Metaphors of Globalization

THE
CONTEMPORARY
WORLD
ELIAS VEGA AVENIDO
COLLEGE INSTRUCTOR
METAPHORS OF
GLOBALIZATION
IN ORDER FOR US TO BETTER UNDERSTAND
THE CONCEPT OF GLOBALIZATION, WE
UTILIZE METAPHORS, WHICH USES ONE
TERM TO UNDERSTAND ANOTHER TERM. IN
THIS CASE, THE TWO STATES OF MATTER
SHALL BE USED, SOLID AND LIQUID.
SOLIDITY (FIXED)
 IT REFERS TO THE BARRIERS, NATURAL OR MAN MADE THAT
PREVENTS OR MAKE THEM DIFFICULT THE MOVEMENT OF
THINGS.
 EXAMPLES OF NATURAL BARRIERS: LANDFORMS (MOUNTAINS)
AND BODIES OF WATER (OCEAN, RIVERS, LAKE, SEAS)
 EXAMPLES OF MANMADE BARRIERS: GREAT WALL OF CHINA
(CHINA), BERLIN WALL (BERLIN, GERMANY), NINE DASH LINE
(CHINA), KOREAN DEMILITARIZED ZONE (NORTH AND SOUTH
KOREA)
 HOWEVER, THESE BARRIERS ARE TEND TO MELT, NOT TO BE
TAKEN LITERALLY. INSTEAD, THIS PROCESS INVOLVES HOW WE
CAN DESCRIBE WHAT IS HAPPENING IN TODAY’S GLOBAL
WORLD
LIQUIDITY (NOT FIXED)
 IT REFERS TO THE INCREASING EASE OF MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE, THINGS AND
INFORMATION AND PLACES IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD.
 FIRST, TODAY’S LIQUID PHENOMENA CHANGE QUICKLY AND THEIR ASPECTS,
SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL, ARE IN CONTINUOUS FLUCTUATION. THIS MEANS
THAT THE SPACE AND TIME WERE CRUCIAL ELEMENTS IN GLOBALIZATION.
 ANOTHER CHARACTERISTIC OF GLOBALIZATION IS THAT THEIR MOVEMENT IS
DIFFICULT TO STOP. EXAMPLES OF IT WERE VIDEOS UPLOADED ON YOUTUBE
OR FACEBOOK THAT BECOMES UNSTOPPABLE WHEN IT BECOMES VIRAL, AND
THE FAMOUS INTERNET SENSATIONS BECAME FAMOUS NOT ONLY LOCALLY
BUT ALSO INTERNATIONALLY
 FINALLY, THE FORCES MADE POLITICAL BOUNDARIES MORE PERMEABLE TO
THE FLOW OF PEOPLE AND THINGS.
 EXAMPLES OF CONTINUOUS FLUCTUATION THAT REQUIRES TIME AND SPACE
IS THE CHANGE IN THE STOCK MARKET, FOREIGN EXCHANGE.
 THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTIC OF LIQUIDITY IN GLOBALIZATION IS
THAT, IT TENDS TO MELT WHETHER STANDS IN ITS PATH. ITS CLEAREST
EXAMPLE WAS THE DECLINE OR DEATH OF A NATION OR STATE.
FLOWS
 FLOWS ARE THE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE, THINGS,PLACES & INFORMATION BROUGHT BY
THE GROWING “POROSITY” OF GLOBAL LIMITATIONS (RITZER, 2015)
 THINK THE DIFFERENT FOREIGN CUISINES BEING PATRONIZED & CONSUMED BY THE
FILIPINOS. ASIDE FROM THE LOCAL DISHES, MANY OF US ARE FOND OF EATING SUSHI,
RAMEN, HAMBURGER, & FRENCH FRIES – FOODS INTRODUCED TO US BY FOREIGN
CULTURES. CLEARLY, FOODS ARE BEING GLOBALIZED.
 ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF FLOWS IS GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISES. AS (LANDER,2008) PUT IT: “
IN GLOBAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM, NATIONAL BORDERS ARE POROUS. THIS MEANS THAT A
FINANCIAL CRISIS IN A GIVEN COUNTRY CAN BRING RAMIFICATIONS TO OTHER REGIONS OF
THE WORLD.
 AN EXAMPLE OF WHICH IS THE SPREAD OF THE EFFECTS OF AMERICAN FINANCIAL CRISIS IN
EUROPE 2008. THE FOLLOWING ARE OTHER KINDS OF FLOWS THAT CAN BE OBSERVED
TODAY: POOR ILLEGAL MIGRANTS FLOODING MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD (MOSES, 2006).
 THE VIRTUAL FLOW OF LEGAL & ILLEGAL INFORMATION SUCH AS BLOGS CHILD
PORNOGRAPHY,& IMMIGRANTS RECREATING ETHNIC ENCLAVES IN THE HOST COUNTRIES. A
CONCRETE EXAMPLE IS THE FILIPINO COMMUNITIES ABROAD & THE CHINESE COMMUNITIES
IN THE PHILIPPINES
GLOBALIZATION
THEORIES
WE WILL ANALYZE GLOBALIZATION CULTURALLY, ECONOMICALLY, AND POLITICALLY, AND ITS ORIGINS AND
HISTORY THAT LEADS TO THE THEORIES OF HOW AND WHY PEOPLE AND PLACES GLOBALIZE.
 HOMOGENEITY
REFERS TO THE INCREASING SAMENESS INTHE WORLD AS CULTURAL INPUTS, ECONOMIC FACTORS, &
POLITICAL ORIENTATIONS OF SOCIETIES EXPAND TO CREATE COMMON PRACTICES, SAME ECONOMIES &
SIMILAR FORMS OFGOVERNMENT.
EXAMPLE IS THE DOMINANT RELIGION IN OUR COUNTRY IS CHRISTIANITY, W/C WAS BROUGHT TO US BY THE
SPANIARDS. ANOTHER IS AMERICANIZATION, W/C WAS DEFINED BY KUISEL(1993) AS THE IMPORT OF NON-
AMERICAN PRODUCTS, IMAGES, TECHNOLOGIES, PRACTICES & BEHAVIOUR THAT ARE CLOSELY ASSOCIATED
WITH AMERICA/AMERICANS.
RICH COUNTRIES BECOME ADVANTAGEOUS IN THE WORLD ECONOMY AT THE EXPENSE OF THE POOR
COUNTRY COUNTRIES W/C LEADS TO INCREASED INEQUALITY AMONG NATIONS. THE POLITICAL REALM ALSO
SUFFERS HOMOGENIZATION IF ONE TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE EMERGING SIMILAR MODELS OF GOVERNANCE
IN THE WORLD.
BARBER (1995) SAID THAT “MCWORLD” IS EXISTING. IT MEANS ONLY ONE POLITICAL ORIENTATION IS
GROWING IN TODAY’S SOCIETIES.
GLOBALIZATION THEORIES
 THE GLOBAL FLOW OF MEDIA IS OFTEN CHARACTERIZED BY MEDIA IMPERIALISM. TV, MUSIC,
BOOKS & MOVIES ARE PERCEIVED AS IMPOSED ON DEVELOPING COUNTRIES BY THE WEST
(COWEN, 2002). MEDIA IMPERIALISM UNDERMINES THE EXISTENCE OF ALTERNATIVE GLOBAL
MEDIA ORIGINATING FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, SUCH AS THE AL JAZEERA (BIELSA,
2008) & THE BOLLYWOOD (LARKIN, 2003), AS WELL AS THE INFLUENCE OF THE LOCAL &
REGIONAL MEDIA.
 THE INTERNET CAN BE SEEN AS ARENA FOR ALTERNATIVE MEDIA. CULTURAL IMPERIALISM
DENIES THE AGENCY OF VIEWERS, BUT PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD OFTEN INTERPRET THE
SAME MEDIUM(E.G. MOVIE) IN SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT WAYS. GLOBAL MEDIA ARE
DOMINATED BY A SMALL NUMBER OF LARGE CORPORATIONS. AS MCCHESNEY (1999) PUT IT,
THIS IS BEING “EXTENDED FROM OLD MEDIA TO NEW MEDIA” SUCH AS MICROSOFT,
FACEBOOK, TWITTER, GOOGLE & APPLE’S ITUNES. AS A RESULT, IN THE LONG RUN THE
INTERNET COULD ENDUP BEING LESS DIVERSE & COMPETITIVE.
 INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE ASSOCIATED WITH THE ALTER-GLOBALIZATION MOVEMENT,
HELPS TO COUNTER THE TREND. IT DISSEMINATES INFORMATION TO FACILITATE GLOBAL
PARTICIPATION OF ACTIVISTS. HACKTIVISTS EXTEND ACTIVISM TO THE INTERNET BY
HACKING INTO THE COMPUTER PROGRAMS TO PROMOTE A PARTICULAR CAUSE. (JURIS,
2005).
 Ingeneral, the contemporary world is undergoing the
process of McDonaldization. It is the process by which
Western societies are dominated by the principle of fast-
food restaurants. McDonaldization involves the global
spread of rational systems such as efficiency,
calculability, predictability & control. Ritzer
(2008)pointed out that this process is “extended to other
businesses, sectors, & geographic areas”
 Grobalization,in contrast to glocalization is a process
wherein nations, corporations etc. impose themselves on
geographic areas in order to gain profits, power, & so
on. (Ryan, 2007)
 HETEROGENITY
Heterogeneity pertains to the creation of various

cultural practices, New economies, & political
groups because of the interaction of elements from
different societies in the world.
Heterogeneity refers to the differences because of
either lasting differences or of the hybrids or
combinations of cultures that can be produced thru
the different trans planetary processes.
A more specific concept is “glocalization” coined by Roland
Robertson in 1992. To him, as global forces interact with
local factor or a specific geographic area, the “glocal” is
being produced.
 Thecommondification of cultures & “glocal” markets are
examples of differentiation happening in many economies
around the world.
 The same goes with political institutions. Barbers (1995) also
provided the alternate of “McWorld” – Jihad. As Ritzer(2008)
mentioned, it refers to the political groups that are engaged
in an “intensification of nationalism & that leads to greater
political heterogeneity throughout the world.

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Heterogeneity pertains to the creation of various

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