GLOBALIZATION

GLOBALIZATION

 

 

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Globalization

Globalization can be associated with a variety of factors differing from one period to another. The factors are constant and include issues such as world governments and their need to expand territories and presence, global institutions and partnerships, technology, industrialization and global markets. Globalization is a term that lacks a precise definition given that it has evolved with time. However, it is associated with the interconnectedness of the world in political, social, and economical perspectives. Scholars provide that globalization has taken the form of waves or periods. The first phase or wave of globalization took place from the 15^th -18^th century, the second wave took place between the 19^th century and the third from 1980s to the present day.

The differing phases of globalization were driven by diverse reasons and values. During the first phase religion, gold trade, and glory of an empire drove globalization. This is relative to the activities of ancient empires such as Portugal, Spain, England, and Netherlands as they battled for glory in terms of the best naval fleets and control of vast foreign lands. In the second phase from the 19^th century, globalization was centered open civilization, profitability from global trade, and glory of an empire depending on its ideologies that ranged from imperialism and nationalism. The third wave of globalization that is present to date is driven by technology, free markets, democracy, and profitability that is evident in the form of transitional entities and capitalism[1].

Similar factors or forces seemingly drive the periods of globalization identified. Such factors include religion and ideologies, military strengths, industrialization, technological advancements, and global trade. Competition between countries or empires has been at the heart of globalization. The rush to gain territory over colonies was driven by competition for natural resources as well as in favor of glory of naval fleets of an empire. Despite the differences between the forms globalization from 1500-1800, 19^th -20^th century towards the present period, it has retained distinct organizational features.

Globalization from the 16^th century assumed a distinct pattern. Migration took the form of conquests and followed by conversion initiated by missionaries and targeted on native peoples. Colonial expansion into the Caribbean, Americas, Oceania, and Africa was a highlight of the 16^th century as countries raced to control vast resources and territories as a sing of military power and economic influence. As colonial influence expended, there was mass movement of populations that took the form of slave trade in the middle of the 19^th century[2].

The slave trade was later overshadowed by migrations by poor Europeans into the United States. This numbers increased as Asians migrated into the United States, European colonies, and Canada in search of the American dream before the First World War. This was preceded by border legislation and controls as countries such as the United States and other European nations moved to stem the immigration of vast populations into the countries. After the Second World War, there was economic migration given the rebirth of western economies as they adopted a cautious attitude towards free markets to enhance growth[3].

Globalization has also assumed a cultural perspective. Globalization of world cultures has seen the expansion of religions such as Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism as populations moved into new territories. For instance, western nations are responsible for ideologies of liberalism, socialism, and science as result of transformation of their cultures national cultures due to formation of nation states. The intensity of communication and interaction between cultures around the world has reached an unsurpassed level because of new technology that has enabled efficient and rapid movement of persons and information[4].

Global politics and the territorial state have also influence globalization to a significant extent. Political communities in territories that are marked by boundaries provided a basis for the necessity of regional and global governance. Global conflicts resulted in the establishment of new territories because of development of new states or disintegration of old states to develop new nations. In addition, global politics in the wake of globalization saw the establishment of regional and global political bodies such as the European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN), African union (AU), ASEAN, and APEC among other bodies.

International or global trade is revered as one of the most important factors and contributors of globalization. Its role in globalization dates back to historical trade between East and West as evident by the “Silk Road” that provided the Chinese traders with a link in the Persian and European markets for their porcelain and silk products. International trade is by far the most prevalent factor in globalization[5]. It is evident in the form of proliferation of transnational entities in emerging and developing markets around the world as they seek to diversity their customer bases. In addition, movement of labor provides multinational entities with avenues to source for cheap and talented workforces as avenues to enhance their competitiveness because of globalization of trade[6].

Globalization is centered on competition between countries as they seek to expand their values and presence into new territory in the form of cultural practices, new technology, military interventions, and entry of multinational entities in new markets. Globalization has been about extension of values between different cultures and states such that inhabitants adhere to similar ideologies in terms of trade, military activities, communication and social interactions or culture[7].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Chaudhuri, Nupur. “Shawls, Jewelry, and Curry and Rice in Victorian Britain.” In Western Women and Imperialism: Complicity and Resistance, 231-46. Edited by Nupur Chaudhuri and Margaret Strobel. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992.

McCann, James. Maize and grace Africa’s encounter with a New World crop, 1500-2000. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2005.

Sidbury, James and Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra. “Mapping Ethnogenesis in the Early Modern Atlantic.” The William and Mary Quarterly 68, no. 2 (April 2011): 181-208.

Simon, Joel. “The Sinking City.” In The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics, 520-535. Edited by Gilbert M. Joseph and Timothy J. Henderson. London: Duke University Press, 2003.

Humes, Edward. Garbology: our dirty love affair with trash. New York: Avery, 2012.

Steger, Manfred B. Globalization a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Edward Humes,. Garbology: our dirty love affair with trash (New York: Avery, 2 012) p.28.

 

[2] James C. McCann, Maize and Grace: Africa’s Encounter with a New World Crop, 1500-2000 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007), 121.

[3] Ibid

[4] James Sidbury and Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra, “Mapping Ethnogenesis in the Early Modern Atlantic,” The William and Mary Quarterly 68, no. 2 (April 2011): 181-82.

[5] Nupur Chaudhuri, “Shawls, Jewelry, and Curry and Rice in Victorian Britain,” in Western Women and Imperialism: Complicity and Resistance, ed. Nupur Chaudhuri and Margaret Strobel (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992), 232-33.

 

[6] Ibid.

[7] Manfred B. Steger, Globalization a very short introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003) 36.