What is globalization?

We explain what globalization is and what are the characteristics of this process. In addition, its causes, advantages and disadvantages.

1. What is globalization?

Globalization is a complex economic, social, political, technological and cultural process on a planetary scale , characterized by a growing connection, communication and interdependence among the nations that make up the world, leading to a series of changes and trends that tend at the same time to the plurality and to certain paradoxical homogenization.

This process began after the end of the Cold War, at the end of the twentieth century , and continues in the XXI, especially thanks to the unstoppable momentum of computer networks ( Internet ) and new telecommunication technologies , which they have put in contact populations and geographically distanced markets.

Globalization is one of the clear signs of the contemporary era , and is usually considered a consequence of the definitive implantation of liberal capitalism , tending towards democracy , multiculturalism, diversity, but also fueling by opposition the diametrically opposite tendencies: racisliberalism, Nationalism , conservatism.

The latter means that there are both sectors enthusiastic about the project of “Global village” proposed by globalization, in which march towards greater democratization of the world through its political and institutional interconnection (world government) as well as large detractors who they perceive it as a threat to traditional and transcendental values.

2. Characteristics of globalization

The main characteristics of globalization can be summarized in:

• Internationalization of the markets . The “new economy” that brought globalization entails the triumph of transnational capital and, therefore, of economic freedom and the free movement of capital .
• Implementation of the global culture . Communities that were never in touch can do so thanks to the global village, and this pushes them towards a new culture model less rooted in the local, and the need for new forms of cultural identity: individualism and cosmopolitanism.
• It depends on the new ICT . The Internet and telecommunications are crucial to the global model, which allows record operations across vast geographic platforms.
• Exceeds geographical boundaries . The end of borders and the construction of a global society is the final destination of the globalization process, so that its processes do not meet national borders or nationalities too much.

3. Causes of globalization

Among the causes of the emergence of globalization we can mention:

• The new world geopolitics of the twentieth century . The triumph of capitalism at the end of the Cold War brought with it the global implementation of capital markets and a development model strongly anchored in technology and information.
• The growth in the global economic exchange . The need for greater and faster exchanges of goods and, above all, of technological services implemented through the Internet, pushed towards global integration.
• The computer revolution . The emergence of communications and information technologies that allowed the whole world to be connected in a large network, marked the beginning of a new global era of technology and information exchange.
• The liberalization of stock exchanges . The possibility of investing in any global stock market resulted in the migration of capital beyond geographic boundaries.

4. Advantages of globalization

The advantages of globalization tend towards the increase of democracy and liberalism in regions of the planet that still clung to traditional political and social models, since the presence of the various computer networks and their difficulties to be controlled by the states, made much more complicated to hide outlawed dictatorships and governments , since citizens themselves can share information on the network.

On the other hand, global culture allowed the emergence of new forms of employment , new investment dynamics and a multi-polar planetary vision . In addition, global citizenship models offer the opportunity to overcome taboos, discrimination and other discriminatory social trends, given that the entire world seems to be on the web.

5. Disadvantages of globalization

The disadvantages of this process have to do with its paradoxical hidden face: the strengthening of traditional values ​​as mechanisms of resistance against the global, perceived as a foreignizing threat: nationalism, racism , xenophobia .

Similarly, access to information is so free in the global network that filters and organizing bodies or discriminators are often needed, since access to ignorance or lies is just as easy.

On the other hand, not all countries enter the global village on equal terms , and this means that more depressed or less prepared countries may be victims of predatory economies or cultural colonialism mechanisms that are driven by the global village.

6. Economic globalization

Together with politics and culture, economic globalization is one of the most important and concrete aspects of this phenomenon. It consists of the interconnection of the different forms of production, marketing and investment at the planetary level , thus allowing the free flow of capital and goods.

In addition, the emergence of the digital economy, with new forms of employment and distance investment, meant an economic revolution whose long-term consequences are still difficult to specify.

A notable consequence of this is the change in the balances of power between developed and developing countries , making the landscape of inequalities and opportunities for both even more complex.