THE THREE TENSIONS OF GLOBALIZATION

What is globalization? Is it the integration of economic, political, and cultural
systems across the globe? Or is it Americanization of world culture and United
States dominance of world affairs? Is globalization a force for economic growth,
prosperity, and democratic freedom? Or is it a force for environmental devastation,
exploitation of the developing world, and suppression of human rights? In sum, is
globalization "good" or "bad"?
These questions would receive very different answers in Washington, Sao Paolo,
Paris, Cairo, Johannesburg, Bombay, Hong Kong, and Manila. In fact, in each of those
places these questions would receive very different answers from different people—
business leaders, government officials, agricultural laborers, the unemployed, or human
rights activists. Indeed, simple answers to these questions, answers that people in
different walks of life in different countries would agree on, would be virtually
impossible to reach.
Most importantly, answers to these questions vary greatly depending on how
globalization is viewed in relations to values. The impact of globalization on culture, for
example, depends on whether one thinks that local cultures should be protected from
outside influence, or whether
one thinks that new cultural
creativity results from interaction
and mixing of ideas
from different cultures. After
all, there are few cultures
that are truly isolated, and
cultural interaction, especially
though trade relations,
has occurred for thousands
of years—from Phoenecian
traders’ impact on ancient
Greek culture, to Chinese silk used in clothes in medieval Europe, to the spread of coffee,
chocolate, and tobacco around the world, and to the impact of Chinese and Japanese
styles in American and European art in the nineteenth century. In today’s world,
American films and film styles are popular throughout the world, and foreign films
are popular in the United States. Is this globalization of culture good, bad, neutral, or
simply a fact of life?
Values, therefore, are key to assessing the impact of globalization on the lives of
people around the world. At the same time, however, it is possible to teach about
globalization in such a way as to highlight the tension between different values as they
play out in certain circumstances while not taking sides as to which value is better.
Globalization is the acceleration
and intensification of interaction
and integration among the people,
companies, and governments of
different nations.
Globalization101.org, a free website of resources for
teachers and students, strives to present a balanced
view of globalization and its underlying values by
including voices from the United States and other
countries, perspectives of officials of international organizations
and national governments, and opinions of
activists at non-governmental organizations around the
world. The goal is not to indoctrinate students by
attempting to explain events through one ideological
lens using slogans and biased information. Rather,
Globalization101.org tries to show how people in different
countries, in varying circumstances, can look at
the same set of facts and come to radically different
conclusions about the process of globalization and how
it affects their lives. Such an approach challenges students
to think about the controversies surrounding
globalization and to promote an understanding of the
trade-offs and dilemmas facing policy-makers and citizens
in the global age.
DEFINING GLOBALIZATION
Values can play a role in defining globalization. A
definition of globalization as "Americanization" or, perhaps,
the "McDonaldization," of the world presents
globalization as a process driven by American consumer
culture that rolls over other cultures. On the
other hand, another definition of globalization would
highlight its cross-cultural impact, taking into account
the nature of globalization as a way cultures interact
and learn from each other.
Globalization101.org follows the second
approach—viewing globalization as a process of interaction
and integration. A focus on the spread of
American ideas or products that ignores the counterbalancing
impact of the access to the international
arena of ideas and products formerly kept out of it,
promotes an impoverished and unbalanced understanding
of the process. Thus, Globalization101.org
defines globalization as follows: Globalization is the
acceleration and intensification of interaction and integration
among the people, companies, and governments
of different nations. This process has effects on
human well-being (including health and personal safety),
on the environment, on culture (including ideas,
religion, and political systems), and on economic development
and prosperity of societies across the world.
This comprehensive and balanced definition takes into
account the many causes and effects of the process,
and, most importantly, leaves room for debate and discussion
of the values that different people from all over
the world bring to the table.
THE THREE TENSIONS OF
GLOBALIZATION
Three inherent tensions reveal the conflicting values
at stake in the process of globalization as defined
above. By examining controversies about globalization
through the prism of these three tensions, teachers and
students can learn how to think about the positive and
negative effects of various aspects of globalization and
how to find a balance that reflects their values.
The first tension is between individual choice and societal
choice. A conflict occurs when a person, exercising
her right to choose a particular lifestyle, to buy a particular
product, or to think a particular thought, is at
odds with what society at a whole views is most
preferable for all citizens at large. For example, some
people may prefer to smoke or to drive without wearing
a seatbelt. Society, however, may believe that there
are costs to society as a whole—in medical costs, for
example—that require laws to restrict private choice. In
the arena of globalization, such a tension is evident in
debates over the spread of American culture. France,
for example, objects to the spread of American popular
culture in the form of films and television. In fact,
France has laws about non-European content on French
television and radio stations. France even insisted that
there be a "cultural exception" to world trade rules on
services agreed to in 1994 to allow the French government
to limit imports of American popular culture
products.
Such positions, however, ignore the fact that no one
forces an individual French person to watch an
American film or television show or buy a CD by an
American recording artist. French consumers buy those