Globalisation

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Consider the following scenario:
- In Country 1 raw material is extracted.
- Country 2 possesses the knowledge to extract the raw materials.
- Country 3 will undertake the actual processing.
- Country 4 will provide the money or capital for the above processes.

What Actually Is Globalization? It is the interaction of nations and people through trade, travel, investment, popular culture, education, art, literature, etc.

The Essence of Globalization
- It involves the interlinking of people, thereby shortening the distance between them.
- Countries become interdependent.
- Technologies and ideas are exchanged.

The Early Forms of Globalization
- The Silk Route, which is a 6000 km across the Central and the South-West Asia, links China with India, Western Asia, and the Mediterranean. In a way, it lets people exchange ideas, goods, and technology the three countries, namely India, China, and Europe.
- India, which was known as the Golden Bird, as it was a place of learning, spirituality, and wealth, played a significant role in this early form of globalization.
- There was brain drain, but from the west to the east direction, where the westerners move towards the east in search of greener pastures.
- Textiles from India, spices from Africa and Indonesia, gold and tin from Malaya, carpets from Java, gold from Zimbabwe, silk, porcelain, and teak from China, made their way to Europe.
- In a nutshell, it can be concluded that the Indians, Arabs, and Chinese laid the early framework for today’s globalization.

The Positive Impacts of Globalization
- In the economic sphere:
  - It has brought about capital and technology. For an example, the Information Technology sector boom in India has played a great role in uplifting the country’s economy.
  - Indian engineers are the most sought after in the western nations, especially in the USA.
  - Governments today are encouraged to privatize their resources, which has led to the exploitation with profit motive leading to individual wealth.
  - It is observed that 20% people who belong to the developed nations consume 80% of the world resources, which is nothing but consumerism.

In the political arena:
- There has been a shift in the regulating authority, wherein the governments have forgone their power of regulation to the international institutions, ex the World Trade Organization or the WTO and the United Nations Organization or the UNO.
- Governments today have been compelled to relax the rules and regulations.

In the Socio-cultural sector:
- There has been a significant change in the early joint family system. These days, there is more number of nuclear families when compared to the olden times.
- The eating habits, festivals, ceremonies, and dresses have all also changed.
- Today we celebrate Women’s Day, May Day etc. which is again a kind of effect of globalization.
- Religion, which once had been a public affair, is transforming, in-fact has almost transferred to a personal or a private matter.
Globalization has given thrust to two important processes, namely liberalization and privatization.
- Liberalization depicts the relaxations of government regulations in the industrial and service sectors.
- Privatization is nothing but allowing the private sector companies to produce goods and services.
There has been an exodus of talented people as observed in the form of brain drain from the east to the west. It is interesting to note that until the 14^th and 15^th centuries or during the early period of globalization, the brain drain was from the west to the east.

The Negative Impact of Globalization:
- There have been many complaints of unemployment, insufficient impact of globalization on agriculture, hospitals, and other such sectors.
- It is also said that globalization is yet to provide electricity to many of the rural and under developed areas at low cost.
- There are rumours of threats to the local industries by the multi-national companies or the MNCs.

What Do We Conclude From This?
- The positive impacts of globalization surely and definitely outweigh the negatives.
- Globalization is an irreversible process, and for sure it’s here to stay.

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