Globalisation and the Human Empire
Globalisation is an ongoing process by which mainly regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a globe-spanning network of communication and execution. Sometimes the term is used to refer specifically to economic globalisation: the integration of national economies into the international economy through Trade, Foreign Direct Investment, Capital Flows, Migration and the spread of Technology. However, it is usually being driven by a combination of economic, technological, socio-cultural, political, and biological factors.
History of Globalisation
The historical origins of globalisation are the subject of on-going debate. Though some scholars situate the origins of globalisation in the modern era, others regard it as a phenomenon with a long history.
Perhaps the most extreme proponent of a deep historical origin for globalisation was Andre Gunder Frank, an economist associated with dependency theory. Frank argued that a form of globalisation has been in existence since the rise of trade links between Sumer and the Indus Valley Civilisation. Critics of this idea point out that it rests upon an overly-broad definition of globalisation.
Modern globalisation
In the middle decades of the twentieth century globalisation was largely driven by the global expansion in the United States & Europe, and worldwide exchange of new developments in science & technology, and export of western culture through the new mass media: film, radio, television and music recorder. Development and growth of international transport and telecommunication played a decisive role in modern globalisation.
The spread of globalisation slowed down during the period from the start of the World War I until the third quarter of the twentieth century. However, the pace picked up rapidly during the fourth quarter of the twentieth century. In World War II, which is largely the result of planning by politicians to break down borders hampering trade to increase prosperity and interdependence thereby decreasing the chance of future war. Their work led to an agreement to lay down the framework for international commerce and finance, and the founding of several international institutions intended to oversee the processes of globalisation. These institutions include the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Technology advancement has reduced the costs of trade, originally under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which led to a series of agreements to remove restrictions on free trade.
Globalisation Measure
Looking specifically at economic globalisation, demonstrates that it can be measured in different ways. This center around the four main economic flows that characterise globalisation:
a) Goods and services, e.g., exports plus imports as a proportion of national income or per capita of population
b) Labor /people, e.g., net migration rates; inward or outward migration flows, weighted by population
c) Capital, e.g., inward or outward direct investment as a proportion of national income or per head of population
d) Technology, e.g., international research & development flows using particular inventions (especially 'factor-neutral' technological advances such as the telephone, motorcar, broadband)
Effects of globalisation
Globalisation has various aspects which affect the world in several different ways such as:
- Economic/Financial - emergence of worldwide financial markets and better access to external financing for borrowers. As these worldwide structures grew more quickly than any transnational regulatory regime, the instability of the global financial infrastructure dramatically increased, as evidenced by the financial crisis of 2007–2009.
- Industrial - emergence of worldwide production markets and broader access to a range of foreign products for consumers and companies. International trade in manufactured goods increased more than 100 times (from $95 billion to $12 trillion) in the 50 years since 1955. China's trade with Africa rose seven-fold during 2000-07 alone.
- Social - development of the system of non-governmental organisations as main agents of global public policy, including humanitarian aid and developmental efforts.
- Political - some use "globalisation" to mean the creation of a world government which regulates the relationships among governments and guarantees the rights arising from social and economic globalisation. With the influence of globalisation and with the help of The United States' own economy, the People's Republic of China has experienced some tremendous growth within the past decade.
- Cultural - Culture is defined as patterns of human activity. Culture is what people eat, how they dress, beliefs they hold, and activities they practice. Globalisation has joined different cultures and made it into something different. The internet breaks down cultural boundaries across the world by enabling easy, near-instantaneous communication between people anywhere in a variety of digital forms and media. Photo sharing websites allow interaction even where language would otherwise be a barrier.
- Ecological - the advent of global environmental challenges that might be solved with international cooperation, such as climate change, cross-boundary water and air pollution, over-fishing of the ocean, and the spread of invasive species.
- Technical
- Development of a Global Information System, global telecommunications infrastructure and greater transborder data flow, using technologies such as the Internet, communication satellites, submarine, fiber optic cable, and wireless telephones.
- Increase in the number of standards applied globally; e.g., copyright laws, patents and world trade agreements.
- Legal/Ethical
- Emergence of the Global administrative law.
- Crime importation and raising awareness of global crime-fighting efforts and cooperation.
- Creation of the international criminal court and international justice movements.
- Religious -The spread and increased interrelations of various religious groups, ideas, and practices and their ideas of the meanings and values of particular spaces.
- Language - the most popular language is Mandarin (845 million speakers) followed by Spanish (329 million speakers) and English (328 million speakers).
- About 35% of the world's mail, telexes, and cables are in English.
- Approximately 40% of the world's radio programs are in English.
- About 50% of all Internet traffic uses English.
Negative Effects
Globalisation has been one of the most hotly debated topics in international economics over the past few years. It has also generated significant international opposition over concerns that it has increased inequality and environmental degradation. It has also helped to spread some of the deadliest infectious diseases known to humans such as HIV/AIDS. Opportunities in richer countries drive talent away, leading to brain drains. Brain drain has cost the Indian students going abroad for their higher studies a foreign exchange outflow of $10 billion annually. Since the beginning of the Green Revolution the world population has grown by about 4 billion and it is believed that, without the Revolution, there would be greater famine and malnutrition than the UN presently documents (approximately 850 million people suffering from chronic malnutrition in 2015).
It is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain food security. Growing populations, falling energy sources and food shortages will create the "perfect storm" by 2030. The world will have to produce 70% more food by 2050 to feed a projected extra 2.3 billion people, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned.
In late 2000s, much of the industrialised world entered into a deep recession. Some analysts say the world is going through a period of deglobalisation after years of increasing economic integration. Up to 45% of global wealth had been destroyed by the global financial crisis in little less than a year and a half.
Anti-Globalisation
The "anti-globalisation movement" is a term used to describe the political group who oppose the NEOLIBERAL version of globalisation, while criticisms of globalisation are some of the reasons used to justify this group's stance. It may also involve the process or actions taken by a state in order to demonstrate its sovereignty and practice democratic decision-making. Anti-globalisation may occur in order to maintain barriers to the international transfer of people, goods and beliefs, particularly free market deregulation, encouraged by organisations such as the International Monetary Fund or the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Globalisation in Indian contest
The process of globalisation has imposed certain inherent inequalities on a developing country like India. A section of people in India has indeed stood to gain (the empire), but the vast majority of the people are groping in the dark, deprived of economic prosperity and social justice. The relentless hard work of nearly 80 million women in rural India is the secret of success of our White Revolution – producing 80 million tonnes of milk. In the richest country like USA it involves a mere 2, 00,000 persons to produce over 70 million tonnes of milk. Today the national macro-economic policies and global trade policies often threaten the very survival of micro-enterprises. The fast expanding transnational supermarkets are threating the livelihood of small-scale traders and vendors.
Critics of Globalisation
The critics of globalisation typically emphasize that globalisation is a process that is mediated according to corporate interests, and typically raise the possibility of alternative global institutions and policies, which they believe address the moral claims of poor and working classes throughout the globe, as well as environmental concerns in a more equitable way.
By
Manik Saikia
