The last century intense with a dream and aspirations and major social experiments has ended with general collapse of initiative for social transformation and total disillusionment with efforts of ‘development’ of the so called ‘developing’ nations. The so called victorious ideology-capitalism- has sought to consolidate its triumph with a call for ‘globalization’ for freeing of market, for unchecked hunting by private capital within and across nations with total disregard for the sovereignty rights of nations across the world. Globalization did not develop evenly: indeed, it was accompanied by inequality and conflict. The global development of economic and social relations has been paralleled by wide disparities between North and South.

1. GLOBAL EDUCATION AND GLOBALIZATION- AN ECONOMIC, SOCIAL,
CULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESS
Abstract
Miss Amita Marwha
Faculty, Deptt. Of Economics
Isabella Thoburn College
ladys3074@gmail.com
The last century intense with a dream and aspirations and major social experiments has
ended with general collapse of initiative for social transformation and total disillusionment
with efforts of ‘development’ of the so called ‘developing’ nations. The so called victorious
ideology-capitalism- has sought to consolidate its triumph with a call for ‘globalization’ for
freeing of market, for unchecked hunting by private capital within and across nations with
total disregard for the sovereignty rights of nations across the world. Globalization did not
develop evenly: indeed, it was accompanied by inequality and conflict. The global development
of economic and social relations has been paralleled by wide disparities between North and
South.
The assessment of the benefits and costs of globalization, the interpretation of the process as
such is a highly controversial issue. In different contexts, in various parts of the world and in
respect of various sides of globalization, the phenomena and processes that help building
today’s (and increasingly obvious tomorrow’s) global/planet village are perceived ambivalently
as positive or negative, good or bad, beneficial or damaging, profit-making or loss-making.
Global education may help people realize that globalization expresses the course of the future
social development and that it depends on us all whether developments benefit only a
privileged part of the globe’s population or humanity as a whole. Global education (and global
learning) is an answer to globalization processes and their chances as well as risks.
In this paper I will try to analyze the role of the education in overcoming these trends which
are adversely affecting the welfare of the nations across the globe.

2. INTRODUCTION
It is an error to think globalization is purely an economic process - it has deep social,
cultural and environmental consequences. Globalization is an obsessively recurring word in
every type of discourse which tries to describe and explain social, economic and political
developments in the world today. In the past few decades, processes related to globalization
induced major changes - economic, technological, cultural, demographic, and environmental and
political. The term Globalization refers to international integration in commodity, capital and
labor markets (Bordo et al., 2003).
TRENDS IN GLOBALIZATION
International trade after WWII entered a long period of record expansion with world
merchandise exports rising by more than 8 per cent per annum in real terms over the 1950-73
1periods. Trade growth slowed thereafter under the impact of two oil price shocks, a burst of
inflation caused by monetary expansion and inadequate macroeconomic adjustment policies. In
the 1990s, trade expanded again more rapidly, partly driven by innovations in the information
technology (IT) sector. Despite the small contraction of trade caused by the dotcom crisis in
2001, the average expansion of world merchandise exports continued to be high – averaging 6
per cent for the 2000-07 periods. For the entire 1950-2007 period, trade expanded on average by
6.2 per cent, which is much stronger than in the first wave of globalization from 1850 to 1913.1
As dollar prices expanded much faster after WWII than before WWI the nominal trade
expansion of the former period is more than twice as fast as in the earlier period (9.8 per cent
versus 3.8 per cent per annum).
1
a Refers to period 1870-1913.
Source: Maddison (2001), Lewis (1981), UNCTAD (2007), WTO (2007a).

3. Politically, globalization is thought to result in the erosion of nation states and national
sovereignty by new international actors. The state’s control over its national economy
is being lost through the activities of private business enterprises such as transnational
corporations (TNCs) whose decisions (for example, on the location of factories) are
seen to be increasingly made in a global context, while economic policy formation is
increasingly being influenced by multilateral economic institutions (MEIs) such as the
IMF and WB. The state’s political sovereignty is seen as being impinged upon by
regional formations, such as the EU; its regula-tory functions are increasingly being
determined by supranational organizations such as the ITU and WTO and by
international trade agreements. On issues such as human rights and environmental and
labour standards states are under increasing pressure from INGOs to maintain and
improve on them.
On the cultural level, local and national cultures are seen to be increasingly submerged
in an undifferentiated global mass culture, described by Ritzer (1993) as
‘McDonaldization’. This involves the replacement of indigenous, traditional, national,
and local cultures by an international culture of consumerism, seen in the global
spread of pop music and Hollywood films, the increasing control of mass media by
Western conglomerates and the endangering and disappearance of minority languages
and cultural practices.
On the economic level, control of the global economy is seen as being concentrated in

4. a small number of massive transnational corporations, whose turnover may be greater
than the GDP of many nations, which can pick and choose where to locate their
production, adminis-trative, and research and development centres. Countries are said
to be forced to cut tariffs and taxes if they wish to attract foreign direct investment
from these TNCs. The increasing number of free trade agreements, whether global
(GATS), regional (NAFTA), or bilateral (ANZCERTA), are reducing the ability of
states to form economic policies to promote their national interests. Finally, MEIs,
such as the IMF, WB, ADB, and the EBRD, are increasingly influential in policy
formation, especially in the case of developing and transitional countries which are
encouraged to remove protectionist tariffs, privatize state industries, abolish price
controls, and lift restrictions on private investment in order to obtain loans.
Governments have come under pressure to increase labour flexibility by making it
easier to hire and fire workers, introduce temporary and precarious working
conditions, and remove various trade union, health and safety, and minimal wage
protections.
Although social policy has arrived relatively late to ‘globalization studies’ its
engagement with this field has been substantial and productive. Indeed, whatever
one’s position in relation to globalization the concept/debate is a significant one for
this field, and even ‘skeptic internationalists’ who otherwise deny the fundamental
precepts of the globalization thesis would agree there is a need to address the wider
global contexts and dimensions of social policy. In fact, used carefully, ‘globalization’
presents many new opportunities to critically interrogate social policy – to think about
how we construct fields of enquiry, the concepts and theories we use, the areas and

5. issues we examine, and the types of questions we ask.
.During the nineteenth and twentieth century’s the forces behind welfare state building
and the social regulation of capitalism occurred within a world order characterized by
extensive international trade and migration, transnational corporations, and developed
international monetary and exchange rate regimes. While much recent commentary
focuses on contemporary transnational political mobilization in the ‘anti-globalization
movement’, there are examples dating back two centuries of political mobilization that
were international and extended beyond Europe. Two examples here are the anti–slave
trade movement (1787–1807) and the movement against Congo colonization (1890–
1910).
Colonialism was central to the international political order that underpinned the development of
social policies and welfare states in a range of countries throughout the world. The development
of the British welfare state, for example, is intricately tied up with Britain’s status as a colonial
power; its colonies – Ireland, Australia, Canada, India, Hong Kong, and many African countries
– sustained Britain’s its economic foundations, constituted a destination to which criminal
classes and other socially deviant groups and individuals could be exported and formed a labour
pool from which Britain drew to staff its welfare services. In turn, these countries’ colonial
histories impacted upon the development of their social policies, as Britain ‘exported’ welfare
ideologies and systems (the legacy of which these countries still bear today), influenced their
social and political structures, and, together with local elites, subsumed their economic
development interests to British interests. A tangible example of the transnational dimensions of
welfare systems is the British social security system. The Commonwealth spawned a global
administrative network of offices involved in the process-ing of war pension’s payments not only

6. to British war pensioners living abroad and to resi-dents of former British colonies, but also to
those with no connection to the British state, such as Polish soldiers who fought in the Second
World War under British command.
The main forces that have driven global integration have been technological innovations,
broader political changes and economic policies. Table 1 attempts to provide a chronology of
the major events and forces that have contributed to today’s globalization.
Table-1
Time Economic Political Technological
1940s
Establishment of the Bretton
Woods System, a new
international monetary system
(1944-71)
Foundation of the
United Nations(1945)
Expansion of plastics
and fibre products, e.g.
first nylon stockings for
women (1940)
Establishment of GATT (1947)
entering into force in January
1948
 Launch of the
Marshall
Plan(1948–57),
a European
recovery
programme
 Founding of
the
Organization
for European
Economic
Cooperation(1
948)
1950s
Soviet Union establishes the
Council for Mutual Economic
Assistance(CMEA) for economic
cooperation among communist
countries (1949-91)
Decolonization starts
(1948-1962).
Independence ofIndia,
Indonesia, Egypt, for
example China
becomes a socialist
republic in 1949
Discovery of large oil
fields in the Middle
East. especially in
Saudi Arabia(1948)
Treaty of Rome establishes the
European Community (1957).
 Korean war
(1950-53)
 Increased use of
oil from the

7. EC and the European Free
Trade Association(1959) favour
west European integration
 Suez crisis
(1956)
Middle East in
Europe and
Japan
 “Just-in-time”
production
implemented by
Toyota
Major currencies become
convertible(1958-64)
Decolonization in
Africa (15 countries
become independent
between 1958 and
1962)
Increasing usage of jet
engines in air transport
(1957-72)
1960s
Foundation of the Organization
of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) (1960)
First person in space
(Yuri Gagarin, 1961)
and first man on the
moon (Neil Armstrong,
1969)
Development of the Eurodollar
Market in London which
contributed to the expansion of
international liquidity
Integrated circuits
become commercially
available (1961)
Offshore oil and gas
production
Kennedy Round, 6th
session of
the GATT (1964-69) Rapid
spread of automobiles and
highways in the North
accelerates demand and shift in
fuels consumption(from coal to
oil)
Erection of Berlin
Wall (1961) and
Cuban missile crisis
(1962) highlight sharp
confrontation between
East and West
 Green
Revolution -
transforming
agricultural
production in
developing
countries
(1960s
onwards
 First line of
Japan’s high-
speed train
system
(shinkansen)
opened in 1964
Trade policies of East Asian
countries put more emphasis on
export- led development than on
import substitution Elimination
of last customs duties within EC
Increasing usage of
containerization in
ocean transport (1968
onwards)

8. (1968
1970s
Departure from US dollar
exchange rate gold standard
(1971)
Yom Kippur war
(1973) Israel helps to
trigger oil price hike
First single chip
microprocessor (Intel
4004) is introduced
(1971
 Oil price “shocks” (1973-
74 and1979) reverse
decades of real oil price
declines
 Rise of Asian newly
industrialized countries
 Volcker Fed successfully
extinguishes US inflation
Developing country debt crisis
Mexico starts market reforms
and joins the GATT in 1986
Enlargement of the
EU to 12 members
Microsoft Windows
introduced (1985)
1980s
Louvre Accord promotes
stabilisation of major exchange
rates (1987)
Fall of the Berlin Wall
(1989)
1990s
 Indian economic reforms
launched in1991
 Establishment of the
North American Free
Trade Agreement (1994)
 Asian financial crisis
(1997
Dissolution of the
Soviet Union(1991)
leads to the formation
of 13 independent
states
 Eurotunnel
opens in 1994
linking the
United
Kingdom to
continent
 The number of
mobile phones
increases due
to the
introduction of
second
generation
(2G) networks
using digital
technology
Launch of the
first 2G-GSM
network by
Radiolinja in
Finland
(1991)
Establishment of the WTO
(1995) following Uruguay Round
(1986-94)
Invention ofthe World
Wide Web by Tim
Berners-Lee (1989) -
first web site put online
in 1991. Number of
internet users rises to

9. 300 million by 2000
Adoption of the euro by 11
European countries (1999)
Maastricht Treaty
(formally, the Treaty
on European Union)
signed (1992)
2000 Dotcom crisis (2001)
Container ships
transport more than70
per cent of the
seaborne trade in
value terms
China joins WTO (2001)
Number of internet
users rises to 800
million in 2005
End of the Multifibre
Arrangement(quantitative
restrictions of textiles
lifted Enlargement of the EU
to 27 members
Major political changes in recent years such as the opening of the Berlin Wall and the
rising tide of democratization in Central and Eastern Europe, in the Republic of South
Africa, in Central and South America, etc. seem to support an optimistic view of
globalization and its effects. However, this has also been a time when ethnic and religious
conflicts deteriorated into cruel wars in various parts of the world. While there has been
growing awareness of the common needs and wants of people the world over, how exactly can
the different views on giving access to the Earth’s resources be reconciled is still an open
question.
I strongly consider that some of the questions raised by globalization processes could and should
be addressed by education. In order to function in an adequate and respectful way in our society,
young people and adults have to remember through education and constantly consider the
fundamental equality in diversity of human beings, the need for respecting other cultures and

10. races and for condemning violence, coercion and repression as social control mechanisms.
Global awareness and global consciousness has been documented in more than one way in
recent decades. Firstly, it was the media that gave access to globalised information, culture and
life styles. Consciousness of global change as growing interdependence and the need for
international cooperation was complemented by a systematic response to change promoted
mainly by international organizations such as the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of
Europe, OSCE. More and more, individuals and organizations, supporters of global education
realize that people and their leaders clearly need developing attitudes and behaviors conducive to
the acceptance and promotion of interdependencies and cooperation among nations.
Many international covenants and declarations prepared and enacted by these institutions over
time contain suggestions, recommendations and lines of action for both the design and the
implementation of professional global education programmes, seen as relevant educational
responses to the challenges of the contemporary world2. Such covenants and declarations,
conveying the firm belief in the educational potential.
Global education is concerned with four main fields of research and action:
• interdependency within a global horizon
• sustainable development
• environmental awareness and concern
• human rights (including anti-racism), democracy, social justice and peace
2
Global education stresses their interrelationship for humanity as a whole and the close link
with international contexts. It addresses issues according to an interdisciplinary approach
and gives central importance to all aspects of interdependency, based on active and
2 Educators concerned with the way global education programmes are made and carried out may benefit from the ideas and suggesti ons
embedded in several documents which are seen as educational texts in the Annex of global education charter in a list which does not claim
to be exhaustive.

11. participative educational methods. The development of attitudes and skills that global
education is supposed to support and stimulate pursues to make children able to avoid
indifference and the lack of concern. It avoids a simplistic and one-sided thinking which
maintains clichés, bias and stereotypes, allowing their negative social effect to persist. The
aim of global education is to bridge the gap between knowledge (and even understanding)
and responsible action, helping young people develops political skills and confidence to
use them. Global education is identifiable in pedagogical practice as a cross-curricular
approach, as a disciplinary approach with special emphasis on globalizing aspects, or as
special extracurricular projects or programmes. Practitioners realized the need for methods
and strategies that combine feeling, thinking and doing, as well as balance play and
learning, the student’s actor-spectator status, learning and action through sharing.
Conclusion-Global education is not only about global themes, world problems and how to
find solutions all together. It is also about how to envision a common future with better
life conditions for all, connecting local and global perspectives, and how to make this
vision real and possible, starting from our own small spot in the world. Transformative
learning enables people to shape a common vision for a more just, sustainable world for
all. A focus on the kind of future we want is therefore crucial in such a transformative
vision.
Global education is also not just about change in the pedagogy but it’s the change in
the perspective of the institutions imparting higher education which should be
mirrored in their approach towards curriculums which in turn should be percolated
to the students via teachers better equipped with latest pedagogy to teach their

12. students.
Global education can contribute to the visioning process, but it can also play a role in the
creation of new methods where social movements and non-formal learning processes are
essential as they make room for values, issues and approaches not central to formal
learning and give voice to all people, including the marginalized ones.
Reference
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2. Pamela E. Oliver, Jorge Cadena-Roaand Kelley D. Strawn Emerging Trends In The Study Of Protest And Social Movements
3. Maria Cristina Paciello The Arab Spring: Socio-economic Challenges and Opportunities
4. Nicola Yeates :Globalization and Social Policy
5. Subir Lall, Florence Jaumotte, Chris Papageorgiou, andPetia Topalova, with support from Stephanie Denis and Patrick Hettinger.
Nancy Birdsall and Gordon Hanson provided consultancy support -. Globalization and equality
6. World trade report-2008: Globalization And Trade
7. Global education charter :Appendix 2