Globalization and state and individual level
Analysis Essay
Globalization at the state and individual level
Today everything is predicated on globalization. However, one may ask, what exactly globalization is and what are its consequences, considering that almost every economic, social or political event is attributed to this phenomenon. Some look at cultural shifts when trying to define globalization while others look at economic flows. Even though there is a huge body of literature on globalization, there is little agreement regarding its exact definition. Keohane and Nye (2001) define globalization as networks of interdependence at multi-continental distance, linked through flows and influences of capital, goods, information, ideas and people. Colin Hay (2007), adopting David Held definition, regards globalization as a process, or sets of processes, that embody a transformation in the spatial organization of social relations and transactions, generating trans-continental or inter-regional flows and networks of activity, interaction and power. Others, avoiding a clear definition, prefer to merely predict the outcomes of this phenomenon. Huntington (1993), accounting for the effects of globalization, foresaw a clash of civilizations whose sources of conflict will not be ideological or economic, but rather cultural. Barber (2001) argues that globalization is not a clash of civilizations but a dialectic struggle between Jihad and McWorld, a battle of “tradition” against the homogenizations of the world through dissemination of a certain culture. At the risk of falling into the trap of reductionist theories, I argue that the main effect of globalization - as flow of capital and information - is the homogenization of individual thought to the point of “totalization”. All other effects can be tracked back to it.
We cannot talk about state positions and actions within the international system, without including the influence of individuals on state actions. Without the
Globalization at the state and individual level
Today everything is predicated on globalization. However, one may ask, what exactly globalization is and what are its consequences, considering that almost every economic, social or political event is attributed to this phenomenon. Some look at cultural shifts when trying to define globalization while others look at economic flows. Even though there is a huge body of literature on globalization, there is little agreement regarding its exact definition. Keohane and Nye (2001) define globalization as networks of interdependence at multi-continental distance, linked through flows and influences of capital, goods, information, ideas and people. Colin Hay (2007), adopting David Held definition, regards globalization as a process, or sets of processes, that embody a transformation in the spatial organization of social relations and transactions, generating trans-continental or inter-regional flows and networks of activity, interaction and power. Others, avoiding a clear definition, prefer to merely predict the outcomes of this phenomenon. Huntington (1993), accounting for the effects of globalization, foresaw a clash of civilizations whose sources of conflict will not be ideological or economic, but rather cultural. Barber (2001) argues that globalization is not a clash of civilizations but a dialectic struggle between Jihad and McWorld, a battle of “tradition” against the homogenizations of the world through dissemination of a certain culture. At the risk of falling into the trap of reductionist theories, I argue that the main effect of globalization - as flow of capital and information - is the homogenization of individual thought to the point of “totalization”. All other effects can be tracked back to it.
We cannot talk about state positions and actions within the international system, without including the influence of individuals on state actions. Without the
References: Rifkin, J. (2000). The age of Access. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher / Putman Huntington, S.P. (2003). The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks Barber, B.R. (2001). Jihad vs. McWorld. New York, NY: The Random House Publishing House Hay, C.(2007). International Relations Theory and Globalization. in Dune, T., Kurki, M., Smith, S. International Relations Theory (2007) Eckersley, R. (2007). Green Theory. in . In Dune, T., Kurki, M., Smith, S. International Relations Theory (2007)