Sunday 22 July 2012

Week 1. What is Globalisation?


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Globalisation is defining the world we live in on an unprecedented scale. We see this in the economy, culture, politics, and just about every other platform imaginable. But just what is Globalisation? This is perhaps the most speculated question of today’s earth. Either that or how much oil is there. Albeit, even the matter of oil relates to the globalisation of trade.

Martin Albrow claims “Globalization refers to all those processes by which the peoples of the world are incorporated into a single world society, global society” (Albrow, 1990: 45). A remarkably prophetic definition considering it’s time. While the internet predates this quote, it still had not seen widespread use and popularity. Yet Albrow seems to predict what is to come and unintentionally provides a rather simple yet accurate definition of the internet: “A single world society”. Wouldn’t you agree that’s what we are? We have our own unique language, art, order, beliefs, and ideologies, all of which supersedes geographical boundaries. The internet has its own culture that has begun to spill over across the entire physical world. Every day, we see live tweets for events, Facebook check-ins at our favourite restaurants and QR codes on the street.

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Is this what globalisation refers to? Is the internet just the final step in a long journey to a global consciousness? Did globalisation first begin with colonialism, or when we first left Africa, or has it only just begun? These questions are still unanswered. The only consensus we seem to be able to reach is that we all want to know.

References

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2001-08-23/edit-page/27253043_1_indian-economy-foreign-direct-investment-export-growth/2
http://thinkexist.com/quotation/globalization-as_defined_by_rich_people_like_us/212089.html
Nederveen Pieterse, J 2004, ‘Globalization: consensus and controversies’, Globalization and culture: global mélange, Rowan & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., pp. 7–21.

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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous21 August 2012 at 19:26

    I would agree Robert, that we are indeed heading towards, if not already, a ‘single world society’ as Albrow alludes to. Even countries which are deemed as relatively poverty stricken without access to communicative technologies such as facebook or twitter are bombarded with billboards promoting brands and lifestyles, many of which are unfortunately out of reach for the majority of the population absorbing them. I too wonder if the world will ever reach a global consciousness, but for now I am happy sitting on my Ikea chair, drinking my starbucks mochalatte, tapping on my mac while listening to indie rock.
    Cheers,
    Sarah

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    Replies
    1. Unknown27 August 2012 at 20:20

      Thanks for the comment, Sarah. I appreciate the feedback.

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  2. Anonymous22 August 2012 at 03:51

    I agree. As Albrow states globalisation refers to a ‘single world society’, and the Internet is the perfect demonstration of a society of its own; with as you said, its own unique language, customs and ideologies. However, when scrutinized it becomes clear that the Internet, while seemingly fitting this description perfectly, actually has some downfalls. Due to the Internets limited accessibility in the world’s developing countries, some say that rather than contributing to a ‘single world society’ it in fact increases the gap between first and third world countries.

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    Replies
    1. Unknown27 August 2012 at 20:22

      An interesting point that seems to come up in ever topic we study for this subject. Are these changes helping create an equal globe or just widening the gap between the powerful and powerless?

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