Class 12 Political Science Chapter 7 Globalisation Important Questions with Answers in English

Q. What does globalisation as a concept fundamentally deal with?

Answer: Flows. Globalisation as a concept fundamentally deals with flows of various kinds moving across the world.

Q. Name the four flows through which the chapter describes globalisation.

Answer: Ideas moving from one part of the world to another, capital shunted between two or more places, commodities being traded across borders, and people moving in search of better livelihoods to different parts of the world.

Q. What is ‘worldwide interconnectedness’?

Answer: It is the crucial element of globalisation: the interconnectedness that is created and sustained across the world as a consequence of the constant flows of ideas, capital, commodities and people.

Q. Why is globalisation called a multi-dimensional concept?

Answer: Because it has political, economic and cultural manifestations, and these must be adequately distinguished. It is wrong to assume that globalisation has purely economic dimensions, just as it would be mistaken to assume that it is a purely cultural phenomenon.

Q. What is meant by the erosion of state capacity?

Answer: State capacity is the ability of government to do what they do. Its erosion means that governments become less able to perform their earlier range of functions, particularly the welfare functions directed at economic and social well-being.

Q. What is cultural homogenisation?

Answer: It is the rise of a uniform culture across the world, which the chapter treats as the cultural threat globalisation is feared to carry.

Q. What is cultural heterogenisation?

Answer: It is the opposite effect that the same process of globalisation generates: it leads to each culture becoming more different and distinctive.

Q. What is meant by the ‘soft power of US hegemony’?

Answer: It is the name for the imposition of Western culture on the rest of the world in the name of a global culture; the popularity of a burger or blue jeans, some argue, has a lot to do with the powerful influence of the American way of life.

Q. What are ‘social safety nets’?

Answer: They are institutional safeguards that the critics of economic globalisation call for, in order to minimise the negative effects of globalisation on those who are economically weak.

Q. When did India begin its programme of economic reforms, and what made it do so?

Answer: In 1991, responding to a financial crisis and to the desire for higher rates of economic growth. The programme has sought increasingly to de-regulate various sectors including trade and foreign investment.

Q. Flows of ideas, capital, commodities and people have occurred through much of human history. What then is distinct about contemporary globalisation?

Answer: 1. Those who argue that there is something distinct about contemporary globalisation point out that it is the scale and speed of these flows that account for its uniqueness in the contemporary era.
2. The chapter is careful to add that globalisation has a strong historical basis, and that it is important to view contemporary flows against this backdrop rather than treating globalisation as something with no past.

Q. Why does the chapter say that improved communication alone does not produce globalisation?

Answer: 1. Globalisation does not emerge merely because of the availability of improved communications. What is important is for people in different parts of the world to recognise these interconnections with the rest of the world.
2. The chapter’s example is that we are aware that events taking place in one part of the world could have an impact on another part: the bird flu or tsunami is not confined to any particular nation and does not respect national boundaries. Major economic events are felt at the global level in the same way.

Q. How does the entry of multinational companies affect the capacity of governments?

Answer: 1. The entry and the increased role of multinational companies all over the world leads to a reduction in the capacity of governments to take decisions on their own.
2. This sits alongside two other changes in the same direction: the old welfare state gives way to a more minimalist state, and the market takes the place of the state as the prime determinant of economic and social priorities.

Q. Globalisation has increased the flow of commodities, capital and ideas. Why has it not increased the movement of people to the same degree?

Answer: 1. Developed countries have carefully guarded their borders with visa policies, to ensure that citizens of other countries cannot take away the jobs of their own citizens.
2. The chapter makes the same point when it discusses causes: the pace of the flows may vary, and the movement of capital and commodities will most likely be quicker and wider than the movement of peoples across different parts of the world.

Q. What do the critics of economic globalisation mean by ‘social safety nets’, and why do many movements find them inadequate?

Answer: 1. Those who are concerned about social justice point out that economic globalisation is likely to benefit only a small section of the population while impoverishing those who were dependent on the government for jobs and welfare, such as education, health and sanitation. They therefore emphasise the need to ensure institutional safeguards, or to create ‘social safety nets’, to minimise the negative effects of globalisation on those who are economically weak.
2. Many movements all over the world feel that safety nets are insufficient or unworkable. They have called for a halt to forced economic globalisation, for its results would lead to economic ruin for the weaker countries, especially for the poor within these countries.

Q. How does the chapter distinguish the rise of a uniform culture from the emergence of a global culture?

Answer: 1. The rise of a uniform culture is not the emergence of a global culture. What we have in the name of a global culture is the imposition of Western culture on the rest of the world, and this phenomenon is known as the soft power of US hegemony.
2. The culture of the politically and economically dominant society leaves its imprint on a less powerful society, and the world begins to look more like the dominant power wishes it to be. Those who make this argument often draw attention to the ‘McDonaldisation’ of the world, with cultures seeking to buy into the dominant American dream.

Q. What was India’s economic position during the colonial period, and what did India decide to do after independence?

Answer: 1. During the colonial period, as a consequence of Britain’s imperial ambitions, India became an exporter of primary goods and raw materials and a consumer of finished goods.
2. After independence, because of this experience with the British, India decided to make things ourselves rather than relying on others, and also decided not to allow others to export to us so that our own producers could learn to make things. This is the policy the chapter calls ‘protectionism’.

Q. What does the insider’s account of a call centre job, reported by Ranjeetha Urs in The Hindu on 10 January 2005, say about the work?

Answer: 1. The enlightening side. Working in a call centre can be enlightening in its own way. As you handle calls from Americans, you get an insight into the true American culture, and an average American comes out as more lively and honest than we imagine.
2. The other side. Not all calls and conversations are pleasant, and you can also receive irate and abusive callers. Sometimes the hatred that they exhibit in their tone on knowing that their call has been routed to India is very stressful, because Americans tend to perceive every Indian as one who has denied them their rightful job.

Q. Describe the three examples with which the chapter opens, and state the aspect of globalisation each one illustrates.

Answer: 1. Janardhan: the globalisation of services. Janardhan works in a call centre. He leaves late in the evening for work, becomes John when he enters his office, acquires a new accent and speaks a different language from the one he uses at home, in order to communicate with clients living thousands of miles away. He works all night, which is actually day time for his overseas customers, and his holidays correspond not to the Indian calendar but to those of his clients, who happen to be from the US. He is rendering a service to somebody he is in all probability never likely to meet physically.
2. Ramdhari: the movement of commodities. Ramdhari goes shopping for his nine-year old daughter’s birthday. He buys her a cycle which is actually manufactured in China but is being marketed in India, because it meets his requirements of quality as well as affordability. The previous year, on her insistence, he had bought her a Barbie doll, which was originally manufactured in the US but was being sold in India. His purchases tell us about the movement of commodities from one part of the world to another.
3. Sarika: a conflict of values. Sarika is a first generation learner who has done remarkably well throughout school and college by working very hard. She now has an opportunity to take on a job and begin an independent career, which the women of her family had never dreamt of earlier. Some of her relatives are opposed, but she finally decides to go ahead because of the new opportunities that have been made available to her generation. Her situation is a conflict of values, arising partly from an opportunity that today is part of a reality that has gained wider acceptability.
4. What the three add up to. Each illustrates one aspect of what we call globalisation, and together they show that globalisation is about services, commodities and values alike, rather than about any one of them.

Q. “Globalisation need not always be positive.” Explain with the examples the chapter itself gives.

Answer: 1. The examples. Some farmers committed suicide because their crops failed; they had bought very expensive seeds supplied by a multinational company. An Indian company bought a major rival company based in Europe, despite protests by some of the current owners. Many retail shopkeepers fear that they would lose their livelihoods if some major international companies open retail chains in the country. A film producer in Mumbai was accused of lifting the story of his film from another film made in Hollywood. A militant group issued a statement threatening college girls who wear western clothes.
2. The first lesson. These examples show us that globalisation need not always be positive; it can have negative consequences for the people. Indeed, there are many who believe that globalisation has more negative consequences than positive.
3. The second lesson. They also show that globalisation need not be only about economic issues. The film story and the threat over western clothes are cultural, and the threat to retail shopkeepers is as much political as economic.
4. The third lesson. The direction of influence is not always from the rich to the poor countries. An Indian company buying a major European rival is the chapter’s own example of influence running the other way.

Q. Explain how globalisation has in some respects made states more powerful rather than less.

Answer: 1. The starting point. Globalisation does not always reduce state capacity. The primacy of the state continues to be the unchallenged basis of political community, and the old jealousies and rivalries between countries have not ceased to matter in world politics.
2. The state keeps its essential functions. The state continues to discharge its essential functions, law and order and national security, and consciously withdraws from certain domains from which it wishes to withdraw. States continue to be important.
3. Technology as a boost. In some respects state capacity has received a boost as a consequence of globalisation, with enhanced technologies available at the disposal of the state to collect information about its citizens.
4. The conclusion. With this information the state is better able to rule, not less able. Thus states become more powerful than they were earlier as an outcome of the new technology.

Q. What arguments do the advocates of economic globalisation make?

Answer: 1. Growth through de-regulation. Advocates of economic globalisation argue that it generates greater economic growth and well-being for larger sections of the population when there is de-regulation.
2. Each economy does what it does best. Greater trade among countries allows each economy to do what it does best, and this would benefit the whole world.
3. Inevitability. They also argue that economic globalisation is inevitable and that it is not wise to resist the march of history.
4. The moderate position. More moderate supporters of globalisation say that globalisation provides a challenge that can be responded to intelligently without accepting it uncritically. Whatever side one takes, what cannot be denied is the increased momentum towards inter-dependence and integration between governments, businesses and ordinary people in different parts of the world.

Q. Explain cultural heterogenisation using the chapter’s own examples.

Answer: 1. Cultures are not static. It would be a mistake to assume that the cultural consequences of globalisation are only negative. Cultures are not static things, and all cultures accept outside influences all the time.
2. Three kinds of outside influence. Some external influences are negative because they reduce our choices. But sometimes external influences simply enlarge our choices, and sometimes they modify our culture without overwhelming the traditional.
3. The two examples. The burger is no substitute for a masala dosa and, therefore, does not pose any real challenge; it is simply added on to our food choices. Blue jeans, on the other hand, can go well with a homespun khadi kurta, and here the outcome of outside influence is a new combination that is unique, a khadi kurta worn over jeans. This clothing combination has even been exported back to the country that gave us blue jeans, so that it is possible to see young Americans wearing a kurta and jeans.
4. The term itself. While cultural homogenisation is an aspect of globalisation, the same process also generates precisely the opposite effect: it leads to each culture becoming more different and distinctive, and this phenomenon is called cultural heterogenisation. This does not deny that there remain differences in power when cultures interact; it suggests more fundamentally that cultural exchange is rarely one way.

Q. How do the criticisms of globalisation made from the political left differ from those made from the political right?

Answer: 1. The left critique. Those on the left argue that contemporary globalisation represents a particular phase of global capitalism that makes the rich richer, and fewer, and the poor poorer. The weakening of the state leads to a reduction in the capacity of the state to protect the interest of its poor.
2. The right critique, politically. Critics of globalisation from the political right express anxiety over the political, economic and cultural effects. In political terms, they too fear the weakening of the state.
3. The right critique, economically and culturally. Economically, they want a return to self-reliance and protectionism, at least in certain areas of the economy. Culturally, they are worried that traditional culture will be harmed and that people will lose their age-old values and ways.
4. What both share. Both fear a weakened state, and both are represented in India: the left through political parties and forums like the Indian Social Forum, the right through objections to foreign T.V. channels provided by cable networks, the celebration of Valentine’s Day and the westernisation of the dress tastes of girl students in schools and colleges.

Q. Explain the concept of globalisation and account for its causes.

Answer: 1. Why a definition is needed. The term is used in many different contexts and much of the usage tends to be imprecise, so it becomes important to clarify what is meant by it.
2. The definition. Globalisation as a concept fundamentally deals with flows. These flows could be of various kinds: ideas moving from one part of the world to another, capital shunted between two or more places, commodities being traded across borders, and people moving in search of better livelihoods to different parts of the world. The crucial element is the ‘worldwide interconnectedness’ that is created and sustained as a consequence of these constant flows.
3. It is multi-dimensional and uneven. Globalisation has political, economic and cultural manifestations, and these must be adequately distinguished. Its impact is vastly uneven: it affects some societies more than others and some parts of some societies more than others, so it is important to avoid drawing general conclusions without paying sufficient attention to specific contexts.
4. It is not new, but its scale is. Globalisation in terms of these four flows has taken place through much of human history. What those who argue for its uniqueness point to is the scale and speed of these flows in the contemporary era. Globalisation has a strong historical basis and contemporary flows should be viewed against that backdrop.
5. Technology as a critical element. While globalisation is not caused by any single factor, technology remains a critical element. The invention of the telegraph, the telephone and the microchip in more recent times has revolutionised communication between different parts of the world. When printing initially came into being it laid the basis for the creation of nationalism, so we should expect today that technology will affect the way we think of our personal but also our collective lives. The ability of ideas, capital, commodities and people to move more easily has been made possible largely by technological advances, though the pace of these flows may vary.
6. Recognition of interconnection. Globalisation does not emerge merely because of improved communications. What is important is for people in different parts of the world to recognise these interconnections. We are aware that events in one part of the world could have an impact on another: the bird flu or tsunami is not confined to any particular nation and does not respect national boundaries, and major economic events are felt at the global level too.

Q. Critically evaluate the impact of globalisation on state sovereignty and on the role of the state.

Answer: 1. The question. One of the debates generated by contemporary globalisation is about its political impact, and specifically how globalisation affects traditional conceptions of state sovereignty. The chapter says there are at least three aspects to consider.
2. First aspect: state capacity is eroded. At the most simple level, globalisation results in an erosion of state capacity, that is, the ability of government to do what they do. All over the world the old ‘welfare state’ is giving way to a more minimalist state that performs certain core functions such as the maintenance of law and order and the security of its citizens, while withdrawing from many of its earlier welfare functions directed at economic and social well-being.
3. What replaces the welfare state. In place of the welfare state, it is the market that becomes the prime determinant of economic and social priorities. The entry and the increased role of multinational companies all over the world leads to a reduction in the capacity of governments to take decisions on their own.
4. Second aspect: capacity is not always reduced. At the same time, globalisation does not always reduce state capacity. The primacy of the state continues to be the unchallenged basis of political community. The old jealousies and rivalries between countries have not ceased to matter in world politics. The state continues to discharge its essential functions, law and order and national security, and consciously withdraws from certain domains from which it wishes to. States continue to be important.
5. Third aspect: capacity has in some ways grown. In some respects state capacity has received a boost as a consequence of globalisation, with enhanced technologies available at the disposal of the state to collect information about its citizens. With this information the state is better able to rule, not less able, so states become more powerful than they were earlier as an outcome of the new technology.
6. The evaluation. The changing role of the state therefore cuts both ways, and the developing countries feel it most sharply, since it is there that state withdrawal takes away jobs and welfare in education, health and sanitation from those who depended on it. This is why the critics ask for institutional safeguards and ‘social safety nets’, while the advocates argue that de-regulation brings growth. The honest conclusion the chapter itself supports is that the same set of policies do not lead to the same results everywhere, so each case must be judged in its own specific context.

Q. What are the economic consequences of globalisation, and what are the two sides of the debate it has created?

Answer: 1. Defining it properly. The mention of economic globalisation draws attention immediately to the role of international institutions like the IMF and the WTO and the part they play in determining economic policies across the world. Yet globalisation must not be viewed in such narrow terms, because economic globalisation involves many actors other than these institutions. A much broader way of understanding it requires us to look at the distribution of economic gains: who gets the most from globalisation, who gets less, and indeed who loses from it.
2. The flows themselves. What is often called economic globalisation usually involves greater economic flows among different countries of the world. Some of this is voluntary and some forced by international institutions and powerful countries. The flow or exchange takes the forms of commodities, capital, people and ideas.
3. What has actually increased. There has been greater trade in commodities across the globe, and the restrictions imposed by different countries on allowing the imports of other countries have been reduced. Restrictions on the movement of capital have also been reduced, so investors in the rich countries can invest their money in countries other than their own, including developing countries, where they might get better returns. Globalisation has also led to the flow of ideas across national boundaries, and the spread of internet and computer related services is an example of that.
4. What has not. Globalisation has not led to the same degree of increase in the movement of people across the globe. Developed countries have carefully guarded their borders with visa policies, to ensure that citizens of other countries cannot take away the jobs of their own citizens.
5. The critics. Those who are concerned about social justice are worried about the extent of state withdrawal caused by economic globalisation. They point out that it is likely to benefit only a small section of the population while impoverishing those who were dependent on the government for jobs and welfare, such as education, health and sanitation, and they emphasise institutional safeguards or ‘social safety nets’. Many movements feel safety nets are insufficient or unworkable and have called for a halt to forced economic globalisation, whose results would lead to economic ruin for the weaker countries, especially for the poor within these countries. Some economists have described economic globalisation as re-colonisation of the world.
6. The advocates, and the caution. Advocates argue that de-regulation generates greater economic growth and well-being for larger sections of the population, that greater trade allows each economy to do what it does best, and that economic globalisation is inevitable. More moderate supporters say it is a challenge that can be responded to intelligently without accepting it uncritically. The caution the chapter insists on is that the same set of policies do not lead to the same results everywhere, and that similar economic policies have generated vastly different outcomes in different parts of the world.

Q. Discuss the cultural consequences of globalisation, both the ones that are feared and the ones that are welcomed.

Answer: 1. How far the cultural reach goes. The consequences of globalisation are not confined only to the sphere of politics and economy. Globalisation affects us in our home, in what we eat, drink, wear and indeed in what we think, and it shapes what we think are our preferences.
2. The fear. The cultural effect of globalisation leads to the fear that this process poses a threat to cultures in the world, because it leads to the rise of a uniform culture, or what is called cultural homogenisation.
3. What the uniform culture actually is. The rise of a uniform culture is not the emergence of a global culture. What we have in the name of a global culture is the imposition of Western culture on the rest of the world, and this phenomenon is known as the soft power of US hegemony. The popularity of a burger or blue jeans, some argue, has a lot to do with the powerful influence of the American way of life. The culture of the politically and economically dominant society leaves its imprint on a less powerful society, and the world begins to look more like the dominant power wishes it to be.
4. Why it is called dangerous. Those who make this argument often draw attention to the ‘McDonaldisation’ of the world, with cultures seeking to buy into the dominant American dream. This is dangerous not only for the poor countries but for the whole of humanity, for it leads to the shrinking of the rich cultural heritage of the entire globe.
5. The other side. It would be a mistake to assume that the cultural consequences of globalisation are only negative. Cultures are not static things; all cultures accept outside influences all the time. Some external influences are negative because they reduce our choices, but sometimes external influences simply enlarge our choices, and sometimes they modify our culture without overwhelming the traditional. The burger is no substitute for a masala dosa and so poses no real challenge; it is simply added on to our food choices. Blue jeans can go well with a homespun khadi kurta, and the outcome is a new unique combination, a khadi kurta worn over jeans, which has been exported back to the country that gave us blue jeans.
6. Heterogenisation. While cultural homogenisation is an aspect of globalisation, the same process also generates precisely the opposite effect: each culture becomes more different and distinctive, and this is called cultural heterogenisation. This is not to deny that there remain differences in power when cultures interact, but to suggest more fundamentally that cultural exchange is rarely one way.

Q. Trace India’s engagement with globalisation from the colonial period to the economic reforms, and assess how it should be judged.

Answer: 1. The long history. Globalisation has occurred in earlier periods in history in different parts of the world, and flows pertaining to the movement of capital, commodities, ideas and people go back several centuries in Indian history.
2. The colonial period. During the colonial period, as a consequence of Britain’s imperial ambitions, India became an exporter of primary goods and raw materials and a consumer of finished goods.
3. The decision after independence. Because of this experience with the British, India decided to make things ourselves rather than relying on others. India also decided not to allow others to export to us, so that our own producers could learn to make things.
4. What protectionism cost. This ‘protectionism’ generated its own problems. While some advances were made in certain arenas, critical sectors such as health, housing and primary education did not receive the attention they deserved, and India had a fairly sluggish rate of economic growth.
5. The turn of 1991. In 1991, responding to a financial crisis and to the desire for higher rates of economic growth, India embarked on a programme of economic reforms that has sought increasingly to de-regulate various sectors including trade and foreign investment.
6. How it should be judged. It may be too early to say how good this has been for India. The chapter’s own test is clear: the ultimate test is not high growth rates but making sure that the benefits of growth are shared, so that everyone is better off.

Q. Describe the resistance to globalisation across the world and in India.

Answer: 1. Why there is resistance at all. Globalisation is a very contentious subject and has invited strong criticism all over the globe. Critics make a variety of arguments, from opposite ends of the political spectrum.
2. From the left. Those on the left argue that contemporary globalisation represents a particular phase of global capitalism that makes the rich richer, and fewer, and the poor poorer. The weakening of the state leads to a reduction in the capacity of the state to protect the interest of its poor.
3. From the right. Critics from the political right express anxiety over the political, economic and cultural effects. In political terms they also fear the weakening of the state. Economically, they want a return to self-reliance and protectionism, at least in certain areas of the economy. Culturally, they are worried that traditional culture will be harmed and that people will lose their age-old values and ways.
4. What anti-globalisation movements are actually against. Anti-globalisation movements too participate in global networks, allying with those who feel like them in other countries. Many are not opposed to the idea of globalisation per se as much as they are opposed to a specific programme of globalisation, which they see as a form of imperialism.
5. Seattle and the World Social Forum. In 1999, at the World Trade Organisation Ministerial Meeting, there were widespread protests at Seattle alleging unfair trading practices by the economically powerful states; it was argued that the interests of the developing world were not given sufficient importance in the evolving global economic system. The World Social Forum is another global platform, bringing together a wide coalition of human rights activists, environmentalists, labour, youth and women activists opposed to neo-liberal globalisation. Its first meeting was organised in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 2001, its fourth was held in Mumbai in 2004, and the latest was held in Nepal in February 2024.
6. In India. Social movements play a role in helping people make sense of the world around them and finding ways to deal with matters that trouble them. Resistance in India has come from different quarters. There have been left wing protests to economic liberalisation, voiced through political parties as well as through forums like the Indian Social Forum. Trade unions of the industrial workforce as well as those representing farmer interests have organised protests against the entry of multinationals, and the patenting of certain plants like Neem by American and European firms has generated considerable opposition. Resistance has also come from the political right, in the form of objections to various cultural influences, ranging from the availability of foreign T.V. channels provided by cable networks, to the celebration of Valentine’s Day, to the westernisation of the dress tastes of girl students in schools and colleges.