Class notes
Lecture notes 2024/2025 Globalising Worlds (MANBCU2029)
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Lecture notes (in English) of all the lectures of the Globalising Worlds course 24-25
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Globalising Worlds – lecturesLecture 1: Introduction
Globalisation is both leading to economic success and a source of evil
Globalisation fix = thinking that globalizing more or less will change the world (and fix
all problems)
o It is not that simple
o Globalisation is just a process, it is not good or bad, it just is
Definition
The term ‘globalisation’ is a descriptive category
o Geographical extension of social processes
o Intensification of worldwide social relations (Giddens)
Is geography an outcome of globalisation (explanatory factor) or does geography
explain globalisation processes (explanandum)?
Outcomes of globalisation are mediated through historically specific political,
economic and technological forces and social arrangements
o So, it is not just globalisation per se that does anything, but it is the local
factors (how is the political situation, what is the local history etc.)
So, it depends, and that is why we need to study globalisation
To study globalisation, local and historical contexts require profound study, as they
are constantly changing, and may be infinitely more complex than thought
o E.g. agency: people/organisations/companies have the agency to change
things, you do not have to just take it, you can show resistance
Globalisation is not only about the trade of material goods, but also socially constructed
We give meaning to globalisation. It is not based on facts
Politics and power of discursive mobilization effectively shape empirical events
Globalisation = a set of mutually constitutive tendencies comprising both material
processes of transformation and counter movements, and contested
ideologies/discourses that operate across a variety of geographic scales
o Important: globalisation is a social construct, it is about power, and it is about
different geographic scales
Implications
Globalisation is not inevitable (there does not need to be globalisation)
There are conditions that make globalisation possible or that would impede
globalisation
o E.g. economic wall between China and USA
o More regionally produced products in the supermarket
Globalisation is not dead, but it is fading -> glocalization is becoming the new mantra
o Glocalization is an in-between form: it is the recognition that the free market
has disadvantages (e.g. Europe not having access to masks in the pandemic
because global supply chains were disrupted, the stuck boat in the Suez Canal)
-> re-emphasis on local/regional supply chain
o Global idea of the free market is losing credibility, but still relevant
, o We are not only focusing on the cheapest way to produce, but for example
also on the safest and greenest way
Politics of naming
Brandt line
o 1980s
o Divided the world in the Rich North and the Poor South
o Controversial
o The global South and North are not distinct but often interwoven
Assumption that economic development is what we should strive for as a country, but
this is questionable
We should stop referring to the developing world
o Even in the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)
The term ‘Global South’ is still commonly used, but this is associated with oppression
o Also, it puts countries like Costa Rica (very green) and Nigeria (very polluting
because of oil) and Syria (very conservative) and Uruguay (very progressive) in
the same place
The term ‘majority world’ is sometimes used now instead of Global South, because
most people live in these countries, but they do not make the decisions
Think carefully before you use terms and do not let it be an automatization. It can
lead to stereotyping and faulty policies
Lecture 2: Globalisation and governance
Globalisation
Driving force behind social, political, cultural and economic changes
Historical process replete with contradictions
Long-term process (since people started to move around the globe)
No predetermined direction, it is open ended. It is also not good or bad, it is just
there
There are several global systems and convergences
We do not have a single society
Many of our systems (e.g. economic) were created in colonism
We have a very stratified (layered, power/wealth concentrated) world
o E.g. X is being banned in Brazil, now Elon Musk is fighting against the whole
country of Brazil: one individual is facing the institutions of a whole country
North vs. South or first vs. third world are no longer out there, but nestled together
within all the world’s major cities
o E.g. elite in India is very rich, while India as a country is poor
Concepts of globalisation
Widening, deepening and speeding up of global interconnectedness
Accelerating interdependence
Possibility of action at a distance
Time-space compression
Things that happen locally affect the global and the other way around
, To understand globalisation as distinct spatial attributes and the way these unfold
over time
Continuum local-global
Stretching social relations in space
Social, political and economic activities across frontiers, regions and continents
E.g. common agricultural policy of the EU spreads to the whole continent of Europe
Transregional interconnectedness, sometimes people feel more connected to a
gaming pal on the other side of the world than their own neighbours
Intensification and speeding up (time)
Connections across frontiers are not occasional or random
Intensification of our dependence on each other
Regularized and detectable intensification, or growing magnitude of
interconnectedness
Patterns of interactions and flows of trade, investment, finance, migration, culture
increase
New systems of transport and communication, the infrastructures allow for more
speed and intensification
Things have more impact
Things from the local impact the global
Boundaries between the domestic and the global get blurred
4 dimensions of impact:
o Decisional impact:
About how future decisions are made and who has the power to
make them
Degree to which the relative costs and benefits of the policy choices
confronting governments, corportation, collectivities and households
are influenced by global forces and conditions
Sensitivity and vulnerability
Constrained or facilitated
High/low impact
E.g. not putting your money in Rabobank because they invest in child
labour
E.g. buying a certain brand of coffee based on if it is fair-trade
o Institutional impact:
Focuses on how policies affect the workings of organizations or
institutions, changing their operations or effectiveness
Reconfiguration of agenda of decision-making itself
Availability of choices
Agenda of choices which governments, households and cooperations
confront are set by global conditions
Ways in which organizational and collective agenda reflect the
effective choices or range or choices
All decisions are taken in a broader context, e.g. rules etc.
, E.g. if you are the director of the ECB, you cannot just say “we lower
the interest rate” without thinking of rules/laws/risk of going bankrupt
If you want to drink coffee at the university, you are relying on the
institutional decision of them having the same goal of fair-trade coffee
o Distributive impact:
Examines how policies or actions distribute resources or opportunities
among different groups, emphasizing fairness or inequality
Distribution of power and wealth within and between countries
Ways in which globalisation shapes the configuration of social forces
(groups, classes, collectives) within societes and across them (e.g.
workers)
o Structural impact:
Concerns deep, systemic changes in the fundamental organization of
society, the economy, or political systems
Globalisation conditions patterns of domestic, social, economic and
political organization and behaviour inscribed within the institutions
and everyday function of societies (e.g. the spread of Western
conceptions of the modern state and capitalist markets)
Short and long-term
o Example of carbon tax:
Let’s say a country introduces a carbon tax to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. This new policy will impact various aspects differently.
Decisional impact: After the carbon tax is implemented, future
decisions about environmental policies may be increasingly made by
specialized climate bodies, rather than the general government,
changing the decision-making landscape.
Institutional impact: The Ministry of Environment might need to hire
more staff, set up new departments, or develop software to track
emissions and ensure companies comply with the tax, changing how
these institutions operate.
Distributive impact: Wealthy individuals or businesses may be able to
afford cleaner technologies to avoid the tax, while lower-income
families might struggle with higher fuel costs, highlighting unequal
distribution of the tax burden.
Structural impact: The energy sector might shift from coal and oil to
wind, solar, and electric vehicles as the tax makes carbon-heavy
industries less profitable, representing a structural transformation of
the economy.
Held 1999 sum-up
4 aspects of globalisation: extensity (stretching), intensity, velocity and impact
o Account of globalisation exame thoroughly these four elements as the spatio-
temporal dimensions of globalisation
o Extensity = the geographical reach of global connections
How far do global networks, relationships and interactions stretch
across the world?
E.g. trade routes, internet connectivity, multinational corporations
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