Читать книгу Essential Concepts in Sociology - Anthony Giddens - Страница 14

Although most sociologists could accept our working definition, there are many disagreements on the underlying causes of globalization and whether it is a positive or negative development. Globalization alerts us to a process of change or perhaps a social trend towards worldwide interdependence. But this does not mean it will inevitably lead to a single, global society. Globalization has economic, political and cultural dimensions (Waters 2001).

For some, globalization is primarily economic, involving financial exchange, trade, global production and consumption, a global division of labour and a global financial system (Martell 2017). Economic globalization fosters increased migration, altering patterns of movement and settlement, creating a more fluid form of human existence. For others, cultural globalization is more significant. For instance, Robertson (1995) devised the concept of glocalization – the mixing of global and local elements – to capture the way that local communities actively modify global processes to fit into indigenous cultures. This leads to multidirectional flows of cultural products across the world’s societies. Those more impressed with political globalization focus on increasing regional and international governance mechanisms, such as the United Nations and the European Union. These institutions gather nation states and international non-governmental organizations into common decision-making forums to regulate the emerging global social system.

Globalization has been theorized as involving several linked processes. Trade and market exchanges routinely take place on a worldwide scale. Growing international political cooperation, as in the notion of an active ‘international community’ or the use of multinational peacekeeping forces, demonstrates political and military coordination beyond national boundaries. Recent developments in information technology and more systematic (and cheaper) transportation also mean that social and cultural activity operates at a global level. In addition, the globalizing of human activity is becoming intensified. That is, there is more global trade, more international politics, more frequent global transport and more routine cultural interchange. The sheer volume of activity at the global level is increasing. And many sociologists perceive a speeding up of globalization since the 1970s with the advent of digitization, information technology and improvements in the transportation of goods, services and people. This rapid globalization has far-reaching consequences, dramatically illustrated by the rapid global spread of the Covid-19 virus in 2020. Economic and political decisions taken in one location can have an enormous impact on other, distant societies, and the nation state, so long the central actor, appears to have lost some of its power and control.