Globalization

The complex face of Globalization

The term Globalization can be defined in various ways since it obtains a very broad meaning. One could say that in general globalization is the shift the world is constantly making in becoming ‘smaller’ by becoming more accessible to everyone. Not only does the world become more accessible to everyone, the people inhabiting this planet also start doing everything much more alike. Culture somehow becomes more and more similar, local customs stay practically the same but the overall picture is that of one increasingly same planet, and globalization is said to bring people of all nations somehow closer together.

At this moment globalization is by far the largest growing trend in the world it is however, not new. For millennia’s people and corporations have been travelling, buying and selling in lands that were adjacent or even further from their home country.

“In Globalization 1.0, which began around 1492, the world went from size large to size medium. In Globalization 2.0, the era that introduced us to multinational companies, it went from size medium to size small. And then around 2000 came Globalization 3.0, in which the world went from being small to tiny.”

(Thomas Friedman 2004)

The author Thomas Friedman states that the difference between the current globalization wave and the earlier ones is that nowadays the globalization is “farther, faster, cheaper and deeper.” The key factor in in this difference is that nowadays infrastructure is much more accessible and faster as well making it easier for the average person to reach every corner of our earth, whereas in the past it would take weeks or even months to navigate an ocean whereas nowadays it would take mere hours. Technology also plays a huge part in this current globalization wave, the invention of the internet made it possible to contact nations hours away in a matter of seconds, this provides possibilities for every participant of globalization; certain countries...