An Introduction to Globalization

 An Introduction to Globalization

Compiled from the book entitled “Introduction to Globalization” by David Held

R.B.E. Agung Nugroho

A. What is Globalization?

In our daily life, we know that the reality of cybernetic has become familiar for us. We can look for many kind of information by using Internet. We can chat with our family or our friends in the very far distance and place by telephone. We also know how easy to make capital or money and labour globalized in all over the world. These examples refer to our global world. It means that globalization is related to interconnectedness in aspects of human life between states or organizations all over the world. So, globalization may be thought of initially as the widening, deepening and spending up of worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects of contemporary social life between states or organizations.

The ideal concept of globalization will bring prosperous to human being. It means that this concept has a positive aim in itself. Nevertheless, this concept can come up into reality by process of the trickle down effect. This process means that it needs long time to make this concept become reality. We can imagine the drop of water from the open limited faucet. The water slowly drops and needs time going to drop.

B. The Globalization Debate

a. The Hyperglobalist Thesis

The first thesis is the hiperglobalist thesis. This thesis claims that globalization has won over the nation state. Hiperglobalizers celebrate the emergence of a single market and the principle of global competition. They argue that economic globalization is bringing about denationalisation of economies. It means that the authority of states has declined and being reflected in a growing diffusion to other organisations and institutions. The implication of this reality is the governments have no authority anymore to make any policy and to manage the consequences of globalization. There is no control from the states within their own borders or to fulfil by themselves the demands of their own citizens. The emergence of institution of global governance and the global diffusion and hybridisation of cultures are interpreted as evidences of a radically new world order, the demise of the nation-state. So, hyperglobalizers claim that the globalization has won over nation-states by using free market to make a single market all over the world.

b. The Sceptical Thesis

The second thesis argues that the globalization is just a myth. The sceptics think that the extent of globalization is really exaggerated. They also argue that globalization has been going in the past. It is too naïve if we underestimate the controlling power of nation governments to regulate their own economic activities. The other opinion is that not all countries in the world are influenced the process of globalization. The current evidence is that economic activities are undergoing a significant regionalization. There are just tree major directions of financial and trading blocks, that is, Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America. It implies that the Third World has no chance to face globalization because their government still control the economic activity in their own country. Moreover, there are many movements of fundamentalism and aggressive nationalism, which fight against globalization. It means that the nation-state governments are not the passive victims of internationalisation, but on the contrary, its primary architects. So, they reject the cultural homogenisation and a global culture of free market or the end of the states, and think that globalization is just a myth or slogan.

c. The Transformationalist Thesis

The third thesis conceptualises globalization as a powerful transformed force, which is responsible for massive shake-out of societies, economies, institutions of governance and world order (Anthony Giddens, 1996). Transformationalists do not claim about the future trajectory of globalization, nor do they believe in some single, fixed ideal-type globalized world. They only emphasize that globalization as a long-term historical process. They believe that contemporary globalization is reconstituting or re-engineering the power, function and authority of national governments. They strictly reject both the hyperglobalizers rhetoric of the end of the sovereign nation-state and sceptics’ claim that nothing much has changed. So, the power of national governments is not necessarily diminished by globalization, but on the contrary, is being reconstituted and restructured in response to the growing complexity of processes of governance in a more interconnected world. They do not look for how wide the effect of globalization, but in fact, just realize and existentially receive that there are effects, which a central driving force behind the rapid social, political and economic changes that reshaping modern society and world order.

C. Causes

The first cause is the capitalism or technological changes. The globalization is the product of a combination of these factors. These include technological changes, market forces, ideology and political decisions. This expansionary of these combinations can change the relationship among the nation-states and become the construction of interconnectedness among the nation-states or independent organization in the world.

The second cause is highlighting the complex intersection between a multiplicity of driving forces, embracing economic, technological, cultural and political change.

D. Impacts

The clear impact of globalization is the expansionary of the capital and labour in the interconnectedness states or institution all over the world. It implies that everybody wherever they belong to the institution have to compete with the others. Competition is an impact that brings people to justify much kind of exploitation and oppression over the developing countries by using free market. 

In the marginalized society, globalization brings consumerist life-style. They become anonymous people because they are more or less just an agency to develop the capitalism in the First World. During this process of competition and consumerism, globalization creates a new order society of individualism. They can make partnership in their institution with sharing-profit method. Nevertheless, their main driving force is the idea of individualism, which implies process of exploitation and oppression to the looser by the winner. This is like the imagination of the cruel world which we familiar to call “homo homini lupus”.

On the other hand, we can get an easier life by this process of globalization. It means that the interconnectedness make us easier to get information, to fulfil our needs and to grow up our solidarity to the others people in the different place which we have not met yet. Here is our humanity has place to be developed.