Module 1
THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD
UNIT 1
THE STRUCTURES OF GLOBALIZATION
This unit will introduce you to the various drivers of the globalization process of the globalization
process, with specific focus on economics and politics. Although it emphasizes that you experience
globalization on an “everyday” level, you must also realize that there are big institutions that create
large-scale changes. This unit will first trace the emergence of these institutions historically. It will then
move to explain how they affect countries and people today.
The major learning outcomes of this unit are to:


Analyze the various contemporary drivers of the globalization; and
Describe the emergence of global economic and political systems.
Lesson 1
What is the Globalization?
Learning outcomes
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Agree on a working definition of globalization for the course;
2. Differentiate the competing conceptions of globalization; and
3. Narrate a personal experience of globalization.
Globalization: A working Definition
Most accounts view globalization as primarily and economic process. When a newspaper
reports the nationalists are resisting “globalization,” it usually refers to the integration of the national
markets to a wider global market signified by the increased free trade. When activists refer to the “antiglobalization” movement of the 1990’s, they mean resisting the trade deals among countries facilitated
and promoted by global organizations like the World Trade Organization.
Globalization scholars do not necessarily disagree with people who criticize unfair international
trade deals or global economic organizations. Infact many are sympathetic to the critique of economic
globalization. Academics differ from journalists and political activists, however, because they see
globalization in much broader terms. They view the process through various lenses that consider
multiple theories and perspectives. Academics call this an interdisciplinary approach, and it is this
approach used by the general education (GE) courses that you will be taking alongside this one.
The best scholarly description of globalization provided by Manfred Steger described the process as “the
expansion and intensification of social relations and consciousness across world-time and across world
space.“ Expansion refers to “ both the creation of new social networks and the multiplication of the
existing connections that cut across traditional political, economic, cultural, and geographic boundaries.”
This various connections occur at different levels. Social media, for example, establish new global
connection between people. When international groups of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are
networks that connect a more specific group-social workers and activists-from different corners of the
globe.
Intensification refers to the expansion, stretching and acceleration of these network. Not only
are global connections multiplying, but they are also becoming more closely-knit and expanding their
reach. For example, there has always been a strong financial market connecting London and New York.
With the advent of electronic trading, however, the volume of that trade increases exponentially, since
traders can now trade more at higher speeds. The connection is thus accelerating. Apart from this
acceleration, however, as the world becomes more financially integrated, the intensified trading
network between London and New York may expand and stretch to cover more and more cities. After
China committed itself to the global economy in the 1980’s, for example Shanghai steadily returned to
its old role as a major trading post.
It is not only in financial matters you can find these connections. In 2012, when the Monsoon
rains flooded Bangkok, the Honda plant making some of the critical car parts temporarily ceased
production. This had a strong negative effect on the Honda-USA which relied heavily on the parts being
imported from Thailand. Not only was it unable to reach the sales target it laid out, but the ability of the
center service nationwide to assist Honda owners also suffered. As a result, the Japanese car companies
global profits also fell.
The final attribute of this definition relates to the way people perceive time and space. Steger
notes that “globalization processes do not occur merely at an objective, material level but they also
involve the subjective plane of human consciousness. “ In other words, people begin to feel that the
world has become a smaller place and distance have collapse from thousands of miles to just a mouseclick away. One can now e-mail a friend in other country and get a reply instantaneously, and as a result,
begins to perceive their distance as less consequential. Cable TV and the internet has also exposed one
to news from across the globe, so now, he/she has this greater sense of what is happening in other
places. Steger posits that his definition of globalization must be differentiated with an ideology he calls
globalism. If globalization represents the many processes that allow for the expansion and
intensification of global connections, globalism is a wide spread belief among powerful people that the
global integration of economic markets is beneficial for everyone, since it spreads freedom and
democracy across the world. It is a common belief forwarded in the media and policy circles. In the next
lesson you will realize why it is problematic.
For now, what is a crucial to note is that when activists and journalist criticize “globalization,”
they are, more often than not, criticizing some manifestation of globalism. Often, these criticisms are
warranted. Nevertheless, it is crucial to insists that “globalization” as a process refers to a larger
phenomenon that cannot simplify be reduced to the ways in which global markets have been
integrated.
Assignment:
Guide Questions
1. How have you experienced globalization?
2. Why it is crucial to emphasize that globalization is uneven?
3. What is the difference between globalization and globalism?
LEARNING ACTIVITY:
How globalize is your home?
Go to your room and do an inventory of everything you have in your possession. You will found out that
the most essential among the “things” in your room are footwear, clothes, computers (if any),
cellphones, televisions (if possible), and maybe a radio. If you are a student, you may also notice books,
newspapers, new magazines, not to mention school supplies and equipment.
Organize your inventory into two types: First, “things” that are made in the Philippines and second,
those that are foreign brands. List the countries of the origin of your foreign-brand items.
Do the same thing for the kitchen and the living room. This should include appliances.
In class, compare your lists with those of your classmates to determine which countries make the most
households and the personal needs you and your families have. Make similar list for the Philippinesmade stuff. In process, discuss why certain products are made in the Philippines while others are
produced abroad.