San Mateo Municipal College

Module 1 (Week 2)
Introduction to the study of Globalization

GE007
The Contemporary World

Module Duration
Feb. 27-March 4, 2023Instructor: Ms.
Maria Linda C. Verdadero
UNIT I INTRODUCTION TO GLOBALIZATION
Coverage: Week 2

Duration:3 hours

Learning Objectives: After studying the unit, the students should be able to:

· Differentiate the competing conceptions of globalization.

· Identify the underlying philosophies of the varying definitions of

globalization.

· Agree on a working definition of globalization

The succeeding lessons will introduce you to the major themes in the study of
the world while providing opportunities for you to connect this knowledge with
your experiences as a Filipino student. This unit will introduce you to the various
drivers of the globalization process, with specific focus on economics and
politics

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 joined 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 Malayan 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
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 likes best about
living in “KL” , and Latif immediately mentioned the food. Latif explained that in

Kuala Lumpur, one can find Chinese, Indian, and Maly cuisines. He told Gio that
this assortment of foodways was the result of how British reorganizes 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 ines, 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 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 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 difference to his friend, he persisted and eventually found
himself enjoying the hot dish.

After the meal, Gio and Latif went to a nearby cafe 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 sincere 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 for their achievements, and commented on
and liked each other’s photos. Latif sent his mother’s recipe to Gio and the latter
began to cooking Malaysian food in his home.

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 later 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 cuisine.

After he settled in his apartment, Gio sought out and found a favorite laksa
still in Newton Hawker Center. He would spend his weekend 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 cafe and renewed their international
friendship…by ordering a pair of flat whites.

Global experiences

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 such friendships
that one was able to appreciate the meaning and impact of globalization.

We begin our definition of globalization with this narrative to illustrate how

concrete the phenomenon is. The story shows how globalization operates at
multiple, intersecting levels. The spread of Filipino TV into Malaysia suggests
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 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.Gio and
Latif kept in touch through Facebook after they have gone back to their home
countries. They preserved their friendship online and then rekindled this face-to-
face in singapore, another hub for global commerce with 40% of the population
being classified as “foreign talents”

What other hints of globalization did you find in the story?

Some Description
 Other discussion should begin with this intuitive sense that something is
happening, and it is not affecting everyone in the same way. Gio’s story is a very
privileged way of experiencing global flows, but for other people, the shrinking of
the world may not be as exciting and edifying.

Governments that decide to welcome the foreign investments on the belief

that they provide jobs and capital for the country offer public lands as factory or
industrial sites, in the process poor people living in these lands, also called
“urban poor communities” are being evicted by the government. The irony is that
these people forcibly removed from their “slums” are also the labor force sought
by foreign companies. They had to be kicked out of their homes, and then told
that they could take an hour or two of bus travel from their relocated communities
back to the “old home” for minimum wage work.

Because different people encounter globalization in a variety of ways, it is

deemed useful to ask simple questions like: “Is globalization good or bad?” Is it
beneficial or detrimental?” The discussion begins with two premises. First,
globalization is a complex phenomenon that occurs at multiple levels. Second, it
is an uneven process that affects people differently.

COMPETING CONCEPTIONS OF GLOBALIZATION

(Globalization Concepts, Meanings, Features, and Dimensions)

On globalization as a “contested concept”, Manfred Steger remarks that

“since its earliest appearance in the 1960s, the term ‘globalization’ has been used
in both popular and academic literature to describe a process, a condition, a
system, a force, and an age.

Globalization is a process of interacting with people, goods or services in other

countries.

Globalization is a condition where two or more countries interact with each other.
Globalization is the process in which people, ideas and goods spread throughout
the world, spurring more interaction and integration between the world's cultures,
governments and economies

Or globalization is a force that unites or connects people in different countries. It

is a contested concept because it is broad.

Globalization: A working Definition

Most accounts view globalization as 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.

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 (GE) courses that you will be taking alongside this one.

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.These
connections occurs at different levels. Social media, for example, establish new
global connections between people, while international groups of non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) are network 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.

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 trade increases exponentially,
since traders can now trade more at higher speeds.The connection thus is
accelerating.Apart from this acceleration, however, as the world becomes
financially integrated, the intensified trading network between London and New
York may 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 the 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 a result, the Japanese car company's global profits also fell.

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 email a friend in another country and get a reply
instantaneously, and as a result, begins to perceive their distance as less
consequential.

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.

Conclusion: 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” denotes the
global circulation of money; and an “ideoscape” is the realm where political ideas
 move around. Although they intersect, these various scapes have differing logics.
They are thus distinct windows into the broader phenomenon of globalization.

Appandurai’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.

Depending on what is being globalized, a different dynamic(s) may emerge.

Depending on what is being globalized, the vista and conclusion change.

Vocabularies:

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.

Free Trade - stands for free flow of trade relations among all the nations.

Intensification - refers to the expansion, stretching, and acceleration of these

networks.

Expansion and Stretching - globalization is very evident in the expansion and

stretching of social operations and connections on how the financial markets and
trading operate around the globe like the (WTO) World Trade Organization,
ASEAN Economic Community, World Economic and European Union brought to
the expansion of local economies through opening their economies to the other
parts of the world.

Learning Activities:

1. Find and read three newspaper op-eds (opposite editorial) local or international,
discussing globalization.

2. Write 50 word summaries of each op-ed, identifying definitions of globalization

the op-ed writers used.
Assessment / Evaluation

1.Recitation

2. Quiz - Google Form