Globalization

Abstract

The term globalization often is used to describe the global nature of capital and the emergence of a single global economy in the contemporary era. The term also suggests certain homogenizing tendencies in the social as well as political realms. These homogenizing tendencies may refer to something as banal as the ubiquitous acceptance of denim jeans or to something as profound as the globalization of the democratic processes. In this brief discussion, we shall limit our comments to the realm of normative values. However, this does not mean that culture and the globalization of cultural practices is not important. Culture is important, but the basic normative values that underpin culture, as well as the political and social arenas, are more profound, and it is these upon which I will focus my attention. We shall use the term globalism to describe the current on-going global convergence of values. Globalism can be best understood by contrasting it with the idea of centralization. Centralization conceives of the world as one, but clearly identifies what is the center and what constitutes the periphery. In a system undergoing centralization, a global power asserts its domination over “others” by locating itself as the normative, political, and economic center of the universe. It marginalizes the rest of the world, and simultaneously assumes, often through coercive means, the role of leader in moral as well as material terms. There is a clear hierarchy in the system, and the center is the undisputed “hegemon.” Thus when the periphery emulates the center, it often does so out of fear or insecurity, and the resulting homogenization is actually hegemonization. The centrality of the hegemon is based on an anthropological view of the universe, which distinguishes-or rather discriminates-behvxn the good/powefil and the badweak. The centrality of the hegemon is a manifestation of its egocentric nature and its sense of superiority over others. It sees itself as advanced, rational, creative, democratic, and peaceful, and constructs others as underdeveloped, traditional, lazy, authoritarian, and therefore inferior. It assumes that it is the best and that the rest must emulate it in their political, socioeconomic, and cultural constitution. Early attempts at global conquest, such as those by ...