A

Research Paper on

Globalisation and its Social, Political,Cultural and Economic Impact

Submitted for

Subject Code GEN 105

(Law & Justice in a Globalised World)

I Semester

LL.M

By

Gyanendra Kumar

04917707018

Supervisor

Dr.Rashmi Salpekar

Professor

VIVEKANANDA INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES

GGSIP University

2018-2019

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 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the Research Paper entitled “Globalisation and its Social,
Political,Cultural and Economic Impact” has been prepared by Gyanendra Kumar, a student
of Vivekananda Law School,Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies under my supervision
and guidance and I recommend it for submission for the evaluation.

__________________
DATE: DR. RASHMI SALPEKAR
(Professor)

Dean,VSLLS

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

No work can be completed without other’s help or contribution. The preparation of

presentations of this fumble work encompasses the immense and unlimited help &
sound thought of innumerable people.

I wish to extend my sincere thanks to all the people who have helped and guided
me in exploring my talent in bringing out this project work as successful one.

I express my deep & sincere gratitude to my teacher DR. RASHMI

SALPEKAR,Professor (Law), for inspiring guidance, supervision, expert
suggestion & encouragement which helped me to tide over the hardship
encountered during study.
GYANENDRA KUMAR

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 Introduction:

McGrew also spoke of globalization as simply the intensification of global interconnectedness

and stressed the multiplicity of linkages it implied – goods, capital, social-institutional
relationships, and technologies developments, ideas, all readily flowed across territorial
boundaries1.

Ronald Robertson, one of the pioneers of globalization theory, described globalization as the
compression of the world and rapid increase of consciousness of the world as a whole2.
Globalization is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. It is the process of international
integration as a product of exchange of world views, products, ideas and other aspects of culture
in which worldwide exchange of national and cultural resources occurs in the process. Many
factors contributed for the growth of globalization major being advancement in transportation
and communication. Globalization is a complex process by which the world is becoming a
highly interconnected world through economic, social, political and cultural contracts. It refers to
the intensification of global interconnectedness, suggesting a world full of movement and
mixture, contract and linkages, and persistent cultural interaction and exchange. As a result, the
world is shrinking in terms of time and space making the world feel smaller and distances
shorter. Thus, globalization ceaselessly cuts across national boundaries; it involves flows of
goods, capital, people, information, ideas, images and risks across national borders, combined
with the emergence of social networks and political institutions. In other words, globalization
means “integrating and connecting cultures and communities in new space-time combinations,
and ‘making the world in reality and in experience more interconnected3.’

1
For more, see: Tomlinson, J.(1999), Globalization and culture, U.K., Cambridge, Polity press.
2
Robertson. R, Khondker. H.H(1998), Discourses of globalization, Preliminary considerations, International
sociology, 13(I), pp. 25-40.
3
Hall. Stuart(1996), Question of culture identity, in modernity: An introduction to modern societies, Cambridge,
Blackwell publishers, p. 619

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 Definition

When it comes to defining globalization there is no definitive definition as the term is a

multifaceted complex notion. Most people see it as a vague concept impossible of definition thus
the can be invoked in any way the user sees fit. Some define it as the recognition of the changes
taking place globally including economic, social and political interconnectedness states. The
dictionary defines it as a process in which businesses or other organization develop international
influence or start operating on an international scale4.

Globalization was best described as complex connectivity, i.e., the rapidly developing
interconnectedness and interdependencies that characterized modern social life. Anthony
Giddens defined globalization as the intensification of worldwide social relations which links
distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles
away and vice versa”5.

“globalization as a concept refers both to the compression of the world and the intensification of
consciousness of the world as a whole, both concrete global interdependence and consciousness
of the globe whole6”. Economists refer to globalization in a narrow sense, where it involves
integration of national economy with the world economy through trade, foreign direct
investment, capital flows, migration and the spread of technology. Globalization is understood in
social process in which geographical obstacles to social and cultural arrangements lose
importance. “globalization stands out for quite a large public spread across the world as one of
the defining terms of late twentieth century social consciousness7”. For Peter Dicken,
Globalization is inherently geographical as a process requires us to consider the way; space,
place and time are configured and recognized as a result of contemporary changes in
technological, economic and political practices. Thus globalization is defined in different aspects
depending upon the background we discuss it.

Anyhow Alan L Mittleman , comprehend the definition of globalization under three aspects;
First, as an intensification of global flow of goods and production factors facilitated by modern

4
Oxford Dictionary retrieved from www.oxforddictionaries.com.
5
Giddens, A.(1990), The consequences of modernity, Stanford, Stanford University press, p. 64.
6
Robertson, R.(1998), Globalization. Social theory and global culture, London, Sage publication, p. 8.
7
Jan Aart Scholte

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transportation and communication. Secondly, as a compression of time and space in a way that
events in one part of the world have instantaneous effects on distant locations and finally to
comprehend globalization as a historical structure of material power.

Thus the term globalization acquired all these connotations and exemplifying its influence on
different realms of life. It is difficult to say what exactly constitute globalization as it is
interpreted by different schools of thought on different matter at different point of times. But all
of them agree on one point that globalization has a major impact on in this contemporary world.
Many are not still sure whether globalization is a civilizing force or destructive force.

The globalization gained more momentum after decolonization that lead to the formation of new
states in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Many used the term neo-colonialism to mark globalization
which was more economic than political, more ideologically than militarily supported. The
neocolonialist powers turned themselves into means of control which was facilitated by the
global telecommunications system.

Background of Globalization

Roots of globalization can be traced backed to the colonization of Asia, Africa and America by
the Europeans, the then supreme power of the world. Search of new markets and source of
wealth polished by industrial revolution lead to the establishment of international commodity
markets and mercantilist trade. The deepened economic protectionism after the First World War
and the Great Depression in The 1930’s and end of Second World War along with expansion of
capitalism was tempered by establishment of socialism as an alternative form of capital
accumulation and distribution. After Second World War the world has become more
interconnected through innovations and advancement in sciences, travel and transportation,
communication along with information and technology.
According to Friedman, “globalization is the integration of markets, finance and technologies in
a way what is shrinking the world from a size medium to a size small and enabling each of us to
reach around the world farther, faster and cheaper than ever before. Like all previous

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international systems, it is directly or indirectly shaping the domestic politics, economic policies
and foreign relations of virtually every country8”.
It is also a result of specifically conceived, planned and targeted neo- liberal policy and
structural measures that was designed to bring all aspects of social, economic and political life
under the tag of market capitalism. The Reagan administration in USA and Thatcher government
in UK accelerated globalization through clearing the debt crisis, establishment of neo –
liberalism as an economic framework (later came to be known as Washington Consensus) and
the International Financial Institutions imposition of structural adjustment programs (SAP’s) in
developing countries. The fall of Soviet Union along marking an end to Cold War along with the
acceptance of nations on capitalism as the only viable economic order to create wealth and
stability further made the way easier for globalization.

Impacts of Globalization

The proponents of globalization claim that it will lead to convergence of income, access to
knowledge and technology, consumption power, living standards and political ideas. Adding on
to that, integration of economies would lead to increase in economic growth and wealth. They
also argue that more people would be able to enjoy the fruits of modernization and civilization.
Critics of globalization argue that it is hegemonic, antagonistic to the poor and vulnerable and is
weakening local and national economic communities and the environment. Therefore
globalization has both positive and negative impacts. My further discussion would be done on
the Economic, Political, Social and Cultural impacts of globalization.

Economic Impacts of globalization:

The Economic theory relates globalization to the model of a free world market without
restriction of competition and mobility, a global mass culture and a world-encompassing
information society. In the course of revitalization of modernization theory redressing internal

8
Friedman. Thomas(1999), The lexus and the olive tree, New York, Farrar Straus Giroux, p. 110

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development constraints with a policy of structural adjustment and deregulation solves the
problems of the periphery, so that market forces can take over self-regulation. However, with the
world financial crisis this neo liberal market fundamentalism9 of the 1990s has been scrutinized,
and the call for regulating international institutions of the world economy and particularly the
financial sector, as well as for protectionist policies, has become louder, Faced with a rapid
decline of social security systems, people in Continental Europe doubt a self-regulation of the
market within a socially acceptable dimension, but also they do no longer believe in an efficient
state interventionism on behalf of socially disadvantaged people. Communitarian’ therefore
proclaim to reconstruct communities (neighbourhoods, families ) as helping as well as
controlling entries.10
A common argument in the globalization debate is that globalization smoothens difference and
income disparities. Poor countries and poor people can benefits from information that if freely
available via Internet. Such a view is a myth. If such a freedom exits, it is only a formal but no
substantive one11.
In 1944, about 44 nations signed the Bretton Woods Conference12 which was held in order
stabilize the world economy in the post World War II era. This conference paved way for the
neo-liberal economic order that we see today with the establishment of International
Organizations like International Monetary Fund, World Bank and International Trade
Organization which basically accelerated the second stage of globalization. With respect to this,
Chinese economic reforms began in 1980’s which opened China to globalization. China’s
experience prompted many other countries like India to open the economy in 1990’ to
globalization which was institutionalized with privatization and liberalization. However many
demand for reforms in IMF and WB while others demand for the abolition of these organizations
and a total restructuring of the world financial system.

Nash calls attention to certain consequences of economic globalization; it is often argued that
Multinational Corporation have consolidated and extended and already existing post-colonial

9
Evers. HD., Gerke. S(1997), Global market cultures and the construction of modernity in southern east Asia,
Thesis Eleven 50: 1-14, p.4.
10
Selznik. P.(1995), From socialism to communitarianism, in Walzer, M.(ed.), Toward a Global Civil Society',
Oxford, Bergham.
11
Weber. M.(1968), Economy and society, Berkeley, University of California Press
12
http://www.worldbank.org/en/about/archives/history/exhibits/bretton-woods-monetary-conference

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division of labor, since they mainly operate from the developed world and take advantage of
cheap labor and resources in the underdeveloped parts of the globe13. The impact of globalization
on the economic realm in terms of production and financial transaction is closely linked to
advances in data-processing and information technology. These allow instantaneous
communication across vast distances, enabling the formation of a transnational financial system
and facilitating the operations of multinational corporations. Thus, globalization takes the whole
world as a single market; sudden withdrawal of foreign capital by the international firms can
have devastating effect on national economies. Economic globalization is widely understood to
have led to a reduced control of nation states over economic policy.
The developing countries on the other side, injecting the western idea of capitalism their own
economy without considering the basic foundations required for the stability of such a mode of
economic production,, had to pay greatly in this business. The changed strategy of economic
transaction and trade with the rest of the world has obviously helped the developing countries
with many investments from other countries which provided labor and income for a good
number of populations. But at the same time, we saw the huge gap between the rich and power
plus concentration of wealth among few which lead to economic inequality in the society there
by proliferating to other aspects of political and social impacts.

When we talk about the economics of globalization it consider largely the internal costs and
ignores the external cost involved in it like environmental aspect. The MNC’s are concerned
only with profit making which is driven by capitalism ignoring the cost that society has to pay
for it. The global climate change along with extinction of many species can be attributed to the
globalization to a great extent. Though the international organizations have fixed the limits of
carbon emission and other pollutants, it is still pro developed countries that hamper the growth of
developing countries.

Thus the economic impacts of globalization can be very diverse in different areas of the world
giving rise to concentration and marginalization phenomena. As there is a skill biased
technological change, the increased import of capital goods will lead to increased inequality.

13
Nash, Kate(2000), Op. cit, p. 49.

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Increased trade was meant to foster economic growth but today what we see is a one sided
benefitting deal.

Political Impacts of Globalization:

Of particular interest for sociologists is the political dimension of globalization. It is closely

connected to the disciplines historical points of reference society and nations state in early
modernity. Scholars prognosticated the coming of a world society, being represented by
supranational political structures. They argue that governance has become much more dependent
on international organizations, bilateral and multilateral contracts, so that sovereignty had
decreased. So what happens to the nation-state in the course of globalization? Is its importance
decreasing and is the nations-state as the governing body finally becoming obsolete, being
replaced by world governance? Certainly not. According to Bamyeh, in spite of globalization
processes, governance is still represented and expressed in the inter-state system, while
transactional forms of political organization have been comparatively such as the UN are made
up by nation state representatives and quota, while non-state organizations and associations (such
as citizen groups and NGOs) are excluded from participation14.
Samuel Huntington15 Inspired by nationalist rhetoric, prognosticates the clash of civilizations
between the western-Christian culture and a collation of oriental despots or theocrats of the
Islamic, Hindu, Confucian, Shinto or Eastern Orthodox cultures – not necessarily in the shape of
armed confrontation, but certainly in form of economic competition, brand faking, an East Asian
work ethics of blood, sweat and family relations16 and a rejection of western values as being
appropriate to non-western countries. It is self-evident the Huntington’s scenario is based upon
Europe’s ancient fear of invaders from the East the Huns, Mongols, Turks, Russians and
Chinese.
Globalization can mean the reinforcement of or go together with localism, as in “Think globally,
act locally” This kind of tandem operation of local/global dynamics, orglocalisation (emphasis
added), is at work in the case of minorities who appeal to transnational human rights standards
beyond state authorities, or indigenous people who find support for local demands from

14
Bamyeh. M.A.(1993), Transnationalism, Current society, 41(3), Special Issue.
15
Huntington. Samuel(1993), the clash of civilization?, Foreign Affairs, 73(3).
16
Oxfeld. E.(1993), Blood, sweat and Mahjong: Family enterprise in an Overseas Chinese Community, Ithaca.

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transnational networks. The upsurge of ethnic identity politics and religious revival movements
can also be viewed in the light of globalization17.

Another major impact of globalization is the increased influence of Non Governmental

Organizations in public policy like humanitarian aid, developmental efforts etc. Many
organizations have come forward with the mission of uplifting the most unprivileged societies of
the world where there s massive funding of millions of dollars. Globalization has also lead to the
growth of terrorism. Terrorism can be seen as a response from certain groups of people who
were neglected and humiliated for centuries which lead to the wide spread terrorist networks
across world which was accelerated with the ultra modern technology helping them to strengthen
their network and activities.

Democracy is seen as the ultimate form of political stability by the world. This can be linked to
the western intellectual propaganda where they highlighted the enlightenment values of freedom,
liberty, tolerance etc. Under the pretext of establishing democracy in those countries where there
was autocratic rule for years, United States intervened in many Middle East Asian countries
recently. The whole idea was on extracting oil mines for which they took the economic, political,
social and cultural control of these oil rich countries. This can be seen as a gradual movement to
‘World Government18’.

The rise of global civil society is one of the major contributions of globalization. The
multivariate groups make up civil society which often protests against capitalism. This shows the
existence of a social sphere above and beyond national, regional or local societies.

Thus the political impacts of globalization are immense and wide across the nation state. The
modern concepts of one government and showcasing democracy as the ultimate deign for a
stable government etc has lead to massive scale of corruption, inefficiency and lack of
transparency in these developing countries.

17
Nederveen Pieterse, J.(1994), Globalization as hybridization, International sociology, 9(2), p. 165.
18
Dryzek, J. (1990). Discursive Democracy: Politics, Policy and Political Science, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.

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Social Impacts of Globalization:

In almost every sphere of activity, there are a growing number of transnational and global
organizations, including social movement like Greenpeace, Women’s Movements, Concern for
Empowerment of Local Communities and Indigenous People. They are becoming ever more
relevant, linking people in transnational relations19.

The widespread network of international governmental organizations, (INGOs), provides the

conditions for global governance. Globalization process also enhances interactions between large
humanization and charitable operations such as Oxfam, Action Aid, Human Rights Watch,
Christian Aid, etc. Similarly, scientific and professional bodies like the International Association
of Nutritional Sciences and the International Sociological and Anthropological Association
linkup their concerns and ideas globally. In the case of India, this implies that the Dalits could
challenge thestate for violation of human rights in the international forums such as “World
conference against racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination” held in Durban in 200120.
When we talk about the gender aspect with reference to globalization, we can see increased
participation of women in all fields of life. But evidences prove that women still work more as a
casual labor. Though globalization has expanded women’s access to employment it has not done
much considerable to reduce the gender inequality. Also, due to the influence of media and other
socio-political- cultural aspects, the crimes against women have increased considerably.

Another major social aspect is that globalization as deeply influenced the social structure of
different societies. Every society used to have its own unique culture with respect to the
language, social norms, morality, civic sense etc. with the advent of media which has this special
capability to influence millions at the same time has challenged the social institutions of the
society mainly family. A particular society following their style of living without being much
influenced by the western culture is now seen as ‘uncivilized’ which was a very cunningly
designed propaganda of the west to inculcate their culture into the rest of the world and there by
dominating the globe.

19
See: Cohen. Robin and Shirin. M. Rai(2000), Global social movements, London, The Athlone Press.
20
Jogdand. P.G, Michael. S.M, Globalization and social movements, Jaipur, 2003, p. 4

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Globalization involves the process of stretching or extension and intensification of human
activities, relations and networks across globe. Since globalization is a work in progress, the end
result cannot be predicted. But it is obvious that globalization has a major impact on social realm
of society across the world.

Cultural Impacts of Globalization:

Globalization is used up with modernity. Most commonly it is assumed that is spreading from
the West and produces uniformity and standardization through technological, commercial and
cultural synchronization. Nederveen Pieterse holds against this simplistic view that globalization
of culture is not the same as westernization or Americanization21.
Globalization also affects the culture of people and community on the local level. Today, there is
increased cultural interconnectedness across the global not only due to the growth in mass
communication, but also because of flows of people due to migration, tourism and transnational
institutions. Globalization accelerates the movement of populations from the less affluent parts
of the globe into the major urban centers of the developed and developing nations. As a
consequence, today, we see people and cultures formerly located in difference parts of the world
inhabiting the same physical terrain. Such cultural interaction affect how we live in our own
locality and prompts us to question our traditional understanding of culture, nationality,
citizenship and many other aspects of social life. Moreover, The intensification of the
communication network through satellite television, internet and e-mail brings images quickly
from screen to screen, providing people with resources from which to fashion new ways of
beings in the world. Thus, there is an increasing global standardization of cultural goods, tastes,
and practices in clothes, food, and music to architecture, film, and television cutting across
national boundaries22.
In cultural terms, globalization implies an increased cultural interconnectedness across the globe,
principally as a result of the mass media, and also because of flows of people in migration,
tourism and the global economic and political institutions leading to similar life patterns in
different parts of the globe. Globalization opens up the local culture to other ways of living and

21
Nederveen Pieterse, J., Op. cit.
22
Hall. Stuart(1996), Op. cit, p. 619.

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gives alternatives. Local cultures are exposed to ideas such as human rights, democracy, market
economy, as well as new methods of production, new products for consumption and new leisure
habits. All these “produce new understandings of culture, nationality, the self in the world, what
is to be a foreigner, what is to be a citizen, how people become politically engaged, and many
other aspects of social life23.

David Held and Anthony McGrew’s definition of globalization which denotes “ the expanding
scale, growing magnitude, speeding up and deepening impact of transcontinental flows and
patters of social interactions”. Another sociologist, Roland Robertson argues that an interest in
globalization arose from a division between sociology, which dealt with societies comparatively,
and international relations and political science which dealt with societies interactively.

Large corporations that required and developed these new technologies, have themselves become
obsolete now as an organizational form. With these new technologies, vertical hierarchies are no
longer necessary and even inefficient compared to more flexible network structures.
Characteristic to the global age is the network society24.
The very concept of globalization is a major challenge for existing conception of world culture.
It is clearly been discussed by the political scientist Samuel P Huntington in his book ‘The Clash
of Civilizations and Remaking of the World Order’. According to him, the fundamental conflict
in the world will not be ideological or political. But the great divisions among humankind and
the dominating source of conflict will be cultural. He also argued that nation states will remain
the most powerful actors in world affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur
between nations and groups of different civilizations. The clash of civilizations will dominate
global politics. He said, the fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future.

The breaking up of space and time as a result of electronic media has a lot to do with the global
interaction regardless of the disparities. The contemporary method of communication was altered
by the new phenomena such as participatory journalism, online communities and transnational
activism organized through online networks. Globalization has resulted in a rapid growth of

23
Nash. Kate(2000), Contemporary political sociology, Globalization, politics and power, Malden, Blackwell
Publishers, p. 53
24
Castlls. M.(1996), The network society, Vol. 1, Oxford, Blackwell

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social relations and social organizations on the internet. The emergence of new communication
through online has been influencing the minds and brains of people through social networks,
movies, blogs, online open debate forum etc. Thus mass media plays a larger role in cultural
diversity than in cultural standardization.

The emergence of an Americanized World is something that we saw with the growth of
globalization. A converging consumer behavior and tastes with the American model as a blue
print for global culture can be traced as one of the major impact of globalization on culture. The
emergence of English as the dominant language in business and academic works is another
example of how one culture can gain dominance in the world with power and legitimacy when
economic and political forces enable the spreading of cultures and values. Ulf Hannerz used the
term ‘creolization’ to symbolize the process of western cultures being transformed and re -
conceptualized outside the Western world.

Conclusion

In the era of globalization, the reality of dominance is best conceptualized as a more stealthy,
complex and cumulative process. Globalization is thus an ongoing syndrome. Globalization is
not only about interplays between local, regional, national and global scales, but also about the
interconnectedness, flows and uneven development in the world. The strategic keys that
accelerated the growth of globalization were transnational corporations, technical change,
governments etc. Globalization has brought not only advantages to the globe by providing large
range of imported products or by raising the basic standard of living of people. But also has
major impacts on the socio-political- economic and cultural realms of life by diminishing the role
of state, challenging the unique culture of every society, attacking the social structures, much
diversity in the global society etc. However, despite of identification of risks and opportunities of
globalization, the whole phenomenon is still very difficult to predict.

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