The Phenomenon of Globalization: Origins, Vectors, and Trends in the Context of Sociocultural Analysis

Abstract

The article discusses different theories of globalization, and in particular concludes that sometimes they vary too much to unambiguously define “globalization”, as different scientific concepts offer different approaches to understanding the nature and processes of this phenomenon. This situation itself illustrates the contradictions and different attitudes to globalization in the modern world: from perception and even absoluteness to its complete denial. Researchers and experts in various fields of science argue about the pros and cons of globalization, but share the same stance: the manifestations of this process can be seen in all spheres of public life, and changes are inevitable. The article identifies the main developmental shifts introduced by globalization, its paradoxes, trends, and tendencies. Special attention is paid to global trends. An important conceptual point of the author’s methodological optics also consists in the stipulation that each trend is in principle always ascending and, gaining the apogee of development, determines the emergence of its antipode – antitrend as antagonistic tendencies. In our opinion, in addition to the fact that each trend generates an antitrend, the following basic civilizational trends, which form a single process of globalization – individualization, virtualization, mobility, and hybridization – are clearly traced today. The author argues that in different societies, these global trends define themselves through a set of tendencies. They can be ambivalent and have different courses in different societies, but in one way or another mark globalization as a holistic process, a general process of constant, uninterrupted change.

Keywords

• глобалізація
• глобальні тренди
• амбівалентні тенденції
• постматеріалізм