GLOBALIZATION: AGAINST REDUCTIONISM AND LINEARITY

This paper challenges two popular notions that (1) globalization refers only to the eco-nomic unification of the globe integrating all the countries of the world under a single grid of market; and (2) globalization is a euphemism for “Westernization, ” that is, the discourse of globalization is a Western hegemonic imposition on the rest of the world in the mode of “cultural imperialism. ” Rather than viewing globalization as a narrow, economistic and exploitative process, the paper suggests that globalization is to be understood as a multi-dimensional process. As such, a more careful look at the various dimensions of globalization in all their complexities and contradictions is in order. The paper also argues against the popular myth that, as a mega-process affecting all aspects of our life, globalization unleashes destructive consequences by erasing differences, leading to a homogenized world. The paper takes issue with the popular criticism of globalization as “global pillage ” and attempts to re-emphasize the notion of “global vil-lage. ” Taking a dispassionate view of this process, this paper suggests that a return to the original usage is necessary, reiterating the heterogeneous and multi-cultural fea-tures of globalization processes that open possibilities for further theoretical and empir-ical explorations. Two dates — 1494 and 1969 — stand out as important moments in history of the world as a global place …. Since the fifteenth century, people have slowly come to think of the world as a global place. This process was aided by the widespread use of maps and globes in schoolrooms. … [in 1969] the astronaut’s photographs of the earth gave currency to the idea of the world as a global place — Robert K. Schaffer (1996: 10-11