Globalization is a contested concept, and its processes and manifestations are complex. This term has been used in many different ways across various contexts, including both popular and academic realms. Although globalization is a âbuzzwordâ of our times, many who use the term may not be familiar with all that it entails. In addition, people assign different meanings to âglobalizationâ based on their perspectives and, in the case of scholars, their academic training (e.g., as economists, sociologists, or anthropologists). Although there is continual debate about when globalization began, what it involves, and to what degree it is beneficial or detrimental, what is clear is that changes have taken place worldwide that make it difficult for nation-states or individuals to operate from an entirely local perspective. An understanding of globalization provides a key foundation for learning about policy borrowing and educational reform both within our own contexts and across international environments.
This chapter presents several perspectives on the history of globalization (as both a process and a concept), various conceptualizations of globalization, the dimensions of globalization, and key debates related to globalization as well as its costs, benefits, and dilemmas. The central purpose of this chapter, in conjunction with Chap. 2âs focus on heightened developments related to globalization since World War II (WWII), is to provide a context for understanding globalization prior to focusing on globalization and education specifically.
Unraveling the History of Globalization
When did globalization begin? Although this is a straightforward question, the origins and timeline of globalization are often debated in academic circles. Globalization is a gradual process that has occurred over time, although the question is often raised as to whether globalization is relatively new or whether recent developments and trends (see below) are extensions of a lengthy history of globalization. Some scholars trace globalizationâs roots only to the 1970s, when global connections seemed to expand dramatically, while others include nineteenth-century developments, such as the Industrial Revolution, and still others take the history back even further, to before the Common Era (BCE) (Steger, 2013). As described in more detail below, although the word âglobalizationâ did not appear until the 1960s, 1 most scholars agree that the process of globalization was well under way before a term was coined to describe it. Although scholarsâ breakdown of historical periods may differ, most historical accounts of globalization highlight the deepening interconnectedness of nation-states, characterized by increased trade and flow of goods and people, which represents significant changes from past historical eras. In addition, the spread of colonialism is key to unraveling the history of globalization, as is the resulting growth in economic inequality, both between countries and within them.
Global studies scholar Manfred Steger (2013) provides one of the most comprehensive conceptualizations of the history of globalization. According to Steger, the first historical period tied to globalization is the prehistoric (10,000 BCEâ3500 BCE), in which hunter-gatherers spread to all five continents and began to establish informal settlements based around agricultural production. Stegerâs second historical period is the premodern (3500 BCEâ1500 BCE), during which important social and technological advances, such as the invention of writing and the wheel, fueled globalization because they allowed for greater communication and flow of people and goods. The premodern period was also the age of the empire, in which some states established permanent rule over others (e.g., the Chinese and Ottoman Empires), and overseas trade routes flourished. During this time period, increased cultural and economic exchange led to migration. Steger posits that Europe and its social practices took center stage in fueling globalization during the third period, the early modern (1500â1750). Technological innovations improved and spread during this time. Importantly, new ideals of individualism, limited government, and rampant accumulation of wealth came about because the Protestant Reformation 2 served to reduce the role of the Catholic Church. At the same time, the Westphalian state system, in which independent nation-states serve as the bounding factors for societies, took root by 1648, while interdependencies between nation-states simultaneously grew.
During the modern period of globalization (1750â1970), the new ideals of the prior period were transformed into capitalism, an economic paradigm that involves free markets, competition, and private ownership of capital goods, which has become embedded in the social and economic systems of most countries around the world. World trade, especially of âbrand nameâ goods, such as Coca-Cola and Singer sewing machines, increased during this time. The modern period was also characterized by colonial expansion, coupled with a profound population increase that resulted in mass migration. Stegerâs contemporary period (1970âpresent) is punctuated by the creation of a single global market, coupled with advances in communication and technology and ever-increasing flows of capital, goods, and people.
Writing from a historical and sociological perspective, Charles Tilly (2004) would concur with Steger, asserting that humanity has been under a process of perpetual globalization for centuries, a process that has intensified since the end of WWII. He argues that there have been three main waves of globalization since 1500. The first wave involved increasing European influences as well as the expansion of the Ottoman Empire and merchant activity of Chinese and Arab traders. Overlapping with the end of the first wave, the second, from 1850 until the beginning of WWI in 1914, was characterized by long-distance migration, increased international trade and flow of capital, transportation and communication improvements, and increasingly uniform prices for trade goods, all of which resulted in prosperity for Western and more developed nations, including Japan and many countries in Europe and North America. According to Tilly, at the same time, disparities widened between these beneficiaries of globalization and their counterparts, particularly colonies.
The third wave of globalization began after WWII and was characterized by further increasing trade and flow of goods and capital, coupled with decreased migration as compared to the second wave (Tilly, 2004). Two parallel forms of migration were central during this third wave: (a) small numbers of skilled professional and technical workers from wealthier countries and (b) large numbers of unskilled workers from poorer counties who sought better livelihoods in wealthier countries or who were taken on as indentured servants. Tilly indicates that, during this latter wave of globalization, Asian countries have benefited financially, in particular, parallel to the continued dominant position of North American and European countries. Further, Tilly asserts that industries focused on technology and scientific innovation have flourished in this more recent period of globalization.
Another perspective on the history and origins of globalization cites the influence of colonialism more directly. John Coatsworth (2004), a social scientist focused on Latin America, posits that there have been four major cycles of globalization. The first was from 1492 to the early 1600s and involved Spainâs and Portugalâs conquest and colonization of the Americas and the establishment of several trade routes (trans-Atlantic, trans-Pacific, Atlantic to Indian Oceans, Acapulco to Manila, and between Europe and East Asia). In the second cycle of globalization, from the late seventeenth to the early nineteenth centuries, European colonization continued with the establishment of slave colonies that also served as settlements for Europeans. This cycle ended with major upheavals that included the French and Haitian Revolutions.
The third cycle occurred during the late nineteenth century into the 1930s (roughly corresponding to Tillyâs [2004] second wave) and included significant increases in the flow of trade, capital, and technology. Mass migration from Asia and Europe to the Americas, along with a new wave of colonization, also took place during the third cycle. According to Coatsworth (2004), this cycle ended with the Great Depression of the 1930s. The fourth cycle, which continues today, began after WWII with the liberalization of the international trade of manufactured goods. Like Tilly, Coatsworth argues that East Asian countries benefited more from the economic aspects of globalization during this time period compared to âprotectionistâ countries in Latin America and South Asia that maintained closed trade environments. Coatsworth also recognizes that, although âglobalization cycles have produced immense and measurable increases in human productivityâ (p. 39) that involve improvements in standards of living in many countries, the inequality gap has widened between countries that have been heavily involved in globalization and trade liberalization and those that have not.
Education scholars Fazal Rizvi and Robert Lingard (2010) argue that, due to the complex and dynamic nature of globalization, it is difficult to determine historical time periods in which it developed. Concurring with the aforementioned scholars, they posit that globalization is not ânewâ per se and that it is closely tied to colonial expansion in which dominant powers sought to unite disparate geographical areas into their economic and political domains. In the nineteenth century, colonial practices became more coordinated, and colonial powers developed integrated global financial systems and markets within their empires (Rizvi, 2007; Rizvi & Lingard, 2010). The increasing coordination of colonial regimes coincided with the emergence of capitalism.
Capitalism has increased the economic and social interdependency of countries around the world because it relies on growth, which produces more profits, expansion into new markets, utilization of cheaper resources and labor, and the speeding up of production (Sparke, 2013). The dominance of capitalism and the legacy of the colonial system have led to a hierarchy of countries, in which âdevelopedâ countries (also referred to as Western or Global North countries, as discussed below), such as Japan and countries in North America and Europe, dominate the economic, political, and social spheres. The spread of capitalism is also linked to an increasing wealth and prosperity gap within countries, based on those who own goods and resources and those whose labor produces them. Given the profound influence of capitalism at a time when globalization also was developing, the term âglobalizationâ is often used nearly synonymously with capitalism, despite the fact that globalization has many dimensions beyond the economic, including political, cultural, social, technological, and ecological. After I provide an overview of country terminology, these various conceptualizations and dimensions of globalization will be the focus of the sections that follow.
No matter how the history of globalization is understood or whether we call the entire set of processes âglobalizationâ or confine it to more recent developments and trends, it is clear that many changes have occurred that have increased the interconnectedness of nation-states in terms of trade and other forms of exchange (e.g., cultural). It is also evident that the period from after WWII (or 1970, depending on whose version of history one uses) to the present marks an unprecedented era of globalization. For this reason, I use the term âcontemporary globalizationâ throughout this book to refer to the period of intensified global interconnectedness since WWII. Developments and trends in this contemporary period of globalization, such as communication and technological innovations and the emergence of global governance institutions, are the focus of Chap. 2.
