts and Theoretical Paradigms of Globalization

Learning Outcomes: At the end of this module, you are expected to:

1. Recall the aspects of Globalization and its nature;

2. Appraise the Aspects of Globalization by relating to their personal stands through online
discussion;
3. Give the most relevant issues about the different aspects of Globalization; and
4. State your opinion on a certain issue about Contemporary world.
LEARNING CONTENT

Introduction:

Introduction In continuation to our lesson last time we will be discussing the key parts of
Globalization, Goals and Flows of Globalization. Metaphors make use of one term to help us
better understand another term. Example, globalization is like a two way street where exports
and imports flows fast, globalization is like a giant wave, that can either capsize nations or carry
them forward, and globalization is like a powerful new medicine, one that offers immense
possible benefits but must be used with caution because of the possible side effects.

Lesson Proper:

ASPECTS OF GLOBALIZATION

1. Cultural Globalization
We have already discussed what Globalization is;
in order to get a better picture of the impact of
Globalization of the lives of human beings, we need to
consider the various aspects of Globalization which may
be categorized as follows:
This refers is the transmission of ideas, meanings, and
values around the world in such a way as to extend and
intensify social relations. This process is marked by the
common consumption of cultures that the Internet has
 diffused, popular culture media, and international travel. Cultural Globalization involves
the spread of language, the arts, food, business ideas and technology, and therefore its
impact is felt by almost everybody around the world. One of the most obvious examples
of Globalization is McDonalds that is present here in the Philippines and around the
world. Another example, some of the students using Anneong into our language as well
instead of hello.

2. Economic Globalization
I’m sitting on a chair that was made in
China. As I look on the motor that I
am using, it carries a Japanese plate.
And as I look on my laptop, the
hardware is made in Taiwan. Without
a doubt, I am surrounded by products
that have come to me from across the
seas. In other words, my daily life is a
living example of the globalization of the world's economy. Economic
Globalization is the economic mixing and interdependence of economies across
the world through as escalation of cross-cultural of movement of goods, services,
technologies and wealth.

3. Industrial Globalization
Every country in the world is moving towards
specialization. Specialization may be referred
to as the phenomenon of producing only that
product in which the country has competitive
advantage in terms of cost. For example,
Singapore specializes in pharmaceutical
while the US specializes in military
equipment. Therefore, the countries
exchange their industrial products, which is known as trade, and fulfill the requirements
of their people. Every country of the world today is involved in trade and is depended on
some other country one way or the other. The US is the biggest economy in the world
and even that is depended on other countries for many of its needs. Hence the
industries of the world today are considered to be working not for their native countries
but for the world as a whole.
4. Financial Globalization
It may be defined as the emergence of
worldwide financial markets and better
access to external financing for corporate,
national and sub-national borrowers.
Foreign investors sponsored some projects
in the Philippines. They may be in the form
of international organizations or
independent investors. The IMF and the
World Bank today give funds to various countries for developmental projects. We may
say, that today the financial markets of the world have untied in such a way that finances
are easily available throughout the world.

5. Informational Globalization
This aspect of Globalization has perhaps
had the greatest impact on the world today.
Sitting at one end of the world, you can have
access to the information available in any
other part of the world with just the push of a
button. Internet, television, telephone, fax,
etc. are some of the inventions that may be
considered as a part of the informational
Globalization process where the information
flow has dramatically increased between geographically remote areas of the world.

6. Ecological Globalization
The effects of globalization in the ecology are
still not completely identified, though some
studies suggest that the process of
globalization has many consequences in our
ecology.
7. Globalization and the Politics
Through globalization, political issues such
as the rights of women and children are
now currently discussed, many laws are
now already implemented regarding the
issues on the rights of women and children.

8. Globalization with technology

Technology really plays a huge part in
the life of every individual. Also, through
the advancement of technology we can
now already communicate with others
despite the distance that separate us.
And through our technology today, the
process of globalization is now taking
place much faster.

9. Geographical Globalization
Globalization is moving towards the
trend of a borderless world. We can
now explore different countries without
having any dangers. As an example,
migration to major cities and first world
countries has increased during the
period of Globalization. Family
structures in places such as Ecuador
have changed, where community
members and relatives have begun
helping with childcare as male adults have often migrated to North America and other
regions for city-based jobs.

THE METAPHORS OF GLOBALIZATION

Before proceeding to the next section, a note is needed on the use of metaphors (Brown
1989), which will occupy a prominent place in the ensuing discussion. A metaphor
involves the use of one term to better help us understand another term. Thus, in the next
section, we will use the metaphor of a “solid” to describe epochs before the era of
globalization. Similarly, the global world will be described as being “liquid.” The use of
such metaphors is designed to give the reader a better and a more vivid sense of the
global age and how it differs from prior epochs.

SOLID AND LIQUID

1. SOLIDITY
Refers to the barriers that prevent or
make difficult the movement of
things, it can be either natural or
manmade.

Examples

Natural Solids
-Land forms Man-made
- Bodies of Barriers
Water - Great Wall of
China
- Berlin Wall
-Nine-dash line

An imaginary line such as the Nine-dash line of China used by the People’s Republic of
China in their claim to the South China Sea is an example of modern man-made solid.

2. LIQUID
As state of matter, takes the shape of its container which means liquids are not
fixed, therefore refers to increasing ease of the movement of people, things,
information and places in the contemporary world. Today’s liquid phenomena change
quickly and their aspect, spatial and temporal are continuous fluctuation. This means
that space and time are crucial elements of Globalization, in global finance, for
instance changes in the stock market are a matter of seconds. Another characteristic
if liquid phenomena are that their movement is difficult to stop.
 Example: Videos uploaded on YouTube or Facebook are unstoppable once they
become viral. The so-called internet sensation become famous not only in their
homeland but also to the entire world.
The forces (the liquid ones) made political boundaries more permeable to the flow of
the people or things (Cartier, 2000). This brings to us to what Ritzer regarded as the
most important characteristic of liquid. It tends to melt whatever stands in its path
Videos playing from Facebook and YouTube (characteristics of liquidity) (especially
solid). The clearest example is the decline, if not death of the nation-state.

Liquidity and Solidity are in constant interaction, liquidity is the one increasing and
proliferating today. Therefore, the metaphor that could best describe globalization is
liquidity.

FLOWS OF GLOBALIZATION

Flows are the movement of people, things, places and information brought by the
growing “porosity’ of global limitations. (Ritzer, 2015)

Closely related to the idea of liquidity, and integral to it, is another key concept in
thinking about globalization, the idea of flows (Appadurai 1996); after all liquids flow
easily, far more easily than solids. In fact, it is the concept of flows that is widely used in
the literature on globalization and it is the concept that will inform a good deal of the
body of this book. Because so much of the world has “melted” or is in the process of
“melting” and has become liquefied, globalization is increasingly characterized by great
flows of increasingly liquid phenomena of all types, including people, objects,
information, decisions, places, and so on.

For example, think the different foreign cuisines being patronized and consumed by the
Filipinos. Aside from local dishes, many of us are fond of eating of sushi, ramen,
hamburger, and French fries – food introduced to us by foreign cultures. Clearly, foods
are being Globalized.

Another example of flows is the Global Financial Crisis. As Lander (2008) puts it: “In
global financial system, national boarders are porous”. This mean that a financial crisis
in a given country can bring ramification on other regions of the world. An example of
which is the spread of the effects of American Financial Crisis in Europe 2008.

There are 2 types of Flows:

 1. Cultural flows refer to the different "objects,
skills, beliefs and practices" from different
parts of the world that travel around. This can
be music, food, religious beliefs, languages,
clothing, foreign films, etc. For example,
American music and films are listened and
watched by a lot of people across the world.
That is the reason for why people from the
other part of the world are influenced by the
“American culture”. When so many cultures
link together, we can see new culture being
created.

2. Information flows refer to the flow of

information across the world. People from
around the world are able to exchange
knowledge and information from anywhere.
For example, people can search for any
information they want on “Google Search”
which is a very useful tool that brings
together all the websites from around a
world.

CONCEPTS OF GLOBALIZATION

Globalization as a Process, Condition and Ideology

A. Globalization is a Process

Globalization – A set of social processes that

appear to transform our present social
condition of weakening nationality into one
globality; human lives played out in the world
as a single place; redefining landscape of
sociopolitical processes and social sciences
that study these mechanisms. It is also
interaction and integration between people,
companies, and governments worldwide. It is 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.

Steger thinks globalization is about movement from one point to another. Therefore,
globalization – dynamism, transformation, movement, destruction and creation. For
Steger, globalization isn’t only the economic or the market.

During the late 20th century, globalization rapidly expanded to resemble the form which
it is commonly known as today. Some suggest, however, that since the process of
globalization results in the world becoming increasingly integrated, then it must have
existed since the beginning of man. The process of globalization is said to have existed
at least several hundred years ago. Evidence to support this rests on the knowledge
that, around that time, European countries began to expand and colonize the continents
of Australia, Africa, North America, and South America.

Towards the end of the 19th century, world trade and investment experienced rapid
expansion. The world was further united when the Gregorian calendar was adopted. The
International Date Line, Prime Meridian and world time zones were also established at
that time. International standards were also devised in the areas of telegraphy and
signaling. The period of economic depression between World War I and World War ll
slowed down progress towards globalization when a number of countries introduce anti-
free trade measures in an attempt to stimulate their own economies. It did not take long,
however, for companies to become interested in expanding their business by operating
in the markets of foreign nations. Developments in communication and transport,
particularly that of air travel, soon made possible for these companies to carry out their
plans. The development of the internet continued to assist these companies, creating
transnational corporations (businesses with a base in one country but conducting
operations in a number of other countries) the way of the future.

B. Globalization as a Condition
Globality – A social condition characterized by tight economic, political, cultural and
environmental interconnections and global flows, making currently existing political
borders and economic boundaries irrelevant.

The often-repeated saying that globalization (the process) leads to more globalization
(the condition) does not allow us to draw meaningful distinctions between the causes
and effects. The term globality is used to signify a future social condition characterized
 by thick economic, political, and cultural interconnections and global flows that make
currently existing political borders and economic barriers irrelevant. Yet, it should not be
assumed that ‘globality’ refers to a determinate endpoint that precludes any further
development. Rather, this concept points to a particular social condition destined to give
way to new, qualitatively distinct, constellations. Moreover, we could easily imagine
different social manifestations of globality: one based primarily on values of individualism
and competition, as well as on an economic system of private property, another
embodying more communal and cooperative social arrangements, including less
capitalistic economic relations. These future alternatives expose the fundamentally the
indeterminate character of globalization.

C. Globalization as an Ideology
Global Imaginary - A concept referring to people’s
growing consciousness of belonging to a global
community -destabilizes and unsettles the
conventional parameters within which people
imagine their communal existence.
Globalization as an ideology has six core claims.
First, that it is about the liberalization and global
integration of markets. Second, it is inevitable and
irreversible. Third, nobody is in charge of
globalization. Fourth, globalization benefits
everyone. Fifth, it furthers the spread of
democracy in the world. Finally, Globalization
requires a global war on terror. Market globalism, justice globalism, religious underlying
globalization, which endow it with values and meanings. Market globalism advocates
promise a consumerist, neoliberal, free-market world.

THEORETICAL PARADIGMS OF GLOBALIZATION

WORLD SYSTEMS

Views globalization not as a recent phenomenon

but as virtually synonymous with the birth and
spread of World Capitalism. (Wallerstein)

Key Structure of The Capitalist World- System

1. Core - Powerful and developed centers of the system (Western Europe, North America and
Japan)

2. Periphery - Regions that have been forcibly subordinated to the core through colonialism or
other means. (Latin America, Africa, Asia, Middle East and Eastern Europe)

3. Semi-Periphery - States and regions that were previously in the core and are moving down in
the hierarchy or those that were previously in the periphery and are moving up.

GLOBAL CAPITALISM

Treat globalization as a novel stage in the evolving system of

the world of capitalism (capitalist globalization)

• Focus on new global production and financial system – both

seen to have superseded earlier national forms of capitalism

• Emphasize the rise of the processes that cannot be framed

within the nation-state/inner-state system – which lies at the
core of the world- system theory and most traditional macro-
social theories

THE NETWORK SOCIETY

Does not subscribe to the contention that capitalism fuels globalization

Technological change are the underlying causes of the several processes that comprise
globalization – Manuel Castells called The Rise of the Network Society – “new economy”

NEW ECONOMY is: informational, knowledge-based; global, in that production is organized on

a global scale; networked, in that productivity is generated through global networks of
interaction

• CASTELL: Networked enterprise makes material the culture of the informational, global
economy: it transforms signals into commodities by processing knowledge

TRANSNATIONALITY AND TRANSNATIONALISM

Transnational processes and practices are defined broadly as the

multiple ties and interactions- economic, political, social and cultural-
that link people, communities and institutions across the borders of
nation-states. Transnationality is also a principle of carrying out an
action across national borders, so as to have effects at a more general
level. This principle allows the exchanging of information and
expertise, or benchmarking practices in different members state.
Transnationalism is an umbrella concept encompassing a wide variety of transformative
processes, practices and developments that take place simultaneously at a local and global
level. It centers on exchanges, connections and practices across boarders (economic, political,
social and cultural that links people, institution across borders of nation-state resulting to the rise
of new communities and the formation of the new social identities and relations.

GLOBAL CULTURE

 Emphasize the rapid growth of the mass media and resultant global cultural flows and
images in recent decades evoking the image famously put forth by Marshal McLuhan of
the “the global village”
 Ritzer – McDonaldization – is a sociocultural process by which the principles of the fast-
food restaurant came to dominate more and more sectors of US and later world society

**END OF LESSON 2**

REFERENCES

Textbook:

Aldama, Prince Kennex, c2018. THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD. First Edition. Rex Book
Store, Inc. Ariola, Mariano M., c2018. The Contemporary World. Unlimited Books and Library
Services and Publishing, Inc.
Coronacion, Dennis C., et. al., 2018. Convergence: a textbook in contemporary world.
Mandaluyong City

Online Reference

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define organizational sustainability priorities, while taking into account the United
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