Introduction
Economic Globalization is interplay between regional integration and the interchange of the cultural views and products between nations. This implies that in the consideration of globalization and contraction of time and space, old characteristics are eroded at the expense of universalization of new characteristics in a local setup. For instance, advancement in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector is a form of universalization of characteristics since it brings together different end user interfaces into one single chip, while civilization is a form of erosion of characteristics. Since civilization brings about a transformation in the cultural setup of a community through replacement of old societal norms with the contemporary views of the world. This shows that economic globalization has an impact on the contraction of time and space. In this paper, we will discuss the impact of economic globalization on “contraction” of time and space that is universal, and which provides a platform for argument or contention with the research question, “Does economic globalization have a positive or negative impact on the contraction of time and space?” This implies that as there is an economic interplay between nations, there is a possibility of both positive and negative entrants that describe the final path of transformation. Consequently, a response to this gives the need for veering into the trends of economic globalization verses correlations of time and space therein, which forms the essence of this paper. Such vital questions related to the issue of our work are to be discussed:
- Compression of space and time.
- Historical background of globalization and its spread in the world.
- The League of Nations as a part of globalization regulation process.
- New practices in the world of globalization.
- The negative features of globalization.
- Daunting prospect and proposals for future.
Such approach as quantitative research will be used in our proposal. It means that in order to get enough information we use the most common research methods, such as literature searches, talking with people (we meet with economists from different parts of the world via Skype), focus groups – our group of interested in this issue students will meet and discuss the urgent questions concerning the positive and negative features of the globalization, share opinions on what could or should be done to address the problem. Moreover, literature review using different sources such as books, reviews, internet sites and articles, documents, interviews on our subject will help us to analyze the data.
In talking about globalization, people are quick to start talking about things that they like or do not like. Globalization has too many faces. The most negative of them are related with economic globalization. The ugliest face of globalization is transnational corporations that afflict with an unquenchable thirst for profit, and has created a consumer sentiment global middle class.
Most people believe that globalization has become a clear and powerful social force at least 500 years ago, and that the protests against its flare for over half a millennium. Several contradictory assumptions are that the anti-globalization protests are a manifestation of the forces that are driven by it, the so-called “will to power”. In a globalized society, the most powerful are the forces that are able to profitably use the compression of time and space, and a minority of the world population. These actions lead to the demise of the entire democracy. Below we will discuss about possible actions towards the negative incomes of this very vital for economical development process.
Compression of Space and Time
Here we are planning to identify the notion of space and time of the globalization in the historical perspective.
Globalization can be seen as a form of compression of space and time. First world lives in time, of course, but our first experience of globalization was based on the contraction of space. In ancient times, people were subjected to space and distance, and suffered from lack of knowledge, were struck with fear, and had only a mythical conception of the whole novel. This was followed by the scientific understanding of the social implications of the compression of space and time, and the thought of how they relate to the essence of globalization.
Historical Background of Globalization and its Spread in the World
This question continues the previous problem and depth our knowledge in the world historical process of globalization. In order to give a complicated answer we are to analyze plenty of data recourses such as books in the history of economic development, etc.
Every society knows its territory and country. As the population grew, trade and knowledge also acquired another status and amount. Therefore, those facts that people knew best, were often placed in the center of an imaginary world. Uncharted territory was just not considered worthy of attention. In the Middle Ages, there was a good piece of knowledge of the Mediterranean lands. Northern Europe, Africa and Asia were well known. America and Australia were remained unknown and were a mystery.
However, the wind was blowing everywhere. The Portuguese were among the pioneers who risked scaring off in the ocean, not catching the eyes of the earth. The son of the King of Portugal, known as Henry the Navigator, was obsessed with the discovery of new lands. Under his patronage from 1425 to 1434, the Europeans began to explore the world under sail. Enrique organized what is now called the appropriate infrastructure, bringing together cartographers, sailors, astronomers and shipbuilders. He was a true Renaissance man, like Ferdinand Magellan and Christopher Columbus, who sought to prove what they really believed in. Other people, such as Vasco da Gama and Francis Drake, aspired to conquer uncharted land, got the money and fame. With the rapid development of shipbuilding and sailing equipment, new ships, called caravels were able to conquer the oceans. Thus, due to the sail, there was the first contraction of space, the first phase of globalization, as the openings, made clearly, showed that the Earth was not flat, but “global”, that is spherical. Tyranny of the space had been defeated, but the victory had a price. This price was the time. It took several centuries before there were such discoveries as the telegraph and radio, which allowed compressing time.
What began as a curiosity, quickly turned into an unrestrained greed and will to power. Soon, the competition between the major trading nations of the world for exotic goods such as slaves and spices, led to jealousy and enmity between them. Almost simultaneously with the gait of globalization, the war began – a trend, which is more or less typical of today’s globalization. In addition to purely commercial rivalry between the major trading nations, there was a desire to become dominant, imperial power – unfortunately, this is one more feature of human nature, visible even nowadays.
The League of Nations as a Part of Globalization Regulation Process
This abstract should include the information about The United Nations, the UN as the only global political organization, that was established as a result of globalization and it is partly because people tended to control the process of globalization. UN seeks to establish and promote international law. It has the difficult task of implementation of these laws in the national states that differently seek international cooperation. The most visible effect of the UN is the resolving conflicts smoothly between powerful nations. At the global level, the UN is working within security. In this regard, if this is not the first, but in any case, the most obvious attempt to regulate globalization of society on the planet. UN activities are directly related to the technologies of globalization. In an effort to act on a global level, it participated in the dissemination of high-speed communications, acting contrary to the interests of the corrupt ruling elite.
New Practices in the World of Globalization
Internet, computers and telecommunications are the beginning of a single global nervous system. This was preceded by the idea of ??“noosphere”, by a Russian environmentalist Vladimir Vernadsky and French paleontologist Teilhard de Chardin. Today, a technology of fast and affordable global communications was created. In the modern world, no matter how long the distance is, the space and time were compressed. Wherever we are, we know where we are. Communication has never been so fast and so pervasive, and so affordable. That was another important step of globalization, where everyone knows who is doing what and when each and every one present in the virtual space. The internet has seriously changed the previous practice, and expectations regarding to the development of thought and action. Creation of a single political system based on democracy, in this world of the diversity of conditions, thoughts and levels of thought, looks less possible.
The Negative Features of Globalization
The wider the process of economic globalization is, the narrower the circle of those who benefits from it becomes. Global free market is gradually becoming less and less free. Trade and investment are governed by more complex laws and procedures, and in favor of monstrously rich economic and financial corporations, that are the real beneficiaries of the free global market. Every day these, unaccountable corporations that have almost unlimited power and strength, are gaining more control over national economies – at the expense of consumers, workers and citizens. One can imagine any number of evidence that corporations have a negative impact on the environment, financial stability, social justice, security, health and cultural diversity of millions of people, the number of countries that fell into the category of “poorest” in the last few years doubled. The trend is that the governments of the Western “free” countries are increasingly acting as a kind of police to protect the financial interests of the corporations and banks. As economic globalization is a process that has complex and intertwined social, political, psychological and anthropological processes, it is difficult to find a common, holistic approach, and it is difficult to predict its future. However, protests and dark prophecies can be of little help to the most of mankind.
Globalization has not a specific purpose. However, it has certain consequences, including erosion of the power of national governments. Nation states are increasingly sharing power with other players, especially transnational corporations. These process results lead certain losses and casualties. It is important to mention that one of those losses is democracy.
There is a part of society, who intuitively guesses that those subjects that are most influential in the global economy cause the most damage to the society in the long term. This belief and the protest action it prompts follows from intuition. But how is it combined with democracy?
Daunting Prospect
The modern world is too complicated, with the contradictions and paradoxes. One such paradox is in the decline of democracy and the desire to maintain it, which leads to one and the same. There was a contradiction between democracy and individual personality democracy. Another contradiction is that the motivation of those who oppose globalization may be one of the manifestations of the very forces that are eager to further globalization. “Will to Power”, which can be expressed as an unpleasant, take away the planet’s resources, the dominance of corporations, or the less obvious imposition of the dominant ideology of the society. This ideology can be deceptively attractive name, such as “sustainability” or “democracy”. Globalization can be seen as an evidence of the complexity of our world. Key principle is complexity, and the process of globalization is obvious.
There are several examples that this process depends on the initial conditions, and is a subject to many, not to any one set of laws; also it is a self-organizing and in the process changes its properties. In such a complex, multi-dimensional world, no ideology, even if it is as tenacious as democracy can no longer be an adequate form of social organization.
Advanced forms of self-organization require quick adaptability. Elections in democratic societies are held every four or five years. Despite agreement on the need of the majority of democratic power, this period of time, now seems too long in order, such a well informed modern society, could have an impact on those in power. For the forces of self-organization it is too long period.
The problem is to avoid simplistic in a world of increasing complexity. Additionally to some extent, there is such an attempt in anti-globalization protests. They are trying to bring order, understanding and control of complex process, which has enormous power, setting too little too simple laws.
Trying to cope with unimaginable complexity of the world, they further increase the risk that we, in the end, appear in chaos of laws and regulations. Probably, the only thing we can do is to put globalization in line with self-organization, trying at the same time, a better understanding of its dynamics, it appears, that we cannot control, but we can push it in the right direction.
In this process, we have to learn to live in a world of uncertainty, full of paradoxes and contradictions. What is encouraging is the fact that as the compression of space and time, we will eventually be able to control what is happening in the world.
Democracy, in the same form as we know, is possible, and must fall in order to replace it by a more representative system of management and globalizing world, which now have all-new levels of complexity. At least, we can win from what the internal affairs of countries will be conducted in accordance with certain international standards, and not, as it was done in accordance with what we called democracy.
Conclusion
It is evident that economic globalization has both the negative and positive impact on the “contraction” of space and time. We can state this based on the fact that economic globalization forms the force of drive towards the universalization and erosion of characteristics. As much as universalization bears a positive impact on the contraction of time and space, erosion of such characteristics bears both the positive and negative impacts.
In this regard, economic globalization is a process of international integration emanating from the interchange of the views and ideologies of the world. This has an impact on the contraction of time and space since it gives the platform for the final structure of the world in relation to the transformations. By consideration, both time and space are measurable quantities that portent some elements of dimensions. This implies that time and space forms the platform for the transformations evident in the process of economic globalization. For instance, the erosion of characteristics comes about as a result of positive economic revolutions, which are determined by time and space.
On the other hand, economic globalization has led to the “contraction” of time and space through bringing the whole world into a single unit. This is evident in the development of Information Communication Technology, which is a critical arm of economic globalization. The essence of technological advancement lies in the monitoring of trends that happen on the globe using a computer interface program. Communication has been hastened through development of ICT programs, which saves on time for reaching out to faraway lands. This also implies that such advancements have increased the essence of international accessibility. This has led to cultural interactions, which is the platform for both universalization and erosion of characteristics. This also shows that economic globalization and contraction of time and space are interdependent.
The other impact of economic globalization on the contraction of time and space is that it has led to the natural changes that are pose danger to the existence of ecosystems. For instance, there is an alarming effect of the global warming process, which is necessitated by the process of pollution due to the industrialization as an arm of economic globalization. There are fears that with time, the world might become inhabitable due to such changes. Consequently, this is negative impact of the process of economic globalization since it poses danger to life.