Lesson 1 - Introduction to the Study of Globalization Flashcards
This module provides an overview and understanding of the contemporary world which is characterized by globalization. Although the world has attempted to globalize since the 19th Century, the term has never become a buzzword throughout the world until the discovery and development of the internet during the 1970s. Nowadays, globalization has been integrated into the daily lives of the people. Because of this, as a student it is significant to understand the various drivers of the globalization p
What is globalization?
Globalization characterizes the contemporary world and has been integrated into people’s daily lives, driven significantly by the internet’s development. Academic literature describes it as a process, a condition, a system, a force, and an age.
What significant technological development contributed to the rise of globalization as a buzzword?
The discovery and development of the internet during the 1970s.
When did interest in global studies significantly increase?
In the 1960s and 1970s.
What term do proponents of a skeptical view of globalization use to describe it?
“Globaloney”.
What is “globaloney” in the context of globalization?
“Globaloney” refers to the view that existing accounts of globalization are incorrect, imprecise, or exaggerated. Proponents of this view believe that globalists often consider anything linked to transnational processes as evidence of globalization, which they find to be an overgeneralization.
What are the three categories of critics regarding globalization as “globaloney”?
- Rejectionists
- Sceptics
- Modifiers
What do Rejectionists argue about globalization?
Rejectionists argue that globalization is an analytically impoverished concept due to its complexity and ambiguity
What do Sceptics emphasize regarding globalization?
Sceptics emphasize the limited nature of current globalizing processes, suggesting the world is not as integrated as proponents claim. They argue that the world economy is centered on Europe, Eastern Asia, and North America, with most economic activity remaining national in origin.
What do Modifiers dispute about globalization?
Modifiers dispute the novelty of globalization, implying that the label has often been applied in a historically imprecise manner.
According to Hirst and Thompson, what is necessary for globalization to exist?
A truly global economic system.
How do scholars view globalization as an economic process?
Scholars view globalization as an economic process involving the increasing linkage of national economies through trade, financial flows, and foreign direct investment by multinational firms.
What historical event is often traced as the emergence of the new post-war world economy?
The 1944 Bretton Woods system.
What are some elements added to the economic globalization model?
Elements added to this model include the role of multinational corporations, the changing nature of production, the liberalization and internationalization of financial transactions, advances in data processing and information technology, and the formation of a global labor market.
What are the two main questions addressed by scholars regarding political globalization?
The main questions are: (1) What are the political causes for the massive flows of capital, money, and technology across territorial boundaries? and (2) Do these flows constitute a serious challenge to the power of the nation-state?
What is the argument of the first group of scholars regarding political globalization and technology?
This group considers political globalization as intrinsically connected to the expansion of markets due to technological advances breaking down physical barriers to worldwide communication.
What does Kenichi Ohmae argue about the nation-state’s role in the global economy?
The nation-state has lost its role as a meaningful unit of participation.
What do the second group of scholars highlight regarding political globalization?
They highlight the central role of politics in unleashing the forces of globalization and argue for the continued relevance of conventional political units.
What does Jan Art Scholte say about globalization?
Jan Art Scholte points out that globalization refers to the gradual processes of ‘relative deterritorialization’ that facilitate the growth of ‘supra-territorial’ relations between people.
What is ‘cosmocracy’ according to John Keane?
Cosmocracy is defined as a messy and complex type of polity understood as ‘a conglomeration of interlocking and overlapping sub-state, state and suprastate institutions and multidimensional processes that interact, and have political and social effects on a global scale.
What questions does the cultural perspective on globalization address?
This perspective addresses whether globalization increases cultural homogeneity or leads to greater diversity, whether it makes people alike or more different, and how the dominant culture of consumerism impacts the natural environment.
How does John Tomlinson define cultural globalization?
John Tomlinson defines cultural globalization as a ‘densely growing network of complex cultural interconnections and interdependencies that characterize modern social life.
What concept did George Ritzer coin to describe the dominance of fast-food principles?
‘McDonaldization’.
What are Arjun Appadurai’s five conceptual dimensions or ‘landscapes’ of global cultural flows?
- Ethnoscapes
- Finanscapes
- Mediascapes
- Technoscapes
- Ideoscapes
