FRIDAY JULY 16th
9.30 -11.00
Opening session & debate:
Globalization and its impact on the everyday life
mag. Adriana Dvoršak, Chairwoman of Committee for International Relations of
Zares - nova politika
Dear ladies and gentlemen, participants of Liberal South East European Network SUMMER ACADEMY:
BALKANS IN THE PROCESS OF GLOBALIZATION
It is my pleasure to welcome you here in Ljubljana and to talk with you about globalization and its
impact on everyday life. One of the questions raised in the introduction to Summer Academy is: Are
we prepared for globalization in this region? Some people, researcher Wade Jacoby for example,
think that if the old European Union members (EU 15) wanted to manage globalization, then we
ought to see them using enlargement mechanism to help the older member states and Europe as a
whole to compete globally. We would cover such topics in political dimension of globalization but let
us focus this morning on the impact of globalisation on everyday life.
Few years ago, it would designate for debate on use of television, internet, and new technologies
but today it is almost impossible to define the scope of globalization and its impact on the everyday
life. Nevertheless we have to limit ourselves and in this introduction to debate I would like to build on
four building blocks. First, let us briefly stop at so called everyday theory, and I will also briefly
mention two preconditions for globalization. Then I would like to present a simple graph called
Index of globalization that puts SEE countries in a perspective. And finally, I would like to open few
policy issues that seem to be fruitful for policymakers and discussion.
1 People make constant choices
Everyday theory is also known as common-sense theory of media use, norms for use of media
which people recognise and follow. People have ability to make constant choices, form tastes, and
make judgements. So individuals are enabled to make their own choices of technology, media and
communication channel they use, as well as the content. In fact we can see that one individual is
exposed to many communication channels at the same time and uses them in supportive and
interactive ways. For example, with your cellular phone you can take photo of Ljubljana and instantly
send it as a rich message to your mum, post it on Facebook for your friends and direct your colleague
at the hotel who got lost.
Information technology can be used in a traditional one on one communication or for mass
communication purposes. It becomes very hard to differentiate mass communication from oneon-one communication, its’ public or private use. At the same time, we can not differentiate if
media is interactive or not any more. Does it convey individual or shared experience, shall we use
it inside or outside home.
Globalization involves the diffusion of ideas, practices and technologies. It is something more than
internationalization and universalization. It isn't simply modernization or westernization. It certainly isn't
just the liberalization of markets. Anthony Giddens has described globalization as 'the intensification
of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are
shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa'. This involves a change in the way
we understand geography and experience localness. As well as offering opportunity it brings in
considerable risks linked, for example, to technological change.
2 Preconditions and scope of globalization
With the new millennium came a new term, "globalization." As it’s consequence we saw increasing
interconnection of people and places, advances in transport, communication and information
technologies that caused political, economic, and cultural convergence.
Globalization is sustained and created by the everyday actions of people and institutions. Both
of these have far-reaching consequences for everyday life and effects on nation, state and
cosmopolitanism, virtual societies, transnationals and development.
Let us concentrate on two important factors that enabled three dimensions of globalization. Two
important preconditions are significantly lower transportation costs, and development in the
information technology. It seems rather productive to think about the scope of globalization on
wider scale and describe it as an increased access to information, and increased access to
goods.
3 Globalisation index
The Swiss Institute for Business Cycle Research (KOF) compiles annual data that measure the
economic, social and political dimensions of globalization on the basis of 25 variables. Data are
available on a yearly basis for 208 countries over the period 1970 - 2007. The social index measures
the spread of ideas and it also combines share of information and access to certain goods and I
propose to take a short look at some of the variables.
A. Economic Globalization
Trade (percent of GDP)
Trade is the sum of exports and imports of goods and services measured as a
share of gross domestic product.
Foreign Direct Investment, flows (percent of GDP)
Foreign direct investment is the net inflows plus net outflows of investment to
acquire a lasting management interest.
B. Social Globalization
i) Data on Personal Contact
Telephone Traffic
International voice traffic is the sum of international incoming and outgoing telephone traffic (in
minutes per person).
Transfers (percent of GDP)
Sum of gross inflows and gross outflows of goods, services, income, or financial items without a quid
pro quo.
International Tourism
Sum of arrivals and departures of international tourists as a share of population.
Foreign Population (percent of total population)
Foreign population is the number of foreign or foreign-born residents in a country.
International letters (per capita)
Number of international letters sent and received per capita.
ii) Data on Information Flows
Internet Users (per 1000 people)
Internet users are people with access to the worldwide internet network.
Television (per 1000 people)
Share of households with a television set.
Trade in Newspapers (percent of GDP) The sum of exports and imports in newspapers and
periodicals in percent of GDP.
iii) Data on Cultural Proximity
Number of McDonald's Restaurants
Number of Ikea
Trade in books (percent of GDP)
The sum of exports and imports in books and pamphlets
C. Political Globalization
Embassies in Country
Membership in International Organizations
Participation in U.N. Security Council Missions, Personnel contributed to U.N. Security Council
Missions.
International Treaties
Any document signed between two or more states and ratified by the highest legislative body of each
country since 1945.
LIBSEEN members: Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo,
Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Romania with aim of expanding to the parties in Albania, Greece and
Turkey.
Code
Country
2007
PYF
French Polynesia
45.28
NCL
ALB
New Caledonia
Albania
45.46
55.64
MKD
Macedonia, FYR
62.18
BIH
TUR
SRB
UKR
ISL
ROM
LVA
LTU
BGR
GRC
MLT
HRV
SVN
EST
Bosnia and
Herzegovina
Turkey
Serbia
Ukraine
Iceland
Romania
Latvia
Lithuania
Bulgaria
Greece
Malta
Croatia
Slovenia
Estonia
64.68
64.91
65.97
68.15
70.66
71.51
71.61
74.73
75.41
75.83
76.42
76.85
78.78
79.49
GBR
POL
ITA
CYP
NOR
DEU
United Kingdom
Poland
Italy
Cyprus
Norway
Germany
80.18
81.26
82.26
82.45
83.53
84.16
SVK
ESP
Slovak Republic
Spain
85.07
85.71
LUX
FRA
Luxembourg
France
85.84
86.18
CZE
IRL
HUN
FIN
PRT
DNK
SWE
Czech Republic
Ireland
Hungary
Finland
Portugal
Denmark
Sweden
86.87
86.92
87.0
87.31
87.54
89.68
89.75
CHE
Switzerland
90.55
NLD
AUT
BEL
Netherlands
Austria
Belgium
91.9
92.51
92.95
4 Globalised societies became normal societies
The data reveal two important points. First, by all three individual measures, economic, social and
political dimensions of globalization, indices of globalization are lower in the new member states
than in the old, EU15. They are also lower for SEE countries.
Second finding by Jacoby is that in all three areas, the gap has been closing in impressive ways
over the past fifteen years. Indeed, the composite index of globalization, which again includes subindices for economic, political, and social forms of globalization, has narrowed. The gap has dropped
from 28 points to 14 in 2004. At minimum, this means that CEE states are increasingly exposed to
global forces.
Perhaps we came to the point when we can describe a normally functioning society as
democratic, liberal, pluralistic and globalised. Beforehand we would have to agree that democratic
societies have political system with regular elections and universal suffrage. Term liberal societies
describes secular societies with free market economy and freedom of speech, whereas pluralistic
societies are characterised by institutionalised competition between parties an interests.
Undeniably, liberal and even progressive themes run through the globalization agenda. It embraces
social diversity, the arts, education and culture, together with ambiguities on positive and negative
economic effect on national economies. Managing global challenges begins by managing your
own backyard and perhaps we will hear more about it during debate on European Union, NATO:
Benefits and potential threats for the member states.
What could be policy agenda for liberal parties beyond 25 variables? Most certainly we would
recommend strategies that maximize positive effects of globalization on SEE. We can not deny
negative effects of globalisation but we should be also encouraged to identify the topics that are
important for policy makers in the future. We can detect at least 4 of them:
Investing in eHealth Patient mobility and cross-border access to safe, high-quality, and efficient care
should win higher priority on the agenda. Many projects in the fields of telemedicine, remote diagnosis,
and ePrescription have been undertaken across Europe and have contributed to the development of
the European eHealth Area.
Tourism has been a central dimension of globalization, and it offers a useful lens on many key
questions about where globalization is taking us: questions about identity and heritage,
commoditization, historical and cultural representation, authenticity and ownership, neoliberalism,
inequality, gender relations, environmental sustainability, and more. Outsourcing, transnational
ownership structures and investments, cross-border marketing collaborations, the purchase and sale
of knowhow, and the free movement of labor are highly relevant for the modernization of tourism in
CEE.
Environmental initiatives Environmental issues open space for regional strategy for the integrated
management of Black Sea Coast Areas, Adriatic Sea Coast Areas, and Danube Region.
Energetic security in SEE
Dear ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention and I wish you fruitful discussions today and
tomorrow. Hopefully introduction on Globalization and its impact on the everyday life can serve as a
useful starting point.
References:
Giddens, A. (1990) The Consequences of Modernity. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Dreher, Axel (2006): Does Globalization Affect Growth? Evidence from a new Index of
Globalization, Applied Economics 38, 10: 1091-1110.
Updated in:
Dreher, Axel, Noel Gaston and Pim Martens (2008), Measuring Globalisation – Gauging its
Consequences (New York: Springer).
http://www.globalization-index.org/query/showData