"The diminution or elimination of state-enforced restrictions on exchanges across borders and the increasingly integrated and complex global system of production and exchange that has emerged as a result." Tom G. Palmer, of the Cato Institute.
This was once the most accurate definition of globalization. Things have since taken a turn to communication based globalization according to Anthony Giddens, a British sociologist renowned for his 1999 book ‘Runaway World: How globalization is reshaping our lives’, who suggests that communication has become the cornerstone of modern globalization. I present this essay to illustrate the transition the world has taken from economic globalization to communication based globalization.
The term "globalization" has been used by economists since the 1980s. However, its concepts did not become popular until the latter half of the 1980s and 1990s. Early forms of globalization existed during the Roman Empire, the Parthian empire, and the Han Dynasty, when the Silk Road started in China, reached the boundaries of the Parthian empire, and continued onwards towards Rome. In the 17th century, globalization became a business phenomenon when the British East India Company, which is often described as the first multinational corporation, was established. Because of the high risks involved with international trade, the British East India Company became the first company in the world to share risk and enable joint ownership of companies through the issuance of shares of stock: an important driver for globalization.
After World War II, politicians recognized the costs associated with protectionism and declining international economic integration. This led to the Bretton Woods conference and the founding of several international institutions intended to oversee the renewed processes of globalization, These institutions include the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank), and the International Monetary Fund.
Globalization has been facilitated by advances in technology which have reduced the costs of trade, and trade negotiation rounds, originally under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The barriers of international trade seemed to have been broken down, or at least lowered through international agreements. GATT, in cohesion with the World Trade Organization (WTO) then carried out certain initiatives that established economic trade as the fundamental keystone of globalization. These initiatives include;
• Promotion of free trade:
o Reduction or elimination of tariffs; creation of free trade zones with small or no tariffs
o Reduced transportation costs, especially resulting from development of containerization for ocean shipping.
o Reduction or elimination of capital controls
o Reduction, elimination, or harmonization of subsidies for local businesses
• Restriction of free trade:
o Harmonization of intellectual property laws across the majority of states, with more restrictions.
o Supranational recognition of intellectual property restrictions (e.g. patents granted by China would be recognized in the United States)
Looking specifically at economic globalization, the establishment of fast-food chains is a very good example of the rapid growth that economic globalization in a short space of time, this demonstrates that it can be measured in different ways. These center around the four main economic flows that characterize globalization:
• Goods and services, e.g. exports plus imports as a proportion of national income or per capita of population
• Labor/people, e.g. net migration rates; inward or outward migration flows, weighted by population
• Capital, e.g. inward or outward direct investment as a proportion of national income or per head of population
• Technology, e.g. international research & development flows; proportion of populations (and rates of change thereof) using particular inventions (especially 'factor-neutral' technological advances such as the telephone, motorcar, broadband)
As globalization is not only an economic phenomenon, a multivariate approach to measuring globalization is the recent index calculated by the Swiss think tank KOF. The index measures the three main dimensions of globalization: economic, social, and political. In addition to three indices measuring these dimensions, an overall index of globalization and sub-indices referring to actual economic flows, economic restrictions, data on personal contact, data on information flows, and data on cultural proximity is calculated.
“However, I don't believe either the skeptics or the radicals have properly understood either what it is or its implications for us. Both groups see the phenomenon almost solely in economic terms. This is a mistake. Globalization is political, technological and cultural, as well as economic. It has been influenced above all by developments in systems of communication, dating back only to the late 1960's.” Anthony Giddens.
In his lecture, Giddens goes on to explain how the political and cultural globalization has become just as important as the economic factor. This brings into light the influence communication has had on globalization. It is important to realize that globalization cannot be credited to the ‘open economy’ but to a number of other factors, which include a more technologically advanced society that interacts on a more personal and instant level.
Globalization thus is a complex set of processes, not a single one. And these operate in a contradictory or oppositional fashion. Most people think of it as simply 'pulling away' power or influence from local communities and nations into the global arena. And indeed this is one of its consequences. Nations do lose some of the economic power they once had.
However, it also has an opposite effect. Globalization not only pulls upwards, it pushes downwards, creating new pressures for local autonomy. The American sociologist Daniel Bell expresses this very well when he says that the nation becomes too small to solve the big problems, but also too large to solve the small ones.
Since the burst in world wide trade and the breakthrough of economic globalization, much has changed. Most credit should be given to the internet for putting communication based globalization on the map so to speak. As the most influential country’s economies are heading towards collapse, only time will tell if the shoulders of communication are broad enough to carry globalization.
Writing: Submerged Knowledge
Pix: Protect DaInternet
[From what you have read above, do you know see how first world countries are using globalization and online communication to further expand their empires? It is only a matter of time before we are introduced to the New World Order and One World Government! Thank you SK. Peace – Oblivious Truth]
Krossword says: "I released my first project in 2006 with the follow up in 2007, both projects circulated in Kimberley and made waves on the internet. In 2008, Rythmik and myself formed a duo called Skriptomaniakz, we released our mixtape over the internet in January 2009. I have performed at a number of gigs in Kimberley, Soweto and Sandton. I am currently working on my mixtape, "The Diamond Rush", this tape will be released in 2010 under my company, Ruff Cuttz Entertainment.
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