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.
Globalization and economy American dollars are playing a role of international reserve currency till today. The trade over the world is dependent on the international currency. Thus, America has more control over the international business. Questions have been asked about whether U.S. dollars should be used as international currency since 1990s but at that time there was no alternative. However, euro provided another option and people began to reconsider this problem especially after the continuous fall of American dollars in the currency market. From my knowledge, one us dollar was more than 8 RMB when I was in secondary school back in China but now one us dollar is 6.8 RMB. The fall started since last year, it seems like a pleasant thing for China but in the international scale, Chinese products become expensive to the people in the other world which will give rise to the decrease in exportation of China. China is facing an economic threat. Moreover, in 2008, the big jump in price of pork has caused anxiety among Chinese and the inflation has been started in several countries. I feel that the price of goods in Singapore has also risen in the year past. The US dollar has affected the world and it will continue to influence global trade. It is time for us to do something to restrict the dominance of America and US dollar.
"Economic inequality is on the rise around the world, and many analysts point their fingers at globalization." As the globalization process has been engineered by corporate elites, and serves their interests, they have successfully conveyed the impression that globalization is not only inevitable but has been a great success. however, this is false. Globalization has been marked by substantial declines in rates of output, productivity, and investment growth. But the elites have done well despite the slackened productivity growth. Because globalization has helped keep wages down, while increasing real interest rates, the upper 5 percent of households have been able to skim off a large fraction of the reduced productivity gains, thereby permitting elite incomes and stock market values to rise rapidly. But it was a different story for the global majority. Income inequality rose markedly both within and between countries.
For example, in America, In the United States, despite a 35 percent increase in productivity between 1973 and 1995, the median real wage rate was lower in the latter year. The gap in incomes between the 20 percent of the world's population in the richest and poorest countries has grown from 30 to 1 in 1960 to 82 to 1 in 1995, and Third World conditions have in many respects worsened. In short, globalization of the economy has only done well for those who are rich. The rich have in fact become richer and the poor even poorer. In a rush to get wealthy, people have forgotten about the poor. For the poor have not have the chance to catch up with the rich and the rich have already climbed way higher than before.
America today is one of the leading economies and many countries are being influenced by the Americans. For example, in the music industry, names like Justin Timberlake, Britney spears are well known throughout the world, even in countries like China. Such is the power of globalization, The United States dominates this global traffic in information and ideas. American music, American movies, American television, and American software are so dominant, so sought after, and so visible that they are now available literally everywhere on the Earth. They influence the tastes, lives, and aspirations of virtually every nation. Of course a majority of Americans, having a favorable view of American popular culture are glad that the American culture has spread throughout the world.
However, to other nations the American culture is viewed in a bad light and is said to be corrupting. France and Canada have both passed laws to prohibit the satellite dissemination of foreign - meaning American - content across their borders and into the homes of their citizens. Not surprisingly, in many other countries fundamentalist Iran, communist China, and the closely managed society of Singapore - central governments have aggressively sought to restrict the software and programming that reach their citizens. Their explicit objective is to keep out American and other alien political views, mores, and, as it is called in some parts of the Middle East, "news pollution."
Despite their efforts, no one can deny that America is the leading power and economy and the sole state trying to pull all nations towards a common culture. One example is the use of English, English has become the world's language thanks to the US. Over the years, it has been in the general interest of the United States to encourage the development of a world in which the fault lines separating nations are bridged by shared interests. And it is in the economic and political interests of the United States to ensure that if the world is moving toward a common language, it be English; that if the world is moving toward common telecommunications, safety, and quality standards, they be American; that if the world is becoming linked by television, radio, and music, the programming be American; and that if common values are being developed, they be values with which Americans are comfortable. These are not simply idle aspirations. English is linking the world. American information technologies and services are at the cutting edge of those that are enabling globalization. Access to the largest economy in the world - America's - is the primary carrot leading other nations to open their markets. Everyone is trying hard to keep up with America, in turn following their lead.
Globalization has lead to Americanization in mny countries, teenagers watching movies and listening to songs. The next generation is also slowly being "brainwashed" and influenced by this powerful western culture. Thus it is true that globalization has lead to Americanization of many nations despite feelings of anti- Americanism.
The best example of Americanization that can be found in almost every nation, MACDONALDS!
Major fastfoods and cafes from america can be found all over the world now!
Globalization and culture Teenagers nowadays are so keen on basketball and NBA is the most popular basketball event on the world. That is because the NBA is concentrating on making itself more global by filling in many international players. The record has been set that 86 international players have been played in NBA from 38 countries and territories on official rosters (active and inactive) for the 2005-06 NBA season. NBA is not only for Americans but for the world. I always cheer for Yao Ming when I watch NBA games.
Orlando Magic guard Carlos Arroyo of Puerto Rico Terrence Vaccaro/NBAE/Getty
Chicago Bulls swingman Luol Deng of Sudan Jonathan Daniel/NBAE/Getty
Houston Rockets center Yao Ming of China Lisa Blumenfeld/NBAE/Getty
Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash of Canada Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty
San Antonio Spurs forward center Tim Duncan of Virgin Islands Lisa Blumenfeld/NBAE/Getty
San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker of France Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty
Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki of Germany Joe Murphy/NBAE/Getty
The onrush of economic and ecological forces that demand integration and sameness and that captivated the world with fast music, fast computers, and fast food--with MTV, Macintosh, and McDonald's, pressing nations into one commercially homogenous global network: one “McWorld” tied together by technology, ecology, communications, and commerce. The planet is falling piece by piece apart and yet coming together at the very same moment, thanks to globalization.
The forces of McWorld operate with universalizing markets, making national borders disintegrate and neither do they provide democratic means for citizens to govern themselves.
Today, the global spread of McWorld is rapidly bringing the consumer society of the West to the rest of the planet. The globalization of the consumer economy is closely linked with the general economic boom and growth in the movement of goods, services, and money across international borders, which accelerated during the 1990s. Over the decade, the value of world trade in goods increased by nearly 50 percent, reaching $6.25 trillion. Exports of commercial services such as banking, consulting, and tourism expanded even faster. And foreign direct investment surged dramatically, reaching a peak of $1.4 trillion in 2000.
The Spread of "McWorld"
McDonald’s operates 30,000 restaurants in 119 countries and serves 46 million customers each day. Its total revenue was $15.4 billion in 2002. On opening day in Kuwait City, the line for the McDonald’s drive-through was over 10 kilometers long.
Siemens, the German manufacturer of mobile phones, computers, medical supplies, lighting, and transportation systems, employs 426,000 people and is represented in 190 countries. In 2002, Siemens’ net sales amounted to $96.4 billion, of which 79 percent were international.
Levi Strauss sells clothing in more than 100 countries, and its trademark is registered in 160 countries. It employs 12,400 people worldwide. It reported total sales of $4.1 billion in 2002, and a net income of $151 million in 2001.
Coca-Cola sells more than 300 drink brands in over 200 countries. More than 70 percent of the corporation’s income originates outside of the United States, and its net revenues reached $19.6 billion in 2002. Coca-Cola employs 60,000 people in Africa alone.
Since the entertainment and food & beverage industry is so lucrative, everyone wants a piece of that giant money pie. This also means that competition would be fiercer than ever and more and more consumers demand better and faster products. The use of advertisement would come in handy. Since it is impossible to “reinvent” a Big Mac, McDonalds would have to find other ways and means to stay competitive in the market. The use of the media and technology has enabled McDonald’s to produce their burgers at the fastest speed and the spread of McDonald’s global presence would also be increasingly prominent. With such a strong global presence, this means that it will result in everyone in the world eating the same Big Mac and having the same cup of Coca-cola.
In the video, it draws out the similarities of eating fast food or rather, junk food at McDonald’s and “modern democracy”. People assume that with a set of menu plastered on the walls behind the counters, you are given a “freedom of choice”. However, truth be told, “you basically choose between eating compressed grease or drinking liquid sugar.” Similarly in democratic politics, for example in America, you are given a choice to choose between a Republican and a Democrat and that is it. You only have two choices to vote from and the choices are actually limited, the decision is very much a coin toss between the two.
Furthermore, through the use of the media, a Big Mac is presented in a way that it is extremely juicy, huge and wholesome but what you see is not always what you get. At least not for a regular SGD$5 Big Mac. The first thought on your mind would most probably be, “Why does my Big Mac that looks half as big, half as tasty, but tastes twice as greasy as I'd expected.” Using a similar case of American democratic politics “the flashy ads that they show you are equal to the promises democratic politicians make every year” and that “they'll cut down unemployment, promise to rescue [Americans] from terrorism (although they obviously have no problem starting new wars for no apparent reason), to "end racism" by enlightening [Americans] of why multiculturalism is a such a great idea, and generally fill [them] with all kinds of [empty] promises for the future.” This shows that the media, like the campaigns of politicians are often filled with “empty promises” and fail to deliver, while contradicts with principles of a democratic state, serving to maintain peace within a country, let alone the whole world.
In the economical sphere, McDonald’s which has franchises all over the world, 30,000 restaurants in 119 countries, to be exact, and serves 46 million customers each day which equates to the economic might of the company. The video has underscored the reasong for the popularity of such fast food chains is due to the people’s take on eating-in nowadays. Since fast food is “cheap and comfortable, but… also because most people who go to these places are both lazy and stupid. [Most Americans] can't cook their own food, so they order home a bunch of Chinese noodles and congratulate themselves for being multicultural and modern”, which is a ridiculous thought to conceive since by living in Chinatown does not mean that you embrace Chinese culture and will not be a perpetrator of racism. The video also goes on to explain that “within democracies, the people at McDonald's consume themselves to death, while clever businessmen in the background laugh at people's stupidity and count the money: "Oh yes, vote for freedom, we'll take care of your modern burdens.” This clearly shows the brutality that is the reality of a capitalist economy as businessman seek to gain from another consumer by creating a demand for their product, in this case, McDonald’s and then, selling it to the unknowing and rather foolish consumer in order to satisfy their own “greed and lust for power”.
In a democratic state like America, while they promote “freedom of speech”, “freedom of human rights”, or basically, “freedom”, “if anyone points out it's an insane lifestyle that's killing our society, nature, and culture (what's left of it) from within, you have suddenly trespassed the boundaries of what's OK to do or say”, which is the reality of the so-called democratic society that is America. There are limits of “freedom” in which certain statements would be regarded as “intolerant” or “full of hate” and in stricter countries such as Singapore, you would be sent off to jail for making such comments in public which may pose a threat to security.
In conclusion, a McWorld privileges money over people, replacing one-person, one-vote with one-dollar, one-vote. The principle that the McDonald brothers recognized in their little San Bernadino store: efficiency, technology, and the division of labour. Cheaper. Faster. More. Working hand in hand with technological change, and increased efficiency, has reduced the cost of food in terms of both the money it takes to buy it and the time it takes to prepare and consume it. Time and money are the two main constraints upon economic behavior. Fast food is both fast (time) and cheap (money)—and has only become faster and cheaper over the years. No wonder there has been a shift in favor of such products as their relative prices have fallen. McDonald’s is so popular in formerly Communist countries, despite prices that are high relative to weekly income. Under communism, they could be pretty sure of poor food and worse service in most cases, but sometimes they were pleasantly surprised. McDonald’s is the other way around. The food is consistently decent. You provide most of the service yourself, so you are not dependent on the whims of a surly waiter. This makes fast food the obvious, most cost-efficient and sensible choice as people embrace acceptable food at affordable prices. However, the welcome of fast food (or ultimately the capitalist system) has also posed problems to democracy as it fails to provide a diverse and “free” McWorld in the process.
So the next time you eat a Big Mac, it's not just bread, meat patty, lettuce that you're eating, it's three slices of advertisement, two slices of sameness and one portion of non-democracy that you're eating.
Never before have the forces of globalization been so evident in our daily lives. An estimated 2 billion people witness Live Earth, a series of concerts held in 11 locations around the world to raise environmental awareness. Chinese manufacturers decorate toys with paint containing lead, and children around the world have to give up their Batmans and Barbie dolls. Mortgage lenders in the United States face a liquidity crunch, and global stock markets go berserk. Sports metaphors and images are powerful rhetorical tools in the globalization of the world in local culture. Just like professional basketball, globalization is a U.S. – centered, media-driven, capitalist enterprise that destroys local culture. In the premise of globalization that is the National Basketball Association (NBA) in this case, the story of Air Jordan, Yao Ming and Emanuel Ginobili, among others, that foreign influence on a U.S. game and the American domination abroad highlights the globalization of a Global Game which reaches out to a massive crowd. But is basketball really the global game and therefore a valid metaphor for understanding globalization? The truly global spectator sports, some would argue, are Formula One auto racing and soccer, or football as most of the world calls the game.
“If you wanna save the planet, jump up and down!” urged Madonna at the London Live Earth concert on 07,07,07.
What could be more global than soccer? The world’s leading professional players and owners pay no mind to national borders, with major teams banking revenues in every currency available and billions of fans cheering for their champions in too many languages to count. With deft intellectual footwork, author and soccer aficionado Franklin Foer draws on the beautiful game to illustrate both globalization’s possibilities and limits. “[m]ore than basketball or even the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund,” writes Foer, “soccer is the most globalized institution on the planet.” But, as Foer shows, injecting foreign capitalist efficiency into Brazilian soccer clubs has been about as easy as, well, getting English players to abandon their gritty, raw playing style for something more suavely continental. In just about every facet of the game, globalization impedes local customs, rivalries, and heritages.
Air Jordan - Michael Jordan won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 1987 and 1988.
For example, during the 2002 World Cup, the English midfielder David Beckham, famed bender of the ball, styled his hair in a mohawk. Almost instantly, Japanese adolescents appeared with tread marks on their shorn heads; professional women, according to the Japanese newsmagazine Shukan Jitsuwa, even trimmed their pubic hair in homage. A bit further west, in Bangkok, Thailand, the monks of the Pariwas Buddhist temple placed a Beckham statuette in a spot reserved for figures of minor deities.
David Beckham, the former England captain, is reknowned for his right-footed free kicks and his trend-setting mohawk.
It should surprise no one that this Londoner has replaced basketball icon Michael Jordan as the world’s most inspirational (or rather, influential) celebrity athlete. After all, more than basketball or even the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, soccer is the most globalized institution on the planet.
Soccer began to outgrow its national borders early in the post-World War II era. As a common European market and governance was yet to become finalized at this point in time, European soccer clubs already moved toward union. The most successful clubs started competing against one another in regular transnational tournaments, such as the events now known as Champions League and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Cup. These tournaments were a fan’s dream: the chance to see Juventus of Turin play Bayern Munich one week and FC Barcelona the next. But more significantly, they were an owner’s dream: money-making fixtures that brought unprecedented gate receipts and an enormous infusion of television revenue. This transnational idea was such a good one that Latin America, Africa, and Asia quickly created their own ‘imitations’.
Following the ‘globalization’ of competitions, the hunt for ‘labour resources’ quickly followed. Club owners scoured the planet for superstars that they could buy on the cheap. Spanish teams shopped. Companies also jumped on board.
In the recent 100 Top Global Brands which BusinessWeek and Interbrand team up to rate the best brands, many ingredients into account when ranking the value of the Best Global Brands. Even to qualify for the list, each brand must derive at least a third of its earnings outside its home country, be recognizable outside of its base of customers, and have publicly available marketing and financial data. This shows the global influence of the brand on world culture. Through the use of the media and advertising, some of these brands have proven to reap the benefits of extensive media coverage, including the sponsorship of regular sporting tournaments, especially soccer.
AIG ranked 48 on the Top 100 Global Brands.
As seen on shirts of soccer players in the famous Manchester United club, the insurer AIG is pushing harder to make its name in the international scene, or at least in the screens of millions of fans throughout Asia and Europe. Similarly, a German company, Allianz fostered goodwill by plastering its name on a World Cup soccer stadium while sponsoring events such as the 2006 India-Pakistan Cricket Test Series. The brand known for batteries, Duracell made use of World Cup and festival sponsorships to build traction with consumers. Not to mention Nike and Adidas which are sporting brands which ride on the fame of sporting events to promote its brand, both ranking 30th and 69th respectively.
Allianz ranked 80 on the Top 100 Global Brands.
Duracell ranked 89 on the Top 100 Global Brands.
In a nutshell, I have arrived at a conclusion that globalization has a massive following with locals which may or may not be sports fans and this affects local cultures as generations will embrace the looks or ultimately, cultures of their sport icons in which companies have also benefitted from as they achieve global brand names for themselves, with the aid of media coverage by these sporting events which will reach out to millions of fans across the globe.
Information Technology (IT) is a driving factor in contemporary globalization. Technology gradually improved after World War Two and improvements in the early 1990s in computer hardware, software, and telecommunications have caused widespread improvements in access to information and economic potential. These advances have facilitated economic gains in many sectors of the economy. Information Technology provides the communication network that facilitates the expansion of products, ideas, and resources among nations and among people regardless of geographic location. IT have made it easier and less expensive for people to talk with family, friends, and business associates, and to do so while on the move, from great distances. This is what Marshall McLuhan calls the "global village."
Technological developments are generally associated with communications revolution. For example fiber-optic cable and wireless technologies have transformed telecommunications in recent years.
The spread of IT and its applications has been extraordinarily rapid. Just 20 years ago, for example, the use of desktop personal computers was still limited to a fairly small number of technologically advanced and well-off people. The typewriter was still the main mechanism for producing documents. It however does not permit manipulation of text and no storage space is offered. Fifteen years ago, large and bulky mobile telephones were carried only by a small number of users in just a few U.S. cities. Today, half of all Americans use a mobile phone.
Thus we can see that technology plays an important role in the process of globalisation. Critics argue that technology is a force for integration, making the world a smaller, better place. Technology is said to bring "good things to life." This is true, but not for all aspects . It may contribute to integration, but it also may result in economic and political disintegration, a process that distances people living in different parts of the world. Recent advances in our ability to communicate and process information in digital form with GPS, 3G and gadgets like the iPhone - a series of developments described as an "IT revolution" - are reshaping the economies and social lives of many people around the world.
Here are some cute cartoons:
credited to:http://www.geographyalltheway.com/ib_geography/ib_globalization/what_is_globalization.htm Andrea Khor =)
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Walking down the street after buying the latest iPhone 3G, hoping to show it off. however, 'everywhere' is used to describe the iPhone; Apple is 'everywhere'! I was paying too much attention to my hand-phone when a huge truck whizzed past me. It was a FedEx International delivery truck rushing to meet their deadlines.
Does not this scene sound familiar? Here's an account given by a Dominican Republic citizen. "I remember in 1997 when my small village, with population less than 1000, went into culture shock when electricity was finally provided, utility service for telephones became available, and civil engineering tore up streets installing a water system. The trade-off now, in 2003? Television antennas clutter the sky, and there's no less than a dozen places where you can access the Internet, but the government never returned to repave the streets - hence, the backwoods dirt-road effect everywhere within the village." Such is the effect of globalisation.
Globalization101.org has defined the phenomenon of globalization as the "acceleration and intensification of economic interaction among the people, companies, and governments of different nations." Jeremy Rifkin, a prominent critic of globalisation and genetic engineering writes that: "The powers that be have long believed that the world is divided into two spheres of influence: commerce and government. Now organizations representing the cultural sphere -- the environment, species preservation, rural life, health, food and cuisine, religion, human rights, the family, women's issues, ethnic heritage, the arts and other quality-of-life issues -- are pounding on the doors at world economic and political forums and demanding a place at the table. They represent the birth of a new "civil-society politics" and an antidote to the forces pushing for globalisation."
With the rapid expansion/development of globalisation, everyone is living in a global village. National boundaries are obsolete as anyone (with the money) can fly to places in the world which he names. With physical boundaries broken, globalisation promotes the interaction and communication of different cultures and races. However, globalisation is at the same time driving some native cultures towards extinction from the face of the earth. Whether a not its advantages outweigh the benefits, will reamin the focus of argument through-out the years.
Globalisation is barely avoidable for countries and failing to keep up with this world pace will be at the expense of the country's economical growth. Globalisation can been seen as a double-edge sword. It has helped to give more prominence to a greater sense of nationalism and individuality amongst countries and more specifically cultures. This has lead to people realising that they need to protect their own national and cultural identity from the "external forces". This draws attention to the nation's distinctive culture highlighting its strengths and covering up their mis-doings. Thus although globalisation is subconsciously changing our mindset, the way we behave, the way we dress etc but it has undeniably helped to highlight different distinctive cultures.
Preserving culture and naional identity is no doubt important, however, being unrealistic and looking only at the disadvantages that comes with globalisation such as McDonaldisation (as Darren mentioned) will be foolish. Implementations and ideas must be put forth to keep and promote native culture through or under globalisation.
Mcdonalds, a brand name which is all too familiar amongst the public of the world. From toddlers to the elderly, Mcdonalds has come to be known as a household brand. However, what is more outstanding would be how far and wide Mcdonalds have extended its reach across the world. No other fast food chain has been as successful as Mcdonalds in its revolution such that it has become a renowed food chain internationally. I remembered, when i went to China, i couldn't really get used to the food there, but there was this one place that breeded a sense of familiarity, Mcdonalds. When i went to Korea, i needed something that wasn't with kimchi and wanted to move away from the local flavours, and so i turned to Mcdonalds. Different countries with different cultures, but yet, Mcdonalds will always be there. We can see this as globalistaion of the economy. The expansion of this fast food chain into a internationally recognised brand is indeed an impressive feat. This shows that globalisation need not be about the most complex objects, it could be absolutely anything, including food and beverages.
Manga and anime has gained increasing popularity in the recent years as many people, ranging from adults to teenagers are drawn towards the rich comic illustration. Manga is the japanese word for 'comics' and as in regards to its namesake, it is a creation originating in japanese. Anime is the japanese word for 'animation'. Both originates from japan. However, with the effects of gobalization, comes the ability for these creations to reach out to a bigger pool of readers and viewers, the world. Popular manga, such as Bleach and Death Note are translated and sold all over the world, including Singapre. Animes such as Beyblade, Yu-Gi-Oh, Naruto and Digimon are dubbed into other languages and are broadcasted in popular television such as FoxTV which is an American channel. Every single child in the entire Singapore knows Pokemon, but little do they know that Pokemon is too an anime and manga created in Japan. This shows the extent of globalization in the world today.
Social Studies
Term 3 Group Assignment: GLOBALIZATION
Task:
To create a group blog that explores issues on globalization in a creative and engaging manner
We'll be touching on the following issues:
1. Globalization of the Economy
2. Globalization of Culture
3. Globalization of Politics
4. Globalization and Technology
e us dollar was more than 8 RMB when I was in secondary school back in China but now one us dollar is 6.8 RMB. The fall started since last year, it seems like a pleasant thing for China but in the international scale, Chinese products become expensive to the people in the other world which will give rise to the decrease in exportation of China. China is facing an economic threat. Moreover, in 2008, the big jump in price of pork has caused anxiety among Chinese and the inflation has been started in several countries. I feel that the price of goods in Singapore has also risen in the year past. The US dollar has affected the world and it will continue to influence global trade. It is time for us to do something to restrict the dominance of America and US dollar.
Manga and anime has gained increasing popularity in the recent years as many people, ranging from adults to teenagers are drawn towards the rich comic illustration. Manga is the japanese word for 'comics' and as in regards to its namesake, it is a creation originating in japanese. Anime is the japanese word for 'animation'. Both originates from japan. However, with the effects of gobalization, comes the ability for these creations to reach out to a bigger pool of readers and viewers, the world. Popular manga, such as Bleach and Death Note are translated and sold all over the world, including Singapre. Animes such as Beyblade, Yu-Gi-Oh, Naruto and Digimon are dubbed into other languages and are broadcasted in popular television such as FoxTV which is an American channel. Every single child in the entire Singapore knows Pokemon, but little do they know that Pokemon is too an anime and manga created in Japan. This shows the extent of globalization in the world today. 
