- What is globalization?
- Characteristics of globalization
- Causes of globalization
- Advantages of globalization
- Disadvantages of globalization
- Economic globalization
We explain what globalization is and what are the characteristics of this process. Also, its causes, advantages and disadvantages.
What is globalization?
Globalization is a complex process economic, social, political, technological and cultural on a planetary scale, characterized by an increasing connection, communication and interdependence between the nations that make up the world, bringing with it a series of changes and trends that tend both towards plurality and a certain paradoxical homogenization.
This process began after the end of the Cold War, at the end of the 20th century, and continues into the 21st, especially thanks to the unstoppable impulse of the computer networks (Internet) and the new technologies of telecommunication, who have put in contact populations and geographically distant markets.
Globalization is one of the clear signs of contemporary times, and it is usually considered a consequence of the definitive implementation of the liberal capitalism, tending towards democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, but also feeding by opposition the diametrically opposite tendencies: racist liberalism, nationalism, conservatism.
The latter means that there are so many enthusiastic sectors with the draft of "Global Village" proposed by globalization, in which it is marching towards a greater democratization of the world through its political and institutional interconnection (a world government), as well as great detractors, who perceive it as a threat to the values traditional and transcendental.
Characteristics of globalization
The main characteristics of globalization can be summarized as:
- Internationalization of markets. The “new economy” that globalization brought with it supposes the triumph of transnational capitals and, therefore, of economic freedom and the free movement of goods. capitals.
- Implementation of global culture. Communities who were never in contact can do so thanks to the global village, and this pushes them towards a new model of culture less rooted in the local, and the need for new forms of cultural identity: the individualism and cosmopolitanism.
- It depends on the new ones TIC. The Internet and telecommunications are crucial to the global model, which allows operations to be carried out in record time across vast geographic platforms.
- Overcome geographic boundaries. The end of borders and the construction of a society Global is the final destination of the globalization process, so its processes do not pay much attention to national borders or nationalities.
Causes of globalization
Among the causes of the emergence of globalization we can mention:
- The new world geopolitics of the 20th century. The triumph of capitalism at the end of the Cold War brought with it the global implantation of capital markets and a development model strongly anchored in technology and technology. information.
- The growth in world economic exchange. The need for greater and faster exchanges of goods and, above all, technological services implemented through the Internet, pushed towards global integration.
- The computer revolution. The emergence of communication and information technologies that made it possible to connect the entire world in a large network, marked the beginning of a new global era of technology and information exchange.
- The liberalization of the stock exchanges. The possibility of invest in any world stock market brought as a consequence the migration from capitals beyond geographic borders.
Advantages of globalization
The advantages of globalization tend towards the increase of democracy and liberalism in regions of the planet that still clung to traditional political and social models, since the presence of the various computer networks and their difficulties in being controlled by the states, made it much more difficult to hide the dictatorships Y governments outlaws, since citizens themselves can share information on the network.
On the other hand, the culture The global economy allowed the emergence of new forms of employment, new dynamics of investment and of a view planetary pluripolar. In addition, global citizenship models offer the opportunity to overcome taboos, discrimination and other discriminatory social tendencies, since the whole world seems to be in the network.
Disadvantages of globalization
The disadvantages of this process have to do with its paradoxical hidden face: the consolidation of traditional values as mechanisms of resistance against the global, perceived as a foreignizing threat: nationalism, racism, the xenophobia.
In the same way, access to information is so free in the global network that filters and organizers or discriminators are often needed, since access to ignorance or lies is just as easy.
On the other hand, not all countries enter the global village on an equal footing, and this means that the most depressed or less prepared countries may be victims of economies predators or mechanisms of cultural colonialism that are driven by the global village.
Economic globalization
Along with politics and culture, economic globalization is one of the most important and concrete aspects of this phenomenon. It consists of the interconnection of the different forms of production, commercialization and investment at the planetary level, thus allowing the free flow of capital and merchandise.
Furthermore, the emergence of the digital economy, with new forms of employment and remote investment, led to an economic revolution whose long-term consequences are still difficult to pin down.
A notorious consequence of this is the change in the balances of can between developed and developing countries, making the panorama of inequalities and opportunities for both.