Scribd
Upload
13 views

Globalization Theories

The document discusses theories of globalization that see it as either increasing homogeneity or heterogeneity globally. It provides examples of how globalization can increase sameness in culture, economics, and politics through imperialism and neoliberalism. Alternatively, heterogeneity sees globalization as fostering hybridization across borders. The document also discusses metaphors used to describe globalization, such as solid vs liquid boundaries and the concept of global flows of people, information, and culture.

Uploaded by

Reign Montejo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
13 views

Globalization Theories

The document discusses theories of globalization that see it as either increasing homogeneity or heterogeneity globally. It provides examples of how globalization can increase sameness in culture, economics, and politics through imperialism and neoliberalism. Alternatively, heterogeneity sees globalization as fostering hybridization across borders. The document also discusses metaphors used to describe globalization, such as solid vs liquid boundaries and the concept of global flows of people, information, and culture.

Uploaded by

Reign Montejo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Globalization theories

To analyze globalization culturally, economically, and politically it is helpful to assert


the theories see globalization as a process that increases either homogeneity or
heterogeneity.

Homogeneity - refers to the increasing sameness un in the world as cultural inputs,


economic factors, and political orientations of societies expand to create common
practices, same economies, and similar forms pf government.

Homogeneity - in culture is often linked to cultural imperialism. Things means, a given


culture influences other culture. For example, the dominant religion in the Philippines
is Christianity brought by the Spaniards.

Another example is Americanization, defined by Kuisel(1993)as the import by non-


Americans of products, images, technologies, practices and behavior that are closely
associated with Americans.
In terms of the economy, there is recognition of the spread of neoliberalism,
capitalism, and the market economy in the world (Antonio, 2007).

Global economic crises are also products of homogeneity in economic globalization.


Stiglitz(2002),for instance, blamed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its "one
size fits all" approach which treats every country in the world as the same. In the end,
rich countries becomes advantageous in the world economy at the expense of poor
countries, which leads to increased inequality among nations.

The global flow of media is often characterized as media imperialism. Tv, music,
books, and movies are perceived as imposed on developing countries by the
west(Cowen, 2002).
Media imperialism undermines the existence of alternative global media originating
from developing countries such as the Al Jazeera(Bielsa, 2008)and the
Bollywood(Larkin, 2003)as well as the influence of the local and regional media.

The Internet can be seen as an arena for alternative media. Cultural imperialism
denies the agency of viewers, but people around the world often interpret the same
medium(e.g.,a movie) in significantly different ways.
Global media are dominated by a small number of large corporations. As McChesney
(1999),being "extended from old media to new media, such as Microsoft, Facebook,
twitter, Google, and Apple's iTunes. As result, in the long run the Internet could end up
being less diverse and competitive. Independent Media center, associated with the
alter-globalization movement, helps to counter this trend. It disseminates information
to facilitate global participation of activists. Hacktivists extend activism to the internet
by hacking into computer programs to promote a particular cause(Juris,
2005).Ritzer(2008) claimed that in general, the Contemporary World is undergoing the
process of Mcdonaldization. It is a process by which Western societies are dominated
by the principles of fast food restaurants.

Heterogeneity - refers to the differences either by lasting differences or of the hybrids


or combinations of cultures that can be tranplanetary process. Contrary to cultural
imperialism, heterogeneity in culture is associated with cultural Hybridization.
Metaphors of globalization
Solid and Liquid
Flows

Solid - or solidity refers to barriers that prevent or make difficult to remove


things.Solids can with either be natural or man-made.
Examples of natural solids are landforms and bodies and water.
Man made barriers include the Great Wall of China and the Berlin Wall. An imaginary
line such as the dash line used by the Peoples Republic of China in their claim to the
South China Sea is an example of modern man made solid. This creates limited
access of the Filipino fishers to the South China Sea.

Liquid-as a state of matter,liquids are not fixed, liquidity refers to the increasing ease
of movement of people, things, information and places in the Contemporary World.
Liquid phenomena change quickly and their aspects, spatial and temporal are in
continuous fluctuation. This means that space and time are crucial elements of
globalization. In global finance, for instance changes in the stock market are a matter
of seconds. Another characteristics of liquid phenomena is that their movement is
difficult to stop.
Examples like videos uploaded on Youtube and Facebook are unstoppable once they
become viral. The Internet sensation becomes famous not only in their homeland but
to entire world. Liquid ones made a force to political boundaries more permeable to
the flow of people and things ( Cartier, 2001).This brings to what Ritzer
(2015),regarded as the most important characteristic of liquid :it "tends to melt
whatever in its path(especially solids)." The clearest example is the decline, if not
death, of the nation-state.
Liquidity and solidity are constant interaction. However, liquidity is the one increasing
and proliferating today. Therefore, the metaphor that could best describe globalization
is liquidity. Liquids do flow and this idea of flow (Appadurai, 1996;Rey and Ritzer,
2010). The literature on globalization makes use of the concept of flows.

Flows - are the the movement of people, things, places, and information brought by
the growing "porosity" of global limitations(Ritzer, 2015).The different foreign cuisines
being patronized and consumed by the Filipinos. Aside from local dishes, many of us
are fond of eating sushi, ramen, hamburger, and french fries-food introduced to us by
foreign cultures. Clearly, foods are being globalized.
Another example of flows is global financial crises. As Landler(2008)put it:"In global
financial system, national borders are porous". This means that a financial crisis in a
given country can bring ramifications to other regions of the world. An example of
which is the spread of the effects of American financial crisis on Europe in 2008.The
following are other jinds of flows that can be observed today:
poor illegal migrants flooding many parts of the world (Mosed, 2006),the virtual flow of
legal and illegal information such as blogs and child pornography, respectively, and
immigrants recreating ethnic enclaves in host countries. A concrete example is the
Filipino communities abroad and the Chinese communities in the Philippines.

You might also like