Isabela Colleges, Inc.

Cauayan City, Isabela

MODULE 1
THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION

In today’s constantly changing world, societies are becoming increasingly interdependent and have more social, economic,
political and cultural relationships. Similarly, the problems and issues that characterize the contemporary world are
interconnected and multidimensional. As a result, the various actors—states, organizations, and citizens—are called upon
to work together to find global solutions.

What Is Globalization?

• In certain respects, globalization may be regarded as a process connecting the past, the present, and the future—
as a sort of bridge between the past and the future. Globalization: Yesterday, Today, and tomorrow is
distinguished by its focus on the systemic aspects of globalization processes. Political, economic, geographic,
ecological, social, cultural, ethnic, religious and historical processes are analyzed and their single and joint impacts
on globalization are discussed.
• Globalization is the word used to describe the growing interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, and
populations, brought about by cross-border trade in goods and services, technology, and flows of investment,
people, and information.
• Globalization implies the continuing expansion and intensification of economic, political, social, cultural and
judicial relations across borders. It is furthered by reductions in transportation and communication costs, the rise
of new information technologies, such as the internet, and liberalizations in the markets for goods, services, labor,
capital, and technology.
• Globalization is a very broad concept not only with respect to the diversity of regions, cultures, and actors, but
also with respect to the diversity of analytical approaches that can be employed to study it.
• Specifically, globalization occurs when the markets of different countries become more integrated and
interconnected through economic transactions that cross national borders. These transactions can be in real
merchandise, various forms of services, financial instruments, investments in local production facilities by
multinational firms (a process called foreign direct investment, or FDI), temporary and permanent labor migration,
and technological information. They can involve individuals, trade between unrelated firms, transactions within
international enterprises, and governments.
• It changes the life styles and living conditions for people around the world, presenting new opportunities to some,
but risks and threats to others. Individuals, firms, governments, and transnational organizations that are lifted out
of the framework of the nation state, like the World Bank, United Nations, the European Union, and multinational
firms all face challenges of how to respond to globalization.

• Globalization is reality. It is changing as human society develops. It has happened before and is still happening
today. We should expect it to continue to happen in the future.
• Overall, globalization is a concept that is not easy to define because in reality, globalization has a shifting nature.
It is complex, multifaceted, and can be influenced by the people who define it.
Theories see globalization as a process that increases either homogeneity or heterogeneity. Homogeneity and
heterogeneity are used to describe the uniformity and regularity in spatial distribution of geometrical properties in natural
subsurface systems.

HOMOGENEITY: 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.
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• A homogeneous societal culture is one in which the shared meanings are similar and little variation in beliefs exist;
that is, the culture has one dominant way of thinking and acting. Diversity exists in all nations, but the critical
factor is degree of variation in the shared meanings within the society.
• "a group of fundamentally similar units or samples".
• For instance, the Internet enables the homogenizing force of English as the world’s common language. At the
same time, it enables the speakers of various small languages to get connected and build common content [like
various regional Wikipedia] like never before. Fifty years ago, were there encyclopedias in all the regional
languages? No. Most were in English. Now, you have a diverse set of language in Wikipedia that allows knowledge
creation in small languages.

HETEROGENEITY: is generally used to describe a quality of cultural diversity, mostly as antidote of the cultural
convergence‐thesis, which proposes an increasing homogenization of culture through globalization. The quality or state
of consisting of dissimilar or diverse elements: the quality or state of being heterogeneous cultural heterogeneity

• Heterogeneity of social causes and influences. Social events are commonly the result of a variety of different kinds
of causes that come together in highly contingent conjunctions. A revolution may be caused by a protracted
drought, a harsh system of land tenure, a new ideology of peasant solidarity, a communications system that
conveys messages to the rural poor, and an unexpected spar within the rulers -- all coming together at a moment
in time. And this range of causal factors, in turn, shows up in the background of a very heterogeneous set of
effects. (A transportation network, for example, may play a causal role in the occurrence of an epidemic, the
spread of radical ideas, and a long, slow process of urban settlement.)
• Heterogeneity that can be discovered within social categories of things -- cities, religions, electoral democracies,
social movements. Think of the diversity within Islam documented so well by Clifford Geertz (Islam Observed:
Religious Development in Morocco and Indonesia); the diversity at multiple levels that exists among great cities
like Beijing, New York, Geneva, and Rio (institutions, demography, ethnic groups, economic characteristics,
administrative roles, ...); the institutional variety that exists in the electoral democracies of India, France, and
Argentina; or the wild diversity across the social movements of the right.
• Heterogeneity takes us within the agent herself, when we note the variety of motives, moral frameworks,
emotions, and modes of agency on the basis of which people act. This is one of the weaknesses of doctrinaire
rational choice theory or dogmatic Marxism, the analytical assumption of a single dimension of motivation and
reasoning. Instead, it is visible that one person acts for a variety of motives at a given time, persons shift their
motives over time, and members of groups differ in terms of their motivational structure as well. So there is
heterogeneity of motives and agency within the agent.
• These dimensions of heterogeneity make the point: the social world is an ensemble, a dynamic mixture, and an
ongoing interaction of forces, agents, structures, and mentalities. Social outcomes emerge from this
heterogeneous and dynamic mixture, and the quest for general laws is deeply quixotic.

Homogeneity is the quality of being similar or uniform and heterogeneity is the quality of being diverse or incomparable

DYNAMICS OF LOCAL AND GLOBAL CULTURE

Global flows of culture tend to move more easily around the globe than ever before, especially through non-material
digital forms. There are three perspectives on global cultural flows. These are differentialism, hybridization, and
convergence.
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CULTURAL DIFFERENTIALISM involves barriers that prevent flows that serve to make alike; Culture tend to remain
stubbornly different from one another. It emphasizes the fact that cultures are essentially different and are only
superficially affected by global flows.

• Those who adopt this theory argue that there are lasting differences among and between cultures, largely
unaffected by globalization or any other bi-, inter-, multi-, and trans-cultural processes and flows.
• This is not to say that culture is unaffected by any of these processes. Especially globalization, but it is to say at
their core are largely unaffected by them: they remain much as they always have been.
• This theory has long history, but it has attracted increasing attention and adherents in recent years because of
two sets of events. One, the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the second, attack on twins tower on
9/11.
• To these events are seen as the product of clash between western and Islamic culture and seemingly eternal
differences between them.
• The other is the increasing multi-culturalism in US(Hispanic population and Western European countries (largely
the growing of Muslim population) and the vast differences, and enmity, between majority and minority of
population.
• Each country has its own language, values, norms, symbols, etc. A society which is not homogenous has a few
subcultures and countercultures which can sanctioned. Culture is clearly territorially bound. As culture adapts to
its environment it changes very slowly and is long lasting
CULTURAL HYBRIDIZATION is the mixing of cultures and the integration of the global and the local leading to unique
combinations. Cultural Hybridization approach emphasizes the integration of local and global cultures (Cvetkovich and
Kellner, 1997).

• Mixing of cultures leading to unique combinations of those cultures that are not reducible to either global or local
cultures. Example: the Muslim Girl Scouts, where the uniform and traditions are combined (Girl Scout Uniform
with traditional Hijab head scarf)
• Creolization, which is the combination of languages and cultures that were formerly unknown to each other.
Cultural Hybridization are external flows interacting with internal flows producing a unique cultural hybrid that
combines their elements. Example: Thai boxing, Asian Rap, Chinese Tacos, Kosher Pizza
CULTURAL CONVERGENCE is when cultures are subject to many of the same global flows and tend to grow more alike.
Cultural Convergence approach stresses homogeneity introduced by globalization. Cultures are deemed to be radically
altered by strong flows, while cultural imperialism happens when one culture imposes itself on and tends to destroy at
least parts of another culture.

GLOBALIZATION AND REGIONALIZATION

The REGIONALIZATION of the world system and economic activity undermines the potential benefits coming out from a
liberalized global economy. This is because regional organizations prefer regional partners over the rest. Regional
organizations respond to the states’ attempt to reduce the perceived negative effects of globalization. Therefore,
regionalism is a sort of counter-globalization.

Globalization “goes back to when humans first put a boat into the sea” (Sweeney, 2005, p.203). We can understand
globalization as the increased flows of goods, services, capital, people, and information across borders.

GLOBAL DEMOGRAPHY

Demographic Transition is a singular historical period during which mortality and fertility rates decline from high to low
levels in a particular country or region.

Global Migration is traditionally governed either by “push” factors such as political persecution, economic depression,
war, and famine in the home country or by “pull” factors such as favorable immigration policy, a labor shortage, and a
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similarity of language and culture in the country destination. Global factors, which facilitate easy access to information
about the country of destination, also exert a significant influence.

SOME OF THE CHALLENGES FACED BY THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

• Migrations of refugees and others • Poverty

• Ethnic and religious conflicts • Poor health
• New technologies • Illiteracy
• Terrorism • Famine
How does the developing world compare with the developed world in terms of economic, social, and population
characteristics?

Contrasts between developed and developing nations

Developed and developing nations are characterized by different levels of economic development, population
characteristics, and social conditions.

Characteristics of the Developed World

• better access to technology
• stronger more diverse economies
• higher literacy rates/better education
• better access to good health care
• slower population growth because of family
planning/birth control
• usually have capitalism & free markets
• women tend to have equal rights and often
work outside the home/get educations
• as countries become developed their citizens
want more liberty and rights

Characteristics of the Developing World

• little access to technology • high infant mortality rate makes people try to
• weaker economy often dependent solely on have more kids
one crop or one type of work • often controlled by dictators andrarely have
• weak education systems free markets/capitalism
• high illiteracy rates • women have traditional role - homemaker,
• high population growth b/c: caregiver
• less family planning knowledge • people often do not realize what it means to
• more kids needed to work on farms truly have liberty

Factors Affecting the Environment

• Rapid Population Growth
• Economic Development

Environmental challenges
• Pollution
• Loss of habitat
• Ozone depletion
• Global climate change

Prepared by:
ALEXA MARIE MAMAUAG
Instructor