Globalisation

Globalisation is the process of all the world's systems and cultures becoming more intergrated - it's the whole world coming together like a single community with similar, shared systems and cultures.

It changes how people think about distance and time. People can interact with others anywhere in the world, no matter how far apart they are - it feels as if the world is shrinking.

The connections between places are lengthening - new links are formed between places that are far apart e.g. you can fly to most countries in the world and companies operate in many different countries.

Connections between places are becoming deeper - more people's lives are increasingly involves with far-away places e.g. you can email anyone in the world and buy imported foods in the supermarket

Globalisation is all about global political, economic and culteral intergrations.

Exploration and war have led to interactions between different populations for thousands of years, e.g. the Roman Empire bought a new political system, new technology and a different culture hich lasted long after they'd left.

Goods being traded - recent system started when large companies began to operate in multiple countries e.g. in the 17th century the East India Company traded a lot with British colonies throughout Asia.

Globalisation accelerated in the 19th century because of the increasing trade between European empires. Global trade slowed during the first and second world wars.

Globalisation ha recently accelerated since the 1980s. Huge global brands and corporations have easy access to most countries and are known all over the world, helping to create a sense of a global community.

Globalisation is accelerating due to four key factors:

• TNCs
• New markets
• Improved communication
• International organisations

TNCs = companies that produce, sell or are located in two ir more countries.

Some TNCs generate more money than the GDP of some nations e.g. oil companies like Shell.

TNCs bring investment into countries, spread new technoloies and can promote particular cultures.

Potential investment, the creation of jobs and access to new technology means that TNCs can have political influence.

TNCs have grown in size and number over the past 50 years, and are still moving into more countries.

They're thought to be one of the main driving forces behind globalisation because of the economic, political and culteral interactions that occur between the countries where they operate.

Increasing prosperity of developing opens countries up for new markets for companies e.g. Western companies are trying to sell to the Asian market because they have large populations and their wealth is increasing.

Global share trading involves buying and selling shares at stock exchanges. Exchanges in less developed countries are getting bigger and attracting more investment.

The availability of new markets and stock exchanges encourages more global trade, which accelerates globalisation.

Communications can mean transport mechanisms e.g. planes & high speed rail but it can also mean information exchanges e.g. the internet and email.

Transport mechanisms have gotten better since the mis 20th century. More people have easier access to new products that are futher away, making people better connected.

Electronic information exchange allow instant communication for the individuals and businesses to any part of the world.

Better comunications make the world seem smaller - distance becomes much less important.

International organisations bring people, money and information together.

The world bank offers money to poorer nations to help them develop. Provides loans to fund development projects e.g. building schools. Improved infrastructure means poorer countries are more likely to attract international ivestment, helping to connect rich and poor countries.

The international monetary fund (IMF) regulate the global financial system and lends money to make countries more financially stable. Countries with failing economies find it hard to trade or attract investment. IMF loans increase economic stability, helping these countries to participate in global trade.

The world trade organisation (WTO) regulates the rules of trade between countries. It's designed to reduce barriers to trade between countries, e.g. setting p agreements where tariffs on trade are reduced or removed. This increases trade between countries, which increases interaction and globalisation