Chapter 1

Introduction to Globalization

Overview

We will begin the lesson with a short narrative of the story of 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 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 the 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 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 Gio that this assortment of food ways 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 Malays 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 food ways.

According to Latif, Malaysia eventually became famous for these cuisines which can be
found in the various “hawker centers” across the nation’s 2 cities and towns. These
food stands are located in 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 has his first taste of laksa---a rice noodle soup in a spicy 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 cafes in Australia and New Zealand.
Both knew what flat whites were since there were Australian-inspired cafes in 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
home.

A few years after graduation, Gio moved to Singapore, joining many other overseas
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 later learn from Singaporean colleagues that the island country was once part of
the British colony of Malay and the post-war independent
Federation of Malaysia. 3 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 cuisine.

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 the Facebook feed along the very busy Orchard
Road ----Singapore’s main commercial road---he noticed that Latif has 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 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.

This story of the two Asian boys show us that through a brief friendship that they had,
they were able to find a significant meaning as well as appreciate the effect of globalization.
More so, it presents to us a scenario on how globalization interconnects on different levels like
for example the participation of Gio and Latif in the international competition, the spread of
Filipino TV in Malaysia, the use of the social media network---
-the Facebook, which provides quick communications in all counties and connects people in all
global places virtually and even on face-to-face, also aids in employment of foreign talents or
workers through on- line job searches as in Google search or other applications; and videos
uploaded on You Tube or FB are unstoppable once they become viral.

Given this narrative of Gio and Latif, we can begin defining globalization in our own
understanding and perhaps, share the definitions and interpretations of global economists and
those engaged in international relations and academics.

So what can you say about globalization?

What is Globalization, its Underlying Philosophies, and Competing Conceptions?

 LESSON 1- DEFINING GLOBALIZATION

Pre-discussion Globalization is the integration of national economies through trade,

investment, capital flow, labor migration, and technology. Friedman describes the "flattening" of
the world economy through globalized trade, outsourcing, supply-chaining and political
liberalization. According to Miriam Webster, it is the development of an increasingly integrated
global economy marked especially by free trade, free flow of capital, and the tapping of cheaper
foreign labor markets. Other economists and scholars defined globalization as the spread of
products, technology, information, and jobs across national borders and cultures. In economic
terms, it describes an interdependence of nations around the globe fostered through free trade.
On one hand, globalization has created new jobs and economic growth through the cross-border
flow of goods, capital, and labor however this growth and job creation is not distributed evenly
across industries or countries. Specific industries in certain countries, such as textile
manufacturing in the
U.S. or corn farming in Mexico, have suffered severe disruption or outright collapse as a result
of increased international.

What to expect?

Objectives:

At the end of this lesson, the students can:

1. Write a personal definition of globalization based on a concept map;

2. Differentiate the competing conceptions of globalization; and

3. Identify the underlying philosophies of the varying definitions of globalization

competition.

Lesson Outline

McGrew (1990), described globalization as something that is comprised of multiple

sameness and interconnectedness that go beyond the nation states. It is a process in
which individuals and organizations in one part of the world are affected by the activities, affairs,
and convictions in another part of the globe.

Since globalization is the process of interaction and integration among people,

companies, and governments worldwide it focuses primarily on the economic process of
interaction and integration that's associated with social and cultural aspects. It is also said that
globalization is the connection of different parts of the world resulting in the expansion of
international cultural, economic, and political activities. It is the movement and integration of
goods and people among different countries. At the early stages of globalization, the gains from
trade are small and the benefit of creating an economic union does not justify the loss of
economies of scope. Thus, a single-level governance structure is optimal. As globalization
proceeds, localities remove borders by increasing the size of countries .Globalization motives are
idealistic, as well as 6 opportunistic, but the development of a global free market has benefited
large corporations based in the Western world. Its impact remains mixed for workers, cultures,
and small businesses around the globe, in both developed and emerging nations. Cerny (1997)
also defines globalization as a cluster of economic and political frameworks and procedures
deriving from the changing marks of the interests and assets that comprise the foundation of the
international political economy---specifically, the expanding cultural influences of those interests
and assets.

According to a widely accepted great interpretation, globalization is a science of

extensive problems, each of which concern everyone, and humanity in general as well, in new,
qualitative, and in their tendencies existential ways. In this sense, the legitimate fields of
globalization are e.g. the issues of ecology, raw materials, migration, the global health problems
of the world (for they cannot be restricted beyond state limits any more), the global positive or
negative tendencies of population, energy, arms trading, the drug crisis, or dilemmas of
integration and world economy.

One reason why globalization is important is because it interconnects people and

businesses across the world that eventually leads to global cultural, political and economic
integration. It is the ability to move and communicate easily with others all over the world in
order to conduct business internationally. Among the benefits brought about
by globalization are: it allows access to new cultures, spread of technology and innovation, lower
costs for products, higher standards of living across the globe, access to new markets, access to
new talent, international recruiting, and managing employee Immigration.

The metaphor that could best describe globalization is liquidity which refers to the
increasing ease of movement of people, things, information, and places in the contemporary
world. It is difficult to stop. Economic, social, and political globalization are the three main
factors that affect globalization. The following are the competing conceptions of globalization by
economists and academicians:

Prof. Theodore Levitt:

Globalization refers to the existence of free exchange of goods, services, culture, and
even people, between and among countries.

1. People become more interested to travel

2. People learn new languages

3. People immerse themselves into new cultures and lifestyles.

UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development):

Globalization is a closer integration of national economies through trade and financial

flows as well as cross-border migration of people. – globalization brings three freedoms (Free
movement of goods or products, services, capital or investment, and persons.

European Union, globalization is:

1. Free movement of goods because of abolition of tariff – tax on imported goods.

2. Free movement of capital or investment because of lifting of strict banking and financial
regulations that encourage investors

3. Free movement of persons because of abolition of visa restrictions

a. wages hikes
b. privatization

c. migration and outsourcing of jobs

Thomas Larsson (2001): Globalization is the modern term for colonization.

Martin Khor : Globalization is the onset of the borderless world.

Ohmae (1992): Globalization’s definition is complex, multifaceted because it deals with either
economic, political or social dimensions. It is not easy to define because it has a shifting nature.
It can be influenced by people who define it. Space and time are crucial elements of
globalization. Foods are being globalized. Think of the different foreign cuisine patronized and
consumed by Filipinos. It is not static, but a dynamic on-going process: globalization involves
the inexorable integration of markets, nation-states, and technologies to a degree never witnessed
before - in a way that it is enabling individuals, corporations, and nation-states to reach around
the world farther, faster, deeper, and cheaper than ever before, and in a way that it is also
producing a powerful backlash from those brutalized or left behind by this new system.

Thomas Friedman:

a. Globalization is about the liberalization and global integration of markets.

b. Globalization is inevitable and irreversible.

c. Nobody is in-charge of globalization.

d. Globalization benefits everyone.

e. Globalization furthers the spread of democracy around the world.

f. Globalization requires war on terror.

Globalization: A Working Definition

- The best scholarly description of globalization is that of Manfred Steger (1960s) who described
globalization as a process, a condition, a system, a force, and age. He described the process as
“the expansion and intensification of social relations and consciousness across-world time and
across world space.”
 The final attribute of this definition relates to the way people perceive time and space.
Steger notes that “globalization processes do not occur merely at an objective, material level but
they also involve 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
in an instant, 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.

According to the Committee for Development Policy (a subsidiary body of the United
Nations), from an economic point of view, globalization can be defined as: “(…) the increasing
interdependence of world economies as a result of the growing scale of cross-border trade of
commodities and services, the flow of international capital and the wide and rapid spread of
technologies (youmatter.world).

In geography, globalization is defined as the set of processes (economic, social, cultural,

technological, and institutional) that contribute to the relationship between societies and
individuals around the world. It is a progressive process by which exchanges and flows between
different parts of the world are intensified (youmatter.world).

A person’s perspective shapes his/her definition of globalization. This implies that

globalization is many things to many different people in different places.

For better understanding, different metaphors are used to define globalization.

Metaphors provide the imagination with key elements.

Examples of these metaphors are:

a. solidity - people, things, and places. These harden over time and therefore have limited
mobility; and
 b. liquidity - ideas, information and culture. The increasing movement of people around
the world helps phenomena to move easily. Once they are on the move, they are difficult to stop;
and,

c. flows - movement of people, things, information, places, and even diseases spread 10
around the world. These flows are like raging floods and are less likely be controlled, among
others, place-based barriers of any kind including the oceans, mountains, and even the borders of
nation-states.

These metaphors show how important globalization is as a process. People, business

entities, and governments of different countries interact and integrate. This process has impact on
the environment, culture, political systems, and economic development and on the human
physical well-being in societies around the world.

Globalization scholars do not necessarily disagree with people who criticize unfair
international trade deals or global economic organizations. Academics differ from journalists and
political activists, however, because they see globalization in much broader terms. They view the
process through various lenses that consider multiple theories and perspectives. Academics call
this an interdisciplinary approach, and it is this approach used by the general education courses.
Depending on what is being globalized, a different dynamic /s 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 vista and conclusions change.

Nevertheless, it is crucial to insist that “globalization” as a process refers to a larger

phenomenon that cannot simply be reduced to the ways in which global markets have been
integrated. Notably, globalization is focused on three dimensions: the economic, political, and
security

Thus, Globalization is not a new concept. Globalization, as a process of integration of

world economies, had started thousands of years ago as merchants from different parts of the
world exchanged their goods. However, globalization in the modern world moves at a faster
pace with the advancement of technology. It can be conceptualized as a
multidimensional process that involves local, regional, national, international, and world levels of
social life (encyclopedia.com).