borders’ means that the world (especially the global economic space) becomes ‘a single,
seamless unity’ without any barriers (see, e.g., Ohmae 1999, 2005).
‘Interconnected’ world and global networks
This idea proceeds logically from the abovementioned increase in cross-border linkages
and flows, and the declining role of borders and barriers. Some definitions of globalization
suggest that its, in strengthening global networks of relationships, flows and interactions. Jan
van Dyck and Manuel Castells are among the authors of the concept of the network society; the
latter introduced also the concept of the ‘space of flows’. According to Castells, society, in other
words the social space, is being formed around flows of capital, information, technology,
organizational interaction, images, sounds and symbols. ‘Space of flows’ reflects the processes
prevailing in the economic, political and cultural life of society, and produces the structure of this
society. At the same time, elites of a network society are not tied to a particular geographic
area, but to this very ‘space of flows’ (Castells 1996: 412–413).
Further research on global networks and flows has significantly enriched our knowledge
of these concepts. Jonathan Friedman has identified globalization as a set of processes through
which local economy is connected to the global information network and to the global market
network (Friedman 2001). Christopher Chase-Dunn and his colleagues describe globalization
as ‘the increasing global density of large-scale interaction networks with respect to the density
of smaller networks’ (Chase-Dunn, Kawano, and Brewer 2000: 77). Leonid Grinin and Andrey
Korotayev define globalization as ‘the process by which the world becomes more connected
and more dependent on all its actors. Consequently, there is as an increase in the number of
common challenges for states and an expanding number and types of integrating subjects’
(Grinin and Korotayev 2009: 495).
What is Missing?
Despite the voluminous globalization discourse, a number of crucial points are still lacking in our
understanding of the phenomenon. First and foremost, we need a sufficiently comprehensive
definition of globalization to serve as a starting point in verifying numerous globalization-related
hypotheses and ideas on concrete data before we can consider them true, or false, or partially
true, or true under certain conditions etc. The most vivid example of a widespread catchphrase
with very ambiguous (or, even further, directly contradictory) data background is the idea of
‘cultural homogenization’ and ‘cultural Westernization’. The absence of a comprehensive
definition which could introduce the dimension of measurability into the complex phenomenon of
globalization (and not just one or several of its aspects, such as the volume of foreign trade, or
number of Ikea stores in a country – sometimes insignificant, frequently volatile – see Zinkina,
Korotayev, and Andreev 2013).
APPROACHES IN THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
Because of the broadness of the subject, studying the course would entail exploring
the subject matter using the rich lenses of social sciences, hence one has to view it
along the paradigms:
o Globalization is inherently interdisciplinary;
o The contemporary world is seen and analyzed in broad lens;
o Various contemporary world affairs are examined using different global
processes;
o Basic issues of global importance are reflected upon.
THE NATURE OF GLOBALIZATION
o Financial Globalization: World stock markets are constantly affecting one
another. What happens on one market will definitely affect on what happens on
others as the day`s trading goes on.
o Economic Globalization: Companies are no longer associated with a
particular country. They move production and capital and seek markets
anywhere that will benefit their country.
o Technological Globalization: The most obvious area of globalization. The
technological revolution has fostered globalization.
o Political Globalization: As we become more economically and
technologically interdependent, we tend to adopt more uniform policies with the
countries we are dealing with.
o Cultural Globalization: Distinct cultures are becoming more homogeneous,
and unfortunately for some cultures, that means more Americanized.
o Ecological Globalization: We have begun to look at our earth as one large
ecosystem that we all must protect.
o Geographical Globalization: Even geographers have begun looking at the world
without hard political borders, but rather as larger global community, connected
by similar concerns and issues within larger regions.
o Sociological Globalization: We have begun to look at ourselves as members of
a single
world, not distinct national societies. This can be seen in our discussions on the
role of women and the morality of capital punishment.
CHARACTERIZATION OF GLOBALIZATION
1. Globalization as a Historical Epoch
Historians have long debated the timing of the onset of the Cold War, although there
appears to be less debate about when it ended—the Fall of the Berlin Wall. What is
clear is that they agree that it can be defined as a period of history rather than, for
example, a sociological phenomenon or a theoretical framework. The Cold War was thus
a period marked by certain features such as a bipolar distribution of power, the primacy
of strategic theories of nuclear deterrence and conventional force corpulence in security
issues, and an ambiguous tension between isolation and détente in the context of
spheres of influence. But it is understood by historians as a discrete period of time with
specific characteristics where certain attributes applied and some theories had greater
relevance; it is not a theory itself.
2. Globalization as Confluence of Economic Phenomena
Alternatively, globalization might be characterized functionally by an intrinsically related
series of economic phenomena. These include the liberalization and deregulation of
markets, privatization of assets, retreat of state functions (particularly welfare ones),
diffusion of technology, cross-national distribution of manufacturing production (foreign
direct investment), and the integration of capital markets. In its narrowest formulation,
the term refers to the worldwide spread of sales, production facilities, and manufacturing
processes, all of which reconstitute the international division of labor.
3. Globalization as the Hegemony of American Values
Globalization represents the universalizing of American values (if not Anglo-Saxon ones),
predicated on a normative, indeed moral foundation. In the modernization literature, the
convergence is towards liberal democracy and modernity defined as industrialized economic
development—one that involves the characteristic features of a limited state apparatus. But it is
a specific form of liberal democracy—it is John Locke’s and not Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s
variant. And it is, comparably, a particular form of economic development—it is the Anglo-Saxon
classicism of Adam Smith rather than the ‘Continentalism’ of Friedrich List. In tandem, the
values professed by the tra
