QUEST
Globalization in the Modern World
Globalization in Economics
- Multinational corporations operate on a global scale, with satellite offices and branches in numerous locations.
- Outsourcing can add to the economic development of a struggling country, bringing much needed jobs.
- Some automobiles use parts from other countries, as in a car being assembled in the United States with the parts coming from Japan, Germany, or Korea.
- The Free World Trade Organization supervises world trade.
- The European Union is an economic and political union of 28 countries that are located primarily in Europe.
- The North American Free Trade Agreement (N.A.F.T.A.) is a trade bloc in North America.
- One shirt sold in the United States could have been made from Chinese cotton by workers in Thailand. Then it could have been shipped on a French freighter that had a Spanish crew.
- A McDonald's in Japan and other countries shows the growth of companies over the entire world.
Globalization in the Blending of Cultures
- Greek culture spread across Africa, Europe and Asia through Alexander the Great. This is the reason there are cities named for Alexander in Africa, Egypt and Turkey.
- The Silk Road was a trade route between China and the Mediterranean Sea area and it allowed the exchange of not only goods, but culture and knowledge.
- Christian missionaries from Europe added to the globalization of Christianity.
- Colonization all over the world was a major cause of globalization.
- Improved travel facilitated the growth of globalization, as people moved for a better job, a better life, or fled from danger or oppression.
- Tsimshatsui is the name of the tip of the Kowloon peninsula. Today, in this multicultural area, you can see baseball caps, hoodies, turbans, and hijabs.
- Food is one factor of globalization. One can find people eating sushi in Peru or Indian food in Europe.
- Satellite television allows shows from one country to be broadcast in many others, adding to cultural globalization.
Globalization in Technology
- The Internet is a major contributor to globalization, not only technologically but in other areas as well, like in cultural exchanges of the arts.
- Global news networks, like CNN, contribute to the spread of knowledge.
- Cells phones connect people all over the world like never before. Around 60 percent of all people in the world use cell phones.
- Military cooperation between countries adds to globalization, such as the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty or anti-terrorism agreements.
- Environmental cooperation has spread to help reduce chlorofluorocarbon emissions to slow the depletion of the ozone. One example is the Montreal Protocol.
Other Globalization Examples
- The Olympics began in ancient Greece and continue today.
- The FIFA World Cup has more viewers than any other sporting event from around the world.
- Travel and tourism allows globalization of many things, like the exchange of money, cultures and knowledge.
- The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization that promotes cooperation in many areas including human rights, peace and economic development.
- Organizations such as the Red Cross respond quicker to disasters around the world.
What is political globalization?
There are many examples of political globalization, like the European Union, where political integration joins multiple nations together to make decisions and establish policies. Because the nations of the world have become much more connected, there is a growing prevalence of intergovernmental agencies, like the International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization and the United Nations. Political activity has transcended the old barriers of national divisions, where global agencies, international organizations and worldwide political movements have become much more common.
The advancement of globalized politics is one aspect of how the world is becoming increasingly interconnected. This is happening in the midst of numerous other advances in technology, communication and transportation. The rise in the Internet is another occurrence that has lead to the governments of the world becoming increasingly interconnected. Globalization is a significant topic as the nations of the world increasingly trade and invest in one another, and the new challenges of global warming, social inequality and terrorism are further indicators of how globalized politics may be integral to the shaping of future international policies.
Vocabulary to the project - find the words to your project
- advantage = the good side of something
- age = period of history
- argument =reasons
- business = company
- cause =lead to
- cell phone = a mobile telephone
- close down = to stop producing goods
- connect = to link together
- create = make
- customer = a person who buys something
- debate = discussion
- develop =grow
- developed countries = rich , industrialized countries
- disease = illness
- distance =space
- economic =about the economy
- economy =the system of producing goods and products in a country and selling them
- educated = if you have gone to school and learned a lot
- environmental = everything that is about the air, water or land around us
- especially =above all, more than others
- exchange = to give someone something and get something else in return
- factory = building in which you produce goods
- farther =here: over greater distances
- firm = company
- focus on = concentrate on
- G8 = Group of 8 = the most important industrialized countries in the world
- goods = things that you produce and sell
- government =the people who rule a country
- however =but
- in favour of = for something
- investor = a person who gives money to a company and expects to get more money in return
- law = rules that a country has
- lead to =cause
- leader = the most powerful person of a country
- make sure = to check that something has been done
- merchant = someone who buys and sells goods
- pace = speed
- point out = to show
- produce = make
- pull out = take out
- reach = get to
- Silk Road = an old route on which silk was carried from Europe to Central Asia
- spread =to move from one place to another
- steam—powered =run by a steam engine ; power is produced by making water hot so that it turns into a gas
- steel = a strong metal that you can form
- strict =exact
- summit = meeting for powerful leaders of a country
- teleworker = someone who works from home and uses a computer, telephone etc..
- trade = to buy and sell goods
- unemployment = if you don’t have a job
WHAT IS GLOBALIZATION?
Globalization is not new. For thousands of years people have been trading goods and travelling across greatdistances. During the Middle Ages, merchants travelled along the Silk Road, which connected Europe and China.
The modern age of globalization started with the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 18th century. New machines were able to produce cheaper goods. Trains and steam-powered boats transported productsfarther and faster.
Since 1980, globalization has been moving at a faster pace. Today it is easier for companies to work in other countries. The Internet gives them the chance of reaching more customers around the world. Teleworkerswork for firms that may be far away.
However , there is a growing debate over globalization. Governments are in favour of globalization because the economy can grow. Other people are not so sure that there are only advantages. Here are some arguments from both sides:
Good sides
- Globalization lets countries do what they can do best. If, for example, you buy cheap steel from another country you don’t have to make your own steel. You can focus on computers or other things.
- Globalization gives you a larger market. You can sell more goods and make more money. You can createmore jobs.
- Consumers also profit from globalization. Products become cheaper and you can get new goods more quickly.
Bad sides
- Globalization causes unemployment in industrialized countries because firms move their factories to places where they can get cheaper workers.
- Globalization may lead to more environmental problems. A company may want to build factories in other countries because environmental laws are not as strict as they are at home. Poor countries in the Third World may have to cut down more trees so that they can sell wood to richer countries.
- Globalization can lead to financial problems . In the 1970s and 80s countries like Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia or Brazil got a lot of money from investors who hoped they could build up new businessesthere. These new companies often didn’t work, so they had to close down and investors pulled out their money.
- Some of the poorest countries in the world, especially in Africa, may get even poorer. Their population is not as educated as in developed countries and they don’t have the new technology that we do.
- Human, animal and plant diseases can spread more quickly through globalization.
Many experts say that we need a different kind of globalization in our world today. There must be ways to make sure that all countries profit from the good sides of globalization. We should help poorer countries by giving them better education and showing them how new technology works.Every year, leaders of the world’s biggest industrial countries get together to discuss economic problems. This meeting is called the G8 summit. In the last few years groups against globalization have organized protest marches and demonstrations to point out that not everyone is happy with how the world’s economy isdeveloping.
