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Globalization is a planetary process or set of processes involving increasing liquidity and the growing multidirectional flows of people, objects, places, and information, as well as the structures they encounter and create that are barriers to, or expedite, those flows. The sheer magnitude, diversity, and complexity of the process of globalization today lead to the conceptualization of the current era as the “global age.” Globalization can be analyzed through conceptual metaphors such as solids, liquids, gases, flows, structures, heavy, light, and weightless.

Prior to the “global age,” people, things, information, places, and objects tended to harden over time. Thus their common attribute was “solidity,” the characteristic of being limited to one place. Solidity also refers to the persistence of barriers that prevented free movement of people, information, and objects in that era. Although solidity persists, it is “fluidity” that is more characteristic of the “global age.”

Over the last few decades, that which once seemed solid has tended to “melt” and become increasingly mobile or “liquid.” A range of technological developments in transportation and communication have enabled far greater global movement of what was previously solid. The difficulties posed by the fact that many things and people retain some solidity can now also be dealt with more readily.

As this process of increased mobility continues, liquids tend to turn into gases. This implies additional attributes of being light and a capacity to flow even faster and with greater ease. The flow of information in the global age closely approximates this characteristic of gaseousness. The new liquids and gases that are being created have both constructive as well as destructive effects.

Bauman’s ideas on liquidity inform this book’s orientation to globalization. Liquid phenomena do not easily, or for long, hold their shape. They are not fixed in either space or time. Most importantly, liquids tend to dissolve obstacles in their path.

A closely related concept is the idea of “flows.” Globalization is increasingly characterized by flows of liquid phenomena including people, objects, decisions, information, and places. Many global flows are interconnected – they do not occur in isolation. Others might be multidirectional flows – all sorts of things flow in every conceivable direction among all points in the world. Conflicting flows add another layer of complexity to the analysis of global processes. Finally, reverse flows often have a boomerang effect. That is, they flow back to their source and often have a negative effect on it.

Globalization can also be analyzed through metaphors of heavy, light, and weightless. Historically, there has been movement from that which is heavy to that which is light and most recently to that which approaches weightlessness. Pre-industrial and industrial societies were “heavy,” characterized by that which is difficult to move. Advances in transportation and technology made goods, people, and places lighter. We are currently in an era defined not only by lightness but also increasingly by weightlessness.

This does not imply that the world is flat. Some structures continue to be important in impeding the movement of that which is liquid, light, or weightless. Borders between nation-states and the “digital divide” are important examples of such barriers, which reproduce inequalities.

Other heavy structures expedite flows. “Routes” or “paths” serve to both expedite flows along their length as well as to limit flows that occur outside their confines. There are also formal or informal bridges that expedite flows. An increasing number of people also participate in global networks, involving networks of communication and information technology, as well as interpersonal networks. Further, an increasing number of social structures (states, cities, law) and social institutions (the family, religion, sport) are interconnected through networks and thus enable global flows. However, organizations such as nation-states and corporations may expedite flows for some while creating barriers for others. For instance, protectionist tariff systems aid the flow of products from a nation-state’s own farms and manufacturers, while inhibiting similar flows from foreign competitors.

The idea of flows communicates the sense that virtually everyone benefits from them, but this is not the case. Intersectionality is an important concept that helps us to understand the complexities of inequalities. It refers to the analysis of multiple systems of oppression to understand how members of any group are affected by their simultaneous positions in dominant and oppressed positions.

These structures serve to differentiate and subordinate on the basis of social class, race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, and region of the world. These phenomena often tend to be interrelated. Those who occupy dominant positions in these hierarchies tend to erect structures in order to impede flows that are not beneficial to them. They also encourage flows that work to their advantage, and the disadvantage of others.

Global flows and structures have now become ubiquitous in everyday experience; they have come to be taken-for-granted. There has also been a generalization of global flows and structures, such that their impact spreads across all levels of society. Four directions of enquiry can be pursued in the analysis of structures and flows – extensiveness, intensiveness, velocity, and impact propensity.