Date: April 21, 2011 Human Geography Thursday

By: Saif Ullah haudhry

lass: BS! 1
Q: How far do you agree with the view that the negative consequences of
the globalization have been exaggerated?
Ans: Glo"ali#ation the e!onomi!, politi!al, so!ial and !ultural pro!esses $here"y:
pla!es a!ross the glo"e are in!reasingly inter!onne!ted% so!ial relation and e!onomi!
transa!tions in!reasingly o!!ur at the inter!ontinental s!ale% and the glo"e itself !omes to
"e a re!ogni#a"le geographi!al entity& As su!h, glo"ali#ation does not mean e'ery$here
in the $orld "e!omes the same& (or is it an entirely e'en pro!ess% different pla!es are
differently !onne!ted into the $orld and 'ie$ that $orld from different perspe!ti'es&
Glo"ali#ation has "een o!!urring for se'eral hundred years, "ut in the !ontemporary
$orld the s!ale and e)tent of so!ial, politi!al and e!onomi! interpretation appears to "e
*ualitati'ely different to international net$or+s in the past&
,eople des!ri"e the term to des!ri"e !hanges in the $ay goods and ser'i!es
are produ!ed and deli'ered% the $ays in $hi!h politi!al ideas and pra!ti!es are translated
a!ross spa!e% and the nature of !ultural produ!tion and !onsumption& As the -orld Ban+
puts it: Glo"ali#ation summari#ed as the glo"al !ir!ulation of goods, ser'i!es ad !apital
"ut also of information, ideas and the people. /!ited in ,errons, 20001& 2any ha'e also
highlighted the $ay in $hi!h glo"ali#ation !onne!ts in!reasing num"ers of people a!ross
national "orders, e'en if they ne'er meet fa!e to fa!e& As the U(D, /13331 suggests,
4Glo"ali#ation is not ne$, "ut the present era has distin!ti'e features& Shrin+ing spa!e,
shrin+ing time and disappearing "orders are the lin+ing people.s li'es more intensely,
more immediately than e'er "efore.& (e$ te!hnologies ha'e fa!ilitated this !onta!t
a!ross geographi!al spa!e, !ompressing the time it ta+es to transmit goods, ideas and
people a!ross spa!e in $hat Da'id Har'ey has !alled time-space compression
5err Dunlop, Har"ison and 2yers propose that industriali#ation !auses
so!ieties to "e!ome more ali+e& -hile they insist that industrial so!ieties in the
internationali#ation phase are not identi!al or e'en similar, they do !laim that su!h
so!ieties are enmeshed in a pro!ess of !on'ergen!e, mo'ing to$ards a point $here they
are identi!al& This pro!ess $as further enhan!es "y the struggle for hegemony $hi!h
"egan some$here in 1326 after the emergen!e of 7eague of (ations and U(% Aided "y
--2 and the old -ar, also supported "y the emergen!e of !on!eptions of $ar !rimes
and !rimes against humanity% 8inally "y the uni'ersal nu!lear threat of the atomi! "om"
!oupled $ith emergen!e of the third $orld& All of this help the $orld to "e seen as 4one
pla!e.: A glo"al !ons!iousness and interdependen!e arose&
This $as primarily due to the !apitalisti! de'elopment of the $orld: the
spread of 2(.s and T(.s& -ith this emerged (9.s and thus a ne$ $orld order&
Also the !apitalisti! sear!h for the profits led to e)ploration of ne$er
mar+ets and sour!es of ra$ material and la"our as $ell as monopoli#ation et!& The US
hegemony in su!h a s!enario aided in the spread of -estern ulture to $hi!h Ben:amin
Bar"er refers to as 42!-orld. a $orld dominated "y US tastes and lifestyles&
S+lair e)plains this phenomenon in terms of 4ulture;ideology of
onsumerism. due to $hi!h people are en!ouraged to "uy !onsumer good that stand for
higher status for higher status and superior 'alues; 2edia and 9T support this pro!ess
glo"ally thus glo"ali#ing the !ultures or rather transforming then&
-hile it is !learly not the !ase that !ulture, as an arena differentiated form
e!onomi!s and politi!s, has "een totally glo"ali#ed, it has ne'ertheless sho$n a greater
tenden!y to$ards glo"ali#ation than either of the other t$o arenas& This is parti!ularly
e'ident in the area of religion& 8or many !enturies, the great uni'ersali#ing religions of
the $orld, Buddhism, hristianity, onfu!ianism, 9slam and Hinduism offered adherents
an e)!lusi'ist and generali#ing set of 'alues and allegian!es that stood a"o'e "oth state
and e!onomy& 9n the medie'al $orld, for e)ample, hristendom $as !on!ei'ed as the
5ingdom of God on <arth and 9slam has al$ays "een !on!ei'ed as a so!ial !ommunity of
material and politi!al interests that supersedes the state& These religions in parti!ular ha'e
had a glo"ali#ing sense of mission in $hi!h they sought to !on'ert those defined as
heathen or infidel "y $hate'er !onstraint $as possi"le& =ne strategy $as to align
themsel'es $ith e)pansi'e empires that had glo"al am"itions /for e)ample the Ara"ian,
British, Holy >oman <mpire and =ttoman <mpires1 and thus to e)port the "elif system
"eyond its original point of adoption&
Ho$e'er a!!ording to Ben:amin Bar"er , the spread of 2!-orld has led to
the rise of ?ihad in modern times& To him ?ihad means any 'ariety of dogmati! and
'iolent "elief in the 'alues of a simple group& 9t may "e present in any religion& These are
essentially separatist mo'ement "ased on the "elief that the 4relati'i#ation. of the
religious 'alues in the glo"al s!enario 4pollutes. the 'alues& Then "egins the sear!h for
original 'alues and their preser'ation& <)amples of this !an "e seen in the de'elopment of
(e$ hristian >ight in USA and Sun 2yuong 2oon Unifi!ation hristian
8undamentalist hur!h /5orea1, 9slami! fundamentalism seen in Algeria, Somalia, 9ran,
Afghanistan and in 2alaysia&
Ho$e'er, $e must see that pan;9slami! mo'ement $as possi"le through
glo"ali#ation and its sol'ents su!h as 9T.s a"o'e& Also glo"ali#ation is ma+ing us more
a$are of the differen!es "et$een !i'ili#ations& Thus $e !an see that glo"ali#ation at one
end is !ausing !lash of !i'ili#ations and findamentalism and is highly differentiating
phenomenon& =n the other hand, it helps spread su!h "eliefs and su!h mo'ements on a
'ery rapid and large s!ale&