Globalisation- An Introduction
Definition:
“Globalization” is a process of interaction and integration between the people, companies, and
governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided
by information technology.
Globalization refers to all those processes by which the peoples of the world are incorporated into a
single world society, global society.
Globalization means the onset of the borderless world.
Globalization implies the weakening of state sovereignty and state structures.
Globalization refers to the widening, deepening and speeding up of global interconnectedness
Globalisation implies an intensification of the levels of interaction, interconnectedness or
interdependence between the states and societies which constitute the world community.
The process by which a number of hostorical world societies were brought together onto one global
system might be referred to as globalization.
The movement towards the expansion of economic and social ties between countries through the
spread of corporate institutions and the capitalist philosophy that leads to the shrinking of the world
in economic terms.
Globalization in its current phase has been described as an unprecedented compression of time and
space reflected in the tremendous intensification of social, political, economic, and cultural
interconnections and interdependencies on a global scale.
Globalisation is a global movement of ideas, people and goods from one region to others,
benefiting the people at large.
Globalisation is a deliberately adopted economic policy towards the process of international
integration as a result of acceleration in the flow of trade, assets, technology, information and ideas
across national boundaries.
History of economic globalization
Religious thought: First City Formation
Colonial powers created the basis for economic globalisation during 500 years. NavigationMilitary Power – Colonisation – Conflict among interest Groups• Trade barriers in the 1920s and 1930s
• Outbreak of World War II
• Collapse of colonialisation
• World Great Depression
• Nation state era was born with its different organisations (IBRD, IMF, WTO).
• The state doesn’t still guarantee the basic needs and security for the most people, who live
in poverty and hunger. Family and relatives give more social security than the nation state.
• There can be no ”islands of prosperity”. It means that developments in one region can
rapidly come to have significant consequences for the security and well-being of
communities in quite distant regions of the globe which have been linked to each other by
the networks of interaction.
Five dimensions of globalisation
Economic: global finance and market of economy, multinationals, networking, international trade
and business, new labour markets, new development cooperation.
Political: Human rights, international terrorism, war and new security problems.
Democracy: good governance by people’s participation, Human rights.
Ecological: sustainable globalisation: use of common resources and legislation (biosphere;
water, forest, earth, air, atmosphere)
Cultural: Multicultural society of different identities: local, political, gender, family, religious,
national, individual and social. Multicultural education for intercultural literacy.
Globalisation could involve all these things:
Key processes of globalization
• Expansion Technological advances
• Expansion in international commerce (exports and imports)
• Rising importance of private capital flows (stock markets and multinational corporations)
• Increasing travel and migration (international tourism and domestic diversity)
• Increased communication and interaction between peoples (through all sorts of media)
Macro Factors encouraging Globalisation
• Growing Similarity in Consumer tastes
• Reduction of tariff & non tariff barriers
• Heavy technology investments
• Communications & Information Revolution
• Impact of Corporations
• Air transport
• Computing power
• Sea freight
Globalisation Drivers
• Common customer needs
• Global customers & competitors
• Global channels
• Transferable marketing
• Lead countries
/ Notes for classroom discussion only / Compiled by
Dr.A.C.Dhas,
Dept of Economics,
The American College, Madurai
January, 2012