Key People:Thomas L.

FriedmanDani RodrikJagdish Bhagwati

Globalization, integration of the world’s economies, politics, and

cultures. German-born American economist Theodore Levitt has been
credited with having coined the term globalization in a 1983 article
titled “The Globalization of Markets.” The phenomenon is widely
considered to have begun in the 19th century following the advent of
the Industrial Revolution, but some scholars date it more specifically
to about 1870, when exports became a much more significant share
of some countries’ gross domestic product (GDP). Its continued
escalation is largely attributable to the development of new
technologies—particularly in the fields of communication and
transportation—and to the adoption of liberal trade policies by
countries around the world.

Social scientists have identified the central aspects of globalization as

interconnection, intensification, time-space distanciation (conditions
that allow time and space to be organized in a manner that connects
presence and absence), supraterritoriality, time-space compression,
action at a distance, and accelerating interdependence. Modern
analysts also conceive of globalization as a long-term process of
deterritorialization—that is, of social activities (economic, political,
and cultural) occurring without regard for geographic location. Thus,
globalization can be defined as the stretching of economic, political,
and social relationships in space and time. A manufacturer
assembling a product for a distant market, a country submitting to
international law, and a language adopting a foreign loanword are all
examples of globalization.

Of course history is filled with such occurrences: Chinese artisans

once wove silk bound for the Roman Empire (see Silk Road); kingdoms
in western Europe honoured dictates of the Roman Catholic Church;
and English adopted many Norman French words in the centuries
after the Battle of Hastings . These interactions and others laid the
groundwork for globalization and are now recognized by historians
and economists as important predecessors of the modern
phenomenon. Analysts have labeled the 15th to 18th century as a
period of “proto-globalization,” when European explorers established
maritime trade routes across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and
encountered new lands. Integration prior to this time has been
characterized as “archaic globalization.”
What distinguishes the process of modern globalization from those
forms of global integration that preceded it are its pace and extent.
According to some academics, three distinct eras of modern
globalization can be identified, each of them marked by points of
sudden acceleration in international interaction. Under this scheme,
the “first globalization” era refers to the period between
approximately 1870 and 1914, during which new transportation and
communication technology decreased or eliminated many of the
drawbacks to distance. The “second globalization” era is said to have
lasted from roughly 1944 to 1971, a period in which an international
monetary system based on the value of the U.S. dollar facilitated a
new level of trade between capitalist countries. And the “third
globalization” era is thought to have begun with the revolutions of
1989–90, which opened the communist Eastern bloc to the flow of
capital and coincided with the creation of the World Wide Web. Some
scholars argue that a new period of globalization, the “fourth
globalization,” is underway, but there is little consensus on when this
era began or whether it is truly distinct enough to merit its own
designation.

Port facilities

Shipping containers being unloaded at port facilities in Vancouver,

British Columbia, Canada.

© Werdiam/Dreamstime.com

New levels of interconnectedness fostered by globalization are

credited for numerous benefits to humanity. The spread of industrial
technology and the resulting increase in productivity have contributed
to a reduction in the percentage of the world’s population living in
poverty. The sharing of medical knowledge has dramatically
decreased the incidence of once-feared diseases and even eliminated
smallpox. And economic interdependence among countries
discourages war between them.

However, the implementation of globalization has been much

criticized, leading to the development of the anti-globalization
movement. Opponents of globalization—or at least, globalization in its
present form (see neoliberal globalization)—represent a variety of
interests on both the political left and right. Labour unions disdain
multinational companies’ ability to move their operations to countries
with cheaper labour; Indigenous peoples rue the difficulty of
maintaining their traditions; and leftists object to the neoliberal
character of the new world economy, arguing that the capitalist logic
on which they contend globalization is based leads to asymmetrical
power relations (both internationally and domestically) and
transforms every aspect of life into a commodity. Right-wing critics of
globalization believe that it threatens both national economies and
national identity. They advocate national control of a country’s
economy and rigidly restricted immigration.

World Trade Organization protest

Protesters carrying signs in a demonstration against the World Trade

Organization (WTO) meeting in Denpasar, Indonesia, in 2013.

Agung Parameswara/Getty Images

Globalization has also produced effects that are more universally

worrisome. Expanded transportation networks facilitate not only
increased trade but also the spread of diseases. Undesirable trade,
such as human trafficking and poaching, has flourished alongside
legitimate commerce. Moreover, the pollution generated by the
world’s modernization has resulted in global warming and climate
change, threatening Earth’s very habitability.

Pollution

Factory smokestacks polluting the air.

© corepics/stock.adobe.com

Whether globalization will adapt to these problems remains to be

seen, but it is already changing again. For example, globalization
began in the 19th century with an explosion in exports, but, even
before the COVID-19 pandemic that swept through the world in 2020
resulted in global lockdowns, trade as a share of many countries’ GDP
had fallen. It can be argued that the global supply chains today rely
more on knowledge than on labour. And services now constitute a
larger share of the global economy than goods. A “fourth
globalization” might indeed be here—or at least on the way.
Adam VolleKey People:Thomas L. FriedmanDani RodrikJagdish
Bhagwati

Globalization, integration of the world’s economies, politics, and

cultures. German-born American economist Theodore Levitt has been
credited with having coined the term globalization in a 1983 article
titled “The Globalization of Markets.” The phenomenon is widely
considered to have begun in the 19th century following the advent of
the Industrial Revolution, but some scholars date it more specifically
to about 1870, when exports became a much more significant share
of some countries’ gross domestic product (GDP). Its continued
escalation is largely attributable to the development of new
technologies—particularly in the fields of communication and
transportation—and to the adoption of liberal trade policies by
countries around the world.

Social scientists have identified the central aspects of globalization as

interconnection, intensification, time-space distanciation (conditions
that allow time and space to be organized in a manner that connects
presence and absence), supraterritoriality, time-space compression,
action at a distance, and accelerating interdependence. Modern
analysts also conceive of globalization as a long-term process of
deterritorialization—that is, of social activities (economic, political,
and cultural) occurring without regard for geographic location. Thus,
globalization can be defined as the stretching of economic, political,
and social relationships in space and time. A manufacturer
assembling a product for a distant market, a country submitting to
international law, and a language adopting a foreign loanword are all
examples of globalization.

Of course history is filled with such occurrences: Chinese artisans

once wove silk bound for the Roman Empire (see Silk Road); kingdoms
in western Europe honoured dictates of the Roman Catholic Church;
and English adopted many Norman French words in the centuries
after the Battle of Hastings . These interactions and others laid the
groundwork for globalization and are now recognized by historians
and economists as important predecessors of the modern
phenomenon. Analysts have labeled the 15th to 18th century as a
period of “proto-globalization,” when European explorers established
maritime trade routes across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and
encountered new lands. Integration prior to this time has been
characterized as “archaic globalization.”
What distinguishes the process of modern globalization from those
forms of global integration that preceded it are its pace and extent.
According to some academics, three distinct eras of modern
globalization can be identified, each of them marked by points of
sudden acceleration in international interaction. Under this scheme,
the “first globalization” era refers to the period between
approximately 1870 and 1914, during which new transportation and
communication technology decreased or eliminated many of the
drawbacks to distance. The “second globalization” era is said to have
lasted from roughly 1944 to 1971, a period in which an international
monetary system based on the value of the U.S. dollar facilitated a
new level of trade between capitalist countries. And the “third
globalization” era is thought to have begun with the revolutions of
1989–90, which opened the communist Eastern bloc to the flow of
capital and coincided with the creation of the World Wide Web. Some
scholars argue that a new period of globalization, the “fourth
globalization,” is underway, but there is little consensus on when this
era began or whether it is truly distinct enough to merit its own
designation.

Port facilities

Shipping containers being unloaded at port facilities in Vancouver,

British Columbia, Canada.

© Werdiam/Dreamstime.com

New levels of interconnectedness fostered by globalization are

credited for numerous benefits to humanity. The spread of industrial
technology and the resulting increase in productivity have contributed
to a reduction in the percentage of the world’s population living in
poverty. The sharing of medical knowledge has dramatically
decreased the incidence of once-feared diseases and even eliminated
smallpox. And economic interdependence among countries
discourages war between them.

However, the implementation of globalization has been much

criticized, leading to the development of the anti-globalization
movement. Opponents of globalization—or at least, globalization in its
present form (see neoliberal globalization)—represent a variety of
interests on both the political left and right. Labour unions disdain
multinational companies’ ability to move their operations to countries
with cheaper labour; Indigenous peoples rue the difficulty of
maintaining their traditions; and leftists object to the neoliberal
character of the new world economy, arguing that the capitalist logic
on which they contend globalization is based leads to asymmetrical
power relations (both internationally and domestically) and
transforms every aspect of life into a commodity. Right-wing critics of
globalization believe that it threatens both national economies and
national identity. They advocate national control of a country’s
economy and rigidly restricted immigration.

World Trade Organization protest

Protesters carrying signs in a demonstration against the World Trade

Organization (WTO) meeting in Denpasar, Indonesia, in 2013.

Agung Parameswara/Getty Images

Globalization has also produced effects that are more universally

worrisome. Expanded transportation networks facilitate not only
increased trade but also the spread of diseases. Undesirable trade,
such as human trafficking and poaching, has flourished alongside
legitimate commerce. Moreover, the pollution generated by the
world’s modernization has resulted in global warming and climate
change, threatening Earth’s very habitability.

Pollution

Factory smokestacks polluting the air.

© corepics/stock.adobe.com

Whether globalization will adapt to these problems remains to be

seen, but it is already changing again. For example, globalization
began in the 19th century with an explosion in exports, but, even
before the COVID-19 pandemic that swept through the world in 2020
resulted in global lockdowns, trade as a share of many countries’ GDP
had fallen. It can be argued that the global supply chains today rely
more on knowledge than on labour. And services now constitute a
larger share of the global economy than goods. A “fourth
globalization” might indeed be here—or at least on the way.
Adam VolleKey People:Thomas L. FriedmanDani RodrikJagdish
Bhagwati

Globalization, integration of the world’s economies, politics, and

cultures. German-born American economist Theodore Levitt has been
credited with having coined the term globalization in a 1983 article
titled “The Globalization of Markets.” The phenomenon is widely
considered to have begun in the 19th century following the advent of
the Industrial Revolution, but some scholars date it more specifically
to about 1870, when exports became a much more significant share
of some countries’ gross domestic product (GDP). Its continued
escalation is largely attributable to the development of new
technologies—particularly in the fields of communication and
transportation—and to the adoption of liberal trade policies by
countries around the world.

Social scientists have identified the central aspects of globalization as

interconnection, intensification, time-space distanciation (conditions
that allow time and space to be organized in a manner that connects
presence and absence), supraterritoriality, time-space compression,
action at a distance, and accelerating interdependence. Modern
analysts also conceive of globalization as a long-term process of
deterritorialization—that is, of social activities (economic, political,
and cultural) occurring without regard for geographic location. Thus,
globalization can be defined as the stretching of economic, political,
and social relationships in space and time. A manufacturer
assembling a product for a distant market, a country submitting to
international law, and a language adopting a foreign loanword are all
examples of globalization.

Of course history is filled with such occurrences: Chinese artisans

once wove silk bound for the Roman Empire (see Silk Road); kingdoms
in western Europe honoured dictates of the Roman Catholic Church;
and English adopted many Norman French words in the centuries
after the Battle of Hastings . These interactions and others laid the
groundwork for globalization and are now recognized by historians
and economists as important predecessors of the modern
phenomenon. Analysts have labeled the 15th to 18th century as a
period of “proto-globalization,” when European explorers established
maritime trade routes across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and
encountered new lands. Integration prior to this time has been
characterized as “archaic globalization.”
What distinguishes the process of modern globalization from those
forms of global integration that preceded it are its pace and extent.
According to some academics, three distinct eras of modern
globalization can be identified, each of them marked by points of
sudden acceleration in international interaction. Under this scheme,
the “first globalization” era refers to the period between
approximately 1870 and 1914, during which new transportation and
communication technology decreased or eliminated many of the
drawbacks to distance. The “second globalization” era is said to have
lasted from roughly 1944 to 1971, a period in which an international
monetary system based on the value of the U.S. dollar facilitated a
new level of trade between capitalist countries. And the “third
globalization” era is thought to have begun with the revolutions of
1989–90, which opened the communist Eastern bloc to the flow of
capital and coincided with the creation of the World Wide Web. Some
scholars argue that a new period of globalization, the “fourth
globalization,” is underway, but there is little consensus on when this
era began or whether it is truly distinct enough to merit its own
designation.

Port facilities

Shipping containers being unloaded at port facilities in Vancouver,

British Columbia, Canada.

© Werdiam/Dreamstime.com

New levels of interconnectedness fostered by globalization are

credited for numerous benefits to humanity. The spread of industrial
technology and the resulting increase in productivity have contributed
to a reduction in the percentage of the world’s population living in
poverty. The sharing of medical knowledge has dramatically
decreased the incidence of once-feared diseases and even eliminated
smallpox. And economic interdependence among countries
discourages war between them.

However, the implementation of globalization has been much

criticized, leading to the development of the anti-globalization
movement. Opponents of globalization—or at least, globalization in its
present form (see neoliberal globalization)—represent a variety of
interests on both the political left and right. Labour unions disdain
multinational companies’ ability to move their operations to countries
with cheaper labour; Indigenous peoples rue the difficulty of
maintaining their traditions; and leftists object to the neoliberal
character of the new world economy, arguing that the capitalist logic
on which they contend globalization is based leads to asymmetrical
power relations (both internationally and domestically) and
transforms every aspect of life into a commodity. Right-wing critics of
globalization believe that it threatens both national economies and
national identity. They advocate national control of a country’s
economy and rigidly restricted immigration.

World Trade Organization protest

Protesters carrying signs in a demonstration against the World Trade

Organization (WTO) meeting in Denpasar, Indonesia, in 2013.

Agung Parameswara/Getty Images

Globalization has also produced effects that are more universally

worrisome. Expanded transportation networks facilitate not only
increased trade but also the spread of diseases. Undesirable trade,
such as human trafficking and poaching, has flourished alongside
legitimate commerce. Moreover, the pollution generated by the
world’s modernization has resulted in global warming and climate
change, threatening Earth’s very habitability.

Pollution

Factory smokestacks polluting the air.

© corepics/stock.adobe.com

Whether globalization will adapt to these problems remains to be

seen, but it is already changing again. For example, globalization
began in the 19th century with an explosion in exports, but, even
before the COVID-19 pandemic that swept through the world in 2020
resulted in global lockdowns, trade as a share of many countries’ GDP
had fallen. It can be argued that the global supply chains today rely
more on knowledge than on labour. And services now constitute a
larger share of the global economy than goods. A “fourth
globalization” might indeed be here—or at least on the way.
Adam VolleKey People:Thomas L. FriedmanDani RodrikJagdish
Bhagwati

Globalization, integration of the world’s economies, politics, and

cultures. German-born American economist Theodore Levitt has been
credited with having coined the term globalization in a 1983 article
titled “The Globalization of Markets.” The phenomenon is widely
considered to have begun in the 19th century following the advent of
the Industrial Revolution, but some scholars date it more specifically
to about 1870, when exports became a much more significant share
of some countries’ gross domestic product (GDP). Its continued
escalation is largely attributable to the development of new
technologies—particularly in the fields of communication and
transportation—and to the adoption of liberal trade policies by
countries around the world.

Social scientists have identified the central aspects of globalization as

interconnection, intensification, time-space distanciation (conditions
that allow time and space to be organized in a manner that connects
presence and absence), supraterritoriality, time-space compression,
action at a distance, and accelerating interdependence. Modern
analysts also conceive of globalization as a long-term process of
deterritorialization—that is, of social activities (economic, political,
and cultural) occurring without regard for geographic location. Thus,
globalization can be defined as the stretching of economic, political,
and social relationships in space and time. A manufacturer
assembling a product for a distant market, a country submitting to
international law, and a language adopting a foreign loanword are all
examples of globalization.

Of course history is filled with such occurrences: Chinese artisans

once wove silk bound for the Roman Empire (see Silk Road); kingdoms
in western Europe honoured dictates of the Roman Catholic Church;
and English adopted many Norman French words in the centuries
after the Battle of Hastings . These interactions and others laid the
groundwork for globalization and are now recognized by historians
and economists as important predecessors of the modern
phenomenon. Analysts have labeled the 15th to 18th century as a
period of “proto-globalization,” when European explorers established
maritime trade routes across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and
encountered new lands. Integration prior to this time has been
characterized as “archaic globalization.”
What distinguishes the process of modern globalization from those
forms of global integration that preceded it are its pace and extent.
According to some academics, three distinct eras of modern
globalization can be identified, each of them marked by points of
sudden acceleration in international interaction. Under this scheme,
the “first globalization” era refers to the period between
approximately 1870 and 1914, during which new transportation and
communication technology decreased or eliminated many of the
drawbacks to distance. The “second globalization” era is said to have
lasted from roughly 1944 to 1971, a period in which an international
monetary system based on the value of the U.S. dollar facilitated a
new level of trade between capitalist countries. And the “third
globalization” era is thought to have begun with the revolutions of
1989–90, which opened the communist Eastern bloc to the flow of
capital and coincided with the creation of the World Wide Web. Some
scholars argue that a new period of globalization, the “fourth
globalization,” is underway, but there is little consensus on when this
era began or whether it is truly distinct enough to merit its own
designation.

Port facilities

Shipping containers being unloaded at port facilities in Vancouver,

British Columbia, Canada.

© Werdiam/Dreamstime.com

New levels of interconnectedness fostered by globalization are

credited for numerous benefits to humanity. The spread of industrial
technology and the resulting increase in productivity have contributed
to a reduction in the percentage of the world’s population living in
poverty. The sharing of medical knowledge has dramatically
decreased the incidence of once-feared diseases and even eliminated
smallpox. And economic interdependence among countries
discourages war between them.

However, the implementation of globalization has been much

criticized, leading to the development of the anti-globalization
movement. Opponents of globalization—or at least, globalization in its
present form (see neoliberal globalization)—represent a variety of
interests on both the political left and right. Labour unions disdain
multinational companies’ ability to move their operations to countries
with cheaper labour; Indigenous peoples rue the difficulty of
maintaining their traditions; and leftists object to the neoliberal
character of the new world economy, arguing that the capitalist logic
on which they contend globalization is based leads to asymmetrical
power relations (both internationally and domestically) and
transforms every aspect of life into a commodity. Right-wing critics of
globalization believe that it threatens both national economies and
national identity. They advocate national control of a country’s
economy and rigidly restricted immigration.

World Trade Organization protest

Protesters carrying signs in a demonstration against the World Trade

Organization (WTO) meeting in Denpasar, Indonesia, in 2013.

Agung Parameswara/Getty Images

Globalization has also produced effects that are more universally

worrisome. Expanded transportation networks facilitate not only
increased trade but also the spread of diseases. Undesirable trade,
such as human trafficking and poaching, has flourished alongside
legitimate commerce. Moreover, the pollution generated by the
world’s modernization has resulted in global warming and climate
change, threatening Earth’s very habitability.

Pollution

Factory smokestacks polluting the air.

© corepics/stock.adobe.com

Whether globalization will adapt to these problems remains to be

seen, but it is already changing again. For example, globalization
began in the 19th century with an explosion in exports, but, even
before the COVID-19 pandemic that swept through the world in 2020
resulted in global lockdowns, trade as a share of many countries’ GDP
had fallen. It can be argued that the global supply chains today rely
more on knowledge than on labour. And services now constitute a
larger share of the global economy than goods. A “fourth
globalization” might indeed be here—or at least on the way.
Adam VolleKey People:Thomas L. FriedmanDani RodrikJagdish
Bhagwati

Globalization, integration of the world’s economies, politics, and

cultures. German-born American economist Theodore Levitt has been
credited with having coined the term globalization in a 1983 article
titled “The Globalization of Markets.” The phenomenon is widely
considered to have begun in the 19th century following the advent of
the Industrial Revolution, but some scholars date it more specifically
to about 1870, when exports became a much more significant share
of some countries’ gross domestic product (GDP). Its continued
escalation is largely attributable to the development of new
technologies—particularly in the fields of communication and
transportation—and to the adoption of liberal trade policies by
countries around the world.

Social scientists have identified the central aspects of globalization as

interconnection, intensification, time-space distanciation (conditions
that allow time and space to be organized in a manner that connects
presence and absence), supraterritoriality, time-space compression,
action at a distance, and accelerating interdependence. Modern
analysts also conceive of globalization as a long-term process of
deterritorialization—that is, of social activities (economic, political,
and cultural) occurring without regard for geographic location. Thus,
globalization can be defined as the stretching of economic, political,
and social relationships in space and time. A manufacturer
assembling a product for a distant market, a country submitting to
international law, and a language adopting a foreign loanword are all
examples of globalization.

Of course history is filled with such occurrences: Chinese artisans

once wove silk bound for the Roman Empire (see Silk Road); kingdoms
in western Europe honoured dictates of the Roman Catholic Church;
and English adopted many Norman French words in the centuries
after the Battle of Hastings . These interactions and others laid the
groundwork for globalization and are now recognized by historians
and economists as important predecessors of the modern
phenomenon. Analysts have labeled the 15th to 18th century as a
period of “proto-globalization,” when European explorers established
maritime trade routes across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and
encountered new lands. Integration prior to this time has been
characterized as “archaic globalization.”
What distinguishes the process of modern globalization from those
forms of global integration that preceded it are its pace and extent.
According to some academics, three distinct eras of modern
globalization can be identified, each of them marked by points of
sudden acceleration in international interaction. Under this scheme,
the “first globalization” era refers to the period between
approximately 1870 and 1914, during which new transportation and
communication technology decreased or eliminated many of the
drawbacks to distance. The “second globalization” era is said to have
lasted from roughly 1944 to 1971, a period in which an international
monetary system based on the value of the U.S. dollar facilitated a
new level of trade between capitalist countries. And the “third
globalization” era is thought to have begun with the revolutions of
1989–90, which opened the communist Eastern bloc to the flow of
capital and coincided with the creation of the World Wide Web. Some
scholars argue that a new period of globalization, the “fourth
globalization,” is underway, but there is little consensus on when this
era began or whether it is truly distinct enough to merit its own
designation.

Port facilities

Shipping containers being unloaded at port facilities in Vancouver,

British Columbia, Canada.

© Werdiam/Dreamstime.com

New levels of interconnectedness fostered by globalization are

credited for numerous benefits to humanity. The spread of industrial
technology and the resulting increase in productivity have contributed
to a reduction in the percentage of the world’s population living in
poverty. The sharing of medical knowledge has dramatically
decreased the incidence of once-feared diseases and even eliminated
smallpox. And economic interdependence among countries
discourages war between them.

However, the implementation of globalization has been much

criticized, leading to the development of the anti-globalization
movement. Opponents of globalization—or at least, globalization in its
present form (see neoliberal globalization)—represent a variety of
interests on both the political left and right. Labour unions disdain
multinational companies’ ability to move their operations to countries
with cheaper labour; Indigenous peoples rue the difficulty of
maintaining their traditions; and leftists object to the neoliberal
character of the new world economy, arguing that the capitalist logic
on which they contend globalization is based leads to asymmetrical
power relations (both internationally and domestically) and
transforms every aspect of life into a commodity. Right-wing critics of
globalization believe that it threatens both national economies and
national identity. They advocate national control of a country’s
economy and rigidly restricted immigration.

World Trade Organization protest

Protesters carrying signs in a demonstration against the World Trade

Organization (WTO) meeting in Denpasar, Indonesia, in 2013.

Agung Parameswara/Getty Images

Globalization has also produced effects that are more universally

worrisome. Expanded transportation networks facilitate not only
increased trade but also the spread of diseases. Undesirable trade,
such as human trafficking and poaching, has flourished alongside
legitimate commerce. Moreover, the pollution generated by the
world’s modernization has resulted in global warming and climate
change, threatening Earth’s very habitability.

Pollution

Factory smokestacks polluting the air.

© corepics/stock.adobe.com

Whether globalization will adapt to these problems remains to be

seen, but it is already changing again. For example, globalization
began in the 19th century with an explosion in exports, but, even
before the COVID-19 pandemic that swept through the world in 2020
resulted in global lockdowns, trade as a share of many countries’ GDP
had fallen. It can be argued that the global supply chains today rely
more on knowledge than on labour. And services now constitute a
larger share of the global economy than goods. A “fourth
globalization” might indeed be here—or at least on the way.
Adam VolleKey People:Thomas L. FriedmanDani RodrikJagdish
Bhagwati

Globalization, integration of the world’s economies, politics, and

cultures. German-born American economist Theodore Levitt has been
credited with having coined the term globalization in a 1983 article
titled “The Globalization of Markets.” The phenomenon is widely
considered to have begun in the 19th century following the advent of
the Industrial Revolution, but some scholars date it more specifically
to about 1870, when exports became a much more significant share
of some countries’ gross domestic product (GDP). Its continued
escalation is largely attributable to the development of new
technologies—particularly in the fields of communication and
transportation—and to the adoption of liberal trade policies by
countries around the world.

Social scientists have identified the central aspects of globalization as

interconnection, intensification, time-space distanciation (conditions
that allow time and space to be organized in a manner that connects
presence and absence), supraterritoriality, time-space compression,
action at a distance, and accelerating interdependence. Modern
analysts also conceive of globalization as a long-term process of
deterritorialization—that is, of social activities (economic, political,
and cultural) occurring without regard for geographic location. Thus,
globalization can be defined as the stretching of economic, political,
and social relationships in space and time. A manufacturer
assembling a product for a distant market, a country submitting to
international law, and a language adopting a foreign loanword are all
examples of globalization.

Of course history is filled with such occurrences: Chinese artisans

once wove silk bound for the Roman Empire (see Silk Road); kingdoms
in western Europe honoured dictates of the Roman Catholic Church;
and English adopted many Norman French words in the centuries
after the Battle of Hastings . These interactions and others laid the
groundwork for globalization and are now recognized by historians
and economists as important predecessors of the modern
phenomenon. Analysts have labeled the 15th to 18th century as a
period of “proto-globalization,” when European explorers established
maritime trade routes across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and
encountered new lands. Integration prior to this time has been
characterized as “archaic globalization.”
What distinguishes the process of modern globalization from those
forms of global integration that preceded it are its pace and extent.
According to some academics, three distinct eras of modern
globalization can be identified, each of them marked by points of
sudden acceleration in international interaction. Under this scheme,
the “first globalization” era refers to the period between
approximately 1870 and 1914, during which new transportation and
communication technology decreased or eliminated many of the
drawbacks to distance. The “second globalization” era is said to have
lasted from roughly 1944 to 1971, a period in which an international
monetary system based on the value of the U.S. dollar facilitated a
new level of trade between capitalist countries. And the “third
globalization” era is thought to have begun with the revolutions of
1989–90, which opened the communist Eastern bloc to the flow of
capital and coincided with the creation of the World Wide Web. Some
scholars argue that a new period of globalization, the “fourth
globalization,” is underway, but there is little consensus on when this
era began or whether it is truly distinct enough to merit its own
designation.

Port facilities

Shipping containers being unloaded at port facilities in Vancouver,

British Columbia, Canada.

© Werdiam/Dreamstime.com

New levels of interconnectedness fostered by globalization are

credited for numerous benefits to humanity. The spread of industrial
technology and the resulting increase in productivity have contributed
to a reduction in the percentage of the world’s population living in
poverty. The sharing of medical knowledge has dramatically
decreased the incidence of once-feared diseases and even eliminated
smallpox. And economic interdependence among countries
discourages war between them.

However, the implementation of globalization has been much

criticized, leading to the development of the anti-globalization
movement. Opponents of globalization—or at least, globalization in its
present form (see neoliberal globalization)—represent a variety of
interests on both the political left and right. Labour unions disdain
multinational companies’ ability to move their operations to countries
with cheaper labour; Indigenous peoples rue the difficulty of
maintaining their traditions; and leftists object to the neoliberal
character of the new world economy, arguing that the capitalist logic
on which they contend globalization is based leads to asymmetrical
power relations (both internationally and domestically) and
transforms every aspect of life into a commodity. Right-wing critics of
globalization believe that it threatens both national economies and
national identity. They advocate national control of a country’s
economy and rigidly restricted immigration.

World Trade Organization protest

Protesters carrying signs in a demonstration against the World Trade

Organization (WTO) meeting in Denpasar, Indonesia, in 2013.

Agung Parameswara/Getty Images

Globalization has also produced effects that are more universally

worrisome. Expanded transportation networks facilitate not only
increased trade but also the spread of diseases. Undesirable trade,
such as human trafficking and poaching, has flourished alongside
legitimate commerce. Moreover, the pollution generated by the
world’s modernization has resulted in global warming and climate
change, threatening Earth’s very habitability.

Pollution

Factory smokestacks polluting the air.

© corepics/stock.adobe.com

Whether globalization will adapt to these problems remains to be

seen, but it is already changing again. For example, globalization
began in the 19th century with an explosion in exports, but, even
before the COVID-19 pandemic that swept through the world in 2020
resulted in global lockdowns, trade as a share of many countries’ GDP
had fallen. It can be argued that the global supply chains today rely
more on knowledge than on labour. And services now constitute a
larger share of the global economy than goods. A “fourth
globalization” might indeed be here—or at least on the way.

Adam Volle