What is globalization? - Ju Sukyung (주수경)



1. Summary of the Reading 

In the paper "What is globalization?" the author, Robertson, described globalization as a very wide range of social processes that go beyond just seeing it in economic or political phenomena, and include changes in their culture or consciousness. Here, the concept of "glocalization" means that globally-spreading phenomena meet with regional characteristics to create new forms.

 In particular, the paper categorizes globalization into four major categories:  1) Economic globalization: Economic globalization refers to the borderless integration of trade, investment, and financial markets. Examples include the activities of global corporations or the connectivity of international financial markets. This is the most visible phenomenon of globalization. 2) Political globalization: Political globalization involves changes in relations between countries, or power structures. The influence of international organizations, such as the United Nations, grows, and joint responses to global issues, not just one country-specific issues, such as epidemics such as the coronavirus or global climate change, become important. 3) Cultural globalization: Cultural globalization is the process by which values, art, and lifestyle-like things spread globally. For example, you can watch Korean dramas on a global scale through Netflix, one of the most popular international artists, and easily access content or music from all over the world through YouTube in your daily life. 4) Social Globalization: Social Globalization already has a change in people's perception of themselves as cross-border beings. Just as this world recognizes that it is a global village and feels responsible for the common problems of humanity in the world, an individual's identity expands, leading to a sense that the world is connected like a "one giant village."

 In addition, he explains in this paper that globalization proceeds in two simultaneous processes: Compression of the world (the meaning of geographic distance due to technological advancement) and Intensification of consensus as a whole (compression of the world that influences an individual's way of thinking).

2. New, interesting or unusual items

One of the most interesting and novel facts that I have learned from this paper is that globalization is not a new phenomenon. Before I read this, I thought that globalization was, of course, a phenomenon that emerged in today's era, in which everyone used the Internet and smartphones regardless of time and space, and exchanged content and culture from all over the world. But Robertson explained that globalization is an "old historical process." If you think about it, take the example of the religion that is prevalent around us. Over a long period of time, religions such as Buddhism and Islam, in particular, did not care about borders and spread widely. Scientific knowledge and discoveries also spread across many different civilizations, not just one country. 

Of course, it will be on a different level in speed and intensity in modern globalization. With today's groundbreaking Internet development and the remarkable development of transportation such as aircraft, globalization in the past was thought to offer a different, real-time exchange. And the second interesting fact is that globalization is not a force that "unifies everything."

 Rather, he says, it is a paradox that causes division and closure at the same time as the number of connections between countries increases. For example, at a time when COVID-19 emerged as a big international problem, countries blocked borders and chose vaccine nationalism to protect their citizens while responding to it through international cooperation and policies. 

At this time, while watching various YouTube videos and news, I felt a bit of a paradox to see that information on vaccines and diseases was quickly shared and updated, while strictly restricting human movement. In this paper, I also felt more interesting as it said that globalization, which values freedom of capital and information, shows a paradox that prevents the free movement of people such as refugees and immigrants.

3. Questions or Discussion

My hobby is to watch media contentsuch as dramas and movies from around the world through atte in my free time outside of school. By subscribing to various atte platforms in Korea, such as watchinga and tving, from atte based on overseas such as Netflix and Disney+, I was able to experience the 'compression of the world' in real time in this paper. 
Our parents' generationalone had to wait several weeks for domestic broadcasts to watch dramas from other countries, and there were limited channels to watch movies unless they went to the movie theater, but our generation can easily meet content that deals with unfamiliar cultures in countries that have never been before at home with just one click.
In an era where time and space constraints have become meaningless as in my usual experience, I thought I was personally experiencing the value of diversity that 'cultural globalization' aims for. However, after reading this paper, I questioned what I had thought was 'cultural globalization' until now. 
In this paper, we say that globalization is not just a process of combining things into one, but a complex phenomenon in which negative conflicts (conflict, contradiction) and positive connections coexist.
I wondered about one questions, comparing to my experience.
  "Does the service really promote cultural diversity?" : 
I thought that it connected positively and connected various cultures. However, at the same time, it also saw a phenomenon that drew worldwide attention to certain contents under thename of 'global hit'. For example, when contents such as 'Squid Game' or the recent 'K-Pop Demon Hunters' aregaining popularity around the world, many contents produced during the same period disappear without receiving any attention. The alt platform provides a wide variety of ostensibly huge contents, but in the end, isn't it possible that individuals' cultural tastes are homogenized as algorithms recommend them and watch them along because they are famous? Are we really promoting cultural diversity in the East Sea, or are we just going towards cultural homogenization, consuming a few cultures that are set by the algorithms of global platforms?

Comments

  1. KIM YEWONSeptember 25, 2025 at 2:10 AM

    The issue that the algorithm of the OTT may cause cultural uniformity is thought-provoking!! Nevertheless, I believe it promotes cultural diversity, since by subscribing to just one OTT service (for example, Netflix), you can access not only content from familiar countries like Korea or the United States, but also content that is harder to reach, such as from Thailand or Europe, with just one click.

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