Globalizationin a Changing World
Globalizationin a Changing World
Theconcept of globalization has been gaining popularity with time. Thiscan be attributed to different factors, including the increase in theaccess to information, immigration, integration of countries to formtrade blocks, and the establishment of more multinationalcorporations. The progress that is being attained in terms ofeconomic, political, and social development has a direct effect onthe lives of the people (Rafat, Emadzadeh & Ahmadi, 2013).Changes that lead to globalization have been achieved over a periodof many years, which can be confirmed by the shift from one era toanother. In this paper, the concepts of postindustrial society,postmodern era, and world’s move towards the establishment of theglobal democratic structure and pessimistic views versus optimisticviews regarding global governance.
Thepost industrial society
Thephrase “post industrial society” is used to describe the stage ofeconomic development in which the service sector seems to generatemore revenue per annum as compared to the manufacturing sector. Thistype of society is established in countries that start the process ofdeveloping their economies by boosting the manufacturing sector. Theservice sector, then emerge as new firms (such as insurance andbanks) are formed to provide services to the manufacturing companiesas well as the people working in the manufacturing factories (Bell,2001). However, the service ends up growing to a level at which itsannual revenues surpass the amount that the manufacturing sectorgenerates within the same period.
Thereare six major characteristics that are used to distinguish thepostindustrial society from the industrial society. First, thepostindustrial society is characterized by a drastic shift ofinvestors from production of goods (such as vehicles and clothes) tothe production of services, such as banking, fitness coaching, anddelivery of fast foods (Bell, 2001).
Secondly,a postindustrial society is established when there is a significantreplacement of blue collar jobs with professional and technical jobs.This implies that a large proportion of the society’s populationgets engaged in professional careers, such as computer engineeringand health (Bell, 2001).
Third,the technical knowledge that is mainly required in the manufacturingsector is drastically replaced by theoretical knowledge (Bell, 2001).The theoretical knowledge is preferred in the service sector becauseit leads to the development of innovative solutions that play acritical role in helping players in the service industry todifferentiate themselves from competitors.
Fourth,the society gets more concerned about the implications that newtechnology may have on the environment and the community. This forceinvestors to adopt new technology with a lot of caution since thesociety is likely to reject any technology that will pollute theenvironment or contribute towards the widespread outage of power(Bell, 2001).
Fifth,the society develops new types of scientific disciplines that mainlyfocus on the assessment of the viability of the theoretical knowledgeand to test the implications that technology might cause to theenvironment. Some of the key disciplines that a postindustrialsociety focuses on include artificial intelligence, cybernetics, andinformation technology (Bell, 2001).
Lastly,the postindustrial society emphasizes on the establishment as well asthe development of institutions that can produce graduates who canguide the emerging technologies (Bell, 2001). This is confirmed bythe existence of a large number of technical institutions anduniversities in a postindustrial society.
Fromthe aforementioned features of a postindustrial society, it isevident that investors who stop focusing on the manufacturing sectordirect their efforts and resources to innovation and knowledgemanagement. This is because the society starts valuing knowledge andconsiders it as the key driver of the national economy (Bell, 2001).The use of knowledge to drive economy results in the development of aculture of creativity.
Thepostmodern era
Theterm “post modern era” is used to describe a time period that ischaracterized by broad movements that took place starting from thelate 20thcentury, marking the end of the modern period. This movement affecteddifferent sector (such as art, philosophy, criticism, andarchitecture) that impact human life in various ways. Philosophers ofthe postmodern era hold that the concepts of truth and knowledge areconstructed and contextual ideas. This is because these philosophersbelieve that truth and knowledge result from unique systems ofhistorical, social, and political discourses (Foster, 1985).
Thepostmodern era based on two key elements. The first element is thenature of the postmodern or the contemporary society. Philosophers(such as Callinico) hold that the nature of the postmodern societycan be described by a drastic change in the socioeconomic dimensions,which is a continuation of the achievements made by the modernsociety (Foster, 1985). The second element is the nature of critique,whereby the contemporary theorists criticize theories (such asrelativism and universalism) that were developed in the previouseras. The element of the nature of theoretical criticism indicatesthat the theory of relativism represents the postmodern era, whilethe universalism represents the modern era.
Thepostmodern era can be distinguished from other eras by severalfeatures. For example, members of the society in the postmodernsociety believe that the concept of absolute truth is a mere illusionand a contrived term that is used by people with a special interestto achieve their own goals (Foster, 1985). This is a departure fromthe previous eras that emphasized on the significance of the absolutetruth as a way of enhancing ethics in the society. Therefore, errorand truth are considered to be synonymous, which implies that factsare too limited to an extent that they cannot be used to determineanything. In addition, the idea of globalization is more popular inthe postmodern era than in any other period. The contemporary societyholds that the national boundaries are a hindrance to communicationamong the human beings, while nationalisms cause war. Moreover, thepostmodern era is characterized by shift self-conceptualization wheremany people believe in opinions and tend to spurn the scientificapproaches. The ideas of objectivity and reliance on facts indecision making are trivialized in the postmodern era.
Examplesof a move towards the global democratic structure
Amove towards the establishment of the global democratic structure canbe confirmed by four major examples. First, the formation of tradeunions in many countries has created a platform on which workers canadvocate for their rights, which contributes towards theestablishment of the democratic societies (Menyawi, 2003). Secondly,the international community has reached a point where internationallaws are being developed and respected by all countries. For example,international bodies (such as the ILO) establish treaties thatobserved by many nations, which is an indication that the world iscontinually accepting the idea of democracy and respect for therights of different groups, including workers (Menyawi, 2003). Third,the establishment of the several trade blocs that follow a given setof laws and treaties is an indication that the world is movinggradually towards a global democracy. For example, the European Unionis a bloc that was formed by the integration different nations thathold a belief that economic, political, and social progress can beachieved in an environment that facilitates the respect of humanrights and the views of different people. Four, the idea of freetrade has been gaining popularity with time, where groups of nationsbelieve that they can achieve economic progress by creating aplatform on which each one of them can trade without beingrestricted.
Optimisticversus pessimistic views on the global governance
Theconcept of global governance is used to describe the process in whichtransnational actors come together to negotiate differences responsesto challenges affecting various regions of the world (Jolly, 2014).The western world (including the Americas and the European nations)has been pessimistic about the idea of global governance. Thewestern stakeholders believe that the international bodies (such asthe IMF and the World Bank) have played a critical role in setting uppolicies and guiding nations towards the process of complying withthe economic frameworks. However, these international bodies havebeen staffed with leaders who think in the American and the Europeanway, which has reduced their effectiveness in playing the role ofglobal governance. This idea of the western critics is supported bythe facts that over 70 nations have been found to be poorer they werein the year 1980 and the recent 2008 financial crisis where theinternational institutions played very limited role in containing thesituations (Jolly, 2014).
TheAsian nations, on the other hand, have expressed some optimism on theprogress of global governance. The Asian stakeholders hold that theera of western dominance has elapsed, but the leadership as well astraditions of the western world is still valuable. For example,Kishore Mahbubani, the author of the book, “The Great Convergence”held that there is room for the rejuvenation of the United States inorder to increase its capacity to play the role of governing theglobe as it was initially intended (Jolly, 2014). In addition, theAsian countries have developed in many spheres (including economicand education), which can be confirmed by the increase in the size ofthe middle class. Therefore, the Asian stakeholders feel that theyare able and willing to take part in the global governance. This isbecause these countries have grown their economies, enhance literacylevels, and increased the buying power of their citizens.
Conclusion
Globalizationis being achieved through gradual economic, social, and politicaldevelopment. The post industrial era is characterized by a shift fromproduction of products to services. The postmodern era ischaracterized by a drastic change in several sectors (such as art,philosophy, criticism, and architecture) that affect the lives ofpeople in various ways. Some of the key examples of the fact that theworld is shifting towards the global democracy include the growth oftrade unions, the formation of international laws, trade blocs. Thewestern world has become pessimistic while the Asian nations areoptimistic about the growth of global governance.
References
Bell,D. (2001). The coming of the post-industrial society. Newsweek.Retrieved May 18, 2016, fromhttps://www.os3.nl/_media/2011-2012/daniel_bell_-_the_coming_of_post-industrial_society.pdf
Foster,H. (1985). Postmodernculture.London: Pluto Press.
Jolly,S. (2014). Western pessimism, Asian optimism: Three perspectives onglobal governance. Ethicsand International Affairs.Retrieved May 18, 2016, fromhttp://www.ethicsandinternationalaffairs.org/2014/western-pessimism-asian-optimism-three-perspectives-on-global-governance/
Menyawi,H. (2003). Towardglobal democracy: Thoughts in response to the rising tide ofnation-to-nation interdependence.Cambridge, MA: Harvard Law School.
Rafat,B., Emadzadeh, M. & Ahmadi, K. (2013). Economic, social, andpolitical aspect of globalization on health in developing countries.InternationalJournal of Academic Research in Business and Social Science,3 (7), 384-402.