Chapter 1

Contemporary Ideologies
with Introduction to Globalization

At the end of this chapter, the students will be able to:

• Identify the contemporary ideologies of globalization.
• Determine the facts about living standards and growth rates around the world.
• Answer the ten basic questions of globalization.
• Differentiate developed and developing world.
• Examine the six (6) claims of globalization and types of globalization.

INTRODUCTION TO GLOBALIZATION
In the Philippines, notice the entry of Korean,
Indian and French restaurants, to name a few.
Filipinos do not need to go to Korea just to try
Korean food. So, what is globalization? How new is
globalization? What has led to increase globalization?
What are some positive effects of globalization?
When people trade, how do both sides (two or more
countries) benefit? What are some negative effects
of globalization? What roles do the international
monetary fund (IMF), the World Bank and the world Globalization Now: Risk and
trade organization (WTO) play in globalization? Opportunity
What are some effects of multinational businesses? What are some of the issues
involved with outsourcing jobs? What is the future of globalization?
Several literatures defined globalization focusing on a variety of phenomena,
including process, a condition, a system, a force, and an age (Steger, 2005). Further,
Steger (2005) elaborated globalization as something that is “confined to a set of
complex, sometimes contradictory, social processes that are changing the current
social condition based on the modern system of independent nation-states” (p. 12).
It is the result of political, economic, cultural change and technological innovations.
Globalization “implies that we are moving from the modern socio-political order
of nation states that gradually emerged in the seventeenth century toward the
‘postmodern’ condition of globality” (Steger, 2005, p.13). The changes may occur
slowly or quickly depending on the people’s idea of change. Balaam (2013) described
globalization as the growing interdependence among people and state all over the
world that resulted from digital revolution and the spread of Western (American)
culture. He further characterized it as:

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 • an economic process that reflects dense interconnections based on new
technologies and the mobility of trade and capital;
• the integration of national markets into a single global market;
• a political process that weakens state authority and replaces it with the
power of deregulated
• markets;
• a cultural process that reflects a growing network of complex cultural
interconnections and interdependencies in modern society.
The IMF (2005), defined globalization as the opening of international borders
to flows of free trade, immigration, direct investment, information and technology.
The IMF, World Bank, WTO, and other international organizations work to promote
the good side of globalization and mitigate its risks to less developed economies.
However, despite the good benefits of globalization, its risk is greater among poorer
countries like the Philippines. It promised higher standards of living but it increased
marginalization of people (Balaam & Dillman, 2014). In the year 2000, the United
Nations established the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) directed at
increasing foreign aid for poorer nations, halving global hunger, reducing debt, and
fighting diseases like AIDS.

Three Dominant Perspectives in the Study of Globalization (Balaam

& Dillman, 2014 , pages 17-22)
Economic Liberalism (Neoliberalism). A political and economic ideology that
attempts to improve human well-being by promoting individual self-interest; it
advocates for the withdrawal of government interventions in the economy (such as
tariff and quotas, but also government services); it strives for the free movement of
goods, services, people, and money.
1. Mercantilism (economic nationalism). It focuses on state efforts to accumulate
wealth and power to protect society from physical harm or the influence
of other states. Its policy tool: protectionist industrial and trade policies
oftentimes necessary to make markets work and enhance national wealth
and welfare.
2. Structuralism. This focuses on how different social classes are shaped by the
dominant economic structure. The state controls the economy, prices are set
by state officials and emphasis on state planning and agenda setting. Its
policy tool: monetary, fiscal, and fair trade policies that redistribute income
to everyone in society.

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Six Core Claims of Globalization (Steger, 2005)

Claim one: globalization is about the liberalization and global integration of markets
In “globalization”, it requires the necessary move for “liberalization” of
market for the “integration” with countries, regardless of the political and cultural
preferences expressed by local citizens, to happen.

Claim two: globalization is inevitable and irreversible

Nobody can stop globalization, whether individuals like it or not, Globalization
exists. As, former Senator Manuel Villar said, it is a reality of the modern world.
The process is irreversible’. But the importance is for countries to be responsive to a
broad range of political, social, cultural, and economic issues.

Claim three: nobody is in charge of globalization

In globalization, there exists a “self-regulating market”. This means that no one
is in control, not controlled by any individual, any government, or any institution.

Claim four: globalization benefits everyone (...in the long run)

The idea in globalization is that eventually all countries will experience
“economic growth” and “prosperity”. However, the pace that each country moves
differs depending on the whether the countries are at the periphery or at the center.

Claim five: globalization furthers the spread of democracy in the world

Globalization allows the spread of democracy based on the proximity to
“market” and the making of economic choices. Although, “globalization and capital
development do not automatically produce democracies, the level of economic
development resulting from globalization is conducive to the creation of complex
civil societies with a powerful middle class” (p.32).

Claim six: globalization requires a global war on terror

In other words, the desired spread of globalization makes it prone for countries
to experience acts of terror, thus, are required to fight terrorism.

Drivers of Globalization
The level to which a certain state adapt to globalization depends on how each
formulate policies to ensure movement. Each state should address the drivers of
globalization to ensure economic, political, and socio-cultural activity.
1. Decline of barriers to the free flow of goods, services, and capital. After World
War II countries likeFrance, Germany, Italy, Japan, Holland, Sweden, UK and
US removed economic barriers and allowed the free flow of goods, services

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 and capital between nations. These resulted to different countries to trade
goods and share their resources which eventually lead to some countries to
develop.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was the first
multilateral free trade agreement aimed to eliminate trade protectionism
that took effect on June 30, 1948 until January 1, 1995. The most important
requirement in GATT is that each member must confer most favored nation
status. This means that all members will be treated equally when it comes
to tariff. GATT further prohibited restriction on the number of imports
and exports. In 1993, the Uruguay Round established the World Trade
Organization (WTO) to police the international trading system.
2. Technology. Technology transformed globalization by promoting a
“borderless” world that allowed the effortless entry and exit of goods.
In the case of the Philippines, several measure have been adopted
to ensure free flow of goods, services and capital. One of which is the
Philippines active involvement in the ASEAN integration, this will ensure
that the country will be able to compete with other member country by
lowering the taxes that each country might incur which will result to lower
prices of goods and services in the country, it will also help in allowing the
Philippines to have access to goods which we do not have before, Filipinos
will be given a chance to have higher and better working opportunity with
other ASEAN country and allow for easy travel in and out of the ASEAN
region.

Types of Globalization
The degree of each state’s response to globalization depends on how each adapt
the different types of globalization. Each state vary in its accommodation of the
types of globalization depending on what each state believed they will benefit the
most.
1. Financial Globalization. The world’s financial systems have become
intimately interconnected: the stock market trading in New York Stock
Exchange can affect Tokyo and Hong Kong.
2. Economic Globalization. The existence of transnational corporations like
Ford, Coca Cola, and Nike.
3. Technological Globalization. There exists a “global village” where everything
can be accessed by using computer and mobile phones.
4. Political Globalization. The pressure for different countries to adopt uniform
policies to boost interdependence like the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA).

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 5. Cultural Globalization. Through technology, the culture of other countries
became known to the extent that it became part of another countries’ culture
leading to loss of identities of some local culture.
6. Sociological Globalization. A single “world” society exists having one set of
values/beliefs, like the agreement of different societies about the horror that
terrorism brought.
7. Ecological Globalization. Different countries from all over the world
experienced the dreadful effect of global warming.
8. Geographical Globalization. A borderless world concerned with ecological,
political, cultural and economic relationships.
The dawn of globalization lead to the existence of different worlds: the developed
and developing countries. Developed countries or the North have industrialized and
diverse economies like Canada, United State of America, Britain, and Japan. Some
refer to developing nations as the least developing country (LDC), or the South.
These countries have varied history, culture, economy, and political system. Below
are their characteristics:
Table 1.1 Characteristics of LDCs

Developed Countries Developing Countries

Good governance High level of laws, customs, Weak governments
and institutions that
promote good governance
Infrastructure Good Infrastructure
Cost of necessities Basic food and shelter is
expensive.
Poverty incidence Low instances of poverty
Literacy High literacy rates
Foreign aid and Provides foreign aid and
humanitarian assistance humanitarian assistance
Lack of infrastructure
Basic food and shelter are
cheap.
High instances of poverty
Relatively low literacy rates
Dependency on foreign aid
and humanitarian assistance

Dependency resulted in the underdevelopment among developing countries.

Because of this, there exists undevelopment and underdevelopment. Undevelopment
is “characterized by lack of development, while underdevelopment is the outcome of
a process that further damaged developing countries’ economies and simultaneously
made the industrialized (developed) world more prosperous (Balaam & Dillman,
2014).
Economic liberal perspective on development requires developing countries
become part of the global market economy, through trade (Balaam & Dillman,
2014). Further, he said that by using their comparative trading advantages (the
resources that their country mostly have will be exported), developing countries are

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able to capitalize on the benefits of international trade and build a strong economy.
Also, trade enables poorer economies to export their natural resources (mainly
agricultural commodities), while affording access to manufactured goods from
abroad. And as these economies grow from export earnings, gradually they will be
able to acquire more foreign technology and knowledge to promote new investments
in manufacturing. According to this perspective, as “latecomers,” developing
countries can use the market to develop and industrialize, while learning from the
policy mistakes of the now developed nations. However, according to the liberal
model, major obstacles to economic development are the developing countries
anemic capital, productivity, and technological base. Other obstacles include poor
infrastructure, weak educational systems, and/or traditional value systems.

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