Lesson

01
WHAT IS GLOBALIZATION?
Welcome to the first lesson of the course - The Contemporary World! In this lesson,
we will focus on the study and understanding of globalization, its relevance to our life,
and its effect and essence in our country and the world.

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to:

agree on a working definition of globalization for the

course;
differentiate the competing conceptions of globalization;
and
narrate a personal experience of globalization.

INTRODUCTION
We will start this lesson with a story where the idea of globalization
can be seen. Then we will try to dissect our experiences and see
whether globalization is relevant in our present time.

A Story: Gio, Latif, and the Laksa

When Gio was a second-year international affairs student in a University in
Cebu City, he obtained funding to join the school team participating in an
international Model UN competition in Sydney, Australia. At the height of the
competition, Gio made plenty of new friends and became particularly close to Latif
from the Malaysian team. The two first started talking when Latif asked Gio where
he was from. Upon discovering that Gio was from the Philippines, Latif lit up and
declared that he was a big fan of Filipino actors Jericho Rosales and Kristine
Hermosa. Gio was pleasantly surprised to learn that Latif had seen every episode of
the ABS-CBN telenovela Pangako sa ’Yo (“The Promise”). The show had aired on
Malaysian TV a few years back, and its two stars had developed a modest
following.
Ashamed that he did not know as much about Malaysia as Latif knew about
the Philippines, Gio asked Latif what his country was like. Latif, he discovered, was
from a Muslim university in Kuala Lumpur. Gio asked him what he liked best about
living in “KL,” and Latif immediately mentioned the food. Latif explained that in
Kuala Lumpur, one can find Chinese, Indian, and Malay cuisines. He told Gild that
this assortment of foodways was the result of how the British reorganized
Malaysian society during the colonial times. The British did little to change the way
of life of the Malay’s who were the original residents, but brought in Chinese
laborers to work in the rubber plantations and tin mines, and Indians to help manage
the bureaucracy and serve as the initial professional core of a potential middle class.
One of the ways that these ethnic groups were identified was through their foodways.
According to Latif, Malaysia eventually became famous for these cuisines which can
be found in the various “hawker centers” across the nation’s cities and towns. These
food stands are located in an outdoor food parks where locals and tourists taste the
best of Malaysia, from nasi lemak to laksa.
Gio interrupted Latif and asked, “What is laksa?” He felt, more ashamed at his lack of
knowledge. “Ahh…let me show you what it is and how it is prepared!” replied Latif.
The next day, Latif took Gio to a Malaysian restaurant a few blocks away from the
university. Gio was surprised to discover that Malaysian food was readily available in
Sydney. Having noticed this, Latif explained to his Filipino friend that, over the years,
as more and more Malaysian students moved to Sydney to study, Malaysian
restaurants followed suit. Soon after, they were catering not only to these students, but
also to Australia-born “Sydneysiders” as well, whose culinary tastes were becoming
more and more diverse.
Gio finally had his first taste of laksa – a rice noodle soup in a spicy coconut curry
sauce. He found the flavors intense since, like most Filipinos, he was not used to spicy
food. However, in deference to his friend, he persisted and eventually found himself
enjoying the hot dish.
After the meal, Gio and Latif went to a nearby café and ordered “flat whites” – an
espresso drink similar to latte, which is usually served in café in Australia and New
Zealand. Both knew what flat whites were since there were Australian-inspired cafés
on both Kuala Lumpur and Cebu.

The new friends promised to stay in touch after the competition, and added each
other on Facebook and Instagram. Over the next two years, they exchanged e- mails
and posts, congratulated each other for their achievements, and commented on and
liked each other’s photos. Latif sent his mother’s recipe to Gio and the latter began cooking
Malaysian food in his house.
A few years after graduation, Gio moved to Singapore, joining many other overseas Filipino
workers (OFWs) in the city-state. The culture was new to him, but one thing was familiar: the
food served in Singapore was no different from the Malaysian food he had discovered through
Latif. He would late learn from Singaporean colleagues that the island country was once part
of the British colony of Malay and the postwar independent Federation of Malaysia.
Singapore, however,
separated from the Federation in August 1965 and became a nation state. Today, they
may be two distinct countries in this part of the world, but Singapore and Malaysia
still share the same cuisines. After he settled down in his apartment, Gio sought out
and found a favorite laksa stall in Newton Hawker Center. He would spend his
weekends there with friends eating laksa and other dishes.

One Saturday, while Gio was checking his Facebook feed along the very busy Orchard
Road – Singapore’s main commercial road – he noticed that Latif had just posted
something 5 minutes earlier. It was a picture from Orchard Road. Surprised but also
excited. Gio sent Latif a private message. Latif replied immediately saying that he too
had moved to Singapore and was, at that moment, standing in front of a department
store just a few blocks away from where Gio was. The two friends met up, and after a
long hug and quick questions as to what each was up to, they ducked into a café and
renewed their international friendship. . .by ordering a pair of flat whites.

ABSTRACTION

Global Experiences
The story of Gio, Latif and the Laksa serves as a good
example for us to appreciate the meaning and impact of
globalization.
 Gio and Latif’s story is fictional but very plausible since it is, in fact, based on the
real-life experience of one of the authors. It was through friendship that one was
able to appreciate the meaning and impact of globalization.
 The story shows how globalization operates at multiple, intersecting levels. The
spread of Filipino TV into Malaysia suggest how fast this popular culture has
proliferated and criss-crossed all over Asia.
 The Model UN activity that Gio and Latif participated in is an international
competition about international politics.
 Gio met Latif (a Malaysian involved in the Model UN) in Sydney, a global city that
derives its wealth and influence from the global capital that flows through it.
 Sydney is also a metropolis of families of international immigrants or foreigners
working in the industries that also sell their products abroad.
 After the two had gone back to their home countries, Gio and Latif kept in touch
through Facebook, a global social networking site that provides instantaneous
 communication across countries and continents.
 They preserved their friendship online and then rekindled this face-to-face in
Singapore, another hub for global commerce, with 40 percent of the population
being classified as “foreign talents.”
 It was through such friendships that one was able to appreciate the meaning and
impact of globalization.

A Working Definition
Most accounts view globalization primarily an economic process. When a newspaper
reports that nationalists are resisting “globalization,” it usually refers to the integration
of the national markets to a wider global market signified by the increased free trade.
When activists refer to the “anti-globalization” movement of the 1990s, they mean
resisting the trade deals among countries facilitated and promoted by global
organizations like the World Trade Organization.
The best scholarly description of globalization is provided by Manfred Steger who
described the process as “the expansion and intensification of social relations and
consciousness across world-time and across world-space.” Expansion refers to “both
the creation of new social networks and the multiplication of existing connections that
cut across traditional political, economic, cultural, and geographic boundaries.” These
various connections occur at different levels. Social media, for example, establish new
global connections between people, while international groups of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) are networks that connect a more specific group- social
workers and activists-from different corners of the globe. In the story, Gio was able to
join a Model UN competition because his university was part of an international
network.
Intensification refers to the expansion, stretching, and acceleration of these networks.
Not only are global connections multiplying, but they are also becoming more closely-
knit and expanding their reach. For example, there has always been a strong financial
market connecting London and New York. With the advent of electronic trading,
however, the volume of that at higher speeds. The connection is thus accelerating.
Apart from this acceleration, however, as the world becomes more financially
integrated, the intensified trading network between London and N as the world
becomes more financially integrated, the intensified trading network between London
and New York ma expand and stretch to cover more and more cities. After China
committed itself to the global economy in the 1980s, for example, Shanghai steadily
returned to its old role as a major trading post.

It is not only in financial matters that you can find these connections. In 2012, when he
monsoon rains flooded much of Bangkok, the Honda plant making some of the critical
car parts temporarily ceased production. This had a strong negative effect on Honda-
USA which relied heavily on the parts being imported from Thailand. Not only was it
unable to reach the sales targets it laid out, but the ability of the service centers
nationwide to assist Honda owners also suffered. As the result, the Japanese car
company’s global profits also fell.
The final attribute of this definition relates to the way people time and space. Steger
notes that “globalization processes do not occur merely at an objective, material level
but they also involved the subjective plane of human consciousness.” In other words,
people begin to feel that the world has become a smaller place and distance has
collapsed from thousands of miles to just a mouse-click away. One can now e-mail a
friend in another country and get a reply instantaneously, and as a result, begins to
perceive their distance as less consequential. Cable TV and the internet has also
exposed one to news from across the globe, so now, he/she has this greater sense of
what is happening in other places.
Steger posits that his definition of globalization must be differentiated with an
ideology he calls globalism. If globalization represents the many processes that allow
for the expansion and intensification of global connections globalism is a widespread
belief among powerful people that the global integration of economic markets is
beneficial for everyone, since it spreads freedom and democracy across the world. It
is a common belief forwarded I the media and policy circles. In the next lesson, you
will realize why it is problematic.
Globalization from the Ground Up

All this talk of large, intersecting processes may be confusing. Indeed, it may be hard
to assess globalization or comment on it because it is so diffuse and almost fleeting.
Some scholars have, therefore, found it simpler to avoid talking about globalization as
a whole. Instead, they want to discuss “multiple globalizations,” instead of just one
process.
For anthropologist Arjun Appadurai, different kinds of globalization occur on multiple
and intersecting dimensions of integration that he calls “scapes.” An “ethnoscape,” for
example, refers to the global movement of people, while a “mediascape” is about the
flow of culture. A “technoscape” refers to the circulation of mechanical goods and
software; a “financescape” is the realm where the political ideas move around.
Although they intersect, these various scapes have different logics. They are thus
distinct windows into the broader phenomenon of globalization.
Appadurai’s argument is simple: there are multiple globalizations. Hence, even if one
does not agree that globalization can be divided into the five ‘scapes,” it is hard to
deny Appadurai’s central thrust of viewing globalization through various lenses.

Conclusion
Depending on what is being globalized, as different dynamic (or dynamics) may
emerge. So while it is important to ask “ What is globalization?” it is likewise
important to ask “What is/are being globalized?” Depending on what is being
globalized, the visa and conclusions change.

The structure of the lessons that follow will reflect this multidimensional
understanding of globalization. Each of the lessons will focus on a particular kind of
globalization. Every one of them will be about different networks and connections
that are expanding and intensifying in the contemporary world.
Treat each lesson not as an end in itself but as window to the phenomenon of
globalization.