In his speech for TEDGlobal 2012, Pankaj Ghemawat addresses globalization and its real scope and impact on the whole world. He mentions two opposite perspectives of this phenomenon, and the first one is pro-globalizers. Supported by media and multiple surveys and reflected in the book “The world is flat” by Tom Friedman, this perspective refers to the connectedness of all people and processes in the world (Ghemawat, 2012). According to it, national borders do not exist anymore, and cross-border communications facilitated by modern technologies are almost complete. At the same time, there is an opposite perspective of anti-globalizers who are highly skeptical concerning how globalized the world really is (Ghemawat, 2012). They support their position with data that indicates an extremely small percentage of international activities (Ghemawat, 2012). This means that regardless of all opportunities provided by technological progress, the world remains less globalized than the majority of people expect.
Thus, the third perspective that may be regarded as the closest to the truth is the transformationalist view. According to it, there is an influence of globalization, however, it is exaggerated by pro-globalizers. First of all, globalization cannot be evaluated homogeneously as it is a multi-level process that includes the dimensions of economics, communications technology, ecology, civil society, work organization, and culture (Beck, 2018). In addition, along with globalization support, anti-immigrant views, protectionism, and extreme right-wing parties arise (Mansfield et al., 2021). Transformationalists underline that globalization is a reversed process with multiple flows – various cultures are enriched by influences and impact other cultures in response.
From a personal perspective, it is essential to understand the scope of globalization for a person who wants to receive global citizenship. Multiple surveys suggest that, perceiving the widespread ideas of pro-globalizers, people tend to exaggerate globalization and its impact on the world. Ghemawat (2012) introduces the concept of globaloney to define the overestimated significance of cross-border communications. Although individuals believe that the whole world is open to them, and digital social media platforms provide an opportunity to establish friendships with anyone across the globe, 95% of their friends live in the same country.
The understanding that the world is currently not globalized is beneficial as it reduces fears about additional integration, highlights gains from it, and promotes openness. Along with respect to the autonomy of countries, people, and their cultures, it may be regarded as essential knowledge for a person who may receive global citizenship if it could be provided by a particular organization. In other words, cosmopolitans should admit the ability of modern technologies to unite the world, staying respectful of its members’ individuality.
References
Beck, U. (2018). What is globalization? John Wiley & Sons.
Ghemawat, P. (2012). Actually, the world isn’t flat [Video]. TED. Web.
Mansfield, E. D., Milner, H. V., & Rudra, N. (2021). The globalization backlash: Exploring new perspectives. Comparative Political Studies, 54(13), 2267-2285. Web.