What is globalization? - Kim Minji

1. The Definition of Globalization

Globalization means that the boundaries between countries are becoming less clear, and the world is becoming more closely connected as one community. It involves exchanges and integration across many areas such as the economy, culture, politics, and society, where an event in one place can quickly affect other parts of the world.
For example, the smartphones we use are designed in the United States, parts are made in Korea, assembled in China, and sold around the world. The coffee we drink in the morning may come from Africa or South America, and Korean dramas on Netflix are watched by people all over the world. In this way, globalization has already become a natural part of our everyday lives.

 

2. The Various Aspects of Globalization

Globalization appears in many different forms.
The most obvious one is economic globalization. Global companies produce and sell their products all over the world. Nike shoes are made in Vietnam or Indonesia, and Samsung smartphones are sold in more than 140 countries. A stock market crash in one country can quickly influence other countries, showing how closely economies are connected.
Cultural globalization is also growing fast. McDonald’s and Starbucks can be found almost everywhere, and K-pop has gained fans not only in Asia but also in Europe and America. Thanks to Netflix and YouTube, people can easily watch and enjoy content from any country.
Social globalization is about the movement of people. Studying abroad, immigration, and travel have become more common, and people from different cultures now live together. Meeting foreigners on the streets of Seoul is normal today, and through social media, we can talk with people on the other side of the world. With the rise of remote work, physical distance is no longer a big barrier.

 

3. The Factors That Made Globalization Possible

Several factors have helped globalization grow.
The first is technology. The internet and smartphones allow information to spread instantly around the world. Within hours, people can travel to faraway places or hold meetings with others through video calls. Social media has also created spaces where people can communicate freely beyond borders.
The second factor is changes in economic policy. Many countries have opened their markets and reduced trade barriers. As a result, free trade agreements have increased, and international organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) have supported this global trend.

 

4. New Things I Learned

While studying globalization, I realized several new and interesting things.
First, globalization is not one-way. In the past, it seemed like only Western, especially American, culture was spreading around the world. But now, Korean K-pop, dramas, and movies are popular everywhere, and companies from China and India are also becoming global leaders. Globalization is now a two-way process where countries influence each other.
Second, globalization has a paradox. It connects the world and brings people together, but it also causes inequality and conflict. As the economic gap grows and some people lose their jobs, nationalism and “my country first” movements have become stronger. Brexit in the UK is one example.
Third, I learned the importance of digital globalization. In the past, globalization was mainly about goods and money, but now it is about information and data. Watching dramas on Netflix, meeting on Zoom, and storing documents on Google Drive have all become normal. The COVID-19 pandemic has made these changes even faster.

 

5. Conclusion

Globalization is one of the key ideas for understanding the modern world. It is not only an economic change but also something that changes our way of life, our values, and our thinking. We should not see globalization as simply good or bad. Instead, we need to use its opportunities wisely and work to solve the problems it brings.
The world is already connected, and this trend cannot be easily reversed. What matters is the kind of globalization we choose to build — one that is fair, sustainable, and respectful of all cultures. In this connected world, we need to communicate globally while keeping our own identity and values.

 

* I used ai tool to refine the sentence naturally.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is globalization--Kim younggyun

 1) Summarize From what I understand, globalization is not merely an economic trend. It is a broad concept in which the world becomes increasingly interconnected on cultural, social, political, and even individual levels. Because globalization is such an all-encompassing idea, it is only natural that debates continue over its definition. This is exactly what made studying the concept of globalization difficult for me. That is why, like Robertson and White, I tried to understand globalization mainly through the two dimensions of increasing connectivity and growing consciousness. I find their approach persuasive. When internet, transportation, and trade expand, the connections between countries grow stronger, and naturally, people begin to perceive the world as a “single place.” 2) Interesting point What I found particularly interesting while studying globalization is that it does not simply lead to “one-sided homogenization.” I used to think of globalization only as the expansion of...
Read more

What is globalization? | Yun Shinji

1.   Summary It is difficult to define the concept of ‘globalization’ with a single meaning, as the term is used in various contexts with different implications. Sociologist Roland Robertson describes globalization as “the compression of the world and the intensification of consciousness of the world as a whole". Robertson and White further elaborate it as two main trends “an increase in global interconnectedness” and "an increase in global consciousness". In this way, globalization is a complex phenomenon in which the world becomes closely connected across borders, and it is used in multiple ways in different contexts. Globalization can be broadly divided into three dimensions cultural, political, and economic. Among them, cultural globalization is the phenomenon we experience most directly in our daily lives. For example, a cultural content that becomes popular can spread worldwide and be shared globally. However, this phenomenon also raises concerns about cultural hom...
Read more

What is globalization? (TRAN THUY NGA/ 짠 튀 응아)

What is globalization? 1. Summary of the Reading Roland Robertson and Kathleen E. White’s chapter “What Is Globalization?” offers a careful, multi-layered attempt to describe a phenomenon that has become both a powerful reality and an intensely debated concept. They begin by acknowledging that  globalization is an essentially contested concept : scholars from different parts of the world and from different disciplines approach it with varying assumptions and no single agreed-upon definition. The authors trace the word’s rise in public discourse: although the processes we now associate with globalization long-distance trade, migration, cultural exchange stretch back centuries, the term itself only became widely used after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the partial collapse of communism. This historical moment gave globalization a new political and economic resonance, yet its roots are far older. Robertson and White emphasize that debates often split between those who see g...
Read more