Definitions of Globalization

History of the Global Now
Definitions of Globalization
Terese Howard
8/20/09

Let me begin, like every other introduction to globalization, by pointing to the vagueness of the word and how the term has become the hottest term in the past 20 years. As Osterhammel and Petersson put it, since the 1990’s “globalization” has “skyrocketed to terminological stardom.” (Osterhammel, 1). It may be that this growth is in part because there has become an increasing need for the term. The term also serves as a handle for defining today’s global phenomenon.
In its attempt to address the current global situation, the definition of globalization becomes central for this goal. The countless definitions of globalization given by its supporters, critics, and opposesers reveal as much common understanding as divergence in understanding. Let us compare a couple definitions.
“The term globalization applies to a set of social processes that appear to transform our present social condition of weakening nationality into one of globality. At its core, then, globalization is about shifting forms of human contact.” (Steger, 9)
"Globalization refers in general to the worldwide integration of humanity and the compression of both the temporal and spatial dimensions of planetwide human interaction. ..”.www2.truman.edu/~marc/resources/terms.html
“’Globalization’ is a transformation of social geography marked by the growth of supraterritorial spaces” (Scholte, 8)
Each of these definitions understands globalization in a different form. Each of these definitions deals with issues of time and space. And each of these definitions addresses the end of globalization differently. Let us consider these comparisons more closely.
Form
When one asks the question “what is globalization?” the answer automatically takes on a form that shapes its meaning. Steger points out that “’Globalization’ has been variously used in both popular and academic literature to describe a process, a condition, a system, a force, and an age” (Steger, 8). In defining globalization as a process its continual change becomes the focus and its end becomes a question. Often “globalization as process” is divided from an end which is seen as the condition – sometimes called “globility” (see the first definition above, Steger, 9). Yet other times globalization is defined as a condition, a state of being which the world is currently in. This is sometimes stated as “globalization [the process] leads to more globalization [the condition]” (Steger, 8). Globalization can also be seen as a system. This understanding often comes from those focusing on the economic elements of globalization which tie nations together. When Globalization is understood as an age it becomes a part of historical categories like Medieval, Modern, and Post-modern.
Time and space
Each of these ways of forming the definition of globalization places it within a different relationship to time. Globalization as process, for example, treats it as going with the passing of time. Globalization as condition instead treats it as more stable or outside of time. To some who see globalization as process that does not mean it is a singular process that is changes at the same speed. Osterhammel and Petersson argue, “The word ‘globalization’ indicates change and dynamism over time. It refers to a process or…to a bundle of related processes that do not necessarily progress at the same speed or move in the same direction. Moreover they affect the various parts of the world in quite different ways” (Osterhammel, vii).
Understandings of globalization’s relation to time also differs in its treatment of origin – when the beginning of globalization is placed. Some argue that globalization only started I the 90’s when the term came to play, while others argue it started at the foundation of existence. In so far as globalization can be understood as a high degree of connectivity across national and geographical borders, this has been going on for centuries. Nonetheless, a distinctive character to that connectivity can be seen of late. It is this character that appears to have lead to the recent use of the term globalization. Some argue that this is the shift from internationalism to the “weakening nationality into one of globality” (Steger, 9). Whatever the distinctive is, it is significant in its placement in history.
Globalization also has a close connection to space. It is often said that globalization is the “shrinking of the world.” As communication and travel get faster nothing is so far away. However, it could also be said that globalization is the “growing of the world” since more and more ideas and material are accessible such that there is so much to deal with. Either way globalization is defined by its place in or effect on space.
Branches of Globalization
Globalization is also often defined by its various branches or focuses. This is globalization as in economics, as political, as cultural, as environmental, and so on. Each of these felids focuses on globalization differently. Steger argues against the fragmentation of these branches saying that “each globalization researcher is partly right by correctly identifying one important dimension… However, their collective mistake lies in their dogmatic attempts to reduce…globalization to a single domain” (Stager, 12).
Conclusion
When defining globalization one should pay attention to the temporal and spacial words used to see what these say about globalizations beginning, end, movement, and place. These are clues to the meaning given. Globalization as our final goal. Globalization as post-colonialism. Globalization as the process of western economic gain. All of these say something about time and space. All of these say something about the nature of globalization – good or bad, fast or slow, here or there...
Globalization: a very short introduction by Manfred B. Steger
Globalization: a short history by Jurgen Osterhammel and Niels Petersson
Globalization: a critical introduction by Han Aart Scholte
www2.truman.edu/~marc/resources/terms.html