We explain what globalization is and what are its main characteristics. In addition, the changes that this process brought.
What is globalization?
Globalization is the process of growing integration of societies and economies in the world which has been developing in recent decades. Today, production and consumption, trade, transport, communications and markets are organized at a global scale. The consequences of this transformation constitute a controversy because The benefits of this system did not extend equitably .
On the other hand, the term is also used to refer to specific processes that are shaped hand in hand with the world economic integration process. For example, in a technical sense, Globalization is related to the implementation of information technologies In different parts of the world, for different aspects of social life.
On the other hand, in relation to the ideological-cultural, globalization is understood as The universalization of liberal and democratic values of Western powers and the generalization of the capitalist consumption model.
Economic globalization in historical context
In the decades after World War II, there was great growth in the economies of capitalist powers (United States and Western European countries). Then, this growth was already slowed by the traditional economic powers joined Japan and China and, in the coming decades they could do it India, Brazil and Mexico, which reached considerable economic dimensions.
Between 1913 and 2000, The world’s population went from about 1.8 to 6.1 million people . This demographic growth is never known before and accelerated especially since 1950. Between that year and 2000, the world population multiplied by 2.5.
On the other hand, world GDP grew even faster. In 2000 it was almost 20 times greater than in 1900. Only in the last five decades of the last century the world GDP was septuly.
Free trade policies
To integrate into the globalization process, national states must establish free trade policies that facilitate the export and import of goods and services. This implies the elimination or reduction of customs taxes and the abandonment of protectionist policies that protect production for national consumption.
The world integration process is supported in large part in the emergence of various free trade agreements with different scope, such as the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas), the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Trademement), the TLCUEM (Free Trade Agreement between Mexico and the European Union), Mercosur and many others.
Mobilization of goods
Globalization incorporated national and regional markets into the large world market. In this way, merchandise mobilization has multiplied.
This, in turn, generates a product competition in local markets, between imported goods and national production goods . Consequently, at the global level there is a trend of regional or local specialization of the production of goods and services.
Internationalization of human resources
The internationalization of companies often It requires the transitory or permanent transfer of its human resources which can be required for training functions, tuning, evaluation of new markets, etc. This has the effect of the internationalization of specialized workers’ salaries.
This globalization of specialized work (such as technologists, scientific, financial, athletes, for example) and the migration of workers contributes to the globalization of non -specialized sectors of the population. Transport and communications facilitate the migration of low -income workers to other countries where better salaries are achieved.
The capital market becomes a decisive factor In the globalized world. In this context, international credit institutions such as the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund acquire a very important role.
Multinational corporations
With globalization, and for economic-financial reasons, It is common for several companies to join forming international corporations, which compete (not always “equal to equal”) with local industries and shops.
The ability to solve millionaire advertising campaigns often exacerbates these gaps.
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Telecommunications
In the globalized era there is intensive use of telecommunications. Both to carry out commercial transactions and to access the information quickly, Communications technology is essential.
Technological innovations were applied to information networks, to the expansion of the use of the Internet, to global communication systems and telephony. This increased the amount of information available within reach of people and modified the cultural behaviors of the different societies of the world.
However, channels and information media are often in the hands of large multinational communication companies (especially from the United States and Western European countries). Information control by companies can be problematic to the extent that the contents are adapted to influence public opinion.
Third industrial revolution
Currently, it is considered that technological and scientific advances in the fields of microelectronics, computer science and robotics constitute a third industrial revolution. The application of this knowledge to transport, communications and industry have modified the world on a global scale.
Transport innovations allowed multinational companies to settle in countries with cheap labor. In this way, they increase their profits and extend their businesses.
On the other hand, the revolution in communications allowed The transmission of information immediately through satellite networks and the Internet. This became a fundamental factor for the functioning of financial, commercial and banking activities.
Supranational institutions . The incorporation of countries into the economic globalization process generated the appearance of decision clubs, such as G-8, Mercosur or BRICs. In addition, international economic management agencies were created, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Criticism of globalization
The benefits of globalization are not distributed equally on the planet. Investment, financial flows and the production of goods and services concentrated on the economic activities of the high-class-class sectors of the richest countries (United States, Japan, China and Western European countries).
The countries with lower resources and, especially, low -income social sectors are excluded from the benefits of globalization. The neoliberal policies necessary for integration to the global market neglect the poor population . Consequently, in many places poverty, marginality, hunger and illiteracy grew.
There are different social movements that criticize the effects of globalization. The main criticisms are:
- There is a paradox between economic growth that globalization allows for a small percentage of the population and the deepening of poverty, diseases and the fall of the living conditions of a growing proportion of the population.
- One of the worst effects is the industrialization and liberalization of norms for factories, which lead to an increase in pollution and, consequently, to the destruction of natural environments and environmental imbalance.
- With the homogenization of western values and hypercommunication, there is the danger of the disappearance of cultural identities.
- The liberalization of borders for production causes large companies to put their factories in countries that do not legislate on labor rights because it is cheaper. In turn, these products are intended for the consumption of people who do have their guaranteed labor rights.
- The ideal of productive efficacy led to scientific development for the genetic modification of plants and animals. This, in addition to having dangerous consequences for ecosystems, often has negative effects on people’s health and entails the loss of traditional agricultural and livestock forms of production.
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References
- Castells, M. (2002). Globalization and anti -globalization. In: Je Stiglitz, Je and M. Barlow, M. Panic in globalization. Ed. Fica.
- Hirsch, J. (1997). What is globalization? Economic reality, 1477-17.
- Mateus, JR, & Brasset, DW (2002). Globalization: its effects and benefits. Economy and Development, 1(1), 65-77.
