Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

Globalization - Essay Example The opponents of globalisation until now have achieved greater success in garnering support from the public, owing to their ability for framing arguments in their favour, focussing on issues like use of child labour by MNCs in developing economies, and indifference of the developed nations towards serious health issues like AIDS seen rampantly spreading in the developing nations. The proponents of globalisation on the other hand present statistical data in their favour that though scien...tifically sound evidences are often difficult to comprehend from the viewpoint of a layman (ibid). Despite the contentions over globalisation and its effects, in the past three decades, observations reveal that large-scale globalisation and worldwide interconnectedness have gained increased popularity in all spheres of life, ranging from economic to technology to cultural. Globalisation of world economy has occurred due to rapid expansion of trade, financial activities, production of goods, which li nks economic growth and development of all nations across the world within the main trading zones (developed nations) and beyond (emerging economies of developing nations). As was evident during the global economic crunch of 2007-2008, currently globalisation has taken place to such extent that no national economy can safeguard itself from the ‘contagion effect’ of the disturbances within global financial markets (Baylis, Smith and Owens, 2011). The term globalisation can be interpreted in various ways. According to the most popular interpretation, the term means creation of a uniform platform at global basis, where there is synchronisation of technology, economy and culture, to create a standardised world. This perspective primarily translates into referring globalisation as westernisation of the oriental world. According to another perspective, globalisation is a form of hybridisation that creates a melange of various cultures and socioeconomic structures worldwide. H owever, from a study of the various perspectives it is not easy to derive a particular ‘correct’ interpretation, as the meaning of the term can vary based on the context on which it is used. As for example, economics globalisation, which takes place through the integration of national economies with the global economy via foreign direct investments or FDIs, capital flows, immigration and spread of technological knowledge in all fields, refers to liberalisation of trade markets and spread of capitalist market values (Bhagwati, 2004). In the arena of international relations, it refers to the development of global power play with more focus on interstate relations. Globalisation within sociology relates to changes within the present society its effects and the development of the so-called ‘global society,’ while in cultural context globalisation pertains to the study of effects of global interconnectedness on the culture and identity of various communities wor ldwide. Therefore, it is quite clear that globalisation has many facets and is hence difficult to delineate and ascertain whether it is a panacea (as per the neo-liberals who are strong proponents of globalisation) or a plague (as per the leftists or the anti-neoliberal group forum that are against