Globalization in History

Transcription

1 Globalization in History What is YOUR understanding of globalization? Is globalization a new phenomenon? 5 min. discussion Globalization in World History Peter N. Stearns Globalization new and old. Whats the difference? Globalization today flows from prior change How earlier contact patterns developed into stable systems and ideas Demographic transitions and globalization Movement of knowledge and cultural ideas past and present THE ARTICLES Globalization Myths Paul Bairoch & Richard Kozul- Wright Today s int. economy not unique Rapid industrial growth cannot be explained by globalization pressures Uneven economic development past and present Int. economy interlinked by market, capital mobility, and state policy Myths The role of trade liberalization Int. production is not unique for today Too much focus on gold standard in earlier analysis Capital flows are not dominated by private investors No convergence mostly divergence Int. finance unequal Centrality of state policy (past and present) Globalizatin is outcome of political economy (nat. and int.) History Matters Michael Woolcock et al Development policy and history Institutions matter /getting institutions right Therefore history matters in policy More focus on context, process and difference in societies View historical change as complex causal process Diversity of knowledge systems Why tenacity in societies? Historically embedded preferences Provides a long-term comparative analysis Significance of hybridity as a result of historical socioeconomic and political contestations Non-linearity and conflictual nature of economic development Reveals shifts in tastes, ideologies and beliefs Deeper historical understanding of development processes Historically-informed policy Historian Economic historians Political economists Development 1

2 Core concerns that dominate globalization in IPE literature IPE is the study and management of materialist concerns focusing on state and non-state institutions i.e. conflict, competition and cooperation State Transnational Corporations International Finance International Trade Interdependence Globalization Internationalization Globalization and IPE literature: A world of competing nation-states seeking security and prosperity by enhancing their power and wealth relative to rival states. A world of individuals and firms contributing to the efficient allocation of resources while pursuing their self-interest through market exchange. A world where inequalities of power and wealth are structured by relations of class and by global division of labor. 2

3 Global Political Economy (GPE) Global political economy can be treated as a single whole composed of various historical structures (or frameworks), each with its own set of actors, processes, institutions and rules. These structures/frameworks include critical spheres of human activity The GPE provides us with the necessary tools to examine how the world order and structures are historically shaped and reshaped by material and ideational activities of humans at all levels GPE and GLOBALIZATION: HISTORICALLY-INFORMED 1. World order is undergoing historical changes 2. Need to understand and explain how and why world orders change 3. Concept of historical structures to the study world order 4. Historical structure is composed of the material (wealth & power) as well as actors, norms/ideas, institutions and rules 5. Historical change can be studied by looking at the reconfiguration between the elements within historical structures 6. Contradictions in global social life/processes as world community gets enlarged with entry of new actors 7. Theories (ideation) about world orders are themselves a part of historical structures involving human structures and actions 8. Multilevel world order global, regional, national and local (interfacing) 9. Pluralism Historical change is both materialist and normative/ ideational POWER, MATERIALIST (WEALTH), IDEATIONAL (NORMS) 3

4 What should the (historical) globalization literature deal with? Its quantitative significance and multi-dimensional processes Qualitative changes from archaic to post-colonial globalization Historiography of globalization from the antique (ideas/culture, power, wealth, shifting world orders etc.) The problems with current globalization literature Cosmopolitan ideology Mostly covers 19 th and 20 th century The centrality of nation-state in historiography of globalization Places economic development and the role of the state at the centre of analysis Globalization is a portmanteau concept Given rise to the three schools hyper globalists, skeptics and transformationalists Treats globalization as the expansion of Western influences and as a product of the West i.e. liberal democratic capitalism 4

5 What are the problems with the globalization literature? Weak on the historical dimension of globalization Based on Westphalian centrality of nationstates Globalization interpreted in terms of economic actors and economic institutions Too much importance to global capitalist system Neglects resistance from below New Social Movements Correcting the Western bias in globalization literature Viewing the world from non-european perspectives Alternative ways of assessing the past Assess economic and cultural achievements of non- European societies and trace their linkages to the rise of Western dominance Europe was not central but a part of a system of core regions stretching between north-west Europe and China Explore the political, social and cultural aspects of globalizing that includes non-western perspectives De-centre the analysis Explore the role of Diasporas and transnational social movements in globalization 5

6 Globalization in World History The study of history remains confined to national boundaries Look into non-western dimensions of globalization and its historical forms and sequences Globalization is not a product of the West There are historical forms of globalization: archaic, proto, modern and post-colonial While there is no theory of globalization, the term globalization is a useful heuristic tool for the study of historical transformations Why start in the 1400s? Colonial world order and emergence of nascent capitalist world economy in the early modern era that had global implications: Decisive spatial shifts cognitive, geographic and material incorporation of regions in the world into the world order Interrelationships and interdependencies in space and time Large-scale global movements (people, capital, ideas, goods) Spaces across the globe coming under the influence of the capitalist system/expansion. Processes across scales and spaces, linking global, regional, national and local Emergence of global actors Institutions and rules of capitalist expansion Commercialization and commoditization of nature/ natural resources Changing structures and orders 6

7 What we need to know and understand about this development? Processes ranging across levels and spaces, from global to local and vice versa The scale dimensions between places Trace movements across scale of policies, ideas, people and material practices How this development has impacted on the current state of globalization and environment Globalization in World History Historical Forms General Features Economy & Trade Geographical Reach Archaic (pre- 1400s) Proto ( ) Modern ( ) Sea-borne Land-based Pre-modern Empires Kings, warriors, religious wanderers, long-distance merchants Reconfig of state systems (Westphalia order) Active state role State-merchant nexus Adventurism & conquest Knowledge revolution Rise of the West Nation-state Industrialization Demographic transition Imperialism and Wars Small size (regional) markets Simple DoL Medicinal herbs Spices & textiles Precious goods System of belief Inclusion of regions via colonial trade Industrialization Taxation & monopoly Commercial goods Forced migration Mercantilism Occupational specialization Wage labor Expansion fo trade & finance Voluntary migration Integration of raw material producting regions with industrial core Property rights Free trade & tech. revolution Mostly regional and local Movement beyond Europe Imperial acquisitions (New World, Asia, Australasia & Africa) Linking of regions of the globe Asia Americas Africa Europe Post-colonial (1950- ) New nations Supra-territorial entities New forms of regional integration Non-state actors Democratic ideals International institutions TW nationalism / resistance Rise of TNCs Inter & intra-industry trade Global conglomerates Central role of Triad Neoliberal ideology ICT Consumerism Institutionalism Integration of remote local regions into global dynamics Penetration of capitalism to remote micro-level locals. 7

8 What can we say about the globalization of history? The historical studies of globalization either focus on external or internal factors. History constructed as stages of growth Knowledge constructed as western civilizational narrative. Introduced standardized (scientific) knowledge and measurement within colonial structures and subsequently as universal knowledge structures.... and the history of globalization? The beginnings of modern international system was driven by political and cultural change with subordination of older forms to newer emerging forms along notions of nation-state. Political and cultural changes altered consumption patterns and tastes. In turn induces changes in patterns of production and exchange Current global trends Heavy Trends Global demographic and economic (income) Rise of BRICS and slowdown of the West Rise in global consumption stress on finite resources Mega trends Technological and social innovations (eg. urbanization, industrialization, infotech and social media) Dependence on scarce, globally traded natural resources (eg. fossil fuels) Integration of socio-economic and biophysical systems (eg. production chains, speed, scale and diversity of conntectedness) 8

9 Demographic Trends: World Regions by Age Structure Region East Africa Rejuvenation Rejuvenation Family Modernization Central Africa Rejuvenation Rejuvenation Family Modernization West Africa Rejuvenation Family Family Modernization Southern Africa Family Family Modernization Middle-age West Asia Famiy Mondernization Middle-age Middle-age Central America Family Modernization Middle-age Maturity North Africa Family Modernization Middle-age Maturity South Asia Family Modernization Middle-age Magurity Southeast Asia Family Modernization Middle-age Maturity South America Modernization Modernization Middle-age Maturity Caribbean Modernization Middle-age Maturity Maturity East Asia Modernization Middle-age Maturity Aging Oceania Middle-age Middle-age Maturity Maturity Eastern Europe Middle-age Maturity Maturity Aging North America Middle-age Maturity Aging Aging Western Europe Middle-age Maturity Aging Aging Northern Europe Maturity Maturity Aging Aging Southern Europe Maturity Maturity Aging Aging Source: Malmberg, Bo and Sommersted, 2014, Lena, Heavy Trends in Global Development, Institute for Future Studies Globalization: emerging issues Demographic transition and techonological transformations Current globalization debate has become de-linked from environmental roots and contexts Need more historical approach to interaction between globalization and environment Ecological changes have given rise to new dimensions in global responsibility Urgent need to explore historical linkages between globalization and environment Global environmental problems have outgrown the governance system The present is contingent on the past. The future is contingent on the past and the present. History matters! 9

10 From: Akhil Malaki THANK YOU and GOOD LUCK! Department of Economic History International Relations Stockholm University 10