CONTEMPORARY WORLD

1. The
Contempora
ry
World
N G E C 3
JOJEAN MARIE D. PONDANG, LPT
Instructor

2. Module 1
Introduction to
Globalization
NGEC 3 – The Contemporary World

3. What is globalization?

4. Topic 1: Defining Globalization

5. Globalization
– Many scholars gave and tried to formulate its definitions. This
resulted in different, sometimes contradicting views about the
concept. It cannot contained within a specific time frame, all
people, and all situations (Al-Rhodan, 2006). Aside from this,
globalization encompasses a multitude of processes that involves
the economy, political systems, and culture. Social structures,
therefore, are directly affected by globalization.

6. Defining Globalization
– Since its first appearance in the Webster’s Dictionary in 1961,
many opinions about globalization have flourished. The literature
on the definitions of globalization revealed that definitions could
be classified as either (1) broad and inclusive or (2) narrow and
exclusive. The one offered by Ohmae in 1992 stated,
“…globalization means the onset of the borderless world…” (p.14).
This is an example of a broad and inclusive type of definition. If
one uses such, it can include a variety of issues that deal with
overcoming traditional boundaries. However, it does not shed light
on the implications of globalization due to its vagueness.

7. Defining Globalization
– On the other hand, it can be said that some view
globalization to be a positive phenomenon. For instance,
Swedish Journalist Thomas Larsson (2001) saw
globalization as "the process of world shrinkage, of
distances getting shorter, things moving closer. It pertains
to the increasing ease with which somebody on one side of
the world can interact, to mutual benefit with somebody
on the other side of the world."

8. THE DIMENSIONS OF
GLOBALIZATION

9. THE DIMENSIONS O F
GLOBALIZATION
– ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION
refers to the widespread international movement of goods, capital, services,
technology and information. It is the increasing economic integration and
interdependence of national, regional, and local economies across the world
through an intensification of cross-border movement of goods, services,
technologies and capital. Economic globalization primarily comprises the
globalization of production, finance, markets, technology, organizational
regimes, institutions, corporations, and labour.

10. THE DIMENSIONS OF
GLOBALIZATION
– POLITICAL GLOBALIZATION
– refers to the growth of the worldwide political system, both in size and complexity. That system
includes national governments, their governmental and intergovernmental organizations as well as
government-independent elements of global civil society such as international non-governmental
organizations and social movement organizations. One of the key aspects of the political
globalization is the declining importance of the nation-state and the rise of other actors on the
political scene. The creation and existence of the United Nations has been called one of the classic
examples of political globalization.

11. THE DIMENSIONS OF
GLOBALIZATION
– CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION
– refers to the transmission of ideas, meanings, and values around the world in such a way as to
extend and intensify social relations. This process is marked by the common consumption of
cultures that have been diffused by the Internet, popular culture media, and international
travel. This has added to processes of commodity exchange and colonization which have a
longer history of carrying cultural meaning around the globe. The circulation of cultures
enables individuals to partake in extended social relations that cross national and regional
borders. The creation and expansion of such social relations is not merely observed on a
material level. Cultural globalization involves the formation of shared norms and knowledge
with which people associate their individual and collective cultural identities. It brings
increasing interconnectedness among different populations and cultures.

12. THE DIMENSIONS OF
GLOBALIZATION
– GLOBALIZATION AND TECHNOLOGY
– Technological developments are conceived as the main facilitator
and driving force of most of the globalization processes. Before
elaborating on the consequences of several technological
developments, we must go through the definition of technology as
a sociological term, so that we can further explore the social and
political role of technology in the globalization process.

13. THE DIMENSIONS OF
GLOBALIZATION
– GLOBALIZATION AND TECHNOLOGY
– Technology can be defined as the socialized knowledge of producing goods and
services. We can describe the term technology with five important elements:
production, knowledge, instruments, possession and change. Our definition of
technology as a socialized knowledge can be better conceived with these
elements.

14. Can you give more supporting
ideas about these dimensions
of Globalization?

15. RESOURCES:
Aldama, P. (2018). The contemporary world. 856 Nicanor Reyes, Sr. Street Recto Avenue Manila
Philippines: Rex Bookstore.
Claudio, L. & Abinales P. (2018). The contemporary world 839 EDSA, South Triangle, Quezon City:
C&E Publishing.
Globalization. (2019). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization
San Juan, D. (2018). Journeys through our contemporary world. 1253 G. Araneta Avenue cor. Ma.
Clara Street, Talayan, Quezon City: Vibal Group.
•
•

16. Topic 2: Metaphors of
Globalizations

17. Metaphors of Globalizations
Metaphors make use of one term to help us better
understand another term. In our case, the states if matter –
solid and liquid –will be used. In addition, other related
concepts that are included in the definition such as
structure and flow will be elaborated.

18. SOLID
The epochs that preceded today‘s globalization
paved way for people, things, information, and
places to harden over time. Consequently, they
have limited mobility (Ritzer 2015). The social
relationships and objects remained where they
were created. Solidity also refers to barriers that
prevent or make difficult the movement of things.
Furthermore, solids can either be natural or man-
made. Examples of natural solids are landforms
and bodies of water.

19. LIQUID
– Liquid, as a state of matter, takes the shape of its container.
Moreover, liquids are not fixed. Liquidity, therefore, refers to the
increasing ease if movement of people, things information, and
places in the contemporary world.
– Zygmunt Bauman‘s (2000) ideas were the ones that have very
much to say about the characteristics of liquidity. First, today ‘s
liquid phenomena change quickly and its aspects, spatial and
temporal, are in continuous fluctuation.
– In global finance, for instance, changes in the stock market are a
matter of seconds. Another characteristic of liquid phenomena is
that their movement is difficult to stop.

20. LIQUID
– For example, the videos being uploaded on YouTube or
Facebook are hard to halt once they become viral. The so-called
internet sensations become famous not just in their homeland
but to the entire world as well. Finally, the forces (the liquid
ones) made political boundaries more permeable to the flow of
people and things (Cartier 2001). This brings us to what Ritzer
(2015) regarded as the most important characteristics of liquid:
it ―tends to melt whatever stands in its path (especially
solids). The clearest example is the decline, if not death, of the
nation state.

21. SOLID AND LIQUID
– Liquidity and solidity is constant interaction. Liquidity is the
one increasing and proliferating today. Therefore, the
metaphor which could best describe globalization is
liquidity. Liquids to flow and this idea of flow (Appadurai
1996; Rey and Ritzer 2010) will be the focus of the next
discussion. Also, it should be expected that this concept will
appear in the succeeding lessons. The literature on
globalization makes use of the concept of flows.

22. FLOWS
– . Flows are the movement of people, things, places and information
brought by
the growing ―porosity of global limitations (Ritzar 2015).
– Think of the different foreign cuisines being patronized and consumed
by the Filipinos. Aside from local dishes, many of us are found eating
sushi, ramen hamburger, and French Fries –foods introduced to us by
foreign culture.
– Clearly, foods are being globalized. Another example of flows are global
financial crises. As landler (2008:C1) put it: ―In global financial system,
national borders are porous. This means that a financial crisis in a given
country can bring ramifications to other regions of the world.

23. What do you think is the
importance of defining
globalization?

24. Do you agree with the idea
that the contemporary world
is characterized by highly
liquidity?
Why or why not?

25. REFERENCES
Claudio, L. & Abinales P. (2018). The contemporary world
839 EDSA, South Triangle,
Quezon City:
C&E Publishing.
San Juan, D. (2018). Journeys through our contemporary
world. 1253 G. Araneta
Avenue cor. Ma.
Clara Street, Talayan, Quezon City: Vibal Group.

26. Topic 3 & 4:
Globalization
Theories

27. Homogeneity
– Homogeneity refers to the increasing
sameness in the world as cultural inputs,
economic factors, and political orientations
of societies expand to create common
practices, some economies, and similar
forms of government. Homogeneity in
culture is often linked to cultural
imperialism.

28. Heterogeneity.
– . This pertains to the creation of various cultural practices, new
economies, and political groups because of the interaction of
elements from different societies in the world.
– Heterogeneity refers to the differences because of their lasting
differences of the hybrids or combinations of cultures which can
be produced through the different transplanetary processes.
– Contrary to the cultural imperialism, heterogeneity in culture is
associated with cultural hybridization. A more specific concept is
―glocalization coined by Roland Robertson (1992). To him, as
global forces interact with local factors or a specific geographic
area, the ―glocal is being produced.

29. ORIGINS AND
HISTORY OF
GLOBALIZATION

30. Where did it start?

31. ORIGINS AND HISTORY O F
GLOBALIZATION
– HARDWIRED. According to Nayan Chanda (2007), it is our basic human need to
make our lives better that made globalization possible. Therefore, one can
trace the beginning of globalization from our Ancestors in Africa who walked
out from the said continents in the late Ice Age. This long journey finally led
them to all- known continents today, roughly after 50,000 years. Chanda
mentioned that commerce, region, politics, and warfare are the ―urges‖ of
people toward a better life. These are respectively connected to four aspects
of globalization and they can be traced all throughout history: trade,
missionary work, adventures, and concepts.

32. ORIGINS AND HISTORY OF
GLOBALIZATION
– CYCLES. For some, globalization is a long-term cyclical process
and thus, finding its origin will be a daunting task. What is
important, are the cycles globalization has gone through
(Scholte 2005). Subscribing to this view will suggest
adherence to the idea that other global ages have appeared.
There is also the notion to suspect that this point of
globalization will soon disappear and reappear.

33. E P O C H
– Ritzer (2005) Cited Therborn‘s (2000) six great epochs of
globalization.
– These are also called ―waves and each has its own origin. Today ‘s
globalization is not unique if this is the case. The difference of this
view from the second view (cycles) is that it does not treat epochs
as returning. The following are the sequential occurrence of the
epochs:

34. E P O C H
1.Globalization of religion (4th-7th Centuries)
2.European colonial conquest (late 15th century)
3.Intra-European wars (late 18th – early 19th centuries)
4.Heyday of European imperialism (mid-19th century to
1918)
5.Post-World War II period
6.Post- Cold War period

35. EV ENTS
Specific events are also considered as part of the fourth view in explaining the
origin of globalization. If this case, then several points can be treated as the start of
globalization.
Gibbon (1998), for example, argued that Roman conquest centuries before Christ
are its origin. In an issue of the magazine the Economist (2006, January 12), it
considered the rampage of the armies of Genghis Khan into Eastern Europe in the
thirteen century.
Rosenthal (2007) gave premium to voyages of discovery Christopher Columbus ‘s
discovery of America in 1942, Vasco Da Gama in Cape of Good Hope in 1498 and
Ferdinand Magellan ‘s completed circumnavigation of the globe in 1522.

36. EVENTS
– The recent years could also be regarded as the beginnings of
globalization with reference to specific technological advances in
transportation and communication. Some examples, include the
first transatlantic telephone cable (1962), the founding of the
modern interest in 1988, and the terrorist attacks on the Twin
Towers in New York (2001). Certainly, with this view, more and
more specific events will characterize not just the origins of
globalization but more of its history.

37. P RO C E S S QUESTIONS:

38. What are the similarities and differences of
homogeneity and heterogeneity?

39. Are there advantages and
disadvantages of homogeneity
and heterogeneity?
What are those?

40. REFERENCES
Beck, U. (1992) Risk Society, London: Sage.
Castells, M. (2001) 'Informationtechnology and global capitalism' in W. Hutton and A. Giddens. (eds.) On The Edge. Living with global
capitalism, London: Vintage.
Frank, T. (2002) One Market Under God. Extreme capitalism, market populism, and the end of economic
democracy, London: Vintage. Fox, J. (2001) Chomsky and Globalization,London: Icon Books.
Gray, J. (1999) False Dawn. The delusions of global capitalism, London: Granta.
Held, D., McGrew, A., Goldblatt, D. and Perraton, J. (1999) Global Transformations- politics, economics and culture,
Cambridge: Polity Press. Hutton, W. and Giddens, A. (eds.) (2001) On The Edge. Living with global capitalism, London:
Vintage.
Klein, N. (2000) No Logo, London: Flamingo.
Leys, C. (2001) Market-DrivenPolitics. Neoliberaldemocracy and the public interest, London: Verso Books.
Monbiot, G. (2000) Captive State. The corporate takeover of Britain, London: Pan.
Scholte, J. A. (2000) Globalization. A critical introduction,London: Palgrave.
Sen, A. (2002) 'How to judge globalization',The American Prospect Online, [13]. Wolf, A. (2002) Does Education Matter. Myths about
education and economic growth, London: Penguin.

41. Recent Changes
– Recent changes comprised the fifth view. These broad changes happened in
the last half of the twentieth century. Scholars today point to these three
notable changes as the origin of globalization that we know today. They are
as follows:
1.The emergence of the United States as the global power (Post-World War II)
2.The emergence of the multinational corporations (MNCs)
3.The demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War

42. Recent Changes
– Through its dominant military and economic power after
WWII, the US was able to outrun Germany and Japan in
terms of industry. Both Axis powers and Allies falls
behind economically as compared to the new global
power. Because of this, the US soon began to progress in
different aspects like in diplomacy, media, film (as in the
Hollywood), and many more.

43. Recent Changes
– Before MNCs came into being, their roots are from their countries
of origin during the eighteen to early nineteenth centuries. The
US, Germany, and Great Britain had their homeland great
corporations which the world knows today. However, they did not
remain there as far as their production and market are concerned.
For example, Ford and General Motors originated in the US but in
the twentieth century they exported more automobiles and
opened factories to other countries.

44. Recent Changes
– More recent than the first two would be the fall of the Soviest Union in 1991.
This event led to the opening of the major parts of the world for the first time
since the early twentieth century. Many global processes-immigrations,
tourism, media, diplomacy and MNCs-spread throughout the planet. This paved
way for the so-called ―free‖ world. China, even though the government
remains communist, is on its way to becoming a major force in global
government remains communist, is on its way to becoming a major force in
global capitalism (Fishman 2006). Moreover, China is also globalizing terms of
other aspects such as their Hosting of the Olympics in 2008.

45. P RO C E S S QUESTION:

46. Which of the aforementioned views on the history of globalization you find
most appealing? Why?

47. REFERENCES
Beck, U. (1992) Risk Society, London: Sage.
Castells, M. (2001) 'Information technology and global capitalism' in W. Hutton and A.
Giddens. (eds.) On The Edge. Living with global capitalism, London: Vintage.
Frank, T. (2002) One Market Under God. Extreme capitalism, market populism, and the
end of economic democracy, London: Vintage.
Fox, J. (2001) Chomsky and Globalization, London: Icon Books.
Gray, J. (1999) False Dawn. The delusions of global capitalism, London: Granta.
Held, D., McGrew, A., Goldblatt, D. and Perraton, J. (1999) Global Transformations -
politics, economics and culture, Cambridge: Polity Press.

48. Congratulations!
You did it!
Tap your shoulder or give yourself a treat
for a job well done.