A Deeper Look at Globalization Essays - Cultural Geography

A Deeper Look at Globalization Its a word we hear almost everyday while watching the news, reading the paper, or even in our day-to-day conversations. It is associated with both good and bad, and for better or worse, we are inevitably involved in its transformations. Globalization has been a popular discussion and has been intensively discussed even though it is a relatively recent idea. Given its sudden emergence, it can be a term that isnt quite understood and there are people who are completely against it. Yes, there are pros and cons to it, just like almost anything else in the world, but I believe it is better to embrace globalization and have a chance to better human development than to try and ignore it. Globalization is an unavoidable entity that is here to stay. It is causing the nation-state to die, and in its place, a world nation is emerging. In this paper, we will first look at what Globalization really is. Then, we will discuss the skeptical and radical thoughts of this idea and find out why Globaliz ation is diminishing the nation-state. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the term Globalization as a process by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standardized around the world. Some things that have contributed to globalization include: technological developments for communication and transportation, huge migrations of people, economic activities that have expanded to national markets, and international arrangements to reduce the cost of business in countries (Merriam-Webster). This basically means that it is a process of interaction between people, companies, and governments of different nations. It is pushed by international trade/investment and supported by technology. Although the term only came to be quite recent, first becoming well known around the 1980s (Giddens), Globalization is not a new idea. People have been buying and selling to each other across the world for centuries. This whole outbreak and popularity of the idea of Globalization only emerged so recently because policy and technological developments have increased the world trade, investment, and migration. We are able to learn news and trade money at the drop of a hat. Because this term is so new, its meaning can sometimes not be so clear. People often take on strong opposing opinions of it and this creates heated disputes. Just like anything else, this idea can be taken many different ways. In his book, Giddens covers two different opposing sides of this idea: the skeptics and the radicals. In the skeptics opinion, they think, all the talk about Globalization is only that-just talk (Giddens 7). Like I already stated, people have been buying and selling across the world for centuries. Skeptics believe that this idea is not a new concept and does not dramatically change the world. Giddens also goes on to say that they believe countries dont even gain much money from international trade and most trading is thus done in close regions. Taking a look at Globalization from the other side, radicals argue that not only is Globalization very real, but that its consequences can be felt everywhere (Giddens 8). It is in fact a concept that does have a significant impact that is changing the world. World trade has noticeably and rapidly developed over the last forty years. This is causing the nation-states to decline while a new nation is forming expanding. The fiery debates on globalization often involve the effects it has on the nation-state. Nation-states are considered less important as their power is diminishing through Globalization. It has provided these nations-states with minimal roles. This diminishing role of power in nation-states is due to the influences it has that take control of the nation-states economies. Multinational corporations affect nation-states in this way. The technological shifts made by Globalization are also to blame for the decrease of power. The ability to receive instant information across a t the blink of an eye has created a place where everyone is connected. Even though it creates this death of a nation-state, globalization is something that I believe is very important and useful. A broader range of products, services, technologies, and knowledge is more available and that these developments will have the potential to reach many