Over many centuries, human societies across the globe have established progressively closer contacts, but recently the pace has dramatically increased

Over many centuries, human societies across the globe have established progressively closer contacts, but recently the pace has dramatically increased. Unprecedented changes in communications, transportation, and computer technology have given the process new impetus and made the world more interdependent than ever. Multinational corporations manufacture products in many countries and sell to consumers around the world. Money, technology and raw materials move ever more swiftly across national borders. Along with products and finances, ideas and cultures circulate more freely. As a result, laws, economies, and social movements are forming at the international level and not only the Globalization of the Economy but also the Globalization of Politics, Culture and Law are today's status quo. The globalized world sweeps away regulation and undermines local and national politics. Globalization creates new markets and wealth, even as it causes widespread suffering, disorder, and unrest. It is both a source of repression and a catalyst for global movements of social justice and emancipation.

The term globalization encompasses a range of social, political, and economic changes. Within the section Defining Globalization, we provide an introduction to the key debates on this issue. The materials look at the main features of globalization, asking what is new, what drives the process, how it changes politics, and how it affects global institutions like the UN.



Picture Credit: University of Michigan


Globalization expands and accelerates the movement and exchange of ideas and commodities over vast distances. It is common to discuss the phenomenon from an abstract, global perspective, but in fact, globalization's most important impacts are often highly localized. Cases of Globalization explore the various manifestations of interconnectedness in the world, noting how globalization affects real people and places.

A series of Tables and Charts on Globalization maps the growing global interconnectedness and draws a statistical and graphic picture of Globalization. For further information, see the Bibliography with a list of books on globalization and Links and Resources for external sites.

Globalization is a complex, abstract phenomenon, but civil society has shown that it is neither unalterable nor inevitable. Citizens all over the world--human rights advocates and religious leaders, environmentalists and trade unionists, ordinary people from the global North and South--work together to make concrete improvements in people's lives and Take Action. This site also explores how to work for change in a globalized world, and shows concerned individuals how to become involved.