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CONTEMPORARY WORLD

Globalization - is a term used to describe how trade and technology have made the world into
a more connected and interdependent place. Globalization also captures in its scope the
economic and social changes that have come about as a result.

- Globalization is the spread of products, technology, information, and jobs across nations.

- refers to the spread of the flow of financial products, goods, technology, information, and
jobs across national borders and cultures. In economic terms, it describes an
interdependence of nations around the globe fostered through free trade.

- means the speedup of movements and exchanges (of human beings, goods, and services,
capital, technologies or cultural practices) all over the planet. One of the effects of
globalization is that it promotes and increases interactions between different regions and
populations around the globe.

- According to WHO, globalization can be defined as ” the increased interconnectedness

and interdependence of peoples and countries. It is generally understood to include two
inter-related elements: the opening of international borders to increasingly fast flows of
goods, services, finance, people and ideas; and the changes in institutions and policies at
national and international levels that facilitate or promote such flows.”

The History of Globalization

When did globalization begin? The Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes across
China, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean used between 50 B.C.E. and 250 C.E., is
perhaps the most well-known early example of exchanging ideas, products, and customs.
As with future globalizing booms, new technologies played a key role in the Silk Road
trade. Advances in metallurgy led to the creation of coins; advances in transportation led to
the building of roads connecting the major empires of the day; and increased agricultural
production meant more food could be trafficked between locales. Along with Chinese silk,
Roman glass, and Arabian spices, ideas such as Buddhist beliefs and the secrets of paper-
making also spread via these tendrils of trade.

Unquestionably, these types of exchanges were accelerated in the Age of Exploration,

when European explorers seeking new sea routes to the spices and silks of Asia bumped
into the Americas instead. Again, technology played an important role in the maritime trade
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routes that flourished between old and newly discovered continents. New ship designs and
the creation of the magnetic compass were key to the explorers’ successes. Trade and idea
exchange now extended to a previously unconnected part of the world, where ships
carrying plants, animals, and Spanish silver between the Old World and the New also
carried Christian missionaries.

The web of globalization continued to spin out through the Age of Revolution, when
ideas about liberty, equality, and fraternity spread like fire from America to France to Latin
America and beyond. It rode the waves of industrialization, colonization, and war through
the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries, powered by the invention of factories,
railways, steamboats, cars, and planes.

With the Information Age, globalization went into overdrive. Advances in computer and
communications technology launched a new global era and redefined what it meant to be
“connected.” Modern communications satellites meant the 1964 Summer Olympics in
Tokyo could be watched in the United States for the first time. The World Wide Web and
the Internet allowed someone in Germany to read about a breaking news story in Bolivia in
real time. Someone wishing to travel from Boston, Massachusetts, to London, England,
could do so in hours rather than the week or more it would have taken a hundred years
ago. This digital revolution massively impacted economies across the world as well: they
became more information-based and more interdependent. In the modern era, economic
success or failure at one focal point of the global web can be felt in every major world
economy.

Pros and Cons of Globalization

Pros
 A larger market for goods and services
 Cheaper consumer prices
 Outsourcing can benefit both domestic firms and foreign labor
 Increased standard of living

Cons
 Concentrates wealth in richer countries
 Some poorer countries can be left behind
 Poorer countries can be exploited of their labor and physical & intellectual resources
 Cultures and the products consumed around the world can become homogenized
Pros
Proponents of globalization believe it allows developing countries to catch up to industrialized
nations through increased manufacturing, diversification, economic expansion, and
improvements in standards of living.
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Outsourcing by companies brings jobs and technology to developing countries, which helps
them to grow their economies. Trade initiatives increase cross-border trading by removing
supply-side and trade-related constraints.
Globalization has advanced social justice on an international scale as well, and advocates
report that it has focused attention on human rights worldwide that might have otherwise been
ignored on a large scale.

Cons
One clear result of globalization is that an economic downturn in one country can create
a domino effect through its trade partners. For example, the 2008 financial crisis had a severe
impact on Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Spain. All these countries were members of
the European Union, which had to step in to bail out debt-laden nations, which were thereafter
known by the acronym PIIGS.
Globalization detractors argue that it has created a concentration of wealth and power
in the hands of a small corporate elite that can gobble up smaller competitors around the
globe.
Globalization has become a polarizing issue in the U.S. with the disappearance of
entire industries to new locations abroad. It's seen as a major factor in the economic squeeze
on the middle class.
For better and worse, globalization has also increased homogenization.
Starbucks, Nike, and Gap dominate commercial space in many nations. The sheer size and
reach of the U.S. have made the cultural exchange among nations largely a one-sided affair.

What Is Globalization and Why Is it Important?

In essence, globalization is about the world becoming increasingly interconnected .
Countries today are more connected than ever before, due to factors such as air travel,
containerized sea shipping, international trade agreements and legal treaties, and the Internet.
In the world of business, globalization is associated with trends such as outsourcing, free trade,
and international supply chains. Globalization is important as it increases the size of the global
market, and allows more and different goods to be produced and sold for cheaper prices.
Globalization is also important because it is one of the most powerful forces affecting
the modern world, so much so that it can be difficult to make sense of the world without
understanding globalization. For example, many of the largest and most successful
corporations in the world are in effect truly multinational organizations, with offices and supply
chains stretched right across the world. These companies would not be able to exist if not for
the complex network of trade routes, international legal agreements, and telecommunications
infrastructure that were made possible through globalization. Important political developments,
such as the ongoing trade conflict between the United States and China, are also directly
related to globalization.

Examples of Globalization

 Economic globalization: is the development of trade systems within transnational

actors such as corporations or NGOs;
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 Financial globalization: can be linked with the rise of a global financial system with
international financial exchanges and monetary exchanges. Stock markets, for instance,
are a great example of the financially connected global world since when one stock
market has a decline, it affects other markets negatively as well as the economy as a
whole.
 Cultural globalization: refers to the interpenetration of cultures which, as a
consequence, means nations adopt principles, beliefs, and costumes of other nations,
losing their unique culture to a unique, globalized supra-culture
 Political globalization: the development and growing influence of international
organizations such as the UN or WHO means governmental action takes place at an
international level. There are other bodies operating a global level such as NGOs
like Doctors without borders or Oxfam;
 Sociological globalization: information moves almost in real-time, together with the
interconnection and interdependence of events and their consequences. People move
all the time too, mixing and integrating different societies;
 Technological globalization: the phenomenon by which millions of people are
interconnected thanks to the power of the digital world via platforms such as Facebook,
Instagram, Skype or Youtube.
 Geographic globalization: is the new organization and hierarchy of different regions of
the world that is constantly changing. Moreover, with transportation and flying made so
easy and affordable, apart from a few countries with demanding visas, it is possible to
travel the world without barely any restrictions;
 Ecological globalization: accounts for the idea of considering planet Earth as a single
global entity – a common good all societies should protect since the weather affects
everyone and we are all protected by the same atmosphere. To this regard, it is often
said that the poorest countries that have been polluting the least will suffer the
most from climate change.

The Benefits of Globalization

The benefits and disadvantages of globalization are the subject of ongoing debate. The
downside to globalization can be seen in the increased risk for the transmission of diseases
like ebola or severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), or in the kind of environmental
harm that scientist Paul R. Furumo has studied in microcosm in palm oil plantations in the
tropics. Globalization has of course led to great good, too. Richer nations now can—and do
—come to the aid of poorer nations in crisis. Increasing diversity in many countries has
meant more opportunity to learn about and celebrate other cultures. The sense that there is
a global village, a worldwide “us,” has emerged.

Globalization has benefits that cover many different areas. It reciprocally developed
economies all over the world and increased cultural exchanges. It also allowed financial
exchanges between companies, changing the paradigm of work. Many people are nowadays
citizens of the world. The origin of goods became secondary and geographic distance is no
longer a barrier for many services to happen.
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The Engine of Globalization – An Economic Example

The most visible impacts of globalization are definitely the ones affecting the economic
world. Globalization has led to a sharp increase in trade and economic exchanges, but also to a
multiplication of financial exchanges.
In the 1970s world economies opened up and the development of free trade policies
accelerated the globalization phenomenon. Between 1950 and 2010, world exports increased
33-fold. This significantly contributed to increasing the interactions between different regions of
the world.
This acceleration of economic exchanges has led to strong global economic growth. It
fostered as well a rapid global industrial development that allowed the rapid development of
many of the technologies and commodities we have available nowadays.
Knowledge became easily shared and international cooperation among the brightest
minds speeded things up. According to some analysts, globalization has also contributed to
improving global economic conditions, creating much economic wealth (thas was, nevertheless,
unequally distributed – more information ahead).

Globalization Benefits – A Financial Example

At the same time, finance also became globalized. From the 1980s, driven by neo-liberal
policies, the world of finance gradually opened. Many states, particularly the US under Ronald
Reagan and the UK under Margaret Thatcher introduced the famous “3D Policy”:
Disintermediation, Decommissioning, Deregulation.

The idea was to simplify finance regulations, eliminate mediators and break down the
barriers between the world’s financial centers. And the goal was to make it easier to exchange
capital between the world’s financial players. This financial globalization has contributed to the
rise of a global financial market in which contracts and capital exchanges have multiplied.

Globalization – A Cultural Example

Together with economic and financial globalization, there has obviously also been
cultural globalization. Indeed, the multiplication of economic and financial exchanges has been
followed by an increase in human exchanges such as migration, expatriation or traveling. These
human exchanges have contributed to the development of cultural exchanges. This means that
different customs and habits shared among local communities have been shared among
communities that (used to) have different procedures and even different beliefs.

Good examples of cultural globalization are, for instance, the trading of commodities
such as coffee or avocados. Coffee is said to be originally from Ethiopia and consumed in the
Arabic region. Nonetheless, due to commercial trades after the 11th century, it is nowadays
known as a globally consumed commodity. Avocados, for instance, grown mostly under the
tropical temperatures of Mexico, the Dominican Republic or Peru. They started by being
produced in small quantities to supply the local populations but today guacamole or avocado
toasts are common in meals all over the world.
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At the same time, books, movies, and music are now instantaneously available all
around the world thanks to the development of the digital world and the power of the internet.
These are perhaps the greatest contributors to the speed at which cultural exchanges and
globalization are happening. There are also other examples of globalization regarding traditions
like Black Friday in the US, the Brazilian Carnival or the Indian Holi Festival. They all were
originally created following their countries’ local traditions and beliefs but as the world got to
know them, they are now common traditions in other countries too.

Why Is Globalization Bad? The Negative Effects of

Globalization

Globalization is a complex phenomenon. As such, it has a considerable influence

on several areas of contemporary societies. Let’s take a look at some of the main
negative effects globalization has had so far.

The Negative Effects of Globalization on Cultural Loss

Apart from all the benefits globalization has had on allowing cultural exchanges it
also homogenized the world’s cultures. That’s why specific cultural characteristics from
some countries are disappearing. From languages to traditions or even specific
industries. That’s why according to UNESCO, the mix between the benefits of
globalization and the protection of local culture’s uniqueness requires a careful
approach.

The Economic Negative Effects of Globalization

Despite its benefits, the economic growth driven by globalization has not been
done without awakening criticism. The consequences of globalization are far from
homogeneous: income inequalities, disproportional wealth and trades that benefit
parties differently. In the end, one of the criticisms is that some actors (countries,
companies, individuals) benefit more from the phenomena of globalization, while others
are sometimes perceived as the “losers” of globalization. As a matter of fact, a recent
report from Oxfam says that 82% of the world’s generated wealth goes to 1% of the
population.

The Negative Effects of Globalization on the Environment

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Many critics have also pointed out that globalization has negative effects on the
environment. Thus, the massive development of transport that has been the basis of
globalization is also responsible for serious environmental problems such as greenhouse gas
emissions, global warming or air pollution.

At the same time, global economic growth and industrial productivity are both the driving
force and the major consequences of globalization. They also have big environmental
consequences as they contribute to the depletion of natural resources, deforestation and the
destruction of ecosystems and loss of biodiversity. The worldwide distribution of goods is also
creating a big garbage problem, especially on what concerns plastic pollution.