GY100 Formative Essay (Lent Term)

Anonymous Star Student

With reference to theory and examples

discuss the extent to which globalization is a
new process.
Drucker claims that humankind is experiencing a sudden leap into
new realities (1989) while Keohane and Nye argue that
globalization is a phenomenon with ancient roots (2000: 108). This
paper will argue that the new process of political globalization has
shaped a new world order (Giddens, 1994: 99) but economic,
social and technological globalization are historical processes and
have merely become farther, faster, deeper and cheaper in recent
years (Friedman, 1999: 7).
Globalization can be defined as the shrinkage of the world with an
increase in the thickness of human interaction (Ervin and Smith,
2008). This process reflects the intensification, expansion in scale
and the increase in institutional velocity of global networks and
relationships.
Political globalization in this contemporary era is a new
phenomenon. Historically, nations existed as separate entities,
competing with each other to achieve hegemony rather than
cooperating to achieve common goals. National barriers have been
eroded and with the internationalization of the state. Multi-lateral
regional and global governance have emerged with the
transnationalization of politics, the de-territorialization of aspects of
political decision-making and the development of regional and
global organizations and institutions such as the United Nations
and International Monetary Fund (Held et al., 1999: 77). In 1909,
there were only 37 international non-governmental organizations
but by 1997, there were 260 (Kegley and Wittkopf, 1999). There has
also been a shift from regional to international treaties, such as the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. This change in authority from
1

GY100 Formative Essay (Lent Term)

Anonymous Star Student

nations to multi-lateral bodies has no parallel in history (Baylis and

Smith, 2013). Political globalization is also linked to ecological
globalization, which involves discussions of environmental problems
such as global warming at conventions like the Earth Summit.
Beyond political globalization, King and Schneider (1991) argue that
the emergence of new technologies, such as the aeroplane and
Internet, has pushed humanity into the unknown in the first global
revolution, or what Castells, 1996 terms the age of information.
Similarly, ORourke and Williamson (2002) argue that globalisation
only began in the 20th century when the sudden drop in transport
costs allowed the prices of commodities in Europe and Asia to
converge. These academics argue that globalization is new as they
only focus on new technology that led to space-time convergence.
However, such ground-breaking innovation only occurred because of
other innovations that preceded them: first boats then ships with
steam engines and trains, improvements in electricity and later
aeroplanes and mass communication technologies. It is hence
necessary to analyse globalization from a historical perspective, to
understand how it has evolved in its forms.
Many have attached dates to the different phases of globalization.
Friedman (2007) identifies globalization 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0; Hopkins
(2002) classifies globalization into the archaic, proto, modern period
and Robertson describes the germination phase between early 15th
century to mid 18th centuries, the take-off period from mid 19th
century and the contemporary phase from mid 20th century till
present (1992:58-59). Although these three academics do not agree
on the dates of each stage, they still recognise the historical origins
of globalization and its subsequent evolution.
Economic globalization is the increase in economic integration
through trade and capital flows. Silk Road, a historical trade and

GY100 Formative Essay (Lent Term)

Anonymous Star Student

cultural transmission route is an example of thin globalization

(Keohane and Nye, 2000). It provided links between ancient Europe
and Asia but was small-scale, involving only a small group of traders
and consumers. In the 16th century, European colonization led to
Euro-centric trade, marked by relationships between core,
peripheral and semi-peripheral regions and other non-participating
external areas. Trade relationships have since deepened and
massively increased in scale and intensity. There are 160 World
Trade Organization (WTO) member-states to date and global
financial markets transfer large amounts of money instantaneously
with daily turnovers on Forex exceeding $5 trillion (Rime and
Schrimpf, 2013).
Lowered costs of transportation and communication have facilitated
a new international division of labour. The shallow integration of
regional and global economies through simple core-periphery
relationships has evolved to become geographically extensive and
complex global production networks with vertically integrated
production and offshoring, outsourcing and insourcing trends. MNCs
role in world production and trade have also transformed
tremendously, from small beginnings (for example, East India
Company operating only in Britain and the East Indies) to
dominating global trade networks. Siemens has been transnational
since the 19th century, operating in 190 countries, with 70 per cent
of its factories and 66 per cent of its workers abroad (The
Economist, 2007). This deepening integration and increase in
interdependence is evident in the comparison between effects of
The Great Depression and the 2008-2009 Financial Crisis. The
former crisis was a slow-motion train wreck that took place over a
few years, involving only the Americas, Europe and Japan, while the
latter instantly spread over a few months, with ripple effects
experienced all over the globe.

GY100 Formative Essay (Lent Term)

Anonymous Star Student

The movement of people across national borders date back to the

Western expansion in the archaic period of 1492-1800. Slave trade
operated across the Atlantic Ocean, from Africa to the Western
hemisphere with an estimated 12-15 million Africans forced to
migrate (Thornton, 1998). The colonialism and imperialism eras also
saw elite migrations from the West to Africa and Asia (Andrew,
1994). In the modern period, great famine, overpopulation and poor
socio-economic conditions in Europe caused migration to the
Americas and the Australias. Presently, people are moving in much
higher numbers and migration flows consist of climate, war refugees
and those seeking employment or education. International refugee
numbers have risen to 16.7 million people worldwide with the recent
occurrences of civil wars in Africa, the Arab Uprisings and extreme
weather conditions. With access to information and affordable
transport costs, there has been a rise in international migrants at
232 million and international tourist arrivals of 1.1 billion (UN-DESA
and OECD, 2013; UNWTO, 2015).
Cultural globalization sees its origins even before ancient
globalization started. The rapid diffusion of Islam accompanied
mercantile trade from Arabia to Asia in the early 7th century, which
was followed by the Abbasids invasion of Africa and the later
expansion of the Ottoman Empire into Central Europe. Imperialism
and colonization spread Western religious ideals and culture to the
colonies in the modern globalization era. Contemporary
globalization sees McDonaldization (Ritzer, 1993) and Cocacolonization (Melnick and Jackson, 2002) and the widespread
influence of Western culture, facilitated by the adoption of English
as the universal language. In contrast to earlier periods in which
states have been central to cultural globalisation and imposition, the
current era is one of cultural adoption, in which corporations are the
central producers and distributors of cultural products.

GY100 Formative Essay (Lent Term)

Anonymous Star Student

In conclusion, Giddens claim that globalization is a new process is

valid as his focuses on political globalization, arguing that the
growth in political, transnational interdependence has transformed
the world of politics and each nations role in it. Drucker, ORourke
and Williamson and King and Schneider only claim that globalization
is new because they have failed to recognize the historical process
and linear development and acceleration of technological
advancement behind contemporary globalization. Indeed, economic
and social globalization have been around for many centuries,
facilitating the continuous shrinking of the world (Friedman 2007:
248) through the movement of labour and trade and cultural
transmission, albeit in different forms from what we currently
observe. Globalization will continue to compress space and time and
a greater understanding of its different dimensions and processes
will allow us to benefit more from the opportunities it presents.
(1228 Words)

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Anonymous Star Student

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