Readings - Chapter 1,2 and 8

Before reading over these introductions and chapters this week, I honestly thought globalisation was mostly about trade, technology, and things moving faster around the world. It didn’t occur to me that things like global supply chains or football being popular everywhere was a clear and simple example of globalisation itself. Taking the time to read over these chapters from the textbook and do some additional research myself made me realise that globalisation is a lot more political and personal than I initially thought and in some scenarios more complex than it appears to be.

From the introduction and Chapter 1, it seems that globalisation is described more from the perspective of people and places becoming more connected with each other across a distance. I had never even considered globalisation to be something so clear to understand but Chapter 1 definitely helped my visual picture of it by using examples such as sushi becoming popular worldwide or FIFA organising global tournaments. These particular examples help to show how culture spreads. As well as this, global institutions like the WTO and WHO also help shape everyday life, even if most people don’t think about them. Chapter 1 seemed to push forward the idea that globalisation affects both daily life and identity, not just economies. Chapter 1 also argues that globalisation can increase individual freedom by allowing people to move, learn, and work beyond where they were born. Some of the examples of this that I remember reading about were people like farmers using mobile phones in order to access fairer prices as well as students studying abroad, something relevant to me, as this shows how globalisation can open up real opportunities. This is something I do partially agree with as in my case it definetly has. 

I would say that the cultural side of globalisation is definetly something I find more complicated than I expected. It was in chapter 2 I believe that Sen argued that rejecting globalisation because it is seen as “Western” is historically inaccurate and can actually harm poorer societies. This was something i had not thought about until reading over the chapters and it definitely opened my eyes more to different elements of globalisation and the complexity of it.

After reading chapter 1 and 2 my view on globalisation itself was quite positive I would say but then once I started to delve into Chapter 8 I started to acknowledge globalisation can also be seen as less positive. Harvey explains how since the 1970s, globalisation has been shaped by neoliberalism. I found it interesting how he argues that neoliberalism worked better at restoring power to economic elites than improving life for everyone else. This was definitely a confusing concept at first but I think it does help to explain why globalisation may feel so unfair to many people.

Overall, after analysing these readings, it made me realise that globalisation isn’t something you can easily label as good or bad. There is no one side to the story. Chapter 8 helps explain why neoliberal globalization has increased inequality but Chapter 1 really shows how globalisation can help expand freedom worldwide. It really got me thinking because there were pros and cons highlighted clearly across both of these chapters. I do agree with Sen’s argument though, that “the problem isn’t globalisation itself, but how it’s been managed.”