Argumentative essay on globalization, with analysis of the pros and cons, reflections, the meaning and characteristics of this phenomenon.
Globalization: Argumentative Theme
The process of globalization has become a consolidated phenomenon, whose radical transformations have begun to manifest themselves since the early 1990s. These changes have had a profound impact on economic aspects and have consequently transformed the entire society both positively and negatively. Globalization has accompanied the transition from a peasant and economically backward civilization to an industrially advanced society, then evolving towards an increasingly digital, technical and civil dimension.
Globalization has become a communicative, cultural and ecological phenomenon in our society that radically transforms our daily life, forcing each of us to adapt to these continuous transformations. However, this globalization with its innovations and modernity creates a loss of daily boundaries, creating a transcultural conflict in such a way as to make people, things and ideas almost incomprehensible. Environmental problems and innovations introduced into society by telematic connections are the most important aspects of globalization. The German sociologist Ulrich Beck gave a definition to the term globalization, defining it as something that overcomes barriers, creating a growing interdependence between local realities .
The Internet is the most significant example for understanding globalization, which becomes the computer network through which we can access information and communicate with people on the other side of the world. Obviously, such many changes could not fail to have repercussions on ecology, society and culture, but also on the economic, political and communicative aspects.
It is precisely the communicative aspect that has allowed globalization to interact in other sectors, making it possible to overcome national barriers and the growing integration of global reality. The growing technical-scientific innovation has characterized the economically advanced countries and has made possible catastrophic environmental phenomena of global dimensions, causing damage to the environment. Young people, for their part, have found themselves in serious difficulty because they have not been able to control the development of technologies, but above all the effects of such developments on human health.
Economic and cultural globalization
The state has more and more difficulty in imposing rules on this type of reality because economic globalization means that large companies are not controlled by national states. Cultural globalization is undoubtedly what radically marks our life by creating cultural effects of various kinds, causing changes linked to a new vision of the world based on knowledge that invades artistic and cultural life such as the film, television, literary and food sectors.
Economic globalization has social and political repercussions. The example of Revelli clearly shows us one of the main aspects of economic globalization, namely the transformation of major industrial companies into transnational corporations . Transnational corporations are companies that distribute the entire production cycle between different factories located at a geographical distance. This shift in production leads to a decrease in the cost of workers’ wages and avoids heavy taxation. Economic globalization also affects financial investments and the loss of power of national states.
The circulation of goods and production is accompanied by that of capital , which is invested in financial speculation, namely in shares, currencies and world-wide securities. Economic globalization also has political consequences, as nation states are no longer able to control the circulation of goods, capital and information at a global level. It is clear that the centrality of nation states is increasingly less able to exercise its authority in sectors such as fiscal and social policy.
Globalization: advantages and disadvantages
The process of globalization is a phenomenon that tends to have a non-egalitarian character , in fact production has a transnational character and favors three areas of the world: North America, Western Europe and Eastern Asia. It is precisely in these areas that the design centers and the main markets take place; it is here that the richest population lives that can provide more trained technicians and buyers of more expensive goods. The rest of the world in turn is divided into two, the technologically developed states, capable of guaranteeing transnational companies to set up factories where they can bring production, and those defined as technologically and economically backward and remain secondary with respect to global economic processes.
Africa is an example of a technologically and economically backward country that has the role of exporting raw materials and agricultural products. Economic globalization creates problems not only in less developed countries but also in industrialized countries, in fact in recent years there has been an increase in unemployment due to these technological changes, but above all due to the processes of transferring production to peripheral areas, towards the end of the eighties Western governments adopted a neoliberal policy that served to reduce state spending and lower taxes, guaranteeing greater freedom to businesses. With this type of policy the living conditions of the population have not improved, but on the other hand it has caused the change of Western democracies; giving birth to the so-called “welfare state”. The idea of the existence of social rights has had a strong crisis as the distribution of wealth has not been protected. A renowned Egyptian economist Samir Amir explains what are the risks and hopes of globalization, hoping for a transition at regional, national and global level.
Theme on globalization: conclusion
The process of globalization involves both positive and negative outcomes that can affect the world economy. Cultural globalization can lead to a loss of identity but also to an exchange between different identities in order to have a reciprocal exchange. Even globalization in the ecological field can have caused both environmental damage but has also favored a strong awareness of the importance of this type of problem by protecting the environment. It should be emphasized that the word globalization has a constellation of meanings around which there can be debates of various kinds. The worrying aspect is the ecological one, as our environmental future and therefore the quality of life depends on it. The environment is one of the aspects that contributes to human survival.
Globalization nevertheless positively characterizes our future as it will be able to shape our needs to the numerous technological innovations. Globalization will also give life to a new ecosystem aimed at enhancing the use of technological structures for positive purposes for man. To conclude, globalization will find the right place in the future world by allowing mutual knowledge between the different communicative phenomena by identifying the necessary objectives to be achieved.
