Page 33 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol III

852 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

At least in 2004, it is not clear the extent to which a
global Islamic movement has moved from organiza-
tional conspiracies to a truly social movement, but cer-
tainly the Muslim community is much more aware of
itself as a global presence than in the past. Similarly the
Roman Catholic Church has had to broaden its leader-
ship as it base shifts away from western Europe.The Dalai
Lama is recognizable in large parts of the world and pic-
tures of Vishnu can be purchased in almost any city.
Over the past decade there has been a great deal of
discussion of whether the phenomenon of globalization
benefits or hurts the majority of the global population.
On the pro side, some argue that globalization combines
the greatest economies of scale and productive efficien-
This Japanese woodcut from 1860 shows a
cies to provide everything from consumer goods to med-
Russian woman playing the flute and a
ical vaccines to a broader part of humanity. Globaliza-
British man holding a rifle.
tion has also made it more difficult for local despots to
hide their crimes or for disasters to remain secret. Explic-
twenty-first century it appears that this will be much itly using the model of the market as their base, such
more of a polyglot phenomenon than many would sus- arguments defend globalization as providing more for
pect. Among the global Indian diaspora, “Bollywood” many in unprecedented ways. Opponents of globaliza-
(the center of Hindi language filmmaking) is as impor- tion deny that the balance of benefits justifies the costs
tant as its Californian counterpart.There is a broad geo- of globalization. These include the homogenization of
graphical representation among the “global celebrities.” cultures, and the loss of autonomy by smaller regions or
Consumer products have also become globalized; where ethnic groups.They point, for example, to the eradication
before each country had a national cigarette, beer, soap, of languages over the past few decades as a sign of what
and sports team, the last two decades of the twentieth is to come. For the opponents of globalization the vari-
century saw the rise of Marlboro, Heineken, Ivory, and ety and number of products that it makes available have
Michael Jordan. Music has also become less of a provin- only led to the creation of a global class divide allowing
cial taste with phenomena from Madonna to the “Three a small minority of the world’s population to emulate the
Tenors” on worldwide tours. rich.The increase in the relevant market size and the dis-
Perhaps the most important cultural development of appearance of national borders have also made it easier
the last quarter of the twentieth century is the ideologi- for large conglomerates to create effective monopolies.
cal hegemony of markets and elections as the operating This has led to a “race to the bottom” among societies
mechanism for societies.While practiced in myriad ways where each competes to offer the cheapest labor and
and never approaching theoretical perfection, capitalism loosest government regulations.
and democracy have become the assumed economic and Part of the argument regarding the overall benefits of
political options. Other auxiliary political cultural trends globalization concerns the extent to which it is seen as
include the disappearance of social revolution as an oppo- inevitable. For those who judge globalization positively,
sitional trope and the rise of nationalist and ethnic ap- it seems perfectly obvious that the functional efficiencies
peals. Religion is perhaps our oldest global cultural phe- of this phenomenon account for its rise. The world was
nomenon, but no more so than in the twenty-first century. looking for a “better mousetrap” and globalization has