History of Globalization and Influence of

Western Culture in Pakistan

Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction..............................................................................................................3

1.1 Pre-History of Globalization............................................................................................3

1.2 Globalization in Pakistan..................................................................................................6

Chapter 2: Western Culture and its Influence on Pakistan.........................................................7

Chapter 3: Relationship between Globalization and Westernization of Cultures......................8

Chapter 4: Conclusion................................................................................................................9

Ethical Considerations..............................................................................................................10

References................................................................................................................................11
 Chapter 1: Introduction
The term “globalization” and its impacts on economic, social and religious horizons of a state

or economy has been a topic for debate since its introduction in the 1980s. As evident from

the name, this concept is extremely diverse, volatile and has a flexible scope. There is a

multitude of concepts, definitions and perspectives which are developed over time by

supporting arguments. Many define it as a concept which was present all along, but was

recognized just a generation ago. Conversely, others claim that despite the rapid growth of

concept, the world is far away from reaching the maximum potential of “globalization” i.e.;

penetrating into a singular network without any regional, religious, social, economic or

linguistic boundaries.

As per Ahmad & Ghani, (2005) there are three terms which exhibit globalization; (1) cross-

border relations (2) trans-border relations (3) open border relations. Indicators such as

finance, information technology, travel and politics are utilized to descend the distances

between cultural borders of states. In Pakistan, the home culture is a mix of patriarchy,

eastern values and religious obligations. The society has posed numerous challenges to

development of economy, especially in the case of women entrepreneurs. Globalization has

enabled to lower down many such boundaries, which is a major reason why the GDP of

Pakistan has been on higher charts since 2002. The greatest margins of western influence

include freedom of press, freedom of speech and freedom of opinion. The thesis aims at

unfolding different aspects of globalization and western culture on the state of Pakistan, A

comparative analysis of today’s society and its past developments.

1.1 Globalization- The Concept

The term globalization was first introduced in 1980s and since then its scope has expanded in

multiple horizons. Many researchers claim that “globalization” is merely a linguistic

terminology which, undoubtedly, initiated just a generation ago, however, the concept has

been thriving in the world since forever. Kevin H. O’Rourke & Jeffrey G. Williamson, (1999)

state that in the first half of 19th century, when “globalization” was not known by politicians,

businessmen or economies, the War between Britain and France (1760-1820) had drastic

effects for thirty six years on all the other continents, resulting in enormously high travel

rates, challenges in trade and inflicted prices, huge decrease in British traffic port, depicting

that the war had its impacts on not only the fighting nations but also the states who were

directly or indirectly linked with them which is a definition of globalization.

Travelers voyaged and crossed borders a lot in the early ages. This is also a prime reason why

China and Middle Arab was named as the “center of the world” because the travel rate to

these states was higher. Back in the thirteenth century, it was Mongol empire, established in

center of Asia, which suggested the idea of trading goods and services to far beyond

continents by travelling through Yellow Sea to a region which is known as Poland today.

There is a reason why this term was selected to define the dynamic and constant change

happening in the age that we are residing in. Before this, many people tried to name the

contemporary eras such as; in 1950s the name “atomic age” was allotted, in 1960-1970 it was

named as “industrial age” and “late capitalism” given the increased cross-border travel and

foreign labor trends, In 1980s “risk society” came into the trend which was followed by “post

modern”

At the start of nineteenth century, mass migration and foreign labor trends were appealed by

declining the travel costs, opening the doors of economic convergence which was not

restricted to wage rates or public market. A significant impact on per capita income was also

observed. The critical analysis of the global economy after World War 1 and World War 2

implies that there are many similarities, which point towards the application of “globalization
concepts” In the second half of the 19th century, the influence of international trade rate had

every city and village under itself.

The liberal trade policy integrated open markets along with their commodities. By 1914,

every individual and entrepreneur was aware of the negative and positive impacts that come

along with the imbalance or disruptions of the international market. In the same era, labor

started to complain that they are being paid lesser as compared to the foreign income and

standards. Immigrants started to ask for their rights, capitalists began to ask for

compensations against losses made on sunk investments, leading to financial, social and

economic crisis in the global economy.

It can be noticed that trade shares had been growing continuously in this time period thus

reducing the cross-border boundaries which is one of the three factors defining globalization.

After analyzing the data, the reader can see that there are a lot of surpassing points for this

and the economic history is a major tool to prove that. Globalization is not a one-time

process, nor can it be achieved through a singular mechanism. Jürgen Osterhammel & Niels

P. Petersson, (2017) explain in their book “Globalization: A Short History” that an integrated

network formed by multiple activities, happening from a long passage of time ended by

making this planet a global village. The roots of this concept are rooted a way before the

modernization, maybe seven to eight centuries ago.

There is an agreement about a specific characteristic of globalization, which is happening due

to information technology, also known as “Cultural Globalization” Initially, when the

worldwide cultures were introduced and broadcasted it was defined as an act of homogeneity.

Only a while after it happened, there was a domination observed by the American cultural

marketing industries, which resulted in trending the worldwide reign of western culture.

Different protests and movements were conducted by different leaders because they claimed
that by doing this, the taste of “uniqueness” and “local identity” is vanishing. Roland

Robertson then presented his theory suggesting that homogeneity and heterogeneity are

simultaneous processes i.e.; “It is the universalism of particularity and particularity of

universalism”

The statement was agreed by and criticized by a lot of readers, however, the dilemma that it

suggests cannot be denied. He then explained the term “hybridity” as a new and mixed

culture which has formed due to the influence of varied cross-border cultures. Another term

called “glocalization”, meaning the impact of globalization of the culture of a specific entity.

It has multiple influencing mechanisms such as global demand of a specific good and/or

service, long distance travel.

David Harvey defined globalization as “space time compression” given that the term has

made lives of individuals much easier. The same processes which could take years in the past

can now be done within some days. There is a significant compression in these boundaries. It

is also the third aspect of socio-scientific understanding of this process, claiming that the

world has become “virtually together” The enhanced speed of communication is one of its

most important mechanism. Terms including “deterritorialization” and “supraterritoriality”

are also used to explain the concept as borders do not act as a barrier between people’s social

relationships anymore. Scholars appeal the fact that globalization should not be taken as a

threat to “uniqueness” however it is aimed at blending the sovereign in different states, thus

descending territories and boundaries.

Over the passage of time multiple theories are poised on the topic however two of them come

along with most persuasive arguments. First is “Martin AL bow’s concept of globality” in

which he states that globality has played biggest role in differentiating history from the

present era. The current knowledge such as challenges of global ecological system, global
destruction through weapons and the basic global outcome of someone’s actions is highly

known by individuals which depicts that a global framework has been developed and the

networks are getting strongly inter-connected, day by day. Second is the “Manuel Casttle’s

idea of network society” in which he claims that globalization has made the world a network

society, given that the presence of information technology has removed the barriers for cross-

border social relationships.

1.2 Globalization in Pakistan

Chapter 2: Western Culture and its Influence on
Pakistan
Chapter 3: Relationship between Globalization and
Westernization of Cultures
Chapter 4: Conclusion
Ethical Considerations
 References
1. Ahmad, N., & Ghani, E. (2005). Governance, Globalisation, and Human
Development in Pakistan [with Comments] on JSTOR. Pakistan Institute of
Development Economics, Islamabad.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/41261120?read-now=1&refreqid=excelsior
%3A9455360222f508027266161370038d62&seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents
2. Jürgen Osterhammel, & Niels P. Petersson. (2017). Globalization: A Short History -
Jürgen Osterhammel, Niels P. Petersson - Google Books.
https://books.google.com.pk/books?
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3. Kevin H. O’Rourke, & Jeffrey G. Williamson. (1999). Globalization and History:
The Evolution of a Nineteenth-century Atlantic ... - Kevin H. O’Rourke, Jeffrey G.
Williamson - Google Books. https://books.google.com.pk/books?
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s=jRZ8_CwnJ1&sig=pZHIPBCZ4fIQswLzNnw_dRJAVSM&redir_esc=y#v=onepag
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