Do we live in an era of globalization? Is the world 'shrinking?' Here is what anthropologist Ralph Linton had to say:

'Our solid American citizen awakens in a bed built on a pattern that originated in the Near East but that was modified in Northern Europe before it was transmitted to America. He throws back covers made from cotton, domesticated in India, or linen, domesticated in the Near East, or silk, the use of which was discovered in China. All of these materials have been spun and woven by processes invented in the Near East. He slips into his moccasins, invented by the Indians of the Eastern woodlands, and goes to the bathroom, whose fixtures are a mixture of European and American inventions, both of recent date. He takes off his pajamas, a garment invented in India, and washes with soap, invented by the ancient Gauls. He then shaves- a masochistic rite that seems to have been derived from either Sumer or ancient Egypt.

Returning to the bedroom, he removes his clothes from a chair of southern European type and proceeds to dress. He puts on garments whose form originally derived from the skin clothing of the nomads of the Asiatic steppes, puts on shoes made from skins tanned by a process invented in ancient Egypt and cut to a pattern derived from the classical civilizations of the Mediterranean, and ties around his neck a strip of bright colored cloth that is a vestigial survival of the shoulder shawls worn by 17th century Croatians. Before going out for breakfast, he glances through a window, made of glass invented in Egypt, and, if it is raining, puts on overshoes made of rubber discovered by the Central American Indians and takes an umbrella, invented in Southeastern Asia. Upon his head he puts a hat made of felt, a material invented in the Asiatic steppes.

On his way to breakfast, he stops to buy a paper, paying for it with coins, an ancient Lydian invention. At the restaurant, a whole new series of borrowed elements confronts him. His plate is made from pottery, invented in China. His knife is steel, an alloy first made in southern India; his fork, a medieval Italian invention; and his spoon, a derivative of a Roman original. He begins his breakfast with an orange, from the eastern Mediterranean, a cantaloupe from Persia, or perhaps a piece of African watermelon. With this he has coffee, an Abyssinian plant, with cream and sugar. Both the domestication of cows and the idea of milking them originated in the Near East, while sugar was first made in India. After his fruit and first coffee, he goes for waffles, cakes made by a Scandinavian technique from wheat domesticated in Asia Minor. Over these he pours maple syrup, invented by the Indians of the Eastern woodlands. As a side dish, he may have the egg of a species of bird domesticated in Indochina, or the thin strips of the flesh of an animal domesticated in eastern Asia that have been salted by a process developed in Northern Europe.

When our friend has finished eating, he settles back to smoke, an American Indian habit, consuming a plant domesticated in Brazil in either a pipe, derived from the Indians of Virginia, or a cigarette, derived from Mexico. If he is hardy enough, he may even attempt a cigar, transmitted to us from the Antilles by way of Spain. While smoking, he reads the news of the day, imprinted in characters invented by the ancient Semites upon a material invented in Germany. As he absorbs the accounts of foreign troubles, he will, if he is a good, conservative citizen, thank a Hebrew deity in an Indo-European language that he is 100% American.'

One of the more interesting aspects of Linton's short essay is that it was published 65 years ago. So, globalization is hardly a process that began in our lifetimes.

But it has accelerated. If we think in terms of the POET model for understanding social change, maybe the concept of ideas, people, trade, pollution, technology, etc., spreading over the globe, is a little easier to grasp. Certain technologies played important roles in spreading these things around: media (Gutenberg's printing press in the 15th century), transportation (boat, automobile, plane--increasing speed seems to be a major theme), telecommunications (telegraph, radio, television, telephone, Internet, even cinema). These technologies all serve in one way or another to essentially 'shrink' the distances between societies and their cultures.

top of page

Same old same old, or something new?

But . . . is current globalization a different beast than the diffusion of ideas, technologies, etc., in centuries/decades past? Many who talk of globalization these days refer to it as an economic phenomenon. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) defines it as 'the observation that in recent years a quickly rising share of economic activity in the world seems to be taking place between people who live in different countries (rather than in the same country).' There is no doubt that there is more trade conducted between countries today than ever before, and the likelihood that much of what we consume comes from another country is greater than it ever has been as a result. But it is more than world trade. There is increasing foreign direct investment in other countries (when a company from one country invests directly in another country, for instance in factory construction), as well as global flows of capital and labor (you may, if you have a 401K somewhere, be invested in enterprises in other countries, and have no idea).

But there are other ways in which globalization can manifest itself--see if you can come up with examples:

1. cultural
2. political
3. military

Think about it. Look at your clothes. Where do they come from? The stuff you buy in the produce aisle. How do we get peaches in February? Does gasoline come from the Fossil Fuel Fairy? How about that fine faux teakwood kitchen table you just got on sale? Where is faux teakwood grown anyway (hint: not in Oregon or Georgia)? Been to WalMart today? Yesterday? Tomorrow? McDonald's? Exxon/Mobil? Texaco/Chevron?

Or how about the Cold War. Is it over? Have we finally laid to rest the national paranoia that free, democracy-lovin' countries would fall like dominoes to evil Stalinist and Maoist ideologues? Did history confirm the domino effect? More recently, why did the U.S. wait until chaos was nearing the capital to send the Marines into Haiti? Why did we invade Iraq? We have discussed in this class the growth and expansion of the Military Industrial Complex, and how it has occurred alongside vast increases in the consumption of petroleum in the US. We discussed some of the events in the Middle East, dating back as far as 1953, that may have precipitated later events such as the Iranian Revolution in 1979 against the US-backed Shah of Iran. We have discussed how after the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Empire fell in the late 1980s, that the US lost some of its justification for expanding defense spending in the name of 'national security.' Until the terrorism threat appears in the 1990s (after Osama bin Laden declares a fatwah against the US and the West, partly because the US established military bases on Moslem holy ground in Saudi Arabia).

But wait, there's more. There is the United Nations, which includes various organizations, such as the WHO (World Health Organization), UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), etc. There's the World Trade Organization (WTO), World Bank, ICC (International Criminal Court), International Monetary Fund (IMF), etc. There are treaties as well like the intercontinental ballistic missile treaty, the Kyoto Protocols, etc. It's a big, complicated world, and on top of the spread of markets and capitalism, the need for governments and organizations and citizens from different countries to interact has led to the creation of many multilateral organizations designed to settle trade disputes (WTO), control the spread of nuclear weapons (IAEA), lend money to governments (IMF, World Bank), provide development assistance (UNDP, FAO), etc.

Culturally, we've spent just a bit of time in this class on a social process that I hope you haven't sent down the memory hole just yet. There's Hollywood, bad television re-runs, music, computer games, etc. Then there's immigration, and travel. There are Americans in every country in the world, working, playing, killing (well, this is thankfully more limited). And there are people from every society in the world in the United States, and in countries around the world.

What about al Qaida? Is that organizationan example of globalization? An organization that has 'cells' in many countries of the world and plans terrorist attacks against Western symbols of power and dominance, under the very noses of those powerful, even using their own technologies against them? Has it changed the way Americans interact with their own government?

One thing seems clear, from the very term. Globalization is a process. In addition, it is more than economics, although economics is clearly one of the key features, and may be driving some of the other types of globalization. Also, not every country participates equally in the process. There is no entity that really has direct control over it. The World Trade Organization, or WTO, attempts to set rules and guidelines for trade, and serve as a system for adjudicating any problems or conflicts. But its legitimacy isn't recognized by all, and it is not conceived of as some sort of broader governing body. There is the United Nations, but we've seen (if we've been paying attention lately to the situation between the U.S. and Iraq) its limitations as far as serving as some sort of coordinating body for globalization issues. Without the support of the U.S., which provides a substantial amount of funding (countries contribute based on their abilities to pay), the UN has a difficult time achieving any kind of consensus.

You might want to reflect a bit on examples of globalization in your own life. Have a car? What model? Filled the tank with gas lately? Used it to drive and buy clothes, shoes, food? At WalMart? With friends from other countries? Did you stop at McDonald's for a McBite on the way? Have you had a 1/4 Pounder Mad Cow lately? Not everyone is worried about Mad Cow disease, but one case of the disease in Washington state was all it took for stock markets around the world to suffer a case of the hiccups.

Some things we can say about globalization:

• It is a process
• It is more than economics;
• Not every country or society participates equally in the process;
• There is no entity that has direct control over it;
• Much of it is in hands of private corporations
  

Ralph Linton. 1937. One hundred percent American. The American Mercury, 40: 427-429. United Nations Development Program. 'What is globalization?' Available at: http://www.sdnbd.org/sdi/issues/globalization/What%20is%20Globalization.htm.