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Globalization

Globalization is a social change, an increase in connections among societies and their elements. The term is applied to many social, commercial and economic activities. Depending on the context it can mean closer contact between different parts of the world (globalization of the world), or increasing relations among members of an industry in different parts of the world (globalization of an industry). It shares a number of characteristics with internationalization and is used interchangeably, although some prefer to use globalization to emphasize the erosion of the nation or national boundaries.

Globalization has become identified with a number of trends, most of which have developed since World War II. These include greater international movement of commodities, money, information, and people; and the development of technology, organizations, legal systems, and infrastructures to allow this movement. More specifically, globalization refers to:

Many of these trends are seen as positive by supporters of various forms of globalization, and in many cases globalization has been actively promoted by governments and other institutions. For example, there are economic arguments supporting globalisation, such as the theory of comparative advantage suggesting that free trade leads to a more efficient allocation of resources, with all those involved in the trade benefitting.

Barriers to international trade have been considerably lowered since World War II through international agreements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade(GATT). Particular initiatives carried out as a result of GATT and the World Trade Organisation, for which GATT is the foundation, have included:

Table of contents
1 Anti-globalization
2 Globalization in question
3 See also
4 References

Anti-globalization

Various aspects of globalization are seen as harmful by anti-globalization, public-interest activists.

See also: Anti-globalization movement.

Globalization in question

There is much academic discussion about whether globalization is a real phenomenon or only a myth. Although the term is widespread, many authors argue that the characteristics of the phenomenon have already been seen at other moments in history. Also, many note that those features that make people believe we are in the process of globalization, including the increase in international trade and the greater role of multinational corporations, are not as deeply established as they may appear. Thus, many authors prefer the use of the term internationalization rather than globalization. To put it simply, the role of the state and the importance of nations are greater in internationalization, while globalization in its complete form eliminates nation states. So, these authors see that the frontiers of countries, in a broad sense, are far from being dissolved, and therefore this radical globalization process is not yet happening, and probably won't happen, considering that in world history, internationalization never turned into globalization.

See also

References