Chapter's 1, 2, 8 - TYLER PRIVLER

This week's reading (Chapters 1, 2, and 8) helped me understand more about globalization (which sounds pretty obvious, though, I guess). Before doing the reading, I mostly thought of globalization as something distant and abstract, like trade agreements, major corporations, and countries interacting on a level far removed from my everyday life. I didn’t really connect it to things I experience personally. What really stood out to me was how much globalization actually affects daily life in ways we don’t even notice, and how those effects can be completely different depending on where someone lives, their economic status, or their role in the global system.

Chapter 1 made it clearer what globalization actually looks like in practice and how involved governments really are in shaping it. I had always assumed globalization was mostly driven by corporations or the free market, but this chapter showed how much power governments still have when it comes to trade, regulation, and global influence. That was something I hadn’t really thought about before. Chapter 2, How to Judge Globalism, showed how people see globalism in really different ways; it surprised me because I wasn’t aware to what extent and how those opinions have changed over time, especially in Western societies. I thought it was interesting how attitudes toward globalization aren’t fixed and often depend on historical context, economic conditions, and access to technology. The chapter also showed how technology has changed how people think about and react to globalization, making the world feel more connected but also more divided in some ways.

Chapter 8 shifted toward the history of neoliberalism, explaining its political and economic roots and how it eventually became dominant on a global scale. It was interesting to see how neoliberalism didn’t just appear overnight, but instead developed through specific policies, leaders, and global events, while also facing criticism and resistance along the way. In the end, the readings made me realize how closely politics, economics, and ideology are connected; we don’t usually think about them and believe we are immune but they overlap in our everyday life.