STRUCTURES OF GLOBALIZATION
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1. Political Globalization refers to the diplomatic negotiations between
nation-states. It includes the standardization of global rules around trade,
criminality, and the rule of law.
International bodies including the United Nations, European Union and
World Trade Organization are key multinational organizations designed to
facilitate increasing political globalization. This includes growing free
trade and multilateral agreements on investment.
One of the biggest positives of political globalization is that it creates
international rule of law. It helps prevent war crimes and polices bad
actors on the international stage. It can also help speed up other forms of
globalization, like economic globalization, because standardized rules
around food and trade standards makes it easier for companies to sell
their goods overseas.
Examples Of Political Globalization
1. European Union
The European Union is a trade and treaty bloc comprising of 27 nation-
states on the continent of Europe. It is the successor of several other
political agreements established after World War 2 to help integrate
the European continent after the war.
Aimed to attain harmony, interdependence to protect nations -human
rights, freedom
2. NATO
a. The North American Treaty Organization is another multi-national
political treaty established after World War 2.
b. NATO’s primary goal is to contain Russian aggression by creating a
military pact. If one NATO nation is attacked, then the rest will
(supposedly) come to their defense. This deters potential Russian
aggression.
3. Built & Road Initiative
a. The Belt and Road Initiative is a trade initiative established by China
designed to spread China’s sphere of influence across Asia and the
Middle East.
b. The initiative creates trade routes through over 70 nations and is
the centerpiece of China’s foreign policy. Critics say China’s foreign
affairs strategy often puts small nations in debt to China so China
can leverage political power and favors in the future.
4. War Games
Many allied nations engage in yearly war games in a bid to strengthen
military ties and protect their interests.
The United States and South Korea do this regularly, for example, as a
sign of strength against potential North Korean aggression. This sort of
political diplomacy is designed to strengthen allied blocs of nations
and deter foreign attacks.
5. NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)
NAFTA was a flashpoint of anti-globalization sentiment in the 1990s
because it was seen to decrease labor standards and would lead to the
exodus of blue-collar jobs from the United States.
The trade deal between the United States, Canada and Mexico was
eventually replaced by protectionist-leaning president Donald Trump
and replaced by the USMCA agreement which had reinstated some
provisions to strengthen the power of nation-states to protect their
industries.
2. Sociological globalization refers to the idea that we now live in a shared
society. (There are many different cultures within a society. But a society
is a group of people who all live together).
And now more than ever, it feels as if we all live in one society instead of a
group of different societies.
Another aspect of social globalization is the movement of people. People
can go from one country to another easily, and those who are most highly
educated can get jobs in different nations with more ease than ever.
It further speaks about the Internet and social media which becomes the
heart of communication and transmission of information.
Good examples of social globalization could include internationally
popular films, books and TV series. The Harry Potter/ Twilight films and
books have been successful all over the world, making the characters
featured globally recognizable.
However, this cultural flow tends to flow from the center (i.e., from
developed countries such as the USA to less developed countries).
Social globalization is often criticized for eroding cultural differences.
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The quote shown here is one impact of globalization wherein the world
unites to fight for some rights on a universal basis to promote decent life
not only in developed countries but eventually an implementation of
quality life to al the nations of the world.
3. Economic Globalization refers to the ways corporations do business as
multinational organizations nowadays.
Whereas once McDonald’s only existed in the USA and HSBC only existed
in the UK, now these companies are all over the world in a ‘globalized
economy.’
You will also notice the movement of manufacturing industries to
developing nations to make the most of low wages and lowers the price of
goods.
Free trade agreements, such the North American Free Trade Agreement
and the Trans-Pacific Partnership are examples of economic
globalization. Multinational corporations, which operate in two or more
countries, play a large role in economic globalization. These also picture
the influence of the existence of multinational corporations (MNC).
Herewith are some unfavorable impacts of economic globalization:
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Examples of globalization
Multinational corporations are a tangible example of globalization. Some
examples include the following:
▪ McDonald's had 39,198 fast-food restaurants in 119 countries and
territories, according to its Securities and Exchange Commission
filing at the end of 2020. It employed more than 2.2 million people at
that time, the filing said.
▪ Ford Motor Company reported in 2021 that it works with about 1,200
tier 1 suppliers around the globe.
▪ Amazon's recent expansion has it using tens of thousands of
suppliers and employing more than nearly 1.3 million full- and part-
time employees.
More similar scenarios exist nowadays wherein developed nations
establish their businesses in many developing countries. This system of
free trading by the developed countries to developing countries is the
consideration of lower labor pay compared to highly expensive salary
range in their own countries.
Truth behind is through their influence on social and economic
development in the countries that host them, multinational corporations
(MNC) embody the contradictions of globalization.
These MNC’s bring jobs, skills and wealth to the region they are investing
or doing business in. But they also can destroy local businesses, exploit
cheap labor and threaten indigenous cultures. The benefits they offer are
often unsustainable because the loyalty of multinationals is to their
investors and bottom lines and not to the local people, economies and
cultures where they are doing business. This is the painful truth behind
this structure of globalization.
4. Technological Globalization refers to the spread of technology around the
world.
Examples of this include the spread of the internet, solar panel technology
and medical technologies – which can all help improve the lives of people
around the world.
The spread of technologies can be interpreted as the ‘rising tide lifts all
boats’ argument. This idiom, coined by John F Kennedy, describes the
idea that when an economy is performing well, all people will benefit from
it.
Globalization means we can make the most of the best technologies from
all around the world to make everyone’s lives better and improve
everyone’s economies.
Technological globalization is closely connected to the anthropological
“scapes of globalization” theory by Arjun Appadurai. He came up with the
term “technoscapes” to explain how technology spreads around the
world.
As we have already established, globalization refers to the increasing
pace and scope of interconnections crisscrossing the globe.
Anthropologist Arjun Appadurai has discussed this in terms of five
specific “scapes” or flows: ethnoscapes, technoscapes, ideoscapes,
financescapes, and mediascapes:
▪ Ethnoscape refers to the flow of people across boundaries.
▪ Technoscape refers to flows of technology. Apple’s iPhone is just
one example of how the movement of technologies across
boundaries can radically affect day-to-day life for people all along
the commodity chain.
▪ Ideoscape refers to the flow of ideas. This can be small-scale, such
as an individual posting her or his personal views on Facebook for
public consumption, or it can be larger and more systematic.
Missionaries provide a key example. Christian missionaries to the
Amazon region made it their explicit goal to spread their religious
doctrines.
▪ Financescape refers to the flow of money across political borders.
▪ Mediascape refers to the flow of media across borders.
5. Financial globalization refers to the ease at which money can be spread
around the world.
The growth of stock exchanges like the NYSE and FTSE as well as
internationalization of financial markets has made it easier for people to
transfer money internationally.
The benefit of this is that it’s easy and cheap to get investments for new
business ventures. You can find a Chinese, French or Canadian investor to
wire you some money to start your business instead of just relying on local
investors!
But many nations also face backlash because of the sense that overseas
companies buy out too much of their businesses, real estate and farming
land – which could be a threat to a nation’s sovereignty.
Relative above, inflow of income becomes faster as a scenario of financial
globalization. Investments of foreign corporations is one way to realize
this structure.
Further, Financial globalization, in combination with good macroeconomic
policies and good domestic governance, appears to be conducive to
growth. For example, countries with good human capital and governance
tend to do better at attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), which is
especially conducive to growth.
More specifically, recent research shows that corruption has a strongly
negative effect on FDI inflows. Similarly, transparency of government
operations, which is another dimension of good governance, has a strong
positive effect on investment inflows from international mutual funds.
Thus, good governance such as elimination of corruption and under the
table transactions are more likely discouraged so as to sustain the
attraction of foreign investors to realize massive jobs and labor needs.
With financial globalization is political sovereignty wherein the country
wherein the investors establish business shall be over and above in terms
of laws, policies and rules to comply with by the business investors.
A lot of other consequences arise from this financial globalization that
ensure sustainability of economic condition as well as recognition of labor
laws in the country.
6. Cultural Globalization refers to the spread and mixing of cultures around
the world.
Arjun Appadurai talks about the possible effect of ‘homogenization’ of
culture, where dominant nations like the United States spread their
cultures through television and movies, which leads to the dilution and
loss of local and indigenous cultures.
One example is the spread of punk music from the UK and USA around the
world in the 1970s. Other examples include the spread of Disney music,
secularism and consumer culture.
Concepts related to cultural globalization include cultural adaptation,
cultural diffusion, and hierarchical diffusion.
7. Ecological globalization refers to the idea that the world needs to be
considered one interconnected ecosystem.
This means that the world needs to work together to address ecological
issues that cross the borders of nation-states.
Examples include:
The hole in the Ozone layer, which required the world to ban CFCs.
For information Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons
(HCFCs) and halons destroy the earth's protective ozone layer, which
shields the earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV-B) rays generated from the
sun. CFCs and HCFCs also warm the lower atmosphere of the earth,
changing global climate. These need to be a worldwide concern for
destruction is not by the kind of country one nation belongs but on a
global environmental impact.
Climate Change, which will affect the poorest nations (particularly low-
lying nations in the Pacific and South-East Asia) even though much of the
damage is caused by developed nations like the United States.
To address these issues, climate accords like the Kyoto Protocol and the
Paris Climate Agreement have been put into place, where each nation
agrees to invest in lowering its carbon emissions.
Kyoto Protocol operationalizes the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change by committing industrialized countries and economies
in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in
accordance with agreed individual targets.
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate
change.
8. Geographical globalization refers to the idea that the world is no longer
seen as groups of distinct nations as much as it once was.
We now work in multinational blocs to make decisions, and nations work
together to solve problems.
It also refers to the fact that we’re now able to travel between nations with
increasing ease. You can go from the United States to Europe within a
day, for example.
Furthermore, people can identify as belonging to multiple geographic
regions, especially if they hold multiple passports. Heritage and familial
ownership of territory is getting weaker and weaker.
