Globalisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Globalisation - Essay Example The Cold War was characterised by the two-block system, the East and the West, or the opposition between the United States and the Soviet Union, with their supporter countries. And when this was dissolved, with the collapse of the Berlin Wall known as the Iron Curtain, the world seemed dominated with a one-bloc system with a single marketplace. (Eriksen 2007, p. 4) Meaning and concept Globalisation refers to economic consolidation through liberalisation of policies leading to an open economy (Van Der Bly 2005, p. 875). An important characteristic is the interconnectedness of people and openness of nation states. This is enhanced by technology and the Internet, with emails and websites becoming so popular, and everyone can connect and communicate with anyone in any part of the world for as long as there is a computer and an Internet connection. Mobile technology also has become popular and impacted on business and human transactions. Technology and the Internet are referred to as â₠¬Ëœa world of signs’, ‘the age of digitisation’, or the global village where nation states have fewer roles (Bairoch 2000). Some other important aspects include internationalisation, protectionism, liberalisation, and improved competitiveness in world commerce. Mooney and Evans (2007, p. 11) indicated that the beginning of globalisation was the ‘rise of capitalism’. But the question of chronology of globalisation has never been agreed upon by authors. Our primary aim here is to define first what globalisation is and to have a full understanding of its meanings, concept and features. Globalisation encompasses many subjects or disciplines. There are scholars in various fields that can be called globalisation scholars, such as those pursuing interesting studies in culture, sociology, economics, international studies, politics, language and the arts, and much more. Globalization is covered in many subjects and it is one of the much researched fields in m an’s pursuit for knowledge (Ampuja 2012, p. 17). This is one of the main features of globalisation – its being cross-disciplinary, which allows it to borrow terms and concepts from those discipline’s own lexicon. (Mooney & Evans 2007, p. ix) Scholte (2005) asserts that globalisation is closely linked to the concept of internalisation, which means the word ‘global’ is a word that describes cross-border interactions or transactions between nation states, and globalisation pertains to an increasing international relations and interdependence of countries. Another important word that we can add to the meaning is liberalisation. This word pertains to a process where there are no restrictions or hindrances during economic transactions between countries. Economists also call it ‘international economic integration’. Liberalisation refers to removal of trade regulations and barriers, foreign-exchange laws and other related laws, and even visa re strictions (Sander cited in Scholte 2005, p. 31). Scholte (2005) adds the word ‘universalisation’ to the concept of globalisation. He theorised that when Oliver Reiser and Blodwen Davies first introduce the word ‘globalize’ in the 1940s, they meant it was about ‘universalising’ or a unity of cultures, or the global village. Thus, Scholte defined globalisation as the way of distributing objects or products and experiences or services to people in many parts of the world. Globalisation can be