Globalization and Development Globalization

Geographers and professionals in other disciplines understand that the world is not static. Cultural forces continue to act on human activities as globalization creates new alliances and global networks. The goal is to understand globalization and to make sense of what is happening. The better we understand the world and human dynamics, the better we will be prepared to address the changes. Geography provides a means to examine these changes spatially.

Globalization is a process with a long history. People have been exploring, migrating, and trading with each other throughout human history. These activities have created interactive networks connecting the different parts of the planet and producing dependent economic relationships. In modern times, globalization can be recognized by noting iconic global corporations, such as Apple, Amazon, Walmart, McDonald’s, or Toyota, that trade across international borders and integrate labor and resources from different countries to sell a product or service in the global marketplace.

These ubiquitous corporations represent corporate interests that are primarily concerned with company profits. Global corporations tend to view countries or communities as either market for their products or sources of labor or raw materials. As a result, globalization can severely impact local communities for better or for worse, depending on local circumstances. The main force that encourages globalization is economic activity based on technological advancements. As a consequence, cultural and societal changes often are no less significant.

Political geography examines geography’s influence on political systems and globalization, which are related to issues concerning the development of borders and the distribution of government types. One of the most significant events in political geography was colonialism, which is connected to capitalism’s development. Colonialism significantly expanded European powers worldwide to control human and natural resources, expand a country’s world power, and promote Christianity.

The British parliamentary system of government was exported to various areas of the British Empire. Now the parliamentary system is used worldwide in former British colonies and the British Commonwealth. Additionally, colonialism helped spread the English language throughout the world, for example, to India and the United States.

European colonialism was an early wave of globalization that changed the planet and shaped most of the world’s current political borders. The Industrial Revolution fueled this initial wave of global conquest. Colonialism transferred technology, food products, and ideas around the globe in merchant ships centered on the European power bases of the colonial empires of Europe—mainly Britain, Spain, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands. When the United States became independent of these European colonial powers, it expanded its power and influence worldwide. Thus the first significant wave of globalization was a result of European colonialism.

The space race and the information age of the latter portion of the twentieth century initiated a second significant wave of globalization. The space race was a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to develop space-related technologies, including satellites, and land on the moon. The end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, coincided with advancements in computer technology that fueled the second significant wave of modern globalization. Technology and corporate activity have stimulated a wave of globalization that impacts countries’ economies worldwide. In European colonialism, the land and people were physically conquered by the mother country and became colonies ruled by the European colonizer’s government. Great Britain was the most avid colonizer and amassed great fortunes through its colonial possessions.

One difference between European colonialism and globalization today is that globally powerful multinational corporations wish to refrain from owning the country or running the government directly. Corporations are not concerned with what government type is in power or who is running the country for as long as they can operate and profit. Like European colonialism, this neocolonialism (also called new colonialism or corporate colonialism) continues to exploit natural resources, labor, and markets for economic profits. Its critics claim corporate colonialism is a legal method of pillaging and plundering. Its supporters claim it is the most efficient use of labor and resources to supply the world with the lowest-priced products.

Examples of corporate colonialism can be seen in the trade relationships between the United States and places such as Mexico and China. United States corporations moved their manufacturing plants to Mexico to earn more profits by exploiting cheap labor. The corporations do not take over Mexico politically; they exploit it economically. Likewise, the many U.S. corporations that have started manufacturing their products in China do not attempt to overthrow the Communist Chinese government; they want to exploit the cheap Chinese labor pool and open up markets to sell products to Chinese consumers. The desire for profits drives corporate colonialism.