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Overview of the Basic Course sequence
Basic Course 1: What is globalisation? (attempts at a
definition)
Basic Course 2: The
dimensions of globalisation (multi-dimensional)
Basic Course 3: Causes
of globalisation (multi-causality)
Basic Course 4: The
resulting problems of globalisation
Basic Course 5: Solution
strategies: global governance
Basic Course 1: What is Globalisation?
The problem with globalisation begins when we try to define it. An accepted
definition neither exists in science, nor in the broader public debate. The
following table presents various conceptual approaches to defining globalisation:
Globalisation represents...
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“...a process of surmounting limitations created by
history. For this reason, it is synonymous with the erosion (but not with
the disappearance) of national state sovereignty, and exhibits itself as
the freeing up of the market economy from the moral order and
institutionalised ties of societies...”
[Elmar Altvater]
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“...an intensification of worldwide social
relations, via which far away places are linked together in such a way
that events in one place are affected by processes taking place many miles
away, and vice-versa...”
[Anthony Giddens]
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“...a quantitative and qualitative intensification
of transactions across borders in conjunction with a simultaneous spatial
expansion of the same...”
[Ulrich Menzel]
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“...represents the largest economic and social
shift since the Industrial Revolution..”
[Dirk Messner/Franz Nuscheler]
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“...the growing reciprocal interdependence and
integration of various economies around the globe...”
[Meghnad Desai]
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“...a process of growing links between societies
and problem areas...”
[Johannes Varwick]
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“...competition in the market is made more intense
by globalisation...”
[Christian von Weizsäcker]
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“...unleashing of the forces of the world market
and the economic stripping of the power of the state...”
[Schumann/Martin]
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“...has become a catch phrase, which has been used
in an inflationary manner in political, public and scientific debates for
some time now, and which, on the one hand, is seen as a 'threat' and, on
the other, as an 'opportunity'...”
[Johannes Varwick]
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„... a
social process in which the constraints of geography on social and cultural
arrangements recede and in which people become increasingly aware that they
are receding (...). Globalization does not necessarily imply homogenization
(...). Globalization merely implies greater connectedness and de-territorialization
...”
[Malcolm Waters] |
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"The dynamics of globalisation is driven by economic forces, but its
most important consequences can be seen in politics" [Klaus
Müller]. |
The complexity of globalisation as a topic also requires intense study at
the definition level. The following points need to be referred to and discussed
at the first opportunity here:
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The central aspect of debordering and the consequences for the nation
state in relation to this (keyword ‘erosion’);
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The far-reaching significance frequently ascribed to the process of
globalisation (analogue to industrialisation);
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The question concerning whether a new process is concerned, or whether
globalisation has been in existence for a long time, whereby the processes
involved have merely accelerated since the end of the 80s (the version stating
that globalisation is a pure 'myth' is hardly ever found in the debate today);
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The differentiation between both basically different approaches to the
term globalisation, namely, the understanding of the term in a narrow, economic
sense (for instance, the definitions by Desai or Weizsäcker), on the one hand,
and during the further course, in terms of all social relationships (for
instance the definition by Giddens);
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The connecting elements beyond all differences, and above all the central
role ascribed to interdependency, in terms of mutual dependence in nearly all
definitions.
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Commentary on the Attempts at Definition
The economic dimension of globalisation undoubtedly possesses great
significance and forms an important cause and driving force for globalisation
processes in other areas. However, it should not be ignored that globalisation
comprises much more than the growing integration of global commerce, and
therefore cannot be reduced to economic processes alone, which still frequently
occurs (see
Basic Course 2: The dimensions of globalisation).
The various scientific disciplines involved (primarily economic, history,
political sciences and sociology) have difficulty with defining the term. This
is not surprising, since the task of defining 'debordering' is similar to the
infamous task of squaring a circle.
The brief quotations point to the extraordinarily important aspect of
debordering and the consequences for the nation state (Altvater). An
understanding of globalisation in a narrow economic sense is identified (Desai,
Weizsäcker). The epochal meaning of the processes, gathered together under the
term globalisation, become clear when it is placed on equal terms with the
Industrial revolution.(Messner/Nuscheler).
At a meta level, Varwick speaks of the function of the term in the public
discourse, which clearly points out that it is impossible to talk of
globalisation in measured terms without talking about how we talk about
globalisation.
The fundamental importance of interdependence (mutual dependence), the link
(integration), or the exchange is referred to several times (Menzel, Desai,
Giddens, Varwick). Many determinative attempts find the aspect of 'growing
links' to be sufficient (Varwick, Menzel), which, although, non-critical is also
almost completely immaterial.
An important direction in criticising globalisation is taken by Altvater and
Schumann/Martin, namely that of commerce breaking free, which can no longer be
controlled or 'embedded' by politics.
[Author: Ragnar Müller]
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