What is
GLOBALIZATION?
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
For some It’s a Curse

The McDonaldization of the world

The conquest of American-style capitalism

The dictatorship run by unelected
bureaucrats in the World Trade
Organization and the International
Monetary Fund.
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
For others it’s modernized nirvana



Free trade creates wealth
The spread of ideas and information promotes
democracy and awareness of human rights
norms.
The human experience is enriched by the
sharing of cultures, foods and customs.
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
The word “globalize” appeared in the
1960s, meaning “to make global in
scope or application”
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
In 1492 a German geographer named
Martin Behaim created one of the first
globes
Martin Behaim
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
But globalization began long before
Behaim
Ancient human migrations took place
100,000 to 50,000 years ago
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
...With our ancestors’ search for a
better life

First group of humans left central Africa
100,000 years ago, arriving in the
Mediterranean

50,000 years ago, a second group arrived
in Asia

These were the first globalizers – migrants
before there were any borders.
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
A leitmotif of history has been reconnecting
the dispersed human community
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
This process of reconnection began
thousands of years ago with simple
acts like:
Trading of goods
Sharing of experiences
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
In the early stages of history the
agents of globalization were:

Traders

Preachers

Adventurers

Soldiers
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
People like Alexander the Great felt
the urge to conquer new lands...
Alexander the Great 356-323 BC
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
while Genghis Khan sought to conquer
other people
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
The desire to improve the taste of food
or to find luxuries like silk or precious stones opened up
trade routes between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia
The Silk Road
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
Adventurers like Marco Polo were fascinated by
the new lands and people they would
encounter on their travels
Marco Polo (1254-1324)
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
Fervor for the teachings of the Buddha
drove devotees from India to the east and
Chinese and other pilgrims to India
Chinese pilgrim Fa Hien’s travels
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
Boats such as this carried
traders and pilgrims
Carving on the wall of Borobudur, 8-9th century
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
The monument at Borobudur may be the first
temple of globalization, marking the
intermixing of ideas and art from distant lands
Borobudur, Indonesia
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
Christian missionaries traveled deep into Africa
to spread the Message of Christ
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
The search for spices spurred shipping and
literally brought a ‘taste’ of Asia into
continental Europe.
Black Pepper
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
This combination of trade, conquest, religion, and
adventure led to a reconnecting of the Old
World and the New
Santa Maria, 1492
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
Though originally headed for India, Columbus
landed instead on San Salvador, an event
that would change the world in ways no
one could have predicted.
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
The New World inhabitants were decimated by
germs brought from the Old World
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
The need for mine workers and plantation labor
gave rise to the slave trade
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
Around the same time, Mexican silver found by the
Spaniards boosted European trade with Asia
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
In the early 19th century the dwindling supply of
silver led the British to replace it with
Indian opium for trading with China.
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
And before too long the Chinese were hooked
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
Imperial Chinese opposition to the drug trade
led to the Opium War the first war of globalization
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
Defeated China ceded Hong Kong to Britain
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
The world’s first multinationals helped to build
colonial empires
English East India Company’s first outpost in
Surat, India, 1613.
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
Bringing oppression and suffering but integrating
the world economy
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
A gift from a British governor in India helped to
build Yale University
Elihu Yale
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
Meanwhile, entire nations were being
transformed by the interplay of
trade, migration and colonial rule.
An example is the former British
colony Malaysia
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
Malaysia:
A Country Shaped by Globalization
Malaysia’s population
todayfrom
isfrom
comprised
Tin Miners
China
Rubber
Rubber
Tappers
Plants
from
Brazil
India of 30% ethnic
Chinese and 10% ethnic Indians.
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
America’s Civil War drove the demand
for canned food
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
Leading to the establishment of Malaysian tin
mines, developed with labor from China
Today ethnic Chinese make up thirty percent of
the population
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
Malaysia’s new crop from the New World,
rubber helped industry in faraway United States
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
Where a visionary industrialist named Henry
Ford needed rubber to make tires for his
new Model T automobile.
Made of Rubber
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
Made of Rubber
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
Import of Indian labor for the plantation changed
Malaysia’s demography
Ten percent of Malaysia’s population is ethnic Indian
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
Transfer of plants from the New World, like chili
pepper, also changed Asia’s tastes
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
Admiral Columbus’s Hot Chili
What if Columbus had introduced Chili by aggressively
promoting an ad strategy financed by the King and
Queen of Portugal, pushing this new product into homes
across Asia?
“STOP GLOBALIZATION!
STOP CHILI!”
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003
But, if globalization were stopped today, and all products introduced to Asia
were to disappear, the resulting protest would be staggering…
Bottles of ‘Chili’ would have appeared in many kitchens, but Asians
would likely have objected to this assault on their culinary tradition of
gentle food by this unfamiliar foreign product.
YALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
© Nayan Chanda, 2003