THE

CONTEMPORARY
WORLD
Mr. Willy H. Mendoza
Instructor
O CONTEMPORARY WORLD - the circumstan
ces and ideas of the present 
age; "in modern times like these "modern
times, modern world, present times

O times - a more or less definite period of time no
w or previously present; "it was a sign of the tim
es"
 DEFINING
GLOBALIZATION
CHAPTER 1
 INTRODUCTION
 Human beings have encountered many changes over the last
century especially in their social relationships and social
structures.
 Of these change, one can say that globalization is an
important change, if not, the “most important” (Bauman,
2003).
 The reality and omnipresence of globalization makes us see
ourselves as part of what we refer as the “global age” (Albrow,
1996).
 INTRODUCTION
 Over the years, globalization has gained many
connotations pertaining to progress, development, and
integration.
 Thomas Larsson (2001) – “the process of world
shrinkage, of distances getting shorter, things moving
closer. It pertains to the increasing ease with which
somebody on one side of the world can interact, to mutual
benefit with somebody on the other side of the world”
 INTRODUCTION
 Some see it as occurring through and with regression,
colonialism, and destabilization.

 In the mid-1990s, Martin Khor, the former president of

the Third World Network (TWN) in Malaysia, once
regarded globalization as colonization.
 The Task of Defining Globalization
 Since its first appearance in the Webster’s Dictionary in
1961, many opinions about globalization have flourished.

 The literature on the definitions of globalization revealed

that definitions could be classified as either (1) broad and
inclusive or (2) narrow and exclusive.
 Broad and Inclusive

 Ohmae (1992) – “… globalization means the onset of the

borderless world…”
 If one uses such, it can include a variety of issues that
deal with overcoming traditional boundaries.
 However, it does not shed light on the implications of
globalization due to its vagueness.
 Narrow and Exclusive
 Robert Cox “the characteristics of the globalization
trend include the internationalizing of production, the new
international division of labor, new migratory movement
from South to North, the competitive environment that
accelerates these processes, and the internationalizing of
the state…making states into agencies of the globalizing
world” (as cited in RAWOO Netherlands Development
Assistance Research Council, 2000, p. 14)
 No matter how one classifies a definition of globalization,
the concept is complex and multifaceted as the definitions
deal with their economic, political or social dimensions.
 In fact, in a comprehensive study of 114 definitions by
the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) in 2006, 67
of them refer to economic dimension.
 These definitions include political and social dimensions
as well.
 GLOBALIZATION
 Ritzer (2015) – “globalization is a transplanetary
process or a set of processes involving increasing liquidity
and the growing multidirectional flows of people, objects,
places , and information as well as the structures they
encounter and create that are barriers to, or expedite,
those flows…”
 GLOBALIZATION

 Arjun Appadurai, (1996) – “globalization is a ‘world of

things’ that have ‘different speeds, axes, points of origin
and termination, and varied relationships to institutional
structures in different regions, nations or societies’ ‘’(as
cited in Chowdhury, 2006, p. 137).
 GLOBALIZATION
 Cesare Poppi (1997) – “The literature stemming from the
debate on globalization has grown in the last decade
beyond any individual’s capability of extracting a
workable definition of the concept. In a sense, the meaning
of the concept is self-evident, in another, it is vague and
obscure as its reaches are wide and constantly shifting.
Perhaps, more than any other concept, globalization is the
debate about it” (as cited in Kumar, 2003, p. 95)
 GLOBALIZATION
 Globalization is reality.
 It is changing as human society develops.
 It has happened before and is still happening today
 The future of globalization is more difficult to predict.
 Globalization is a concept that is not easy to define
because in reality, globalization has a shifting nature.
 Complex, multifaceted, and can be influenced by the
people who define it.
 Metaphors of Globalization
 Metaphors make use of one term to help us better
understand another term.
 In our case, the state of matter – solid and liquid – will
be used.
 In addition, other related concepts that are included in the
definition such as structures and flows will be elaborated.
 METHAPORS OF GLOBALIZATION
O SOLID – barriers that prevent or make difficult the
movement of things.
 Natural solids – landforms and bodies of water
 Man-made barriers – the Great Wall of China, the
Berlin Wall, an imaginary line as the nine-dash line
used by the People’s Republic of China in their
claim to the South China Sea (modern man-made
solid, creates limited access of Filipino fishers to
the South China Sea.
 METHAPORS OF GLOBALIZATION

O LIQUID – takes the shape of the container; liquids are

not fixed.
O LIQUIDITY – the increasing ease of movements of
people, things, and places in the contemporary world.
O Zygmunt Bauman’s ideas were the ones that have much
to say about the characteristic of liquidity.
 METHAPORS OF GLOBALIZATION
Characteristics of Liquidity
O First, todays liquid phenomena change quickly and
their aspects, spatial and temporal, are in continuous
fluctuation.
 space and time are crucial elements of fluctuation.
 In global finance, changes in the stock market are
a matter of seconds.
 METHAPORS OF GLOBALIZATION
Characteristics of Liquidity
O Another characteristic of liquid phenomena is that their
movement is difficult to stop.
 videos uploaded on YouTube or Facebook are
unstoppable once they become viral
 the so-called Internet sensations become famous
not only in their homeland but also to the entire
world.
 METHAPORS OF GLOBALIZATION
Characteristics of Liquidity
O Finally, the forces (liquid ones) made political
boundaries more permeable to the flow of people and
things (Cartier, 2001).
 this brings us to what Ritzer (2015,p.6) regarded as
the most important characteristic of liquid: it “tends
to melt to whatever strands in its path (especially
solid).”
 Metaphors of Globalization
 Liquidity and solidity are in constant interaction.
 However, liquidity is the one increasing and proliferating
today.
 Therefore, the metaphor that could best describe
globalization is liquidity.
 METHAPORS OF GLOBALIZATION
O FLOW – the movement of people, things, places, and
information brought by the growing “porosity” of global
limitations (Ritzer, 2015)
 different foreign cuisines being patronized and
consumed by the Filipinos (sushi, ramen,
hamburger and French fries); foods are being
globalized.
 flows in global financial crises.
 METHAPORS OF GLOBALIZATION
Flows in Global financial crises
 As Landler (2008,p.C1) put it: “In global financial
system, national borders are porous.”
 This means that a financial crisis in a given country can
bring ramifications to other regions of the world.
 the spread of the effects of American financial
crisis on Europe in 2008.
 METHAPORS OF GLOBALIZATION
Other kinds of Flows that can be observed today:
 poor illegal migrants flooding many parts of the world
(Moses, 2006)
 the virtual flow of legal and illegal information (blogs)
 child pornography
 immigrants recreating ethnic enclaves in host countries
(Filipino communities abroad and the Chinese
communities in the Philippines)
 GLOBALIZATION THEORIES
O HOMOGENEITY – INCREASING
SAMENESS OF THE WORLD AS
CULTURAL INPUTS, ECONOMIC
FACTORS, AND POLITICAL
ORIENTATIONS OF SOCIETIES
EXPAND TO CREATE COMMON
PRACTICES, SAME ECONOMIES, AND
SIMILAR FORM OF GOVERNMENT.
OMCDONALDIZATION – THE
PROCESS BY WHICH
WESTERN SOCIETIES ARE
DOMINATED BY THE
PRINCIPLE OF FASTFOOD
RESTAURANTS.
ODespacito – has conquered the
world for 8 months as most viewed
video online with more than 3.3
billion hits.
OGame of thrones – the fans were
able to watch an episode days
before its release.
OPres. Rodrigo Duterte – has been
featured in a number of late night
shows and editorial cartoon in
almost every country in the
world.
O HETEROGENEITY – CREATION OF
VARIOUS CULTURAL PRACTICES,
NEW ECONOMIES, AND POLITICAL
GROUPS BECAUSE OF INTERACTION
OF ELEMENTS FROM DIFFERENT
SOCIETIES IN THE WORLD.
O REFERS TO DIFFERENCES
 DYNAMICS OF LOCAL & GLOBAL CULTURE

O CULTURAL DIFFERENTIALISM –
Cultures are essentially different and are
only superficially affected by global flows.
O CULTURAL HYBRIDIZATION –
emphasizes the integration of local and
global cultures.
O CULTURAL CONVERGENCE –
homogeneity introduced by globalization.
 GLOBALIZATION OF RELIGION
O Globalization provided religions a fertile
milieu to spread and thrive.
O Scholte (20015) – Accelerated
globalization of recent times has enabled
co-religionists across the planet to have
greater direct contact with the other.
O Allowed religion or faith to gain
considerable significance and importance as
a non-territorial touchstones of identity.
 ORIGINS & HISTORY OF
GLOBALIZATION
O HARDWIRED
O CYCLES
O EPOCH
O EVENT
O BROADER, MORE RECENT
CHANGES
GLOBAL DEMOGRAPHY

DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION –
Singular historical period during
which mortality and fertility rates
decline from high to low levels in a
particular country or region.
 GLOBAL MIGRATION
O VAGABONDS – ON THE MOVE
BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO BE

O TOURISTS – ON THE MOVE

BECAUSE THEY WANT TO BE AND
THEY CAN AFFORD IT