The Impact of Globalization on the World
Introduction
Globalization “is a complex admixture of different, though interrelated, historically evolving developments and transformations—economic, technological, cultural and social” (Martin et al. 5)
Problems Related to the Globalization
- polarization of the world economy into a wealthy minority and a poor majority
- per capita incomes in the most prosperous countries are growing significantly faster than in the poorest
- a gap in the levels of socio-economic and scientific-technical development between the countries of the center and the periphery
- unfair distribution of goods, which creates the threat of conflict at various levels
Results of Globalization
- interdependence between countries is increasing due to an increase in foreign economic transactions
- new international division of labor
- production of GDP and the accumulation of national wealth increasingly depend on the economic entities of other countries
- the increasing interdependence of the economies of various countries of the world
Technological Influence
- formation of global information networks
- the spatial and geographical factor is mostly losing its significance
- the world economy is turning into a joint system
- globalization benefits are not distributed evenly, which increases the threat of conflict at the regional, national, and international levels
- differentiation of the world into countries that receive good and bad results from globalization
Negative Aspects of Globalization
- increase in unemployment and impoverishment of the population in the third-world states (Chen et al. 318)
- low and unstable incomes, depending on the situation on world markets
- growth of socio-economic stratification of the part of the population
- loss of traditional principles and values
- growth of external debt (Petricevic and Teece 1492)
Divergence of the World
Divergence is an increase in income differentiation between first-world and third-world countries, with a general rise in the number and proportion of the poorest part of the world’s population.
Researchers note that “social and cultural globalization, involving cross-border movement of cultures and openness of media, may also have increased a population’s perception of the supposed benefits of foreign lifestyles” (Goryakin et al. 68).
TNCs and Globalization
On the one hand, by connecting to the international production networks of TNCs, developing countries are gaining additional opportunities for industrial growth.
On the other hand, external outsourcing, as a rule, is not accompanied by the transfer of significant technological innovations to developing countries.
Globalization in Literature
Prologue: The Super-Story by Thomas L. Friedman Globalization is “the inexorable integration of markets, transportation systems, and communication systems to a degree never witnessed before” (Friedman 2).
Globalization Rocked the Ancient World Too by Jared Diamond “The first wave of globalization began around 8500 BC, driven primarily by genetically modified foods created in the Mideast and China, and to a lesser extent Mexico, the Andes and Nigeria” (Diamond 15).
Life on the Global Assembly Line by Barbara Ehrenreich and Annette Fuentes. Women who work in factories in Malaysia or the Philippines live under challenging conditions and experience many inconveniences (Ehrenreich and Fuentes 50). Moreover, most of the world’s wealth is concentrated in such major countries as America.
It’s a Mall World After All by Mac Margolis. Modern society is based on consumption, so malls are one of the best ways to make money. On the one hand, their creation leads to a particular development of first-world countries. On the other hand, they require significant production and maintenance costs (Margolis 25).
Conclusion
The foremost modern problem is not the process of globalization itself, but how it is managed. If people do not change the policy for managing this process, all parties will feel the adverse effects of globalization, such as low living standards, cheap low-skilled labor, and unemployment. Each country’s leaders should be attentive to the process of globalization and control it so as not to harm society.
Works Cited
Chen, Sylvia Xiaohua, et al. “Conceptualizing Psychological Processes in Response to Globalization: Components, Antecedents, and Consequences of Global Orientations.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 110, no. 2, 2016, pp. 302-331.
Diamond, Jared. “Globalization Rocked the Ancient World Too.” Los Angeles Times, 2003, pp. 15-20.
Ehrenreich, Barbara, and Annette Fuentes. “Life on the Global Assembly Line.” Ms. Magazine, 2002, pp. 47-60.
Friedman, Thomas L. “Prologue: The Super-Story.” Longitudes and Attitudes: The World in an Age of Terrorism, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002, pp. 2-8.
Goryakin, Yevgeniy et al. “The Impact of Economic, Political and Social Globalization on Overweight and Obesity in the 56 Low and Middle Income Countries.” Social Science & Medicine, vol. 133, 2015, pp. 67-76.
Margolis, Mac. “It’s a Mall World After All.” Newsweek, 2005, pp. 21-26.
Petricevic, Olga, and David J. Teece. “The Structural Reshaping of Globalization: Implications for Strategic Sectors, Profiting from Innovation, and the Multinational Enterprise.” Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 50, 2019, pp. 1487–1512.