Voice over: Alright, let's take
a look at globalization and some of the theories and
different perspectives about it. In general globalization is the sharing of culture, and money, and
products, between countries that is happening because
of international trade, and advances in transportation
and communication. You might think that globalization is a recent development, but really international
trade has influenced changes across borders for centuries. Silk and spice trade
routes through East Asia that began as early as
the 1st century BCE, introduced different cultures and linked the economies of different nations. As did the English and Dutch shipping empires in the 16th Century. Globalization is also a social
process where people become more and more aware of
other cultures and peoples, across geographical
political and social borders. The economic interdependence
of different countries, as well as advancements in
communication technology, and the progress of technology in general, have all contributed to globalization. There are many theories of globalization. Let's look at World-systems theory first. World-systems theory focuses on the importance of the world as a unit, rather than looking at
individual countries. It divides the world in to three regions: core countries, periphery countries, and semi-periphery countries. Core countries include areas like Western Europe and the United States. These countries have a
strong central government with enough tax to support it. They are economically
diversified, industrialized, and relatively independent
of outside control. They have strong middle
and working classes, and focus on higher scope production of material goods rather
than raw materials. Periphery countries are those
in Latin America and Africa, and tend to have a
relatively weak government. They tend to depend on only
one type of economic activity like extracting raw materials. There's a high percentage of
poor and uneducated people, as well as a small upper class which controls most of the economy. And this creates a huge
inequality in the population. These countries are greatly influenced by core countries and
transnational corporations. Which can harm the future
economic potentials of the periphery countries. Semi-periphery countries
like India and Brazil make up the middle ground
between Core and Periphery. They are often not dominant
in international trade but they have a relatively
diversified and developed economy. These semi-periphery
countries can come either from Periphery countries moving
up toward the industrialized Core countries, or from
Core countries declining toward Periphery status. The World-systems Theory is a fluid model, but it is criticized
for being too focused on the economy and the Core countries, and forgetting about the culture or even the class struggles of
individual countries. Then we have modernization
theory which proposes that all countries follow a similar path of development from a
traditional to a modern society. It assumes that with some
help traditional countries can develop into modern
countries in the same way that today's modern countries
developed in the first place. It looks at the internal social dynamics as the country adapts to new technologies, and the political and
social changes that occur. Dependency theory was a reaction
to modernization theory, and uses the idea of Core
and Periphery countries from the World-systems theory to look at the inequalities between countries. Basically it is the idea that Periphery or third world countries are
poor and export resources to the wealthy core or first world countries. Not because they are in an
earlier stage of development, but because they have been integrated into the World-system as an
undeveloped country. They have their own
structures and features not seen in developed countries, and will not accelerate to
become a developed nation. They are in an unfavorable
economic position that means they don't even have the
opportunity to improve and develop. They'll remain poor and
dependent on wealthier nations. These are just a few of the
theories of globalization. There are lots more that look at: culture, or social networking, economy,
politics, or even goods. The world is now a busy and bustling place where events and things can
have an effect around the globe. There are different ways of
looking at globalization too. The hyper globalist
perspective sees globalization as a legitimate process ,a
new age in human history. Countries economies become interdependent as the nations states themselves become significantly less important. The many individual countries
become one global society, though theorist don't agree
whether this is good or bad. The skeptical perspective is
critical of globalization, and considers today's
international processes as becoming regionalized rather than globalized. Countries borders are not
becoming less important. The third world countries
aren't being integrated into the global economy with the same benefits as first world countries. Skeptics don't believe
that the current economy is leading towards global capitalism. transnational Corporations
are still tied to their home country and national
borders are as important as ever. Then you have the
transformationalist perspective which doesn't have either a specific
cause or a specific outcome. They believe that National
Governments are changing, perhaps becoming less important, but it is difficult to
describe the change so simply. As to the strong stance
skeptics take on the marginalization of third world countries, transformationalists again just see that the world order is changing. Into what specific patterns
they are uncertain, just that a new world
order design is developing. They state that there
are many factors that influence the change
of the world patterns, but that the outcomes of these
changes is just not known. Globalization has caused
many changes in society. It has allowed for international
terrorism and civil unrest as different nations are
inundated by foreign cultures. It has also created a world economy where different countries
are interdependent on each other promoting
a global community.
