A fast revision cut of Class 12 Political Science Chapter 7, Globalisation. Every
definition, every date and every named fact the paper asks for, with nothing in between. Read the
full notes first; read this the morning of the exam.
1 All the Definitions
Globalisation. A concept that fundamentally deals with flows: 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.
Worldwide interconnectedness. The crucial element of globalisation: the interconnectedness
that is created and sustained as a consequence of these constant flows. Its components are
the four flows themselves.
A multi-dimensional concept. Globalisation has political, economic and cultural
manifestations, and these must be adequately distinguished. It is wrong to assume it is purely
economic, and equally mistaken to assume it is purely cultural.
Erosion of state capacity. State capacity is the ability of government to do what they
do. Its erosion is the loss of that ability, mainly in the welfare functions directed at
economic and social well-being.
The minimalist state. The state that the old ‘welfare state’ gives way to: it performs
certain core functions such as the maintenance of law and order and the security of its
citizens, and withdraws from many of its earlier welfare functions.
‘Social safety nets’. Institutional safeguards the critics of economic globalisation ask
for, to minimise the negative effects of globalisation on those who are economically weak.
Re-colonisation of the world. How some economists have described economic
globalisation.
Cultural homogenisation. The rise of a uniform culture across the world, which is
the cultural threat globalisation is feared to carry.
Cultural heterogenisation. The opposite effect the same process generates: it leads to
each culture becoming more different and distinctive.
Soft power of US hegemony. The name for the imposition of Western culture on the rest of
the world in the name of a global culture.
‘McDonaldisation’ of the world. The phrase used by those who argue that cultures are
seeking to buy into the dominant American dream.
‘Protectionism’. India’s post-independence policy: to make things ourselves rather
than relying on others, and not to allow others to export to us so that our own producers
could learn to make things.
The World Social Forum (WSF). A global platform which brings together a wide coalition
composed of human rights activists, environmentalists, labour, youth and women activists
opposed to neo-liberal globalisation.
2 The Three Opening Examples
| Person | What happens | Aspect of globalisation |
|---|---|---|
| Janardhan | Works in a call centre; becomes John at the office, acquires a new accent and speaks a different language, serves clients thousands of miles away, works all night because that is day time for his overseas customers, and takes holidays by his US clients’ calendar | The globalisation of services |
| Ramdhari | Buys his nine-year old daughter a cycle manufactured in China, marketed in India; last year a Barbie doll originally manufactured in the US, sold in India. Both met his requirements of quality as well as affordability | The movement of commodities |
| Sarika | A first generation learner; now has an opportunity to take a job and begin an independent career that the women of her family had never dreamt of. Some relatives are opposed; she goes ahead | A conflict of values |
- Some farmers committed suicide because their crops failed; they had bought very
expensive seeds supplied by a multinational company (MNC). - An Indian company bought a major rival company based in Europe, despite protests by
some of the current owners. - Many retail shopkeepers fear losing their livelihoods if 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.
The three lessons the chapter draws: globalisation need not always be positive; it need
not be only about economic issues; and the direction of influence is not always from the rich to the
poor countries.
3 Causes of Globalisation
- Globalisation in terms of the four flows has taken place through much of human
history; it has a strong historical basis. - What is distinct about contemporary globalisation is the scale and speed of these
flows.
- Globalisation is not caused by any single factor, but technology remains a critical
element. Learn this sentence; it decides two options in exercise Question 3. - The telegraph, the telephone and the microchip in more recent times have revolutionised
communication between different parts of the world. - Printing, when it initially came into being, laid the basis for the creation of
nationalism. So today too, technology will affect the way we think of our personal but also
our collective lives. - The pace of flows varies: capital and commodities move quicker and wider than peoples
do.
Globalisation does not emerge merely because of improved communications. People in different
parts of the world must recognise these interconnections. The chapter’s examples:
bird flu and tsunami are not confined to any particular nation and do not respect
national boundaries; major economic events are felt at the global level in the same way.
4 Political Consequences: Three Aspects
| Aspect | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. State capacity is eroded | The old welfare state gives way to a minimalist state. The state keeps core functions (law and order, security of citizens) and withdraws from welfare functions. The market becomes the prime determinant of economic and social priorities. The entry and increased role of MNCs reduces the capacity of governments to take decisions on their own. |
| 2. Capacity is not always reduced | The primacy of the state remains the unchallenged basis of political community. Old jealousies and rivalries have not ceased to matter. The state discharges its essential functions (law and order, national security) and consciously withdraws from domains it wishes to. States continue to be important. |
| 3. Capacity has received a boost | Enhanced technologies let the state 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. |
5 Economic Consequences
- Economic globalisation draws attention to the role of the IMF and the WTO in determining
economic policies across the world, but it must not be viewed in such narrow terms: it
involves many actors other than these institutions. - The broader question is the distribution of economic gains: who gets the most, who gets
less, and who loses. - Greater economic flows among countries, some voluntary and some forced by international
institutions and powerful countries, in the forms of commodities, capital, people and ideas.
| Flow | What has happened |
|---|---|
| Commodities | Greater trade across the globe; import restrictions reduced |
| Capital | Restrictions reduced; investors in rich countries can invest in developing countries where they might get better returns |
| Ideas | Flow across national boundaries; the chapter’s example is the spread of internet and computer related services |
| People | Has NOT increased to the same degree. Developed countries have carefully guarded their borders with visa policies, so that citizens of other countries cannot take away the jobs of their own citizens |
| The critics say | The advocates say |
|---|---|
| Worried about the extent of state withdrawal | De-regulation generates greater economic growth and well-being for larger sections of the population |
| It benefits only a small section, while impoverishing those dependent on the government for jobs and welfare (education, health, sanitation) | Greater trade allows each economy to do what it does best, which benefits the whole world |
| Demand institutional safeguards and ‘social safety nets’; many movements find these insufficient or unworkable and call 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 | Economic globalisation is inevitable, and it is not wise to resist the march of history |
| Some economists call it the re-colonisation of the world | More moderate supporters: it is a challenge that can be responded to intelligently without accepting it uncritically |
1. The same set of policies do not lead to the same results everywhere; similar economic
policies have generated vastly different outcomes in different parts of the world.
2. 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.
6 Cultural Consequences
- Globalisation affects us in our home, in what we eat, drink, wear and indeed in what we
think, and shapes what we think are our preferences. - It leads to the rise of a uniform culture, or cultural homogenisation.
- 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,
known as the soft power of US hegemony. - The popularity of a burger or blue jeans has a lot to do with the powerful
influence of the American way of life. Hence 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.
- Cultures are not static things. All cultures accept outside influences all the
time. - Some external influences reduce our choices and are negative; some simply enlarge
our choices; some modify our culture without overwhelming the traditional. - The burger is no substitute for a masala dosa and therefore poses no real challenge; it
is simply added on to our food choices. - Blue jeans go well with a homespun khadi kurta. 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, so young Americans can be seen wearing a kurta and jeans. - The same process leads each culture to become more different and distinctive:
cultural heterogenisation. Differences in power remain when cultures interact, but
cultural exchange is rarely one way.
7 India and Globalisation
| Period | What happened |
|---|---|
| Several centuries back | Flows of capital, commodities, ideas and people go back several centuries in Indian history |
| 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 |
| After independence | ‘Protectionism’: make things ourselves, and do not allow others to export to us so our own producers could learn to make things |
| What it cost | Some advances in certain arenas, but health, housing and primary education did not receive the attention they deserved; a fairly sluggish rate of economic growth |
| 1991 | Responding to a financial crisis and the desire for higher rates of economic growth, India embarked on economic reforms that sought increasingly to de-regulate various sectors including trade and foreign investment |
It may be too early to say how good this has been for India. The ultimate test is not high
growth rates but making sure that the benefits of growth are shared so that everyone is better
off. Any answer on India and globalisation should end on this line.
8 Resistance to Globalisation
| The left | The political right | |
|---|---|---|
| Core claim | Contemporary globalisation is a particular phase of global capitalism that makes the rich richer (and fewer) and the poor poorer | Anxiety over the political, economic and cultural effects together |
| On the state | Weakening of the state reduces its capacity to protect the interest of its poor | They too fear the weakening of the state |
| Economically | Oppose economic liberalisation | Want a return to self-reliance and protectionism, at least in certain areas of the economy |
| Culturally | – | Worried that traditional culture will be harmed and people will lose their age-old values and ways |
They 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 to a
specific programme of globalisation, which they see as a form of imperialism.
| Event | Where | When |
|---|---|---|
| Protests at the WTO Ministerial Meeting, alleging unfair trading practices by the economically powerful states; the interests of the developing world were not given sufficient importance in the evolving global economic system | Seattle | 1999 |
| First World Social Forum meeting | Porto Alegre, Brazil | 2001 |
| Fourth World Social Forum meeting | Mumbai | 2004 |
| Latest World Social Forum meeting | Nepal | February 2024 |
9 India and Resistance to Globalisation
- Social movements help people make sense of the world around them and find ways to deal
with matters that trouble them. - Left wing protests to economic liberalisation, voiced through political parties
and through forums like the Indian Social Forum. - Trade unions of the industrial workforce and those representing farmer
interests have organised protests against the entry of multinationals. - The patenting of certain plants like Neem by American and European firms has generated
considerable opposition.
- The availability of foreign T.V. channels provided by cable networks.
- The celebration of Valentine’s Day.
- The westernisation of the dress tastes of girl students in schools and colleges.
10 The Call Centre Box
Source: a report by Ranjeetha Urs in The Hindu, 10 January 2005.
- 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. - The other side. Not all calls and conversations are pleasant; you can also receive
irate and abusive callers. The hatred 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.
11 Every Date in the Chapter
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1991 | India embarked on its programme of economic reforms, responding to a financial crisis and the desire for higher growth |
| 1999 | Widespread protests at Seattle at the WTO Ministerial Meeting |
| 2001 | The first World Social Forum meeting, Porto Alegre, Brazil |
| 2004 | The fourth World Social Forum meeting, Mumbai |
| 10 January 2005 | Ranjeetha Urs’s report in The Hindu, the source of the call centre box |
| February 2024 | The latest World Social Forum meeting, Nepal |
12 The Book’s Own Margin Questions
- “So many Nepalese workers come to India to work. Is that globalisation?” Yes, it is one
of the four flows: people moving in search of better livelihoods to different parts of the world.
Note that this flow runs from a poorer country to another developing one, which is the chapter’s
point that the direction of influence is not always from the rich to the poor countries. - “Much of the Chinese stuff that comes to India is smuggled. Does globalisation lead to
smuggling?” Globalisation is about the flow of commodities across borders; the chapter’s own
example of it is a cycle manufactured in China and marketed in India, a lawful trade made possible
because restrictions on imports have been reduced. Smuggling is a way of evading the state, so this
belongs with the erosion of state capacity rather than with the flow itself. - “Isn’t globalisation a new name for imperialism? Why do we need a new name?” Many
anti-globalisation movements do see a specific programme of globalisation as a form of imperialism,
and some economists have called economic globalisation the re-colonisation of the world. The
chapter still keeps a separate name because globalisation is multi-dimensional and its impact is
vastly uneven, and because the direction of influence is not always from the rich to the poor
countries. - “When we talk about ‘safety net’ it means that we expect some people to fall down because of
globalisation. Isn’t that right?” Yes. That is exactly the critics’ point: economic
globalisation is likely to benefit only a small section while impoverishing those who depended on
the government for jobs and welfare, and safety nets exist to minimise the negative effects on
those who are economically weak. Many movements say the nets are insufficient or unworkable. - “Why are we scared of Western culture? Are we not confident of our own culture?” The
fear is of cultural homogenisation and the shrinking of the rich cultural heritage of the entire
globe. The chapter’s own reply is that cultures are not static things, that outside influence can
enlarge our choices, and that the same process produces cultural heterogenisation. - “Does it really matter if it is influenced by western music?” By the chapter’s test, an
influence that simply enlarges our choices or modifies our culture without overwhelming the
traditional is not a threat, in the way that the burger is no substitute for a masala dosa. An
influence that reduces our choices is.
13 Lines Worth Carrying In
On the definition: “The crucial element is the ‘worldwide interconnectedness’ that is created
and sustained as a consequence of these constant flows.”
On causes: “While globalisation is not caused by any single factor, technology remains a
critical element.”
On state capacity: “With this information, the state is better able to rule, not less able.”
On the cultural fear: “The rise of a uniform culture is not the emergence of a global
culture.”
On the cultural reply: “The burger is no substitute for a masala dosa and, therefore, does not
pose any real challenge.”
On heterogenisation, the chapter says “cultural exchange is rarely one way.”
On India, the chapter says “the ultimate test is not high growth rates as making sure that the
benefits of growth are shared so that everyone is better off.”
Every section of this chapter is the same warning in a different setting: globalisation is
multi-dimensional and its impact is vastly uneven. So no single verdict fits. The
state loses capacity in one respect and gains it in another; the economy opens to commodities and
capital but closes to people; culture becomes both more uniform and more distinctive; and India both
receives globalisation and shapes it. The marks are in refusing to give a one-sided answer, and in
paying attention to the specific context every time.