globalisation

growth to a global or worldwide scale

"the globalization of the communication industry"

Globalisation (or globalization) is a modern term used to describe the changes in societies and the world economy that result from dramatically increased international trade and cultural exchange. It describes the increase of trade and investing due to the falling of barriers and the interdependence of countries. In specifically economic contexts, it is often understood to refer almost exclusively to the effects of trade, particularly trade liberalization or "free trade" (however, see "meanings" below).Between 1910 and 1950, a series of political and economic upheavals dramatically reduced the volume and importance of international trade flows. But starting with WWI and continuing through WWII, when the Bretton_Woods_systemBretton Woods institutions were created (i.e. the IMF and the GATT), globalization trends reversed. In the post-Second World WarWorld War II environment, fostered by international economic institutions and rebuilding programs, international trade dramatically expanded. With the 1970s, the effects of this trade became increasingly visible, both in terms of the benefits and the disruptive effects. Although all three aspects are closely intertwined, it is useful to distinguish economic, political and cultural aspects of globalization. The other key aspect of globalization is changes in technology, particularly in transport and communications, which it is claimed are creating a global village.Mundialization is a world movement that does not include liberalization. Mundialization includes the declaration of specified territory - a city, town, or state, for example - as world territory, with responsibilities and rights on a world scale.postmodernism trade bloc showing some of the characteristics of globalization. Here, the corporation McDonalds is marketing their "''McArabia''" meal, consisting of grilled kofta.]]

Meanings - "Globalization" can mean:

Globalism, if the concept is reduced to its economic aspects, can be said to contrast with economic nationalism and protectionism. It is related to laissez-faire capitalism and neoliberalism.

It shares a number of characteristics with internationalization and is often used interchangeably, although some prefer to use globalization to emphasize the erosion of the nationnation-state or national boundaries.

The formation of a global village — closer contact between different parts of the world, with increasing possibilities of personal exchange, mutual understanding and friendship between "world citizens", and creation of a global civilization.

Economic globalization — there are four aspects to economic globalization, referring to four different flows across boundaries, namely flows of goods/services, i.e. 'free trade' (or at least freer trade), flows of people (migration), of capital and of technology. A consequence of economic globalization is increasing relations among members of an industry in different parts of the world (globalization of an industry), with a corresponding erosion of SovereigntyNational Sovereignty in the economic sphere. The IMF defines globalization as “the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide through increasing volume and variety of cross-border transactions in goods and services, freer international capital flows, and more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology” (IMF, World Economic Outlook, May, 1997). The World Bank defines globalization as the "Freedom and ability of individuals and firms to initiate voluntary economic transactions with residents of other countries".

In the field of Management, globalization is a Marketing or Corporate strategyStrategy term that refers to the emergence of international markets for consumer goods characterized by similar customer needs and tastes enabling, for example, selling the same cars or soaps or foods with similar ad campaigns to people in different cultures. This usage is contrasted with internationalization which describes the activities of multinational companies dealing across borders in either financial instruments, commodities, or products that are extensively tailored to local markets.

In the field of software, globalization is a technical term that combines the development processes of internationalization and software localizationlocalization.

The negative effects of profitfor-profit multinational corporations — the use of substantial and sophisticated legal and financial means to circumvent the bounds of local laws and standards, in order to leverage the labor and services of unequally-developed regions against each other.

The spread of capitalism from developed to developing nations.

"The concept of Globalisation refers both to the compression of the world and the intensification of consciousness of the world as a whole" - Roland Robertson

History - Since the word has both technical and political meanings, different groups will have differing histories of "globalization". In general use within the field of economics and political economy, however, it is a history of increasing trade between nations based on stable institutions that allow firms in different nations to exchange goods with minimal friction.The term "liberalization" came to mean the combination of laissez-faire economic theory with the removal of barriers to the movement of goods. This led to the increasing specialization of nations in exports, and the pressure to end protective tariffs and other barriers to trade. The period of the gold standard and liberalization of the 19th century is often called "The First Era of Globalization". Based on the Pax Britannica and the exchange of goods in currencies pegged to specie, this era grew along with industrialization. The theoretical basis was Ricardo's work on Comparative advantage and Say's Law of General equilibrium. In essence, it was argued that nations would trade effectively, and that any temporary disruptions in supply or demand would correct themselves automatically. The institution of the gold standard came in steps in major industrialized nations between approximately 1850 and 1880, though exactly when various nations were truly on the gold standard is a matter of a great deal of contentious debate.The "First Era of Globalization" is said to have broken down in stages beginning with the first World War, and then collapsing with the crisis of the gold standard in the late 1920's and early 1930's. Countries that engaged in that era of globalization, including the European core, some of the European periphery and various European offshoots in the Americas and Oceania, prospered. Inequality between those states fell, as goods, capital and labour flowed remarkably freely between nations.Globalization in the era since World War II has been driven by Trade Negotiation Rounds, originally under the auspices of GATT, which led to a series of agreements to remove restrictions on "free trade". The Uruguay round led to a treaty to create the World Trade Organization or WTO, to mediate trade disputes. Other bilateral trade agreements, including sections of Europe's Maastricht Treaty and the North American Free Trade Agreement have also been signed in pursuit of the goal of reducing tariffs and barriers to trade.

Nature and existence of globalization - There is much academic discussion about whether globalization is a real phenomenon or only an analytical artefact ("a myth"). Although the term is widespread, many authors argue that the characteristics of the phenomenon have already been seen at other moments in history. Also, many note that those features that make people believe we are in the process of globalization, including the increase in international trade and the greater role of multinational corporations, are not as deeply established as they may appear. The United States global Interventionism (politics)interventionist policy is also a stumbling point for those that claim globalization has entered a stage of inevitability. Thus, many authors prefer the use of the term internationalization rather than globalization. To put it simply, the role of the state and the importance of nations are greater in internationalization, while globalization in its complete form eliminates nation states. So, these authors see that the frontiers of countries, in a broad sense, are far from being dissolved, and therefore this radical globalization process is not yet happening, and probably won't happen (see Linda Weiss), considering that in world history, internationalization never turned into globalization — (the European Union and NAFTA are yet to prove their case.)However, the world increasingly shares problems and challenges that do not obey nation state borders, most notably pollution of the natural environment, and as such the movement previously known as the anti-globalization movement has transmogrified into a movement of movements for globalization from below; seeking, through experimentation, forms of social organisation that transcend the nation state and representative democracy. So, whereas the original arguments of anti-global critique can be refuted with stories of internationalisation, as above, the emergence of a global movement is indisputable and therefore we can speak of a real process towards a global human society of societies. Other authors have argued that we are in transition to a planetary phase of civilization; the exact form and character of the global society is contested and will be determined by the choices we make in the critical decades ahead. For example, the gsg.org - Global Scenario Group has outlined alternative visions of the global future, with "market forces" or economic globalization being just one option, contrasted with "policy reform," "fortress world," "breakdown," "eco-communalism" and a "new sustainability paradigm."

Characteristics - Globalization has become identified with a number of trends, most of which may have developed since World War II. These include greater international movement of commodities, money, information, and people; and the development of technology, organizations, legal systems, and infrastructures to allow this movement. The actual existence of some of these trends is debated.

Economically

*Increase in international trade at a faster rate than the growth in the world economy

*Increase in international flow of capital including foreign direct investment

*Erosion of national sovereignty and national borders through international agreements leading to organizations like the WTO and OPEC

*Development of global financial systems

*Increase in the share of the world economy controlled by multinational corporations

*Increased role of international organizations such as WTO, WIPO, IMF that deal with international transactions

*Increase of economic practices like outsourcing, by multinational corporations

Culturally

*Greater international cultural exchange,

*Spreading of multiculturalism, and better individual access to cultural diversity, for example through the export of Hollywood and Bollywood movies. However, the imported culture can easily supplant the local culture, causing reduction in diversity through hybridization or even assimilation. The most prominent form of this is Westernization, but Sinicization of cultures also takes place.

*Greater international travel and tourism

*Greater immigration, including illegal immigration

*Spread of local foods such as pizza and Indian food to other countries (often adapted to local taste)

Development of a global telecommunications infrastructure and greater transborder data flow, using such technologies as the Internet, communication satellites and telephones

Increases in the number of standards applied globally; e.g. copyright laws and patents

The push by many advocates for an international criminal court and international justice movements (see the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice respectively).

Some argue that even terrorism has undergone globalization with attacks in foreign countries that have no direct relation with the own country.Barriers to international trade have been considerably lowered since World War II through international agreements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Particular initiatives carried out as a result of GATT and the WTO, for which GATT is the foundation, have included:

Promotion of free trade

*Of goods:

**Reduction or elimination of tariffs; construction of free trade zones with small or no tariffs

** Reduced transportation costs, especially from development of containerization for ocean shipping.

*Of capital (economics)capital: reduction or elimination of capital controls

*Reduction, elimination, or harmonization of subsidysubsidies for local businesses

Intellectual propertyIntellectual Property Restrictions

*Harmonization of intellectual property laws across nations (genrally speaking, with more restrictions)

*Supranational recognition of intellectual property restrictions (e.g. patents granted by China would be recognized in the United StatesUS)

Anti-globalization - ''Main article: !"Anti-globalization" .''Various? aspects of globalization are seen as harmful by public interestpublic-interest activismactivists as well as strong state nationalists. This movement has no unified name. "Anti-globalization" is the media's preferred term; it can lead to some confusion, as activists typically oppose certain aspects or forms of globalization, not globalization per se. Activists themselves, for example Noam Chomsky, have said that this name is meaningless as the aim of the movement is to globalize justice. Indeed, the Global Justice Movementglobal justice movement is a common name. Many activists also unite under the slogan "another world is possible", which has given rise to names such as ''altermondialisme'' in French.There is a wide variety of different kinds of !"anti-globalization" .? In general, critics claim that the results of globalization have not been what was predicted when the attempt to increase free trade began, and that many institutions involved in the system of globalization have not taken the interests of poorer nations and the working class into account.Economic arguments by fair trade theorists claim that unrestricted free trade benefits those with more financial leverage (i.e. the rich) at the expense of the poor.Many "anti-globalization" activists see globalization as the promotion of a corporatist agenda, which is intent on constricting the freedoms of individuals in the name of profit. They also claim that increasing autonomy and strength of corporate entitycorporate entities increasingly shape the political policy of nation-states.Some "anti-globalization" groups argue that globalization is necessarily imperialistic, is one of the driving reasons behind the Iraq war and that it has forced savings to flow into the United States rather than developing nations.Some argue that globalization imposes credit-based economics, resulting in unsustainable growth of government debtdebt and debt crises.Another more conservative camp in opposition to globalization are state-centric nationalists that fear globalization is displacing the role of nations in global politics and point to Non-governmental organizationNGOs as impeding upon the power of individual nations. Some advocates of this warrant for anti-globalization are Pat Buchanan and Jean-Marie Le Pen.The main opposition is to ''unfettered'' globalization (neoliberal; laissez-faire capitalism), guided by governments and what are claimed to be quasi-governments (such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank) that are supposedly not held responsible to the populations that they govern and instead respond mostly to the interests of corporations. Many conferences between trade and finance ministers of the core globalizing nations have been met with large, and occasionally violent, protests from opponents of "corporate globalism".The movement is very broad, including church groups, national liberation factions, left-wing parties, environmentalists, peasant unionists, anti-racism groups, libertarian socialists and others. Most are reformist (arguing for a more humane form of capitalism) and a strong minority is revolutionary (arguing for a more humane system than capitalism). Many have decried the lack of unity and direction in the movement, but some such as Noam Chomsky have claimed that this lack of centralization may in fact be a strength.Protests by the global justice movement have now forced high-level international meetings away from the major cities where they used to be held, and off into remote locations where protest is impractical.Some "anti-globalization" activists object to the fact that the current "globalization" globalizes money and corporations and at the same time refuses to globalize people and Trade Unionunions. This can be seen in the strict immigration controls that exist in nearly all countries and the lack of labor (economics)labour rights in many countries in the developing world.

Pro-globalization (globalism) - Supporters of democratic globalization can be labelled pro-globalists. They consider that the first phase of globalization, which was market-oriented, should be completed by a phase of building global political institutions representing the will of World citizens. The difference with other globalists is that they do not define in advance any ideology to orient this will, which should be left to the free choice of those citizens via a democratic process.Supporters of free trade point out that economic theories of comparative advantage suggest that free trade leads to a more efficient allocation of resources, with all countries involved in the trade benefiting. In general, they claim that this leads to lower prices, more employment and higher output.Libertarians and other proponents of laissez-faire capitalism say higher degrees of political and economic freedom in the form of democracy and capitalism in the developed world produce higher levels of material wealth. They see globalization as the beneficial spread of democracy and capitalism.Critics argue that the anti-globalization movement uses anecdotal evidence to support their view and that worldwide statistics instead strongly support globalization:

the percentage of people in developing countries living below US$1 (adjusted for inflation and purchasing power) per day has halved in only twenty years iresearch.worldbank.org, although some critics argue that more detailed variables measuring poverty should instead be studied transnational.org.

life expectancy has almost doubled in the developing world since WWII and is starting to close the gap to the developed world where the improvement has been smaller. Child mortality has decreased in every developing region of the world theglobalist.com. Income inequality for the world as a whole is diminishing columbia.edu.

Democracy has increased dramatically from almost no nation with universal suffrage in 1900 to 62.5% of all nations in 2000 freedomhouse.org. New Zealand women got the vote in 1893.nzhistory.net.nz

Worldwide, the proportion of the world's population living in countries where per capita food supplies are under 2,200 calories (9,200 kilojoules) per day was 56 percent in the mid-1960s, compared to below 10 percent by the 1990s.

Between 1950 and 1999, global literacy increased from 52 percent to 81 percent of the world. Women have made up much of the gap: Female literacy as a percentage of male literacy has increased from 59 percent in 1970 to 80 percent in 2000.

There are similar trends for electric power, cars, radios, and telephones per capita as well as the percentage of the population with access to clean water sciencedirect.com.However, not all those improvements may be due to globalization.Many pro-capitalists are also critical of the World Bank and the IMF, arguing that they are corrupt bureaucracies controlled and financed by states, not corporations. Many loans have been given to dictators who never carried out promised reforms, instead leaving the common people to pay the debts later. They thus see too little capitalism, not too much. They also note that some of the resistance to globalization comes from special interest groups with conflicting interests like Western world trade_unionunions.

Globalization Has Helped Keep Price Increases Muted - npov-section In more recent years, we have seen the removal of many trade barriers. Some economists argue that this leads to a gradual re-allocation of resources to where they can be used most efficiently (comparative advantage). For example, it can be argued that a shift in manufacturing from Europe/North America to Asian countries (or other developing countries), where costs (particularly labour costs) are low, leads to greater efficiency. This has the effect of increasing the supply of cheap manufactured goods to the USA and Europe, while creating new jobs in developing economies.Typically the type of manufacturing which has shifted, is that in which labour is a high proportion of the overall costs. Since labour costs in Asian countries such as China are considerably less (one tenth to one twentieth of US wages), the costs of manufacturing fall. However, just because something could be produced more cheaply by another country, does not mean that it will be economically efficient to move manufacturing there.In theory, if a country can produce almost everything more cheaply than its neighbour, it may still find it advantageous to concentrate on those products where its advantage is the greatest and then to trade. To explain, imagine, for example, that Italy can produce cheese at a cost of $10 a kilo, and wine for $10 a case, whilst France can only make cheese for $11 a kilo, and wine at $20 a case. If Italy concentrates on wine and France on cheese, and they then trade with each other, both countries will benefit from the lowest combined cost. The result is that the two countries, together, expending the same number of man-hours, produce more wine and more cheese than they would otherwise have done. In such ways, both countries exercise comparative advantage, seeking partners with mutually beneficial matches.Many observerers of globalization, point out that while this may work in textbooks under assumed ideal conditions, reality is much messier. Wealthy countries continue to subsidize inefficient sectors of their economies (such as agriculture), and dump these artificially cheap commodities onto world markets, thus distorting the benefits of trade. Additionally, the reduced labour costs found in impoverished nations is often a result of unenforced or no labor, health, safety, and environmental standards. Attempts by workers to organize is often met with state sanctioned violence, and if unionization is successful, factories typically close up shop and move to other shores. The ability to trade freely, and therefore to use the lowest cost resources, putting resources to work where they will be used most efficiently is the ultimate objective of the champions of globalisation. However the political obstacles to achieving these objectives are enormous, and the current rounds of trade negotiations seem stalled.As globalization proceeds in the world today, the supply of finished goods is increasing and prices are being reduced, or, are rising less than would be expected, despite the massive expansion in world money supply and GDP.

References -

Joseph Stiglitz: ''Globalization and its discontents'' (2002) — A book largely sympathetic to the theory of globalization from the 2001 Economics Nobel Prize winner. However, he is sharply critical of the global institutions, the International Monetary Fund, the WTO and the World Bank, regulating the process. ISBN 014101038X

Thomas Friedman: ''The Lexus and the Olive Tree'' (2000), ISBN 0374185522. Deals with the conflicting processes of tradition and progress, which ultimately influence the progression of globalization throughout the Middle East and the world.

Martin Wolf: ''Why Globalization Works'' (2004), ISBN 0300107773. Wolf uses data he has collected since the 1980s to put together a comprehensive defense of globalization by showing figures which show increased standards of living and income in nations which have globalized.

John Ralston Saul, ''The Collapse of Globalism''. Subtitled (depending on the market) as “And the rise of nationalism” or “And the reinvention of the world” (2005).

Thomas Friedman: ''The World is Flat'' (2005), ISBN 0374292884 . A "timely and essential update on globalization, its successes and discontents."

World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, ''A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All'', February 2004 ilo.org

Jacques Sapir: ''Economists Against Democracy'' (2002); Highly critical of global institutions like the IMF or the WTO, the book arguments that the neoliberal policies recommended by these institutions are the ones to blame for the economic crisis in Russia and Argentina

Johan Norberg ''In Defence of Global Capitalism'' (2001) — "Giving clear and verifiable sources, he nails one by one the fallacies and selective statistics that are used by the anti-capitalist protesters."

See also -

Global Empire

Multilateralism

Mundialization

World Council for Mundialization

External Links -

opendemocracy.net - Globalisation - openDemocracy Enjoy contested debates and in-depth analysis by leading actors and thinkers – plus word from ‘ordinary’ people experiencing the effects of globalisation. The aim is clear thinking – and workable solutions for globalisation.

recim.org - History of mundialization

jwsr.ucr.edu - Special Issue on Globalization ''Journal of World-Systems Research'', Vol. V, Number 2, Summer 1999

jwsr.ucr.edu - Special Issue on Globalization and the Environment ''Journal of World-Systems Research'', Vol. 9, Number 2, Summer !2003ar:عولمةca:Globalitza ciócs:Globalizaceda:Globalise ringde:Globalisierunget:Global iseeruminees:Globalizacióneo: Tutmondiĝoeu:Globalizazioafa: جهانی‌سازیfr:Mondia lisationgl:Globalizaciónid:Gl obalisasiit:Globalizzazionehe: גלובליזציהka:გლ� ��ბალიზაციაl t:Globalizacijamk:Глобал изацијаnl:Globalisering ja:グローバリゼーショ ンno:Globaliseringpl:Globaliz acjapt:Globalizaçãoru:Гло бализацияsl:Globaliza cijasr:Глобализаци� �аfi:Globalisaatiosv:Globalis eringvi:Toàn? cầu !hóatr:Küreselleşmezh:全球 化Category:Globalization DEBUG REDIRECT (globalization)

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