3.2.1 Global systems and global governance
The economic, political and social changes associated with technological and other driving forces
which have been a key feature of global economy and society in recent decades. Increased
interdependence and transformed relationships between peoples, states and environments have
prompted more or less successful attempts at a global level to manage and govern some aspects of
human affairs. Students engage with important dimensions of these phenomena with particular
emphasis on international trade and access to markets and the governance of the global commons.
Students contemplate many complex dimensions of contemporary world affairs and their own place in
and perspective on them.
Dimensions of globalisation: flows of capital, labour, products, services and information; global
marketing; patterns of production, distribution and consumption. Factors in globalisation: the
development of technologies, systems and relationships, including financial, transport, security,
communications, management and information systems and trade agreements.
Globalisation = the increasing connections between places and people, across the planet,
established through trade, politics and cultural exchanges, and helped by technology and transport.
Economic globalisation Social globalisation
A French person eating a banana from Ecuador A French person eating a banana from Ecuador while
while on holiday in Egypt on holiday in Egypt
The leaders of world nations meeting at a Children with Indian, Polish or English roots all
conference to discuss world trade attending the same UK school
A German car manufacturer relocating one of its An American citizen ‘liking’ the Facebook page of a
engine factories to Brazil South African citizen
A Chinese company building a new nuclear power A British teenager watching South Korea’s Psy sing
station for people in the UK ‘Gangnam Style’ on YouTube
A Latvian electrician fixing a wiring problem in a
house in Manchester
Political globalisation Cultural globalisation
A French person eating a banana from Ecuador while
The leaders of world nations meeting at a on holiday in Egypt
conference to discuss world trade
Children with Indian, Polish or English roots all
A Chinese company building a new nuclear power attending the same UK school
station for people in the UK
A British teenager watching South Korea’s Psy sing
‘Gangnam Style’ on YouTube
An American citizen ‘liking’ the Facebook page of a
South African citizen
,Key events in a Globalisation timeline
1944 The World Bank is set up, at the close of the Second World War
1948 Jamaicans migrate to the UK on the Empire Windrush
1975 Britain joins the EU (known then as the EEC)
1990 The first proper Windows PCs are sold
1996 Broadband internet becomes available for homes in the US & Europe
1998 Tesco opens its first overseas store in Asia
2000 The Millennium Development Goals are launched (by the UN)
2001 The terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York
2004 Facebook begins
2011 China overtakes Japan to become the world’s second largest economy
Is globalisation a good thing?
Globalisation has its advantages and disadvantages. On the whole, I believe it is mostly good. Cultural
diversity, especially in countries such as the UK, has increased dramatically, mainly due to the influx
of migrants. A big factor which has contributed to the growth of globalisation is technology. The
internet has allowed people, who live far distances from each other, to come together virtually. It
allows some local cultures to survive and strengthen, and enables us to stay up to date with what is
going on across the world. Because of this, efforts to help the poorest and most vulnerable populations
have been strengthened, such as the Millennium Development Goals project.
However, some local traditions have struggled to survive in a globalised world, and as a result,
languages have become extinct as more young people start speaking English or Spanish. The problem
of ‘cloning’ has also arisen due to globalisation, where many places have become so similar to each
other that they have a sense of ‘placelessness’. Furthermore, globalisation can lead to conflict, such
as that in Kenya and Nigeria, where terrorists have tried to suppress the ‘spread of western values’
which they say include consumerism and greater independence for women.
, The main dimensions of globalisation
Capital flows = the movement of money for the purpose of investment, trade or to produce goods/
provide services. Usually regarded as investment into a production operation.
Globalisation = a process by which national economies, societies and cultures have become
increasingly integrated through the global network of trade, communication, transportation and
immigration.
International trade = the exchange of capital, goods and services across international borders.
Inbound trade is defined as imports and outbound trade as exports.
Labour = factor of production defined as the aggregate of all human physical and mental effort used
to create goods or provide services.
The term ‘globalisation’ was used to describe an unprecedented
integration of world economies in the 1990s under the combined
influence of the information technology revolution and the opening
up of former Communist Bloc countries to the market economy. The
focus of globalisation has been primarily on economic relationships
such as international trade, foreign direct investment and
international capital flows.
The economic, political and social changes associated with technological and other driving forces
which have been a key feature of global economy and society in recent decades. Increased
interdependence and transformed relationships between peoples, states and environments have
prompted more or less successful attempts at a global level to manage and govern some aspects of
human affairs. Students engage with important dimensions of these phenomena with particular
emphasis on international trade and access to markets and the governance of the global commons.
Students contemplate many complex dimensions of contemporary world affairs and their own place in
and perspective on them.
Dimensions of globalisation: flows of capital, labour, products, services and information; global
marketing; patterns of production, distribution and consumption. Factors in globalisation: the
development of technologies, systems and relationships, including financial, transport, security,
communications, management and information systems and trade agreements.
Globalisation = the increasing connections between places and people, across the planet,
established through trade, politics and cultural exchanges, and helped by technology and transport.
Economic globalisation Social globalisation
A French person eating a banana from Ecuador A French person eating a banana from Ecuador while
while on holiday in Egypt on holiday in Egypt
The leaders of world nations meeting at a Children with Indian, Polish or English roots all
conference to discuss world trade attending the same UK school
A German car manufacturer relocating one of its An American citizen ‘liking’ the Facebook page of a
engine factories to Brazil South African citizen
A Chinese company building a new nuclear power A British teenager watching South Korea’s Psy sing
station for people in the UK ‘Gangnam Style’ on YouTube
A Latvian electrician fixing a wiring problem in a
house in Manchester
Political globalisation Cultural globalisation
A French person eating a banana from Ecuador while
The leaders of world nations meeting at a on holiday in Egypt
conference to discuss world trade
Children with Indian, Polish or English roots all
A Chinese company building a new nuclear power attending the same UK school
station for people in the UK
A British teenager watching South Korea’s Psy sing
‘Gangnam Style’ on YouTube
An American citizen ‘liking’ the Facebook page of a
South African citizen
,Key events in a Globalisation timeline
1944 The World Bank is set up, at the close of the Second World War
1948 Jamaicans migrate to the UK on the Empire Windrush
1975 Britain joins the EU (known then as the EEC)
1990 The first proper Windows PCs are sold
1996 Broadband internet becomes available for homes in the US & Europe
1998 Tesco opens its first overseas store in Asia
2000 The Millennium Development Goals are launched (by the UN)
2001 The terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York
2004 Facebook begins
2011 China overtakes Japan to become the world’s second largest economy
Is globalisation a good thing?
Globalisation has its advantages and disadvantages. On the whole, I believe it is mostly good. Cultural
diversity, especially in countries such as the UK, has increased dramatically, mainly due to the influx
of migrants. A big factor which has contributed to the growth of globalisation is technology. The
internet has allowed people, who live far distances from each other, to come together virtually. It
allows some local cultures to survive and strengthen, and enables us to stay up to date with what is
going on across the world. Because of this, efforts to help the poorest and most vulnerable populations
have been strengthened, such as the Millennium Development Goals project.
However, some local traditions have struggled to survive in a globalised world, and as a result,
languages have become extinct as more young people start speaking English or Spanish. The problem
of ‘cloning’ has also arisen due to globalisation, where many places have become so similar to each
other that they have a sense of ‘placelessness’. Furthermore, globalisation can lead to conflict, such
as that in Kenya and Nigeria, where terrorists have tried to suppress the ‘spread of western values’
which they say include consumerism and greater independence for women.
, The main dimensions of globalisation
Capital flows = the movement of money for the purpose of investment, trade or to produce goods/
provide services. Usually regarded as investment into a production operation.
Globalisation = a process by which national economies, societies and cultures have become
increasingly integrated through the global network of trade, communication, transportation and
immigration.
International trade = the exchange of capital, goods and services across international borders.
Inbound trade is defined as imports and outbound trade as exports.
Labour = factor of production defined as the aggregate of all human physical and mental effort used
to create goods or provide services.
The term ‘globalisation’ was used to describe an unprecedented
integration of world economies in the 1990s under the combined
influence of the information technology revolution and the opening
up of former Communist Bloc countries to the market economy. The
focus of globalisation has been primarily on economic relationships
such as international trade, foreign direct investment and
international capital flows.
