COURSE CODE AND TITLE

GE103 – THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

LESSON NO. 2
TOPIC

METAPHORS AND THEORIES OF GLOBALIZATION

INTRODUCTION

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9780230590687 https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/theories-of-globalization

To better understand another term, metaphors make use of one term. The states of
matter-solid and liquid- will be used. Structures and flows in other related concepts included in
the definition will be elaborated. Metaphors will be used to understand further the idea of
globalization. These metaphors will also allow an appreciation or earlier epochs before
globalization and the present globalized world. We will have a glimpse of the important theories
of globalization.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:
1. Discuss the metaphors of globalization.
2. Provide examples for each metaphor of globalization
3. Define the different globalization theories
4. Determine the advantages and disadvantages of homogenization and heterogenization
of culture based on their understanding of the process
5. Create own definition of globalization through different metaphors.
6. Display support to Filipino exporters by advertising Philippine products to be known
globally.

LESSON PRESENTATION

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THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD (GE103)
 METAPHORS OF GLOBALIZATION

Metaphors make use of one term to help us better understand another term. In our case,
the states of matter-solid and liquid- will be used. Other related concepts included in the
definition, such as structures and flows, will be elaborated.

SOLID
The epochs that preceded today's globalization paced the way people, things,
information, and places to harden over time. Consequently, they have limited mobility
(Ritzer, 2015). The social relationships and objects prevailed where they were created.

 Solidity – It is also the hurdles that prevent or make difficult the movement of
things. It can be natural or human-made.
LIQUID
The liquid takes the shape of its container. Liquids are not fixed.
 Liquidity is the increasing ease of movement of people, things, information and
places in the contemporary world.

Characteristic of Liquidity (Zygmunt Bauman)

 At present, the liquid phenomena change quickly, and their aspects, spatial and
temporal, are in continuous fluctuation. This conveys that space and time are
significant elements of globalization.
 Their movement is difficult to stop.
 The liquid force made political boundaries more absorbent to people's
flow and things (Cartier, 2001). Ritzer (2015, p. 6) considered it as the most
important characteristic of liquid. It tends to melt whatever interferes with it,
especially solids.

Liquidity and solidity are in constant interaction. Yet, liquidity is the one
increasing and escalating today. Hence, the metaphor that could best describe
globalization is liquidity. The literature on globalization makes use of the concept of
flows.

FLOWS
Flows are the movement of people, things, places, and information brought by
the growing “porosity” of global limitations (Ritzer, 2015).
Example of flows:

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THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD (GE103)
  foods introduced by foreign cultures to another country or being globalized
 global financial crisis
According to Landler (2008), the global financial system, national borders are
porous which means that a financial crisis in a given country can bring
implications to other regions of the world.
 poor illegal migrants immersing in many parts of the world (Moses, 2006)
 the virtual flow of legal and illegal information such as blogs and child
pornography, respectively, and
 immigrants create ethnic enclaves in host countries.

Ritzer (2008) claimed that, in general, the contemporary world is undergoing the process
of McDonaldization- the process by which the principles of
fast-food restaurants dominate Western societies. It involves the global spread of rational
systems, such as efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control.

GLOBALIZATION THEORIES

We have established the many definitions and issues in defining globalization and the
metaphors that we can use to easily understand the concept. It would be helpful to assert that
the theories see globalization as a process that increases either homogeneity or heterogeneity.

Homogeneity
It is the increasing sameness in the world as cultural inputs, economic factors, and
political orientations of societies expand to create common practices, same
economies, and similar forms of government.
 In culture, it is often associated with cultural imperialism. It implies that a given
culture influences other cultures.
 In the economy, there is a recognition of the spread of neoliberalism, capitalism, and
the market economy in the world (Antonio, 2007).
 Global Economic crises are also outcomes of homogeneity in economic
globalization.
 The political realm also suffers homogenization if one takes into account the similar
emerging models of governance in the world.

Heterogenization

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  It pertains to the creation of various cultural practices, new economies, and political
groups because of the interaction of elements from different societies.
 It refers to the differences because of either lasting differences or the hybrids or
combinations of cultures produced through the different trans-planetary processes.
 In culture, it is associated with cultural hybridization.
 It identifies the political groups that are engaged in an "intensification of nationalism,
and that leads to greater political heterogeneity throughout the world (Ritzer, 2008, p.
576)
 It represents a process which leads to a more inwardly appearing world due to the
intensification of flows across cultures (Appadurai, 1996). So, local cultures
experience continuous transformation and reinvention due to the influence of global
factors and forces. It is important to oversight the fact that according to this
perspective, cultures

have been changed by global flows and globalization in general. Nevertheless, the
actual crux of the culture remains intact and unaffected, as has always been with
only peripheral surfaces directly impacted ((Ritzer, 2010).

Figure No. 1

https://www.google.com/search?q=heterogenization+in+globalization&rlz

SUMMARY/SYNTHESIS

In understanding the related concepts of globalization, metaphors use solid, liquid,

structures, and flows. The epochs that preceded globalization today paced way to people,
things, information, and places to harden over time, that is solidity, whether natural or human-
made. In today's contemporary world, people's movement, things, information, and places
cannot be stopped due to liquidity. This means that space and time and time are crucial

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THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD (GE103)
elements of globalization. Liquidity and solidity are in constant interaction. Therefore, the
metaphor that could best describe globalization is liquidity. To understand this, globalization
makes use of the concept of flows.
It can be claimed that globalization increases either homogeneity or heterogeneity.
Homogeneity, the increasing sameness in the world as cultural inputs, economic factors, and
political orientations of societies, expands to create common practices, same economies, and
similar forms of government. It is often linked to cultural imperialism, neoliberalism, capitalism,
the market in the world, global economic crises, and the political realm. Pertaining to the
creation of various cultural practices, new economies, and political groups because of the
interaction of elements from different societies in the world, heterogenization is associated with
cultural hybridization and political groups. It leads to a more inwardly appearing world due to the
intensification of flows across cultures.

REFERENCES

Aldama, Prince Kennex Reguyal, The Contemporary World, First Edition, Manila. Rex Book
Store, Inc., 2018: pp. 4-8

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/business/coronavirus-globalism.htm

https://slideplayer.com/slide/17031416/

https://www.google.com/search?q=heterogenization+in+globalization&rlz

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THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD (GE103)