Globalization:
Globalization (or globalisation) describes an ongoing process by which regional economies, societies and cultures have become integrated through a globe-spanning network of exchange. The term is sometimes used to refer specifically to economic globalization: the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, and the spread of technology.[1]. However, globalization is usually recognized as being driven by a combination of economic, technological, sociocultural, political and biological factors.[2] The term can also refer to the transnational dissemination of ideas, languages, or popular culture.
History:
The historical origins of globalization are the subject of on-going debate. Though some scholars situate the origins of globalization in the modern era, others regard it as a phenomenon with a long history.
Perhaps the most extreme proponent of a deep historical origin for globalization was Andre Gunder Frank, an economist associated with dependency theory. Frank argued that a form of globalization has been in existence since the rise of trade links between Sumer and the Indus Valley Civilization in the third millenium B.C.[14] Critics of this idea point out that it rests upon an overly-broad definition of globalization.
Extent of the Silk Road
Others have perceived an early form of globalization in the trade links between the Roman Empire, the Parthian empire, and the Han Dynasty. The increasing articulation of commercial links between these powers inspired the development of the Silk Road, which started in western China, reached the boundaries of the Parthian empire, and continued onwards towards Rome.[citation needed]
The Islamic Golden Age was also an important early stage of globalization, when Muslim traders and explorers established a sustained economy across the Old World resulting in a globalization of crops, trade, knowledge and technology. Globally significant crops such as sugar and cotton became widely cultivated across the Muslim world in this period, while the necessity of learning Arabic and completing the Hajj created a cosmopolitan culture.[citation needed]
The advent of the Mongol Empire, though destabalizing to the commercial centers of the Middle East and China, greatly facilitated travel along the Silk Road. This permitted travelers and missionaries such as Marco Polo to journey successfully (and profitably) from one end of Eurasia to the other. The so-called Pax Mongolica of the twelfth century had several other notable globalizing effects. It witnessed the creation of the first international postal service, as well as the rapid transmission of epidemic diseases such as bubonic plague across the newly-unified regions of Central Asia. [15] These pre-modern phases of global or hemispheric exchange are sometimes known as archaic globalization.
Perhaps the most extreme proponent of a deep historical origin for globalization was Andre Gunder Frank, an economist associated with dependency theory. Frank argued that a form of globalization has been in existence since the rise of trade links between Sumer and the Indus Valley Civilization in the third millenium B.C.[14] Critics of this idea point out that it rests upon an overly-broad definition of globalization.
Extent of the Silk Road
Others have perceived an early form of globalization in the trade links between the Roman Empire, the Parthian empire, and the Han Dynasty. The increasing articulation of commercial links between these powers inspired the development of the Silk Road, which started in western China, reached the boundaries of the Parthian empire, and continued onwards towards Rome.[citation needed]
The Islamic Golden Age was also an important early stage of globalization, when Muslim traders and explorers established a sustained economy across the Old World resulting in a globalization of crops, trade, knowledge and technology. Globally significant crops such as sugar and cotton became widely cultivated across the Muslim world in this period, while the necessity of learning Arabic and completing the Hajj created a cosmopolitan culture.[citation needed]
The advent of the Mongol Empire, though destabalizing to the commercial centers of the Middle East and China, greatly facilitated travel along the Silk Road. This permitted travelers and missionaries such as Marco Polo to journey successfully (and profitably) from one end of Eurasia to the other. The so-called Pax Mongolica of the twelfth century had several other notable globalizing effects. It witnessed the creation of the first international postal service, as well as the rapid transmission of epidemic diseases such as bubonic plague across the newly-unified regions of Central Asia. [15] These pre-modern phases of global or hemispheric exchange are sometimes known as archaic globalization.
