INTRODUCTION TO GLOBALIZATION

Chapter I. Unit 1

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Chapter I. Unit 1

FUNDAMENTALS OF GLOBALIZATION
Objectives
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1. To write a personal definition of globalization based on a concept
map.
2. To differentiate the competing conceptions of globalization
3. To identify the underlying philosophies of the varying definitions of
globalization
4. To agree on a working definition of globalization for the course
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Globalization has become a buzzword of the 21 st century. Throughout history, pivotal

events have significantly altered perspectives on, and approaches to, academic disciplines.
Terrorist attacks, pandemics (i.e. COVID-19), climate change issues, problems of migration,
among other global concerns reinforced the need for scholars, political leaders, policy makers,
international organizations, non-state actors, and individuals to focus even more on global
issues in an age of increasing globalization. Globalization links the fate of countries,
intergovernmental organizations, state actors, and individuals to an unprecedented degree.

I. Globalism. It is a state of the world involving networks of interdependence at

multicontinental distances. These networks can be linked through flows of influences of capital
and goods, information and ideas, people and force, as well as environmentally and biologically
relevant substances (such as acid rain or pathogens). Globalization and deglobalization refer to
the increase or decline of globalism. In comparison with interdependence, globalism has two
special characteristics:
1. Globalism refers to networks of connections (multiple relationships),
not simply to single linkages. We would refer to economic or military
interdependence between the United States and Japan but not to globalism
between the US and Japan. US-Japanese interdependence is part of
contemporary globalism but by itself not globalism.
2. For a network of relationships to be considered “global,” it must
include multicontinental distances, not simply regional networks. Example:
APEC but not ASEAN (Keohane, R. and Nye, J, 2000).

A. The Dimensions of Globalism:

1. Economic globalism involves long distance flows of goods, services, and capital, and
the information and perceptions that accompany market change. It also involves the
organization of the processes that are linked to these flows: for example, the organization of
low-wage production in Asia for the US and European markets.

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Some economists define globalization in narrowly economic terms as “the transfer of
technology and capital from high-wage to low-wage countries, and the resulting growth of
labor intensive Third World exports.”
2. Military globalism refers to a long-distance network of interdependence in which
force, and the threats of promise of force are employed. A good example of military globalism
is the “balance of terror” between the US and the Soviet Union during the cold war.
3. Environmental globalism refers to the long-distance transport of materials in the
atmosphere or oceans or of biological substances such as pathogens or genetic materials that
affect human health and well-being. Examples include the depletion of the stratospheric ozone
layer as a result of ozone-depleting chemicals; human-induced global warming, in so far as it is
occurring; the spread of the AIDS virus from Central Africa around the world beginning at the
end of the 1970s.
4. Social and cultural globalism involves movements of ideas, information, and images,
and of people – who of course carry ideas and information with them. Examples include the
movement of religions or the diffusion of scientific knowledge. An important facet of social
globalism involves imitation of one society’s practices and institutions by others: what some
sociologists refer as “isomorphism.” At its most profound level, social globalism affects the
consciousness of individuals and their attitudes towards culture, politics, and personal identity.
a. Political globalism could refer to the subset of social globalism that refers to
ideas and information about power and governance. It could be measured by imitation effect
(for example, in constitutional arrangements or the number of democratic states) or by the
diffusion of government policies, or of international regimes.
b. Legal globalism could refer to the spread of legal practices and institutions to
a variety of issues, including world trade and the criminalization of war crimes by heads of
states.

Globalism is a phenomenon with ancient roots and globalization is the process of

increasing globalism, now or in the past. However, others also argue that globalization is both
a phenomenon and a process.

II. Globalization. It is the process by which globalism becomes increasingly thick. The issue is
not how old globalism is, but rather how “thin” or “thick” it is at any given time.
Example of “thin globalization,” the Silk Road provide an economic and cultural link
between ancient Europe and Asia, but the route was plied by a small group of hardy traders,
and the goods that were traded back and forth had a direct impact primarily on a small (and
relatively elite) stratum of consumers along the road.
“Thick globalization,” on the other hand, involve many relationships that are intensive
as well as extensive: long distance flows that are large and continuous, affecting the lives of
many people. Example is the operations of global financial markets today, affect the people
from Peoria (city in Illinois, USA) to Penang (Malaysia).

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A. Various definitions of globalization

Proponent Definition
BARFIELD C. • It is the impact of changing technology on individual
(2000) countries, individual societies over time.
• It is very much technology-based.

PAYNE, R. (2009) • The integration of markets, politics, values, and

environmental concerns across borders.
• It refers to shrinking distances among the continents, a
wider geographic sense of vulnerability, and worldwide
interconnectedness of important aspects of human life,
including religion, migration, war, finance, trade, diseases,
drugs, and music.
• Globalization implies a significant and obvious blurring
distinctions between the internal and external affairs of
countries and the weakening of differences among
countries.
• Although globalization is generally regarded as
Americanization of the world, America itself was, and
continues to be, profoundly shaped by the forces of
globalization.

STEGER, M. (2010) • Globalization is the intensification and expansion of social

relations and consciousness across world-time and world-
space. (working definition of the course)

B. Interdependence and Globalization

Human societies have always been characterized by varying degrees of
interdependence. Most of us do not grow the food we eat, make the clothes we wear,
manufacture the cars we drive, produce the water we drink, or build the homes we live in. We
depend on each other to accomplish both profound and mundane objectives.

Interdependence Globalization
• It involves mutual dependence and • It refers to the integration of markets,
cooperation politics, values, and environmental
concerns across borders (Nassar, 2005).
• At the heart of the concept of
interdependence is reciprocity

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• It is a political and economic situation in

which two states are simultaneously
dependent on each other for their well-
being (Nassar, 2005)

Steger, M. (2010) • Globalization is the intensification and

expansion of social relations and
consciousness across world-time and
world-space. (working definition of the
course)

Globality is a social condition characterized by tight economic, political, cultural and

environmental interconnections and flows making currently existing borders and boundaries
irrelevant.
Example: globality of online gaming, ecumenism and same sex-marriage.

C. Attributes of Globalization
1. Various forms of connectivity. They are diverse because they can be
economic, political, cultural, and the like. They are enabled by various
factors, pressures, media, among others.
2. Expansion and stretching of social relations. This is with the presence
of non-government organizations, friendships/relationships,
government associations, multinational corporation (MNCs).
3. Intensification and acceleration of social exchanges and activities.
Such as from snail mail to facebook; live television, and increased
travel (cheap flights or piso fare promo)
4. Occurs subjectively. We think about the world such as the use of
social media like #PrayforMarawi; #PrayforHongkong. We associate
ourselves with global trends as fan of K-Pop, and other international
artists. Hopefully, we feel some sense of responsibility especially on
climate change.
Globalization is an uneven process. No single person or country experience globalization the
same way. Legrain (2004) said,
“I believe that globalization is generally a good thing. Yes, the world is
changing fast. Yes, it can be scary. Yes, some people will lose out at first. But we
should opt to live in a more globalized world because it offers greater opportunity for
everyone, rich and poor, to make the most of their potential. Globalization offers a
richer life – in the broadest sense – for people in rich countries and the only realistic
route out of poverty for the world’s poor. Make no mistake: we can build a better
globalization. It is vitally important that we make the right choices. Our future
depends on it.”

What is being globalized?

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▪ The different forms of connectivity and flows are different facets of
globalization
▪ Different “globalities” represent different forms of globalization
(Flusty, 2004)
▪ Depending on the globality, you see a different dynamic

D. Debating Globalization
The three dominant positions in this debate are assumed by:
1. the hyperglobalizers and the transformationalists,
2. the weak globalizers, and
3. the skeptics and rejectionists.

DEBATING GLOBALIZATION

Views/ Hyperglobalizers Weak globalizers Skeptics and

Arguments on: & Rejectionists
Transformationali
sts
Globalization • They see profound • There are many • Globalization is largely
and changes in the important changes in a myth that disguises
internationaliz international system. the international the reality of existence
a-tion system but increased of powerful sovereign
• Contemporary
internationalization is states and major
patterns of
not altering the world economic divisions in
globalization are
to the extent claimed the world
viewed as being
by the hyperglobalizers
unprecedented.

State and • There is an erosion of • States remain • National governments

sovereignty sovereignty and the sovereign. determine the nature
weakening of nation- of global interactions.
states as a result of
globalization and
internationalization.

Economy • There is a borderless • States’ economy • National governments

economy that remains sovereign. remain in control of
integrates people their domestic
everywhere in the economies as well as
global market. the regulation of
international economic
activities.

Social and • There is cultural • Culture, nationalism, • Inequality continue to

Cultural homogenization. and geography fuel nationalism.
continue to divide us.
• People around the • Instead of cultural
globe are living in homogenization, the

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a “global village”. • While people around world is dividing into

the world, are living in cultures that remain
the “global village,” suspicious of each
they continue to other.
jealously guard their
own huts.

Conclusion: Some groups see globalization as homogenization whereas others view it as

promoting diversity and greater tolerance of differences. Many non-state actors view it as
conducive to their efforts to improve social conditions, protect the environment, and promote
democracy. Globalization is linked to the toppling of dictators and the spread of human rights
and democratic government. By removing restraints on people’s movement, globalization is
perceived as instrumental in giving to the individual the power to choose. People are free to
shape their identities, pursue an education anywhere in the world, and upgrade their standard
of living. On the other side, critics of globalization focus on how cultural homogenization
imposes Western values on others and destroys their traditions, religious beliefs, identities and
sense of community and belonging. Many believe that globalization is a threat to national
sovereignty and autonomy. Environmentalists, for example, believe that globalization
contributes to environmental degradation, and labor unions and students contend that
globalization lowers wages, creates greater inequality, and allows rich countries to maintain
their dominant position in relation to poor countries.

E. Causes of Globalization
Nassar in his book Globalization and Terrorism: The Migration of Dreams and
Nightmares explained that religion, technology, economy, and empire are the engines that
empower the drive toward globalization. Thus, power, wealth and greed play a major role as
root causes of globalization. Even the area of technology is arguably driven by the profit motive.
According to him, globalization is rooted in power and wealth. Whether for the glory of
God, the empire, the nation, or the corporation, the spread of people, goods, and ideas grew
and developed. In the process, hegemony continues into the twenty-first century under the
guise of globalization.
Payne (2009), on the other hand, believes that the causes of globalization are
inseparable from the human desire to explore, to gain greater physical and economic security,
to be creative and curious, and to move from one country to another. He mentioned the causes
such as,
1.) migration with the assistance of some basic forms of technology, improvements in
transportation and navigation, revolution in communications, inexpensive airline travel;
2.) advances in military which allowed states to consolidate power internally and
subsequently to challenge other states for power and dominance; and medical technologies
3.) medical technologies assisted globalization, and its inability to successfully control
infectious diseases such as AIDS, increases our sense of vulnerability in a global society, but has
contributed to improvements in some areas like enabling people to live longer and healthier
lives, advances in commerce, and developments in culture;

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4.) financial market expansion that encouraged more economic interactions, innovation,
entrepreneurship, and the development of new technologies
5.) communications revolution directly affects economic, financial, military, and cultural
globalization. Example, the “Love Bug” virus that caused computers worldwide to crash at
lightning speed, with devastating effects on communications, businesses, education and
medical care around the world. It even penetrated the secret computer system of the code
breakers at the US National Security Agency, as well as some classified systems at the Pentagon.
This happened in May 2000, created by a 23-year-old Filipino student.
F. Forms of Globalization:
1. Economic Globalization may be defined as the intercontinental exchange of products,
services, and labor. Frankel (2005) points out that this is one of the most powerful forces to
have shaped the postwar world. According to him, the two major drivers of economic
globalization are:
a. reduced costs to transportation and communication in the private sector; and
b. reduced policy barriers to trade and investment on the part of the public
sector.
Payne asserts that the emergence of new technologies and the diffusion to major parts
of the world had intensified economic globalization. Multinational corporations (MNCs) have
been instrumental in globalization of production and distribution networks. He added that
consumers worldwide use similar products made by similar corporations. Economic
globalization also includes the movements of people and exchange of ideas which paved way
for the creation of global teams (corporate cultures of Citigroup, Chevron, Hewlett-Packard)
that operate across national borders and the development of global cities (New York, London,
Tokyo, Shanghai, Milan, Hong Kong, Zurich).

2. Financial Globalization leads to the deepening and expansion of global finance.

Financial problems affecting a country such as the terrorist attack in the World Trade Center
and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, sent shock waves through financial markets
worldwide, painfully demonstrating direct linkages among American, European, Asian, and the
Latin American economies.
Four basic developments that drive financial globalization:
a. Consolidation of financial institutions in most countries. Before, local banks
were largely locally owned and operated, but the number of independent financial
institutions is declining as mergers and acquisitions result in larger financial institutions
(BDO is merging of Equitable, PCI and Banco de Oro)
b. Globalization of operations is where banking conglomerates extend their
reach by forming strategic alliances with similar institutions in different countries
c. Emergence of New technologies such as online banking where
telecommunications aid operation to expand into foreign markets even without having
branches (Pera padala of pawnshops)
d. Universalization of banking had contributed to the blurring of bank and
nonbank financial services.

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Before 1944, British pound became the strongest and most desirable currency as an
impact of the stretching of the British Empire across the world. In 1944, US, Britain and other
countries held a conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to determine the international
financial order. The conference established the Bretton Woods System, which required the
currencies of other countries to have an exchange rate fixed to the dollar, with the dollar fixed
in terms of gold at $35 an ounce. This arrangement gave the US significant influence over the
international monetary supply.
The Bretton Woods System set up the World Bank (also known as international bank for
Reconstruction and Development), to help stimulate Europe’s economic recovery after the
devastation of World War II. It also created the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to
implement the rules of the international financial system and to help countries experiencing
short-term of balance-of-payment and liquidity problems.
3. Political Globalization is characterized by the acceptance of states, the relative power
of states, and the spread of nonstate political and regional organizations composed of states,
and the spread of nonstate political actors. Political issues in one part of the world directly or
indirectly affect many other areas. For example, conflicts in the Middle East have important
ramifications for Europe, US and Japan. Most of the emphasis on political globalization is
concentrated on the spread of multilateral institutions. These are organizations composed of
many states pursuing common objective and include both international intergovernmental
organizations (IGOs), such as the United Nations, the European Union, Organization of
American States, and the British Commonwealth.
Politics is both local and global. Many policies that were once considered as local or
national concern are now global, which suggests the strengthening of policy interdependence.
In other words, national policies of one country are intertwined with those of other countries,
and many national problems can be solved through global cooperation. States form
international regimes to cope with problems generated by complex interdependence which
were designed to regulate the behavior of their members. At the heart of most international
regimes is the concept of global governance, which refers to collective actions taken to
establish international institutions and norms to deal with national and global issues.
4. Military Globalization is characterized by extensive as well as intensive networks of
military force. This includes the actual use of force and threats to use violence. The most
obvious example of military globalization is the nuclear age and the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction. This is characterized by several developments in modern history:
a. The competition among European powers and territorial expansion that
resulted in the colonization of Asia, Africa, and the Americas;
b. The emergence of international alliances and international security regimes,
such as the Concert of Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO);
c. The proliferation of weapons and military technologies worldwide; and
d. The creation of global institutions to deal with military issues, such as the
nuclear nonproliferation regime.
The Concert of Europe (1815-1914) established a set of principles, rules and practices
that helped to maintain balance between the major powers after the Napoleonic wars, and to
spare Europe from another broad conflict, which ushered in the Congress of Vienna.
5. Cultural Globalization involves the exchange of food, people, products, ideas, and
technology across national boundaries. It affects the consciousness of individuals and their

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attitudes towards politics, religion, economics, and broader cultural values. It also influences
their sense of identity, belonging and nationalism. Sports which have been generally associated
with nationalism, are one of the most obvious and emotional aspects of cultural globalization.
World Cup soccer (football), watched by billions of people around the world demonstrates the
global passion for sport. The recently concluded NBA game between Golden State Warriors and
Raptors, boxing match between many Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. are few examples.
The globalization of sports has been accompanied by the development and enforcement of
rules for athletes around the world.

6. Environmental Globalization focuses on the interdependence among countries in

relation to such problem as global warming, the spread of infectious diseases, air and water
pollution, deforestation and loss of biodiversity, and threats of endangered species. It refers to
the impact that environmental problems in one part of the world have on distant places.
Virtually, all forms of globalization have an impact on the environment. Examples, military
globalization as had disastrous consequences for people, animals, forests, air quality and the
oceans. Economic globalization, directly contributing to deforestation, air pollution, and the
degradation of the land. Environmental globalization with concerns to other issues such as
global hunger, and inequality.
7. Criminal Globalization. Terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, 2001,
represented an extreme form of criminal globalization and diminished the action given to less
dramatic but most equally dangerous transnational criminal activities. It is the intercontinental
spread of global crime and its impact on governments and individuals. It includes transborder
crimes such as drug trafficking, money laundering, prostitution, alien smuggling, arms trafficking
and counterfeiting. It poses severe challenges to national and global security.
Terrorism is defined in the dictionary for diplomats according to Nassar as the “use of
violence against non-combatants, civilians or other persons normally considered to be
illegitimate targets of military action for the purpose of attracting attention to a political cause,
forcing those aloof from the struggle to join it, or intimidating opponents into concessions.”
The globalization of violent conflicts has led unprecedented levels of human suffering.
Terrorism has constituted a necessary component in such conflicts.

F. PERIODS OF GLOBALIZATION
For discussion, we can identify five waves of globalization in the constant sea of change
that defines human experience.

Waves of Globalization
Period (Covered) Nature of global interaction

First • This wave of For more than five thousand years human
globalization is as old beings from different places have
as human civilization. interacted, mostly through trade,
• Globalization was migration, and conquest.
occurring long before
the language of
globalization came into
existence
Second This wave of Dependency theorists view this period of

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globalization is closely globalization as being profoundly

associated with the influential on global politics and trade.
Western European
conquest of Asia, Latin
America, and Africa and
the spread of capitalism
to these areas.
Third This began around 1870 • This wave is marked by breakthroughs
and declined around in technological development, the
1914. global production of primary
commodities as well as manufactured
products, and mass migration.
• Vast areas of land in North America,
Argentina, Australia, and elsewhere
were cultivated and agricultural
products were exported.
• The production of primary products led
to the demand for labor.
* Some Filipinos were brought to the
Hawaiian coasts in the US to work in
sugarcane plantations. They were
called the Sakada.
* This explosion of global activities was
followed by a retreat into nationalism
from 1914 to 1945. World War I was
followed by the Great Depression and
a wave of protectionism, led by the
US.
Fourth From 1945 to 1980 • This period of globalization was
characterized by both cooperation and
conflict.
• It was spurred by the retreat of
nationalism and protectionism and the
strengthening of internationalism and
global cooperation.
• The removal of trade barriers was
selective, but institutions – such as the
World Bank, the International Monetary
Fund, and the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT) – were formed
to encourage global trade and
development.
• Many developing countries, relying on
the exports of primary commodities,
continued to be marginalized and
disadvantaged in the global economy.
• Efforts to encourage nations to work
together in the United Nations were
weakened by the rivalry between the
US and Soviet Union.
• The most important form of
globalization during this period was
military globalization.
Fifth current period This is characterized by unprecedented
interdependence among nations and the
explosive growth of powerful non-state
actors.

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TIMELINE OF GLOBALIZATION

REFERENCES:

Friedman, Thomas L. (2006) The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21 st Century. Farrar,
Straus and Giroux.
Gilpin, Robert. (2001) Global Political Economy: Understanding the International Economic
Order. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Nassar, Jaml R. (2005) Globalization and Terrorism: The Migration of Dreams and Nightmares.
Rowman & Littlefield.
Legrain, Philippe. (2004) Open World: The Truth About Globalization. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee.
Payne, Richard J. (2009) Global Issues: Politics, Economics and Culture 2nd edition. New York:
Longman.
Steger, M., Battersby P., Siracusa, J. (2016) The SAGE Handbook of Globalization:
"Approaches to the Study of Globalization. SAGE: London.
eJournal USA Global Issues: The Challenges of Globalization, 2006.

LEARNING ACTIVITY

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First Individual/Group Activities: (for face-to-face setting)
1. Group dynamics

• Make a causal loop or problem tree analysis on the causes and effects of
globalization. Use 1 whole white cartolina. Present in the class your group
output.
Causal loop diagram – an analytical tool containing words and
directed arrows connecting those words, usually with at least one
closed loop representing feedback. Use red mark for causes and blue
mark for effects
Problem tree analysis – a pictorial representation of a problem,
its causes and its consequences that are fitted into the diagram on a
hierarchical preference basis. Use different colors to distinguish the
causes and effects.
2. Individual sharing of globalization experience

• Make a creative presentation (powerpoint, essay, talent showcasing, etc.)

about your “globalization story”. You may bring pictures or significant
things that are related to your story.

Rubric for the Learning Activity

Integration of lessons/concept discussed in 15

class

Additional research related to the topic 10

Clarity of points 5
Total 30

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