essay paper: How useful is the Idea of Globalization?

In this paper I would like to discuss the new phenomenon of our society ”“ globalization. The goal of the work is to show usefulness of this term.

At the beginning I must say that globalization -is the term determining changing situation in all aspects of society under the influence of the global trend towards interdependence and openness.

The main consequence of this is the global division of labor, migration across the planet’s capital, human and industrial resources, the standardization of legislation, economic and technological processes, as well as the convergence of cultures in different countries. It is an objective process that is systemic, that is, covers all aspects of society. Globalization is associated primarily with the internationalization of the entire public activity on Earth. This internationalization means that in the modern era, all of humanity is a single system of social, cultural, economic, political and other relations, interactions and relationships.

Analyzing academic literature I can say that globalization can be viewed as the integration at the macro level, that is, as the convergence of countries in all spheres: economic, political, social, cultural, technological, etc.

The positive characteristics of globalization include the rejection of an obedient subordinate to political economy beginning, a decisive choice in favor of the competitive (market) economic model, the recognition of the capitalist model as “optimal” sociology-economic system.  All this is at least theoretically, has made the world more uniform and allowed to hope that the relative uniformity of social order will help to eliminate poverty and destitution, the smoothing of economic inequality in the global space.

In the early 1990’s. in the West, there were many followers of the idea of global liberalization. Those authors believe that globalization – a form of no-liberal model of development, directly or indirectly affecting domestic and foreign policies of all countries of the world community.

In their view, such a model of development might be “the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution”, “the ultimate form of human government, and as such represents the end of history”. Preachers of such progress development believe that the “ideal of liberal democracy can not be improved, and humanity will evolve on the only possible path.

Representatives of this trend in political science and sociology, believes that modern technology allows accumulate wealth infinitely and to satisfy the ever-growing human needs. This should lead to a homogenization of all societies, regardless of their historical past and cultural heritage. All countries undergoing economic modernization based on liberal values, will increasingly resemble each other, converge with the global market and the spread of a universal consumer culture.

This theory has a certain practical confirmation. The development of computerization, fiber optics, and improved communications, including satellite, enables humankind to move toward an open society with a liberal economy.

However, the representation of the world as a homogeneous sociology-economic environment driven by the single motivation, and controlled “universal values”, is largely simplified. Politicians and scientists in developing countries have serious doubts about the Western model of development. In their view, no-liberalism leads to a growing polarization of wealth and poverty, environmental degradation, to the fact that rich countries are becoming more control over world resources.

In the social sphere, globalization implies a society which should be based on respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, the principle of social justice.

Summing it up I should say that, theoretical determination and the ideological assessment of this phenomenon is at the stage of scientific understanding and critical discussions. Today, there is a clear understanding of what is globalization in its present dimension – a qualitatively new level of civilization, or attempt to impose their relationships, values and rules of the leading countries.