Globalization Lecture 2 - Dimensions What is it? Global capitalist economy & diminishing political power of nation-state governments (Marxists & Right-wingers)

GlobalizationLecture 2 - Dimensions

What is it? Global capitalist economy & diminishing political power of nation-state governments (Marxists & Right-wingers)

Social relations- “stretching” (Giddens)

Culture – a sense of “global consciousness” (Robertson)

1) Globalization of Politics- The end of the nation-state?

2) Globalization of Social Relations- The stretching of social relations

3) Globalization of Culture- Homogenization: Cultural imperialism- Culture clashes- Heterogenization

Globalization of PoliticsNation-state has sovereign power: - Treaty of Westphalia (1648)- Draws up defined borders - Each state controls affairs in its own

territory. SOVEREIGNTY- Other states cannot interfere in a state’s

business

Globalization undermines sovereignty of states i.e. undercuts power of a state to control things in its territory

Martin Albrow: the nation-state is rapidly losing power

Nation-state IS losing power

Economically:

1) power of TNCS

2) forces of world market

Politically:

1) International bodies and law

e.g. United Nations, European Union

2) Global protest movements e.g. Greens

Culturally:

1) Cultural influences from all over world

2) Trans-national media – public opinion

Nation-state IS NOT losing power

Hirst & Thompson:

- TNCs do not have total control of national economies

- States still have primary control over taxes & welfare spending

- International bodies like UN made up of, and dependent on, nation-states

- States developing increasing control of borders and migration e.g. passports

Globalization of Social RelationsGiddens: “the disembedding of social

relations”

- social relations transformed from purely local or national to more “global”

- communications technologies; travel technologies

- dispersal of populations across globe: migrations and diasporas

Ulrich Beck:

Trans-national social connections

- public life: trans-national business relationships

- private life: relatives & friends in different countries; inter-marriage between national groups, etc.

Multiple, non-national affiliations and identities

Cosmopolitanism: a person’s identity is decoupled from the nation-state

Undermining the idea of “Society”

John Urry, Ulrich Beck, Roland Robertson

1) Cannot use the idea of “society” any more2) Invented in later 19th century: Durkheim3) Society = bounded unit; a thingSociety = nation-statee.g. “British society”, “German society”, etc 4) Reflects out-dated social conditions5) Need new ideas to reflect global conditions

Undermining the idea of “Society”Drop idea of “society”

Use other ideas from classical sociology

Max Weber: Sociality (social relations)Georg Simmel: Social networks(Norbert Elias: social chains)

“Global networks” – facilitated through electronic

communications networks

Undermining the idea of “Society”Ulrich Beck: Cosmopolitan sociology

1) The main focus is not “society” but the “whole world”

2) Examine multiple, intersecting world-spanning processes

3) Avoid West-centric outlooks

John Urry: Sociology Beyond Societies

1) Global flows

2) Social processes like liquids

3) Liquids pouring rapidly across the world- Flows unpredictable and uncontrollable

4) Unconstrained cross-border mobility of people and things

Zygmunt Bauman:

Free & chosen mobility for wealthy

- transnational business-people

- global tourism

Forced mobility for poor:

- migrant workers, refugees

- ever more controls on mobility of poor

Information mobility: world divides into “information rich” and “information poor”

Globalization of CultureEmergence of a “global culture”?

What might this look like?

Positive: whole world shares same ideas and values?

World Cup, Olympic Games

Negative: local cultures destroyed?

Cultural homogenization?

Cultural heterogenization?

Cultural ImperialismWesternisation / Americanisation of the

world

Domination of American consumer brands:

McDonalds, Nike, Coca-Cola, Gap (“McWorld” - Benjamin Barber)

Global cultural homogenisation- Same consumer goods everywhere- Same ways of thinking everywhereThis is bad (left-wing critics e.g. Noam

Chomsky)This is good (right-wing critics e.g. Francis

Fukuyama)

Cultural ImperialismDominance of American mass media

Oligopoly of big media companies:

- Disney, Warner, Sony

Imbalance of cultural flows:

from ‘core’ to ‘periphery’,

not vice versa

Culture ClashesBenjamin Barber – Jihad vs. McWorld

- Local identities, nationalisms, religious traditions

- Develop in opposition to McWorld

- McWorld creates Jihad

Samuel Huntington – Clash of Civilizations

- European-Christian, Russian-Christian, Arabic-Muslim, Chinese, etc.

- All in conflict: symbolically & materially

Cultural heterogenizationRoland Robertson1) People in local cultures reinterpret global culture

products in light of their own values & interests2) Global culture is always limited by local cultures 3) Mixtures of global and local cultures: - process of glocalization- local becomes global; global becomes local

4) Perceived threats to local identity: - strong assertion of local identity

Globalization reinforces local culturesGlobalization produces new “local” cultures

Hybridization & CreolizationAnthropologists: Ulf Hannerz

1) No culture is ever ‘pure’

- Always a mixture of influences

2) Previously (relatively) separate cultures come into contact with each other

3) Globalization = Complex mixtures of cultures

- ‘creole cultures’, ‘hybrids’

Globalization of religion:- other options than the “local” religion- religious syncretism: mixing and matching- New Age religions: bits of Christianity, Hinduism,

Buddhism, Taoism, Celtic paganism & witchcraft, etc.

Globalization of food:- “fusion cuisine” e.g. French-Japanese, Anglo-Indian

Globalization of music:- “World music”- Buddhist-techno, Spanish rap, Hungarian rock

Relativization of one’s own cultural traditions

Limits of Hybridization Ideas1) Local cultures commercialised:

Sold to Westerners by media and

big business; fashion trends

2) Enforced hybridization

- Western culture imposed on non-West

- Westerners choose non-Western cultures

3) Most people still primarily

enmeshed in local culture?

Global culture has superficial effects?

Points to Consider

Economic Globalization: spread of global capitalism. Effects?

Political Globalization: decline of nation-state’s power. True?

Social Globalization: stretching of social relations across world. Everyone, equally?

Cultural Globalization: homogenization, culture clashes, heterogenization. Which?

Which is most important?

How does each of these effect the others?