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In an example of the third approach to the beginnings of globalization, Nederveen Pieterse (2012) sees eight great epochs, or “phases,” of globalization, that have occurred sequentially, each with its own point of origin:

1 Eurasian Phase (starting 3000 bce). Agricultural and urban revolutions, migrations, increased trade, and ancient empires grew out of Eurasia.

2 Afro-Eurasian Phase (starting 1000 bce). Commercial revolutions commenced in the Greco-Roman world, West Asia, and East Africa.

3 Oriental Phase I (starting 500 ce). The world economy emerged alongside the caravan trade in the Middle East.

4 Oriental Phase II (starting 1100). Improvements in productivity and technology emerged throughout East and South Asia, with increased urbanization and development of the Silk Routes.

5 Multicentric Phase (starting 1500). Trade expanded across the Atlantic Ocean and into the Americas.

6 Euro-Atlantic Phase (starting 1800). The Euro-Atlantic economy developed through industrialization and the colonial division of labor.

7 20C Phase (starting 1950). MNCs and global value chains emerged throughout the US, Europe, and Japan, and the Cold War ended.

8 21C Phase (starting 2000). A new geography of trade encompasses East Asia and emerging economies, with a global rebalancing of power and economic flows.

From this, Nederveen Pieterse concludes that globalization is not unique to today’s world. However, his historical or phase-based view also rejects the cyclical view of globalization. Past epochs are not returning, at least in their earlier form, at some point in the future. Instead, globalization functions as growing connectivity, which develops and accelerates around various centers across time.

Robertson (1990) offers a very different, and far more recent, set of epochs (or phases). He traces the beginnings of globalization to the early fifteenth century, but he does not see it really taking off until the late 1800s:

1 Germinal Phase in Europe (early fifteenth to mid-eighteenth century). Important developments during this period were the sun-centered view of the universe, the beginnings of modern geography, and the spread of the Gregorian calendar.

2 Incipient Phase mainly in Europe (mid-1700s to the 1870s). Among the key developments in this period were the “crystallization of conceptions of formalized international relations,” a “more concrete conception of humankind,” and “[s]harp increases in conventions and agencies concerned with international and transnational regulation and communication” (1990: 26).

3 Take-Off Phase (1870s to the mid-1920s). Among the key developments in this period were the “[v]ery sharp increase in number and speed of global forms of communication. Rise of ecumenical movement. Development of global competitions – e.g. Olympics, Nobel Prizes. Implementation of World Time and near-global adoption of Gregorian calendar. First World war. League of Nations” (1990: 27).

4 Struggle-for-hegemony phase (1920s to the mid-1960s). This period was characterized by war (WW II) and disputes (Cold War) over the still fragile globalization process. The UN was formed during this period.

5 Uncertainty Phase (1960s to the early 1990s⁴ ). Many global developments occurred during this period including inclusion of the Third World in the global system, end of the Cold War (and bipolarity), spread of nuclear weapons, world civil society, world citizenship, and global media system consolidation. Robertson saw “crisis tendencies” in the global system in the early 1990s, and COVID-19 has more recently exacerbated such tendencies.

Were Robertson to address this issue again, he might find that yet another epoch began at the turn of the twenty-first century. These epochal views tend to contrast with the focus here on the current global age since they do not see it as particularly unique.