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Nicholas Gunnell

REL107

01/16/18

Total Globalization: The Rise of Connection

lobalization. Sounds a bit ominous when you sit and ponder the word. A tad

forceful sounding and almost inevitable, as well. Simply defined as “a complex and uneven

dynamic linking the local (and the national and regional) to the global” (text, pg. 1),

globalization had become an ever-increasing powerhouse in the Western and Eastern worlds,

pushing limits and foraging controversy. The video in regards to globalization stated that “since

the 1950’s the volume of world trade has increase nearly 20 times” (From Silk to Silicon). This

has not only increased the consumers in an average market but it has forced companies to

become “farther, faster, cheaper, and deeper” as stated by Thomas Friedman in his book, The

Lexus and the Olive Tree. In an effort to dissect, define, and denote what globalization is and

how it is affecting our societies and countries as a whole, A Very Short Introduction expands on

the economic, political, and cultural dimensions of globalization and how each of these sections

come into play to create the definition that we know today.

Economically, globalization is sometimes seen as a way that dominating countries are

abusing smaller and poorer countries. Critics of globalization have claimed that only multi-

national brands have benefited from global trade and abuse their strength to steal from countries

who have significantly less income but more resources. However, steps have been put into place

govern and manage the flow of money to allow growth for everyone. This first establishment
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was in 1944 called the Brennon Wood Conference which established the International Monetary

Fund (IMF) that soon became known as the World Bank which “was initially designed to

provide loans for Europe’s postwar reconstruction…however [in the 1950’s] its purpose was

expanded to fund various industrial projects in developing countries around the world” (text, pg.

40). The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was established in 1947 which was

replaced by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995 which was set “as a global trade

organization charged with fashioning and enforcing multilateral trade agreements” and “ha[s]

become the focal point of intense public controversy over the design and the effects of economic

globalization” (text, pg. 40). Economics spread past established institutions and also play into

events including the Great Recession (2008-10) or “the recent financial volatility in China and

the economic crisis in Brazil intensified by the political instability created in the wake of the

2016 impeachment of President Dilma Rouseff” (text, pg. 42).

Politically, globalization is tied tightly to events in every country allowing it to thrive or

cutting it down depending upon the country’s state of rest. Political globalization is identified as

“the intensification and expansion of political interrelations across the globe” (text, pg. 62). To

the simplest measure, political unrest and lack of stability defers global expansion and trading

agreements between countries while stable and politically sound countries tend to have a strong

reliance on global trade and the international market. Political events in recent years could

include the Syrian war and refugee dilemma (text, pg. 68-71) and the Ebola outbreak in West

Africa from 2013 to 2016 (text, pg. 74-76). In all essence, the economic and political sides of

globalization both affect one another in too many ways to actually find which more is more

influential and potentially damning.

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Globalization could be seen as businesses in different countries coming together to

produce one or many products to service the needs of those in said countries or other countries

entirely. Is this a two-way process? No. Is it always fair? No. Does it create a systematic need for

countries to communicate with each other and therefore break down barriers of trading? Yes,

with exceptions, of course.

What exactly is traded through globalization? The better question is what IS NOT? Since

World War II more markets have been opening up to trading practically anything they can. From

soccer balls, like the Brazuca in Brazil (text, pg. 4) to chips and processors for high functioning

computers or AI, to even celebrities, who are trained in one country and travel to other countries

to trade their talents and entertainment for monetary value (think of Harry Styles coming to the

U.S. from England) Other things could include minerals, medication, labor, blueprints, charts,

and even ideas. But globalization does not only play into the realm of marketing but also

conveys a deeper sense as mentioned in A Very Short Introduction, those two areas of ideology,

apart from Market globalism, are Justice globalism which “refers to the political ideas and values

associated with the social alliances and political actors increasingly known as the ‘global justice

movement’ (GJM)” (text, pg. 117) and Religious globalism which simply is the movements of

religious parties around the globe (this primarily being Jihadist Islamism).

This whole idea of globalization and the underlying ideals that are connected to the

subject did not suddenly appear in the blink of an eye. The first showings of globalization could

be seen as prehistoric nomad tribes crossed paths and traded their items and knowledge one with

another, this was severly limited and known as “’the great divergence’” (text, pg. 21-24). With

the creation of writing and the wheel, globalization forged onward. These discoveries grew and

expanded during the dynasty eras of China and the Roman empire which were connected by a
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famous road, some would say the first event of globalization, the Silk Road. Mentioned in From

Silk to Silicon, the Silk Road was an ancient network of trade routes connecting China with the

empires of Rome. These routes would later reach the Italian peninsula and allow merchants from

Africa to Morroco to trade with other empires (text, pg. 26). Discovery soon became all the rage

and ships were sent off from countries to discover new lands and new means of producing, this

allowed the spread of influence from one civilization to another and alos disease including the

bubonic plague and the germs that the Europeans brought with them to the Americas (text, pg.

29). The shipping trade became more popular than to be imagined and soon large shipping

companies from Europe, including the British East India Company and the Dutch, started to

attain global expansion. These events lead to colonization of North America and soon a country

with trade all on its own. The fall of dictatorships and communist unions in recent dacades have

brought globalization to new and unlimited heights between each country. With this interaction

of different cultures one with another and the discovery of trade, what can this mean for us? Not

only as individuals but as entire countries?

Culture has possibly the strongest hold on someone’s personal opinions and views. How

you were raised and your living conditions ultimately effect perception and instills something

that is as hard as a rock and even more difficult to move inside each person. “Cultural

globalization refers to the intensification and expansion of cultural flows across the globe” (text,

pg. 80). An explination is stated best in the book when it says, “…cultural practices have escaped

the prison of fixed localities such as town and nation, eventually acquiring new meanings in

interaction with dominant global themes” (text, pg. 81). Along with the growth of media, social

networking, and news, it’s almost impossible to keep cultures from blending into one another,

almost every country in the world has become a melting pot of multiple cultures culminating into
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a culture all on its own. What does this mean for globalization? This. This is because

globalization! Globalization has allowed cultures to be discovered, cherished, inspire, and

accepted. Doors have been opened and they can never be shut again. Yes, critics point out the

abuses of globalization and the McDonalization, coined by George Ritzer, (text, pg. 85) of the

world. But, in my personal opinion, with everything bad, there is always a little bit of good that

comes along with it. Culture is a driving force of humanity and globalization allows us, as

people, to experience that multifaceted telescope of the human world.