Events

Specific events are also considered

as part of the fourth view in explaining
the origin of globalization.If this is the
case, them several points can be treated
as the start of globalization.
• Events
•
• A fourth view is that instead of cycles or great
epochs, one can point to much more specific events
that can be seen as the origin of globalization and
give us a good sense of its history. In fact, there are
many such possible points of origin of globalization,
some of which are:
•
•
•• The Romans and their far - ranging conquests
in the centuries before Christ (Gibbon 1998 ).
•
• •The rise and spread of Christianity in the centuries
the fall of the Roman Empire.
•
•• The spread of Islam in the seventh century
and beyond
•
•
• The travels of the Vikings from Europe to Iceland,
Greenland, and briefl y to North America in the ninth
through the eleventh centuries as examples of, and
landmarks in, globalization.

•• Trade in the Middle Ages throughout the

Mediterranean.
•
•• The activities of the banks of the twelfth - century
Italian city - states.
•
•• The rampage of the armies of Ghengis Khan into
Eastern Europe in the thir-teenth century ( Economist
2006 : January 12).
•
• European traders like Marco Polo and his travels
later in the thirteenth century along the Silk Road to China.
(Interestingly, there is now discussion of the development
of an “ i ron silk road” involving a linked railroad network
through a variety of Asian countries that at least evokes
the image of the lure of Marco Polo’ s Silk Road.)

•• The “ d iscovery of America” by Christopher

Columbus in 1492. Other important voyages of discovery
during this time involved Vasco Da Gama rounding the
Cape of Good Hope in 1498 and the circumnavigation of
the globe completed in 1522 by one of Ferdinand
Magellan ’ s ships (Rosenthal 2007 : 1237 – 41).
•
•
• European colonialism, especially in the nineteenth
century.

•• The early twentieth- c entury global Spanish fl u

pandemic.
•
•• The two World Wars in the fi rst half of the
twentieth century.
•
•
It is also possible to get even more specifi c about the origins of
globalization, especially in recent years. A few rather eclectic recent
examples include:

• 1956 – The fi rst transatlantic telephone cable.

• 1958 – While it was possible to fl y across the Atlantic in the

1930s on seaplanes that made several stops along the way, the big
revolution in this area was the arrival of transatlantic passenger jet
travel, with the fi rst fl ight being Pan Am ’ s fl ight from New York to
London (with a stopover for refueling required in Newfoundland).

• 1 962 – The launch of the satellite Telstar and soon thereafter

the fi rst transatlantic television broadcasts.
• 1 962 – The launch of the satellite Telstar and soon thereafter the fi
rst transatlantic television broadcasts.
•
• • 1966 – The transmission from a satellite of the picture of the
earth as a single location, not only leading to a greater sense of the
world as one place (increased global consciousness [Robertson and
Inglis 2004 : 38 – 49]), but also of great importance to the
development of the global environmental movement.
•
• • 1970 – The creation of the Clearing House Interbank Payment
System (CHIPS), making global electronic (wire) transfers of funds
(now $2 trillion a day) possible among fi nancial institutions.
•
• • 1 977 – The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial
Telecommunications (SWIFT) came into being, making more global
transfers of funds possible by individuals.
•
•1988 – The founding of the modern Internet based on
Arpanet (which was created in 1969). While it took the
Internet several years to take off, this was a turning point in
global interconnection for billions of people.

•• 2001 – The terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in

New York and on the Pentagon in Washington, as well as
later terrorist attacks on trains in Madrid (March 11, 2004)
and London (July 7, 2005), among others. The following is a
specifi c example in support of the idea that 9/11 can be
taken as a point of origin for globalization (at least of higher
education): “ Since the terrorist attacks of September 11,
2001, internationalization has moved high on the agenda at
most universities, to prepare students for a globalized
world, and to help faculty members stay up - to - date in
their disciplines ” (Lewin 2008 : 8).
• This, of course, brings us very close to the
present day and it is possible that other
specifi c events (especially the Great
Recession which began in late 2007) will
almost certainly come to be associated by
future observers with the birth, or further
development, of globalization.
Broader, More Recent Changes
• Recent changes comprised the fifth view .
These broad changes happened in the last half
of the twentieth century. Scholars today point
to these three notable changes as the origin of
globalization that we know today.
• The fifth view focuses on broader, but still
recent,changes. There is a sense in this view
that a sea change occurred in the last half of
the twentieth century. Three of these
momentous changes have been identifi ed by
scholars as the point of origin of globalization
as it exists today:
They are as follows;

1. The emergence of the united states as

the global power( Post world war II)

2. The emergence of multinational

corporation ( MNCs).

3. Demise of the Soviet Union and the end

of the Cold War).
 • T he emergence of the United States as the
global power in the years following WW II.
• The US not only projected its military power throughout the world (Korea
in the early 1950s; disastrously in Vietnam in the 1960s and early 1970s), it
extended its reach in the economic realm as it became the dominant
industrial power when WW II decimated most of its competitors militarily
(Germany, Japan) and/or economically (the Axis powers as well as Allies
such as France and Great Britain). Many other aspects of America ’ s global
reach either accompanied these changes or soon followed. Among them
were the diplomatic clout of the US government, the reach of the US
media, the power of Hollywood, and so on. Such a view closely aligns
globalization with the idea of Americanization (see Chapter 2
• The emergence of multinational corporations
(MNCs)

• While the world ’ s great corporations can be traced

back to the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
in, for example, Germany, Great Britain, and the
United States, they were initially largely associated
with their nations of origin and did the vast majority of
their business within those countries. However, over
time, those corporations did more and more business
internationally. In so doing, they were following Marx
and Engels’ (1 848/2000: 248– 9 ) dictum that
because of stagnant or declining profi ts capitalism had
to expand into international markets or die.
• The demise of the Soviet Union and the end of
the Cold War.
• I t could be argued that globalization is even more recent
and did not truly begin until the fall of the “ I ron Curtain”
and the Soviet Union in 1991. With those events, the
division of the world into mainly “ capitalist ” and “
communist ” spheres rapidly eroded as did all sorts of
barriers that existed between them. Major parts of the
world were opened for the fi rst time since the early
twentieth century to all sorts of global fl ows – immigration,
tourism, media, diplomacy, and especially the capitalistic
economic transactions of MNCs and other businesses. The
global processes that had spread throughout most of the “
free ” world before 1991 fl ooded into the now independent
states of the old Soviet Union, especially Russia, and most of
its allies.
• T he origin and history of globalization can be analyzed
through fi ve perspectives. First, globalization can be seen as
being hardwired into humans, in the form of a basic urge for a
better life. This instinct results in the spread of globalization
through commerce, religion, politics, and warfare. Second,
globalization may be perceived as a long - term cyclical
process. In this view, there have been other global ages prior
to the present one, and each age is destined to contract and
disappear, after attaining a peak. Third, globalization can be
viewed as a series of historical epochs or waves, each with its
own point of origin. A fourth perspective argues that the
multiple points of origin of globalization are located in seminal
historical events. A fi fth view focuses on broader, more recent
changes in the twentieth century. It argues that the global
processes in motion prior to WW II were more limited in
geographic scope and less intensive than the global processes
of the late twentieth and early twenty- fi rst centuries.

SUMMARY
Activity ; Ang mundo nsa mata
ng isang OFW
• Although globalization is overwhelming concept, it
is experience by people in number of ways in real
terms. For instants, globalization of technology
people leave their country of origin. Throughout this
activity, you should be able to gain a first-hand
knowledge of the experiences of overseas filipino
workers (OFW), People who obviously reached other
countries. Their stories could provide a concrete
understanding of how globalization affects
themselves, their families and the countru.
1. Find a former or a current OFW to be
interviewed. Your respondents name
should not be revealed in class to protect
the person's identity and ensure
anonymity.
2. Use the following guide questions
( You may add/ additional questions)

- How long have you stayed abroad?

-what are the purpose for your stay their?

-what were your most unforgettable experience there? How

will you describe them,Good or Bad?

- How will you compare the philippines with other country?

-- Do you want to go back abroad or to other countries in the

future? Why or why not?
3. Share to the class the results of
ylur interview and your personal
insight about your respondents
experience.