Globalization or Glocalisation? Networks, Territories and Rescaling

Globalisation has become a fashionable term used for numerous years amongst humanities and social sciences. Usage of this term has been driven by an academic fascination with the world as an increasingly interconnected place, in which localized forms of culture have become increasingly subject to homogenizing global influences (Maguire, J)

Closely associated with the process of globalisation is the notion of ‘World cities’. World cities are those such as London, New York and Tokyo where urban function has moved beyond the national scale to become a part of the international and global system. They are centres of culture, economics, employment, tourism, transport and communications and have been referred to as the command centres of the World’s borderless economy.

Globalisation is such a complex and broad topic with numerous aspects that it is described by academics in a large variety of ways although most of which overlap in one way or another. However, Stief (2014) simply describes it as a process that presents a connection and interaction between countries and nations particularly in economic, cultural and political aspects amongst others, with Trans National Corporations (TNC’s) such as McDonalds being increasingly present in Asia, or Spanish films being shown in New York as well as groups of countries coming together to create organisations such as the United Nations and European Union. Key characteristics of globalisation include improved technology, Non-Governmental Organisations, spreading of knowledge and importantly the movement of people and capital which this report will be focusing on. It is argued that globalisation would not be able to occur without the ease of movement of both capital and people between countries, but it is important to understand what effects globalisation has had on this integrated movement. European Union is an organisation that can be looked at when trying to find this as it is a closely integrated group of countries in Europe where the effects of globalisation are seen on a daily basis in almost all sectors of the member countries from education to healthcare. One of the numerous policies and agreements within the EU is the ability for both people and goods to move freely between

Transforming Places: Lessons from Appalachia aims to show how the concept of globalization has and is affecting those living within the Appalachian area. The main focus of these studies come from the idea of “place”, hence the place discussed and analyzed within this book being Appalachia. Through the seventeen different cases presented within Transforming Places: Lessons from Appalachia, we the reader see both the challenges and successes of those within the Appalachian community.

As Martin Luther King had said, ‘It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated’1. Globalisation is a term that can be defined in various ways. It is a complex process that does not have a clear beginning or end, rather it is something that has developed, strengthened and deepened over time. Globalisation is a process of integration, interconnection and exchange between peoples from different parts of the world. It is the connection and expansion of international, cultural, economic and political activities. Globalisation is a concept that transforms the various relationships across and between countries, regions and continents. Having a long history within the world, globalisation and the interconnection process can be divided into three main periods including archaic globalisation, proto-globalisation and modern globalisation. So, was there globalisation before the 1600s? This paper aims to explore the concept and context of globalisation along with some of its historical roots prior to the 1600s in order to provide a definitive answer.

Globalisation is a phenomenon that has been increasingly used in the lexicon since the latter half of the 1980’s, achieving widespread and common currency amongst politicians, political analysts, academics, economists, the media, business, trade and finance. The term has become synonymous with the “global village” concept, where nations and states are drawn closer together; where economic, political and cultural spheres extend across the world’s major regions and continents. A world where development in one part of the globe will impact life in another part of the globe.

The theory of globalization today is a field of intensive debate as the efforts towards defining globalization most often highlight its individual aspects. According to Held and McGrew (1999), “globalisation is an idea whose time has come, yet it lacks precise definition”. Despite the ambiguity of the term “globalisation,” the use of the term, according to Held and McGrew, reflects increased interconnectedness in political, economic and cultural matters across the world creating a shared social space. Given this inter-connectedness, globalisation may be defined as: “a process which embodies a transformation in the spatial organisation of social relations and

‘Globalization: What’s new? What’s not? (And so what)’, portrays the speed in which globalism has increased through many different factors; economically, military, environmentally and socially. This is an idealist analytic approach, not set in stone. This leads on to

Globalization involves a variety of links expanding and tightening a web of political, economic and cultural inter-connections. Most attention has been devoted to merchandise trade as it has had the most immediate (or most visible) consequences, but capital, in and of itself, has come to play an arguably even larger role than the trade in material goods. Human movements also link previously separate communities. Finally, there is the cultural connection. All the individual data would indicate that we are undergoing a process of compression of international time and space and an intensification of international relations. The separation of production and consumption that is the heart of modern capitalism appears to have

The concept of globalization is a complex and peculiar one, failing to be definable by a single, precise definition. Centrally, globalization involves information and goods being exchanged amongst different countries. These interactions and interchanges among countries globally over time is due to an increase in communication and transport networks. Globalization is often divided into three main areas being economic globalization, cultural globalization and political globalization. All three are vital areas to one’s life and globalization is said to have a large impact on each. Although globalization is controversial in the aspect that it cannot be declared just how much of an influence the notion has in the world. Political scientists such as Muhammad Ijaz Latif, Anton Pelinka and Martin Wolf all discuss this issue in their respective pieces as well as differing aspects of globalization such as the role the European Union plays in relation to globalization, the different perspectives of globalization and the challenges of the nation-state in regards to globalization.

Globalisation can be defined as the movement toward economic, financial, trade, and communications integration by countries and their populations globally. It is a constant process and it has resulted in the intertwining and generalisation of the needs and wants of people

In this essay I will give a detailed explanation of what sociologists mean by the term ‘globalisation’ and how they have tried to explain it.

Prior to discussing, evaluating and concluding my answer to this research question, I must define its terms. What is globalisation? What does it mean for a city to be globalised? What features of a city define whether it is globalised or not? Manfred. B Steger, in his book ‘Globalisation - A Very Short Introduction’, describes it as a ‘contested concept’, meaning that it is not simply defined. The word ‘globalisation’ itself is said to have only actually emerged in the 1960s, and so over these fifty years, its meaning has been ever changing and expanding, like geography as a subject itself. Manfred. B Steger simplifies it as ‘movement towards greater interdependence and integration’. Interdependence refers to the interconnections between countries all over the world; and so in an economic sense it is the exchange between the producer and consumer of manufactured goods. Integration is ‘providing equal economic opportunities’ A synonym for integration is in fact ‘homogenisation’, meaning ‘the process of people, products and places becoming the same’. Ih homogenisation is a subset of globalisation, then globalisation could be seen in terms of ‘loss of diversity, identity or the westernisation of society’. A simple Oxford dictionary definition of the noun ‘Globalisation’ is ‘the process by which businesses or other organisations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale.’

But what does globalization mean for different countries?  Most commentators agree that two types of globalization are underway in today’s world. One of them (the only one, according to many) is Westernization or rather the imposition of Western norms, values and advances in science and technology as the only

A definition of “Globalisation” would be that : “Globalisation typically refers to the process by which different economies and societies become more closely integrated3.”