Unit 1
Unit 2
Globalisation
In the twentieth century, the pace of globalisation increased. Prior to 1900 most international trade was completed on a “needs” basis. For example, there was a steady trade in medical products because they were needed to help people survive. By 2000, the vast majority of international trade was in luxury items. For this change to occur, the process of moving goods and services between countries needed to be streamlined.
We refer to the changes which made the increasing pace of globalisation possible as the drivers of globalisation. There are certain things without which we would never have achieved the level of international connectedness that we have today.
Technology – There is no doubt that the pace of technological change increased dramatically in the twentieth century. Although your first thought might be to consider the impact of computers, remember that prior to 1910 we didn’t have aeroplanes. The ability to move products between countries was significantly enhanced by this innovation. Computers have also assisted in this process. To store and access data is relatively simple today; one hundred years ago this was all done by hand, and access was limited by the usefulness of the filing system.
Communication – Allied to the first point, communication has changed dramatically in the last one hundred years. To make a telephone call between countries was extremely expensive, and also unreliable in the first part of the twentieth century. By the end of it, it was possible to call any person on Earth at almost any time; the mobile generation was born. However, even if we don’t want to speak to a person directly, there are many other options available to us today. We could create (or access) a web page, send an e-mail, write a fax or key in a quick SMS. If none of those work, we have answering machines and paging services that will ensure that the person gets the message eventually. And if all else fails we can still use the postal system, or send a telegram. And remember – in the early 1900s these were the only options available.
Transport – Improvements in technology have also resulted in significant changes in the way that things are transported. Sending things by plane used to be slow and expensive. Today it is incredibly quick, and also cost effective. This means that we can move products around the world quickly. Refrigerated transport means that we can even send perishable food to people on the other side of the world. Today, Victorian dairy farmers have an enormous market in the United States; this would not have been possible until these improvements in transport gave us the opportunity.
Legal Changes – Although we have seen significant advances in technology, globalisation wouldn’t have become more prevalent if not for the legal changes which have been made in many countries. For example, there are laws about the way in which ballast water can be discharged into ports in different countries. If these laws had not been relaxed, then ships could not be loaded and unloaded as they moved between continents. (Think about it: when you load a ship, something has to keep it at the same level in the water. And then when you unload it, you have a different problem.) Similarly, laws on foreign investment have also changed. For example, prior to 1985 it was very difficult for a foreign bank to operate in Australia. Paul Keating was the Treasurer at the time, and he made it possible for sixteen new banks to open in Australian that year. Today there are well over fifty banks with branches in Australia. This makes the international flow of capital much smoother.
Combined, these factors have enabled the world to “go global”. But just because we can do something doesn’t necessarily mean that we should do something. Is the world a better place now that we rely so heavily on globalisation? Or is it true, as some critics suggest, that globalisation has allowed the rich to get richer at the expense of the poor? To answer these questions, we will need to look at the way in which this phenomenon has affected people in different parts of the world.
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