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This article provides information about the concept of Globalisation !
Globalisation describes the process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a global network of political ideas through communication, transportation, and trade. The term is most closely associated with the term economic globalisation: the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, the spread of technology, and military presence.
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However, globalisation is usually recognised as being driven by a combination of economic, technological, socio-cultural, political, and biological factors. The term can also refer to the transnational circulation of ideas, languages, or popular culture through acculturation. An aspect of the world which has gone through the process can be said to be globalised.
Globalisation theory is essentially modernisation theory bolstered by greater emphasis on international integration and the power of external forces to induce rapid change. Again, one finds generalisations about individual modernisation, adoption of attitudes in favour of personal choice for marriage, divorce, choice of work, migration, and views of authority. One also may observe organizational adaptation, with formal organizations transforming their roles in a market environment where a civil society is gaining ground and individuals are free to enter and leave.
Likewise, state authority becomes subject to checks and balances, limited in creating monopolies and denying access to the outside world. If modernisation theory emphasised competition among nations that would oblige, sooner or later, domestic adjustments, globalisation theory stresses the powerful effects of the flow of resources, information, and people across national boundaries. The urgency of meeting the competition is accelerating, but the fundamental changes identified by modernisation theory continue to occur.
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Critics of globalisation theory, both from the left and the right, repeat the accusations raised against modernisation theory. Many on the left see it as justification for neo-imperialism or U.S. hegemonism, leading to unfair results, including one-sided gains and negative consequences for cultural diversity and the environment.
On the right, there is continued fear that compromises will have to be made with others who follow different models, watering down national distinctiveness or sovereignty. Instead of comparing different approaches to globalisation and accepting the need for all sides to adjust as competition proceeds in unpredictable ways, many prefer either to reject the process as inherently flawed or to insist that control by only one party must be ensured.
As seen in a half century of modernisation theory, politicised approaches to far-reaching questions of social change as well as narrow rejection of generalised social science analysis leave many critics unprepared to keep the focus on how to draw on empirical evidence and comparisons to keep improving existing theory.
The theory of modernisation may not have remained popular, but its message endures: states reorganize in an increasingly competitive environment; the quest for international power and economic growth leads to substantial changes in domestic policies; societies continuously adjust to economic growth and global integration; and the result is growing convergence, but there may be multiple models and sharp backlashes from those fearful or unsuccessful in the process.