Globalization: Chap 1

Steger, Manfred B. 2003, 2009, 2013.

Globalization: A Very Short
Introduction, Oxford University Press:
New York.
 Objectives
• Define Globalization
• Differentiate Globalization and Globality
• Define the 4 Characteristics of Globalization
 Globalization
Steps to defining it -- Multidimensional set of
social processes with following Dimensions:
– Economic
– Political
– Cultural
– Environmental
 Results
Class Definitions

Dimensions 2011 2013 2015

2017 2018
Economic & Tech 12 5 17 24 16
Political 1 0 0 3 0
Cultural 3 1 2 18 3
Environmental 0 0 0 1 0
other 2 3 3
Combo's

E, C, & P 1 1 0 3
E&C 2 5 9 10
State 5 7
Action 26 24
Ideological aspects (underpinnings)
• Politically charged narratives (view Chomsky
below) – right versus left
• Assumptions on social reality and structure –
remember schools of economic geography
• Implies positions on rationality of markets
versus compassion – again refer to schools
 What Is Globalization? - Noam
Chomsk’s contested view
• From the left

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHJPSLgHemM
 Definition – first iteration
• What it is not:
– valiant conquest of the world by universal Western Culture in the face
of undying parochialism reactionary forces of tribalism, localism, and
nationalism (Rudyard Kiplings “White Man’s Burden”)

• Various approaches to define it as:

– Process
– Condition
– System
– Force
– Age
– All of these and more
 Steger’s Two part definition
Parts – Divide into an
• End state (pattern/effect) and
• Driving action (process/cause)
– Globalization (process)
– Globality (pattern or end state)
Globality – an end point or Goal
Social Condition –
tight interconnections and flows across all 4 dimensions
that make current borders irrelevant
– Condition -- state of being or situation
– 4 Dimensions all addressed (see above)
– Interconnections & flows and potential for flows
– borders no longer barriers
– Note that this is a goal, not current condition
» Goal – something always striving for – but never fully
reach
» Example of a goal – be the best athlete in your sport –
always striving after, never fully accomplished, never can
rest
 Globality cont…

– Not stable end point -- Can be supplanted by future goals

– Indeterminate character -- Does not address how it operates
» Might be based on laissez-faire market system
» Or communal norms
Globalization – A dynamic action
or process – Transformation
Set of social processes that change nationality
into globality
– Transformation – dynamic ongoing process
» Shifting forms of human contact
• Leaving behind nationality
• Moving towards globality
• Not yet reached it
 Globalization cont…
– Shifting perception of time and space
• Historical progression or change
• Reconfiguration of social space and geography
– Local, regional, national no longer describe all & get
intertwined – “cat’s cradle” of relationships
– Glocalization – interaction of the local with the global
 Globalization cont…
• Raises many interesting questions
– How does it occur?
– What is the driving force – one cause or many?
– Uniform or uneven process?
– Continuation of past or radical break?
– Does it result in more or less inequality?
 Global Imagery
• Viewing things from a new Global Perspective
• Growing consciousness of belonging to a
global community
 4 Characteristics
Characteristics of the transformation

1. Creation of new and multiplication of

existing social NETWORKS
– Cuts across existing boundaries –
economic, political, cultural, environmental
– Creation of new social orders transcend
old boundaries
– What some have called development of
Social Capital networks
– Creation of supranational organizations
and international NGOs (INGOs)
Characteristics
2. Expansion & STREACHING of social activities,
relations, interdependencies
– Example 24/7 global market cycle
– TNCs’ (Trans National Corporations) agendas
independent of nation states
– Facebook
 Globalization cont…
3. Intensification & acceleration of social
exchanges & activities
– Speed of internet
– Local commands global audience – example
Southern State church burning of the Koran
– Glocalization in action – McDonalds offers
different foods in different countries
– Again Facebook

LA to SF Hyperloop system that would propel

passengers along the 350-mile (560 km) route
at an average speed of around 600 mph Hyperloop
 Globalization cont…
4. Global becomes the frame of reference for
thought and action
– “Think globally, act locally”
– Popular culture borrows globally
• World Beat – Multiple examples
Worldbeat is a music genre that primarily refers to a blending of Western pop music and/or rock music with traditional/folk
or world music influences. The term is similar by definition to other category labels that refer to a cross pollination of
contemporary and roots genres, and which suggest a rhythmic, harmonic or textural contrast between its modern and
ethnic elements.

http://www.ovguide.com/worldbeat-9202a8c04000641f80000000001483dd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MIVLn-7i2k&list=PL82500914C0B1C618 https://
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 Summary of 4 characteristics
• Networks – grow (post Cold War changes)
• Activities, Interrelationships – grow (China
becomes major supplier, supply chains…)
• Acceleration & Intensification – economic
growth (stock markets never “sleep”)
• New frame of reference – what is the role of
the Nation-State?
 Southernization
1. New and Multiplication
– Mongols & Silk Road and Expansion of Arab
empire
2. Expansion and Stretching; Interdependencies
– Trade goods impact like switch to cotton clothes,
economy moves from village, to country, to
international
3. Intensification & Acceleration
– Improved production & transportation & players
4. Global becomes frame of reference
– India is center of learning, Gold comes from West
 Succinct Definition
Globalization refers to the (process of)
expansion and intensification of social relations
(and actions) across world-time and world-
space.
Globality refers to (the pattern or endpoint
of) social conditions with tight global
economic, political, cultural and environmental
interconnections and flows making current
borders irrelevant