Globalisation: 1.2a - Postcolonial Rickshaws

Question 1

Globalisation is a…

Answer 1

Long standing process that has accelerated because of rapid developments in transport, communications, and business

Developments in transport and trade in the 19th Century have accelerated in the 20th Century

Question 2

Evidence that globalisation is unique to the 20th Century: flow capital (and people) and ideas

Answer 2

Rapid flow of money and ideas are still relatively new

Money: online banking services launched in 1998

Ideas: Facebook launched in 2004; internet means the flow of information is almost instantaneous

Question 3

Evidence that globalisation is unique to the 20th Century: magnitude of flows

Answer 3

Ideas: 1 million Facebook users in 2004 -> 2.4 billion users in 2019

Goods: Containerisation has caused 200 million container movements to take place each year

People: EasyJet founded in 1995, cheap flights means more people flying

Capital: All flows combined = huge increase in capital (USA GDP is almost $19 trillion)

Question 4

Evidence that globalisation isn’t unique to the 20th Century: telegraph and Trans-Siberian Railway

Answer 4

Telegraph: The telegraph in the 1860s allowed a message to be sent over thousands of miles in about an hour (ideas)

Trans-Siberian Railway: by 1904 the 9,000km Trans-Siberian Railway connected Moscow with China (people); exporting 500,000 tonnes of grain and flower annually from 1896 to 1913 (goods)

Question 5

Evidence that globalisation isn’t unique to the 20th Century: feedback loop

Answer 5

Constant feedback loop of trade and transport has always been around, meaning globalisation has always been around in some form

Question 6

Trade and Transport feedback loop

Answer 6

Trade -> transport: capitalist economies are always trying to increase profits; leads to technological innovation

Transport -> trade: each new breakthrough helps trade grow on a geographical scale; brings new changes to how companies operate