1.What is globalization? --Ma Shang

1.Summary

The author expounds his views on globalization through several parts (different angles), and further illustrates his views by citing the research and studies of some scholars.

Although many books and articles that talk about globalization have shown from the outset that there is no universal definition of globalization, the authors still provide as coherent statements as possible about their concepts. The reason why the concept of globalization is controversial is because the views of different parts of the world are different, and the definitions of globalization in developing countries and developed countries are quite different. With the progress of history, the topics and research directions involved in globalization have been given more definitions and a broader perspective.

In the part of the parameters of globalization, many people believe that the growing global consciousness coexists in a complex way, and they are interrelated. But after the real civilizational conflicts, people gradually realized that it is very stupid to ignore the cultural aspect of globalization.

In the discussion about dimensions, the authors say that the main aspects of association are culture, society, politics, and economy. However, it should be noted that when it comes to social concerns, it also includes communication. And none of these dimensions is more important than the other. Environmental issues are also part of contemporary human culture. Unlike most people in the economic and political circles, some sociologists, anthropologists, historians and cultural researchers regard globalization as a process, a huge and multifaceted complex composed of many processes, involving all aspects of human life. The author also mentioned McDonald's in this section. What McDonald's conveys is not a completely homogenized American culture, but a special global localization experience resulting from the collision of American cultural cores with local cultural habitats. The globalization of the economy will inevitably bring about the global development of culture. There are also contradictions and conflicts between the two, but it also shows that multidimensional thinking is very complicated.

The author then discusses the form of globalization, pointing out that there are generally four patterns of globalization in the present situation: the international-systemic aspect, the concept of humanity,  the individual selves and the  nation-state. The author also argues that nation-state should in fact be seen as an aspect of globalization. Individuals (local life) must also be within the scope of globalization. Individuals are full of uniqueness and have their specific forms and  modes of representation. In terms of the international system , it is no longer the case of polarization after the Cold War. People are no longer living in a unipolar world dominated by the United States. The dominance of the United States is challenged in many ways, and the current international system is in a state of ‘great and puzzling flux’.

The author then talks about a central issue in globalization: Glocalization. He believes that there is not a completely opposite relationship between the local and the global but different aspects of the same coin. Global localization is not only a marketing strategy, but also a new theory and trend of thought emerging in the context of global globalization and integration.

2. What was interesting/what did you learn:

I am very interested in the author's discussion on the dimensions of globalization. Globalization is a growing and concrete fact of global interdependence and global consciousness as a whole, which includes the interaction and influence of different life forms. But globalization is not only a growing global interconnection, but also a cultural and subjective issue. The author also emphasizes the primacy and fundamentality of culture for globalization. Culture is a comprehensive, pluralistic and relational concept. Therefore, globalization is not simply an economic issue, a political issue, a social issue or a problem of international relations, but first a cultural issue, because the global sphere as a whole is foremost a "system" of social culture.

3. Discussion Point:

In the past, we have paid more attention to the role of the globalization double-edged sword for developing countries. With the in-depth development of economic globalization, economic globalization has also had an adverse impact on developed countries. Mainly due to the transfer and hollowing out of the industry caused by globalization, and the deterioration of the employment situation in developed countries. Under the previous globalization paradigm, developed countries are the main driving force of economic globalization. Due to the negative effects of economic globalization on developed countries, the attitude of developed country voters to globalization has changed, which in turn has affected the political trends and policies of developed countries. In addition, although economic globalization has created enormous wealth, due to the existing global governance system and the international financial system, the distribution of interests in different countries is unbalanced. Also, at least some of the voices against globalization are due to geopolitical deterioration and social problems caused by refugee flows.

In summary, does the situation of anti-globalization means we need to promote new types of globalization? Because of the rapid development of economic globalization, the problems of the old mechanism of globalization have been exposed. As a result of the accumulation of these problems, more and more economies have realized that the old model of globalization and the accompanying global governance paradigm It is no longer able to adapt to the needs of economic development at this stage. Globalization may need to find new paradigms and new governance.