What is Globalization?

Globalization is the trend towards global integration and interdependency. It is inevitable and has ben going on for centuries. For the most part, humanity as a whole throughout history has trended toward expansion, global trade and commerce, increased communication. In essence, humans have always tried to go farther and faster, and have always tried to bridge the gap between great distances. It is no surprise, then, that humanity has a predisposition toward globalization.

When most people think of the word globalization, they think of the recent trend towards international commerce, faster communication, and generally lowered international barriers. While globalization certainly has its downsides, as does nearly any human activity, these downsides are often extremely exaggerated. Overall, globalization is clearly a force of good in the world.

One problem that is often brought up about globalization is that it homogenizes the world, that it imposes Western culture, specifically American culture, on the rest of the world. While American culture certainly spreads to other nations as a result of globalization, other cultures also spread back to the US and around the world.

Also, it must be remembered that just because American culture has a way of spreading does not mean it will always be accepted; in many instances, foreign countries adamantly reject and resist American culture. I think Curran puts forth a good model of global communication: “globalization is opening up new lines of communication between different groups, and constructing new spaces for the building of mutuality, without suggesting that the world is shrinking into a single, harmonious village,” (Curran, 7).

Many people cite the problem that this current wave of globalization is only appearing to unite the globe, when it is actually dividing it even further. Only about 4% of the world has access to the internet (Norris, 2), and while they enjoy a plethora of information, the rest of the world suffers from a lack of information. This is where the term information poverty comes about: in this day and age where information is vital to everything, it can almost be seen as a form of currency. The information gap between the affluent Western world and the so called third-world is further dividing them, putting underdeveloped countries at an even bigger disadvantage.

This dividing effect may be true, but that does not mean that Globalization is automatically bad. While it is a sad side effect that some poor sections of the world will be left behind as the rest of the world becomes more technologically advanced, the internet offers so many advantages to so many people that this side effect is negligible.

Besides, it is very likely that as resources are poured into developing nations as a result of international commerce, the information infrastructure of these nations will eventually develop. Their current information poverty came about as a result of their economic poverty, and this problem is definitely one that is fixable, albeit slowly. Just because the developing world is in the dark does not mean it will stay that way forever; the internet is a fairly new creation and countries have had only about 20 years to catch up.

Norris, Pippa. "Information Poverty and the Wired World." The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics. Vol. 5, No. 3, (2003)

Curran, James and Myung-Jin Park. “De-Westernizing Media Studies.” Communication and Society. 2000. Routledge.