What is Globalization?

Denso corporation is headquartered in Japan

placeplace: a location with physical & human characteristics

spacespace: how people “make” places

spatial: how we interact with each other & the environment

*the why of where…

For some it’s modernized For some it’s modernized Nirvana…Nirvana…

• ““free-tradefree-trade” creates ” creates wealthwealth

• the spread of ideas & the spread of ideas & information promotes information promotes democracydemocracy & & awareness of awareness of human human rightsrights

• the human experience the human experience is enriched by the is enriched by the sharing of cultures, sharing of cultures, foods, & customsfoods, & customs

For others it’s a Curse…For others it’s a Curse…• the “McDonaldization” of the world the “McDonaldization” of the world

• the conquest of American-style capitalism the conquest of American-style capitalism

• a dictatorship run by unelected bureaucrats in the a dictatorship run by unelected bureaucrats in the World Trade Organization (WTO) & International World Trade Organization (WTO) & International Monetary Fund (IMF)Monetary Fund (IMF)

*Interesting Note: The term “McDonaldization”was originally coined by George Ritzer, Professorof Sociology at the University of Maryland andauthor of the book The McDonaldization of Society-An Investigation into the Changing Character ofContemporary Social Life (1993)

McDonaldizationMcDonaldization:: “the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world.”

-Americanization-Cocacolonization -Disneyfication -Walmarting-McWorld, McMansion, McChurch (McWords…)

What does “globalization” really mean?

The breaking down of spatial limitations…

“The fundamental social meaning of globality is the growing tendency of social relations to develop in a common worldwide framework of meaning, a common world society.”

-Martin Shaw (1994)

“Today, the inhabitants of Tokyo, Denver, & Amsterdam know that their future and the future of their descendants will be profoundly marked by what Brazilian farmers do to satisfy the most basic needs of their families.”

-Oscar Arias (1993)

globalization: the increasing interconnectedness of different parts of the world through common processes of cultural, economic, environmental, political, & change

-a common “global space” has become created through the increasingly free movements of goods, people, ideas & the factors of production

Why do we often feel that:

“The world seems to becoming smaller and smaller…”or

“We live in a shrinking world…”or

“We have a growing knowledge of the rest of the world…”

***we are ‘wired’ into a global economy & culture

that has created a more uniform, integrated, &

interdependent conception of space

-homogenization or differentiation???

time-space compression: the imaginative

feeling that places around the world are closer

together and are increasingly interdependent

“fast world” vs. “slow world”…creates a “digital divide”

-half the world lives on less than $2 a day & has no electricity or phone…

Space-Time Compression, 1492–1962

The time required to cross the Atlantic or orbit the Earth… Have transport improvements “shrunk” the world?

Human History & Globalization

• In some sense people have been in a constant process of “globalization”:

– Migrations out of Africa 100,00 years ago– Crossing the Bering Strait about 15,000 years

ago– Empires conquering– Traders– Missionaries– Soldiers

Dutch and British East India Companies

Opium Wars- war of globalization, with Chinese losing Hong Kong to British

Steam engine, ships, and planes

Communication technology:

telegraph, telephone, radio, television

Economic Globalization Today:

transnational (or multinational) corporations:businesses that conduct research, operate factories,

andsell products in more than one country.

Types of TNC’s:

telecommunication corps.: phones, internet service providersfinancial corps.: banks, credit cards, and investment companiesmanufacturing corps.: clothing, automobiles, computers

Curse or Nirvana?

core-periphery model: a theory in which rich,industrialized countries (the “1st world”) dominate

poorer,unindustrialized countries (the “3rd world”)

economically.

-Examples of core-periphery relationships???

-Why is the relationship often referred to as neocolonial in nature???

Countries Historically Responsible for Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Spread of Aids in Africa

Questions to ponder:With “globalization,” what happens to issues such as:

• Gender identity? • The family? • Human rights? • Ethnic identity? • Nationality?• Poverty?

We cannot “afford to ignore the condition of our fellow passengers on this little boat. If they are sick, all of us risk infection. And if they are angry, all of us can easily get hurt.” - Kofi Annan