APPROACHES TO THE
STUDY OF
GLOBALIZATION
INTRODUCTION
APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
• Even After more than two decades of intense scholarly scrutiny, ‘globalization’
has remained a contested and slippery concept. In spite of the remarkable
proliferation of research programmes for the study of globalization, there are
many different approaches to the study of globalization.
• Since the beginning of self-conscious academic inquiries into multiple process
of globalization in the early 1990s, academics have remained divided on the
utility of various methodological approaches, the value of available empirical
evidence for gauging the extent, impact, and direction of globalization, and, of
course, its normative implications.
AS FREDRIC JAMESON (1998)
• Astutely points out, there seems to be little utility in forcing such a
complex set of social forces as globalization into a single analytic
framework. It seems to make more sense to survey various approaches to
globalization by liking them to the debates on the subject that have been
taking place over the last two decades in two separate but related arenas.
• One battle has been mostly fought within the narrow walls of academia,
while the other has been unfolding in the popular arena of public
discourse.
GLOBALIZATION AS ‘GLOBALONEY’
• A small and rapidly decreasing number of scholars contend that
existing accounts of globalization are incorrect, imprecise, or
exaggerated. They note that just about everything that can be
linked to some transnational process is cited as evidence for
globalization and its growing influence.
REJECTIONISTS
• Believe globalization is a myth that mask the reality. The national
government remains in control of their domestic economies which is
dividing the world into two cultures who continue to be suspicious of
each other.
• Scholars who dismiss the utility of globalization as an analytical concept
typically advance their arguments from within a larger criticism of
similarly vague words employed in academic discourse.
SUSAN STRANGE (1996)
• considers globalization a prime example of such a
vacuous term, suggesting that it has been used in
academic discourse to refer to ‘anything from the
Internet to a hamburger’.
• Scholarly suggestions for improvement:
1. To challenge the academic community to provide additional examples
of how the term ‘globalization’ obscure more than it enlightens.
Robert Holton (1998), abandon all general theoretical analyses in
favour of middle-range approaches that seek to provide specific
explanations of particulars.
1. Complement the social-scientific enterprise of exploring globalization
as an objective process with more interpretive studies of the
ideological project of globalism.
SCEPTICS “SKEPTICS”
• The second group emphasizes the limited nature of
current globalizing processes.
• A person who question or doubts something (such as a
claim or statement) : a person who often questions or
doubts things.
HIRST AND THOMPSON (2009)
•Claim that the world economy is not
truly global phenomenon, but one
centred on Europe, eastern Asia,
and North America.
MODIFIERS
• The third and final group of globalization critics
disputes the novelty of the process, implying that the
label ‘globalization’ has often been applied in a
historically imprecise manner.
ROBERT GILPIN (2000)
• Confirms the existence of globalizing tendencies, but he
also insists that many important aspects of globalization
are not novel developments. Citing relevant data
collected by the prominent American economist Paul
Krugman, important respects than it was prior to the
outbreak of World War 1.
GLOBALIZATION AS ECONOMIC PROCESS
• The widespread scholarly emphasis on the economic dimension
of globalization derives partly from its historical development
as a subject of academic study. For various accounts of
economic globalization, see, for example
• Cohen (2006) • Rodrik (2007) • And Stiglit (2006)
• Dicken (2001) • Sassen (1998)
GLOBALIZATION AS POLITICAL PROCESS
• Economic perspectives on globalization can hardly be discussed apart from
an analysis of political processes and institutions. Most of the debate on
political globalization involves the weighing of conflicting evidence with
regard to the fate of the modern nation-state.
• In particular, two question have moved to the top of the research agenda.
• These question imply that economic globalization might be leading to the
reduced control of national governments over economic policy.
GLOBALIZATION AS CULTURAL PROCESS
• refers to the transmission of ideas, meanings, and values
around the world in such a way as to extend and
intensify social relations. This process is marked by the
common consumption of cultures that have been
diffused by the Internet, popular culture media, and
international travel.
CONCLUSION
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