Whether you read the newspaper, watch the television media, or only follow current events on Facebook, it is impossible to ignore the fact that the lives we live have become increasingly globalized. The volatility of markets across the planet directly affect the economies wherever we are in real time, a phenomenon only made possible by the globalizing trends of today. Regardless of what field you are analyzing–be it politics, economics, social justice, or the environment–the global aspect of these issues cannot be ignored. Globalization has no one definition and no single correct way to convey its influence on the world. However, there are five conceptions of globalization that attempt to define the idea in various ways through tangible, real-world means.
Perhaps the most straightforward conception is globalization as internationalization. This concept is defined through the idea that we live in a world of nations and states in which there are increasing cross-border relations and exchanges among those nations and states. Ideas, capital, labor, money and pollutants are all being pushed across borders internationally and facilitating a dynamic, international market. In this sense, globalization is not necessarily a new phenomenon. Rather, it is a trend that has been steadily growing for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. However, there is no doubt that the level of international connectivity today is far greater than it has been in history.
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Liberalization or neoliberalization defines globalization through the manner of economies being more Westernized and less restricted as a whole throughout the world. According to this conception, markets and economies throughout the world have become increasingly capitalist and state-imposed restrictions have been largely removed from international movements. This has in turn created a more open and less border-defined world and can be cited in the deepening of international capitalism that can be seen even in countries where political life and rights are greatly restricted, as well as in the ease of foreign exchange and global investment.
Globalization as universalization uses the idea of planetary synthesis to explain the globalizing trends occurring today. This is the spreading of various experiences and objects to people at all corners of the earth. Universalization emphasizes the homogenization of the world’s practices on every front, whether political, legal, cultural, or economic. “Hong Kong would seem to be an excellent place to test the globalization hypothesis…that food chains are helping to create a homogeneous, 'global' culture…given the central role that cuisine plays in the production and maintenance of a distinctive local identity.” This conception of globalization is easy to physically see around the world. Watching men wear business suits in the streets of Hanoi, the omnipresence of Lay's potato chips and watching ads with white, western women on television in Laos are just a few examples of the increasing universalization of different ideas.
One of the most controversial conceptions of globalization is that of modernization, westernization, or Americanization. Each of these three titles lends to a slightly different interpretation of the same idea. Modernization stresses that the trends spreading throughout the world are those that modernize. Capitalism, industrialism and individualism are all examples of this concept. Westernization emphasizes the spread of the same general things, but places the home base as the West, identifying the West as the source of the homogenizing changes sweeping the globe. Americanization pigeonholes the changes even more with the claim that it is the United States that is catalyzing the vast majority of globalizing trends today. This concept is often negatively coined “McDonaldization” due to the great global success of the American fast-food chain.
The increasingly prevalent idea that territorial borders are no longer as relevant as they once were is a part of the conception of globalization as respacialization or deterritorialization. This idea is centralized on the idea that physical location is no longer relevant, or at least no longer as relevant as it once was. Although landlocked countries are still less active globally than countries possessing coastlines, there is much truth to this concept. This has led to a decrease in state sovereignty and an increasing dependence on nations outside of one's own and on transnational partnerships. Nationality and nationalism have given way to globality and globalism–the world has developed a global sense of unity and partnership to work toward common goals, sometimes pushing aside personal gains in order to create the greatest net gain across nations.
Of all five conceptions, internationalization best encapsulates the idea of globalization. This is the only concept that truly accounts for every aspect of the phenomenon occurring each and every day in our 21st century world. Internationalization explains that which is at the core of the very idea of globalization. Although there is truth to each concept, none so fully encapsulates the multidimensional aspects of a global world as internationalization.
Many of the most popular and widespread global trends have recently come from the West or from the United States. However, this has not always been the case. Who knows what the next source will be of global trends and innovations. Although the West and the United States reign at the top of the global pyramid today, the holder of this position changes throughout the historical timeline, and the most popular methods of economic/political control change as well. Therefore, it would be a mistake to identify “Americanization,” “Liberalization” or “Westernization” as the best definition of globalization.
Internationalization fully encapsulates the idea that globalization is meant to encompass: The extension, acceleration and intensification of worldwide interconnections and interdependencies. Through this definition, we are able to analyze the ways that each nation and state individually affects and is affected by the global trends shaping our world today.
