The Contemporary

World
General Education Course

Prepared by: JD Lumintao

Faculty
Deparment of Social Sciences
 Relevance of the
Course
1. It takes about the aspects outside from the
Philippines
2. To know about the world is a cure to
parochialism
3. To be aware of global issues and relate to Philippine
settings
 HOW TO
START Old Manila New Manila
LEARNING
ABOUT THE
WORLD?

Presence of Technology and

International Brands Media
 CONTENT

Causes: Structures Consequences to Consequences to

of Globalization Culture Human Populations
and Environment
Unit I: Structures of Globalization
Objectives:
1. Distinguish the different interpretations of and approaches to
globalization.
2. Describe the emergence of global economic, political

Globalization Economic Global Interstate Contemporary

Globalizatoion System Global
Governance
Agree on a working Narrate a short history Identify key events in Define global governance;
definition of the of global market the development of Identify the roles and functions of
the United Nations; and other
concept Globalization integration in the 20th international relations regional organization
century

Causes of Globalization
Key question: How do we understand the
world? What tool or lense we are going to
use to examine the contemporary world?
 Globalization
01.
Globalization is a
complex phenomenon
that occurs at multiple
levels
Most Accounts view globalization as
primarily and economic process.

It is a contested Term
Globalization is an
The discussion of the concept begins
with two premises 02. uneven
affects
differently
process that
people
 Perspectives on Globalization
They differ on their approach but they mean the same thing

Manfred Steger Arjun Appadurai

 Expansion – refers to “both the

01.
creation of new social network and

Manfred Steger
the multiplication of both existing
connections that cut across
traditional, political, economic,
cultural, and geographic boundaries.”

He described globalization as
the process of expansion an Intensification – refers to the

intensification of social relations

and consciousness across world-
02. expansion,
acceleration
stretching,
of
networks (social networks)
and
these

time and world-space.

The perception of time and space –
Steger notes that “globalization

03.
processes do not occur merely at an
objective, material level but they
also involve the subjective plane of
human consciousness.
Ethnoscape Mediascape

Arjun Appadurai – An
anthropologist, different
kinds of globalization
occur on multiple and
intersecting dimensions
Technoscape Financescape;
of integration that he Ideoscape
calls “SCAPES.”
 Conclusion
Although it is a contested concept, globalization facilitate us in
1
understanding the world and its systems.

The discussion on globalization always anchored on the two premises:

2
occurring in multiple levels and affecting people differently.

In discussing globalization, the approaches of Manfred Steger and Arjun

Appadurai are different but they all share the same idea: globalization
3
represents the many processes that allow for the expansion and
intensification of global connections

This multifaceted idea of globalization reflects the succeeding lessons with

4 the subject, the contemporary world. It serves as the foundation to
understanding this course.
 Key question:
How is it possible that despite being away from each other, the products from the
other countries can easily be available in our country?
Why is there a lot of presence of foreign companies and brands in our country?
Why are we so affected with the conflicts of other countries that is caused the
rising price of goods in the country?
Economic Globalization
Increased integration of global economy
 What is economic
globalization?
It is defined as a historical process representing the result of human
innovation and technological progress (IMF).

·It is characterized by the increasing integration of economies around the

world through the movement of goods, services, and capital across borders.

·These changes are the products of people, organizations, institutions, and

technologies.
 History of
international trade
Mercantalist Gold Keynessianism Neoliberalism
Era Standard
(16th-18th Century) More open trade Economic Idea is based on Belief of free market
European countries the spending and the
system
competed with one another active roles of the Argued that government
to sell more goods as a government to participate intervention on economies
means to boost their The currency is based in economic activity. distort the proper
economy’s income (called on the value of Gold functioning of the market
monetary reserves later Established the Bretton
on). Wood System Influences economic ideas
Still a restrictive starting in the 1980s.
mercantilism was a system system Resulted to economic
of global trade with recession
multiple restrictions.
 01. 02.
This case illustrate how 1. In September 2008, the
integrated our economy today Lehman Brothers
because the problems in the collapsed (US major

2007-2008
economy of one country might investment banks),
affect the economies of other
depleting major
countries that tied strong
investments.

Global
market connections with each
other.

03. Financial Crisis 04.

These series of Although the integration of global
economy is beneficial because it
interconnections allowed for
addressed the issues of being
a global multiplier effect isolated in the past, it posed a threat
that sent ripples across the to countries because we are all
world. affected to conflicts and issues of
economy around the world.
Conclusion: Economic
globalization is uneven
process
While there are countries that become rich
because of very integrated economy, other
countries also become poor who have also
opened their economies the global scene.

The government must focus their attention

in managing their economies while opening
their market to the world.
 State Level Global Level

There are a lot of people There are a lot of countries

There is a Philippine
government
There is no world government Key
question
Essentially, there are
Why do we experience world
There are domestic laws international laws but not
order in the absence of the
tottaly binding
world government?

There is order There is order

The Power of Visual Charts

Global Interstate
System
What do we have in the
global system? STATE

STATE
In layman’s term, state refers
to a country and its
government i.e. the
government of the Philippines
NATION
It is an ‘imagined community
’ (Benedict Anderson).

It has 4 Key attributes The nation allows one to feel a

People
connection with a community of
Territoty
people even if he/she will never meet
Government
all of them in his/her lifetime.
Sovereignty
SOVEREIGNTY:
The most fundamental concept in
international relations

The state has sovereignty Treaty of Westphalia It is a system designed to

over its territory. (1648) - -Sets of avert wars in the future by
recognizing that the treaty
agreement signed to end
It refers to internal and signers exercise complete
the Thirty Year’s War
external authority control over their domestic
between the major
Nation: affairs and swear not to
continental powers. meddle in other’s affairs.
Conclusion
Despite the absence of a world government, the
concept of sovereignty provided stability in all
states around the world.

Although, we can observed that there are

various conflicts and wars happening in some
parts of the world, generally, order or
international peace is taking place.

Perhaps, sovereignty is observed my most

states around the world, the reason why large
scale conflict is not happening.
 Key question:
Despite the absence of a world government, global order is manifested through the
obedience of states to the specific international/global customs or rules.

At some point, we are being governed. There is a global governance.

Who are those entities governing the states? Who are those setting the
international/global customs or rules?
United Nations and
Contemporary Global
Governance

International Organizations; United Nations

 What is Global Governance?
Global Governance refers to the various intersecting
processes that create international order.

What is International Organizations

International Organization or IOs – it refers to

international intergovernmental organizations or groups
that are primarily made up of member states.

05 Your Agency or Department Name | SDG Progress Report 2025

The Powers of
OIs Power of
classications
IOs can invent and apply
categories to create powerful
global standards.

A broader function related to the first power

Power to which means IOs can define various terms such as
fix “security” and “development.” States,
meanings organizations and individuals vies IOs as legitimate
source of information.

OIs spread their ideas about a certain norm

Power to (accepted code of conduct that may not be strict
diffuse law, but nevertheless produce regularity in
norms behaviour) thereby establishing global standards.
This is due to the fact that staff members of IOs
are considered experts in various fields.
The United Nations

1 The General Assembly

2 Security Council VETO POWER

3 Economic and Social Council

4 International Court of Justice

5 Secretariat

02
 Challenges to Global
Governance

1.Limitations placed upon its various organs and programs by

the need to respect state sovereignty.
The UN is not a world government, meaning to say that
voluntary cooperation from the states need to be attained by
UN before achieving their goals.

1.Veto power of UN’s Security Council related to issues of

security.
The UN Security Council is tasked with authorizing international
acts of military intervention. However, because of P5’s veto
power, it is hard for the council to implement its decisions.
Regional
Organization

Regional
Organization
FOR MILITARY
DEFENSE
NATO Led by US and
Warsaw Pact by Soviet
Union
ECONOMIC CRISIS
Countries will come
together in times of crisis
just like ASEAN
Governments, associations,
societies, and groups form
regional organizations
and/or networks as a way
of coping with the
challenges of globalization.
POOL RESOURCES
Expand leverage against
trading partners NEW REGIONALISM
It is not only states that
agree to work together in
the name of a single cause
or causes, but communities
also engage in regional
organizing
REGIONAL BLOCS
To protect their indepence
from super power politics
 We have just discussed the structures of globalization that allows us to

Conclusion understand how the contemporary world that we have right now came to
be. It looks into the following aspects:
Department Name

THE CONCEPT OF GLOBALIZATION ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION

it is a multifaceted concept that represents We traced the history of international trading
intersecting processes of integration system and learned that economic globalization is
an uneven process.

GLOBAL INTERSTATE SYSTEM CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL

Despite the absence of a world government, global
order is observed because states conform to the
concept of sovereignty, which provided stability to
the global politics.
GOVERNANCE
World order is manifested by the obedience of
states to the international customs or rules
imposed by the International organizations.
Unit II: Culture and Globalization
Objectives:
1. Describe the emergence of global social, and cultural systems.
2. Assess the effects of globalization on different social units and their
responses.

Religion Media

Explain how Analyze how various

globalization affects media drive different
religious practices and forms of global
beliefs; integration;
Compare the social
Identify the various
impacts of different
religious responses to
media on the
globalization
processes of
globalization;

Consequences of Globalization
Globalization of
Religion
What is Religion?
· It is the belief in and worship of a
superhuman controlling power, especially a
personal God or gods.

· Religion as a phenomenon looked on as

universal — Eliade’s concept of the “sense of
the sacred”
 Realities of Religion in the
Contemporary World
RELIGIONS ARE THE
FOUNDATIONS OF MODERN
REPUBLICS
The Malaysian Government places religion at
the center of their political system. In their
Constitution, it is clear that “Islam is the
religion of the Federation,” and the rulers of
each state was also the “Head of the religion
of Islam.”
RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS DO NOT
HESITATE TO APPROPRIATE
SECULAR THEMES AND
PRACTICES.
The moderate Muslim associations Nahdlatul
Ulama in Indonesia has Islamic schools
(called pesantren) where students are taight
not only about Islam but also about modern
science, the social sciences, modern
banking, civic education, rights of women,
pluralism, and democracy.
IN SOME CASES, RELIGION WAS
THE RESULT OF A SHIFT IN STATE
POLICY.
The Church of England, for example, was
“shaped by the rationality of modern
democratic (and bureaucratic) culture.”
King Henry VIII broke away from Roman
Catholicism and established his own church
to bolster his own power.
 RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM
MAY DISLIKE GLOBALIZATION’S
MATERIALISM, BUT IT CONTINUES TO
USE “THE FULL RANGE OF MODERN
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION AND
ORGANIZATION” THAT IS
ASSOCIATED WITH THIS ECONOMIC
TRANSFORMATION.

SOME MUSLIMS VIEW “GLOBALIZATION” AS A

TROJAN HORSE HIDING SUPPORTERS OF
WESTERN VALUES LIKE SECULARISM,
LIBERALISM, OR EVEN COMMUNISM READY TO
SPREAD THESE IDEAS IN THEIR AREAS TO
EVENTUALLY DISPLACE ISLAM. THE WORLD
COUNCIL OF CHURCHES – AN ASSOCIATION OF
DIFFERENT PROTESTANT CONGREGATIONS –
HAS CRITICIZED ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION’S
NEGATIVE EFFECTS.
Media and
Globalization
 TYPES OF MEDIA
Jack Lule – describes media as “a means of conveying something, such as channel
of communication.
Ø Technically speaking, a person’s voice is a medium.

PRINT MEDIA BROADCAST MEDIA DIGITAL MEDIA

books, magazines, and radio, film, and internet and mobile mass
communication
newspapers. television Internet media – email,
internet sites, social media
and internet-based video and
audio.
 WHAT MEDIA DO AND HOW THEY
AFFECT SOCIETIES?
Television
Marshall McLuhan – emphasized on how the media,
as a form of technology, reshape societies (the
medium is the message).
Television – it shapes the social behaviour of users
and reorient family behavior.

Smartphones
Smartphone – allows users to keep in touch
instantly with multiple people at the same
time.
For relationships, it enabled the couples to
constantly keep in touch or be updated on
what other does all the time
THE GLOBAL VILLAGE
AND CULTURAL
IMPERIALISM
McLuhan examined the impact
of electronic media,
particularly the social
changes brought about by the
television.
Assumption: Global media had a tendency
to homogenize culture.
v Argument: As the global media spread,
people from all over the world would begin
to watch, listen to, and read the same
things
This thinking arose at a time when
America’s power had turned it into the
world’s cultural heavyweight.
Unit III: People and Environment
Objectives:
1. Assess the effects of globalization on different social units and their
responses.
2. Develop a personal position on various global issues and the ethical
implications of global citizenship.

Demography Environment Global Filipino

and Migration
Articulate a personal
Examine the policies
Discuss the definition of global
and programs of
relationship between citizenship; and
governments around
population and Appreciate the ethical
the world that address
economic welfare; obligations of global
the environmental
citizenship.
crisis.
Identify the reasons
why people migrate;

Consequences of Globalization
 Global demography
Demography is a complex discipline that requires the integration of various social scientific data.

Will a child be an economic asset or burden to the family?

With more than 8,000,000,000 people on the planet

today, our population has become so large that the
Earth cannot cope. It took until the early 1800s for the
world population to reach one billion. Now we add a
billion every 12-15 years.
-© 2023 Population Matters

Migration – one of the reasons why urban

population raised. a. By the 21st century, the
world has been 44% URBAN, for developed
countries are 52% to 75%
 Danger of overpopulation
Thomas Malthus
He warned in his 1798
“An Essay on the
Principle of Population
“that population
growth will inevitably
exhaust WORLD FOOD
SUPPLY.”
Paul R. Ehrlich & Anne Ehrlich
They wrote The
Population Bomb in 1960.
- It predicted worldwide
famine in the 1970s and
1980s due to
overpopulation, as well
as other major societal
upheavals, and
advocated immediate
action to limit population
growth.
RECOMMENDATIONS OF US IN GLOBAL POPULATION
CONTROL

Bizarre Policy – Oriented Monetary Insitution Building

taxing an additional
Incentives
child and luxury taxes
chemical castration
on child – related paying off men
and salpingectomy
products. who would agree Creating a
to be sterilized (to powerful
Case in point:
Case in point: China i. undergo Department for
Chemical Castration
is set as a corporal
The Chinese law vasectomy) after Population
mandates that having two (2)
punishment for sex
families should only
Environment
offenders in Pakistan, children. mitigation.
have a child or two
South Korea, United
(based on the recent
States, The Czech
reform). Children Case in point: The
Republic, Ukraine, Country of China,
born third or latter
and Nigeria and India.
shall be taxed
 Global
Migration
Overall, the estimated number of international
migrants has increased over the past five
decades. The total estimated 281 million people
living in a country other than their countries of
birth in 2020 was 128 million more than in 1990
and over three times the estimated number in
1970.

90% of the, moved for economic reasons while

the remaining 10% were refugees and asylum-
seekers
 Five (5) types of
International Migrants:

Immigrants Workers
– who move permanently to another who stay in a country for fixed period (at
country least 6 mos. In a year)

Illegal Immigrants Migrants

the migration of people into a country in violation of Migrants whose families have
that country's immigration laws, or the continuous petitioned them to move to the
residence in a country without the legal right to. destination country

Refugees
also known as asylum – seekers
They are people who have been forced to
flee their homes and have crossed an
international border to find safety in another
country.
 Impact of Migration

Movement
50% of global migrants – moved from the
developing countries to the developed zones
of the world and contribute from 40% to 80%
of their labor force

“Brain Drain”
The global migration is “siphoning… qualified
personnel, removing dynamic workers.”

The loss of professionals in certain key roles,

such as doctors, has been detrimental to the
migrants’ home countries
ENVIRONMENT CRISIS AND SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
 Combating Global
Warming
Kyoto Protocol-1997 Paris Accord-Dec 2015
• Signed by 192 countries
• to reduce greenhouse gases, following Negotiated by 195 countries. • It seeks to
the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit limit the increase in global average
where a Framework Convention for temperature based on targeted goals as
Climate Change was finalized. recommended by scientists
• However, US (the biggest polluter of
the world) is not joining the effort
Social Movements
GLOBAL
CITIZENSHIP
 GLOBAL FILIPINO

WHAT ARE THE WHERE ARE

WHAT DOES IT
RESPONSIBILITIES WE IN THIS
MEAN TO
OF A GLOBAL HIGHLY
BECOME A
FILIPINO? GLOBALIZED
GLOBAL
WORLD?
FILIPINO?
THANK
YOU