Giddens Analysis of Globalization - Essay Example

? Gidden’s Analysis of Globalization Gidden’s Analysis of Globalization Globalization is a dynamic complex social phenomenon. People have strong arguments against and supporting the globalization and its impacts on the social lives. This paper will be helping to unearth the social dynamic process of globalization taking help from the viewpoint and analysis of Giddens. Gidden has related multiple factors such as, “social behaviors, believes, technology, institutional structures, and cultures, and their effects on the globalization” (Gidden 2009). In the sociological analysis of globalization by Gidden, not only favorable conditions are incorporated but the adverse factors have also spotlighted. Favorable conditions include the development of telecommunication and other technology whereas the adverse effects cater transnational corporation growth, government transformations, and vanishing cultural identities (BBC 1999). The sociologists, economists, and the social scientists have often tried to exploit the notion of Globalization. Generally, people define Globalization as an unambiguous and precise state; this interpretation has made globalization lose its expressiveness. The world’s financial crises of 2008-09 have demanded a detailed and in-depth understanding and analysis of globalization. The financial crunch has proven that globalization is not just a precise or unambiguous notion but is a term that directly influences and affects people in their daily life. Anthony Giddens, London School of Economics’ former director and the advisor of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, has written about the globalization process in a different manner (Georgantzas 2009). As per the view of Giddens, the world has become very sensitive to the events happening far away yet globally. For example, a country located in the south will be affected by socio-economic problems of success of the country present in north. Globalization is “the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa”(Giddens 2009). The above provided concept of System Dynamics is applied in the work of Gidden. It is argued that the human preferences can affect the systems through challenging and replicating the markets but in turn, it is possible that the markets change human preferences. In contrast, it can also be viewed as the social and economical unity of the global countries that share the benefits and troubles of each other to reduce the impact to the maximum extent (Clyne and Woock 2000). Giddens view of globalization is not as simply as was described above but believes that it is not an ordinary phenomenon, that is standing in isolation but it has a power to influence every human being. This change and impact has the ability to develop and reshape the world (Routledge 2012). As Giddens views globalization as a source, of development, that carries numerous changes and tendencies, which give a new look to the modern societies. Globalization cannot be criticized completely or neither can it be stopped. In the same way, it cannot be ignored and its negative effects cannot be hided. The globalization has increased the growth of social unevenness, financial and ecological risks, and global risk of society. According to Giddens, societies have been affected by globalization and the lives (personal and professional) of individuals. A hierarchy of three distinct levels can be established here. Individuals affect the Transnational Corporation and their respective industries. Whereas, when the Transnational Corporations grow or decline, it influences the life of individuals and global supply chains. These movements can be affected by lags and delays of the time, can convert the long term, and short term growths (BBC 1999). Giddens describes four levels that are highly interrelated to each other as the dimensions of globalization. These levels are provided below: Nation State World Military Order World Economy International Division of Labor The first dimension of national state system, has participated allot in the modernization of the world globally (Georgantzas 2009). Giddens states, “The very existence of sovereignty should be understood as something that is reflexively monitored. Sovereignty is linked to the replacement of “frontiers” by “borders” in the early development of the nation-state system: autonomy inside the territory claimed by the state is sanctioned by the recognition of borders by other states.” (Giddens 2009). In this dimension all, the impacts that can be exerted by individual on the nation are monitored and how the nation state can affect an individual life is seen. The globalization can be viewed by the new modern military order of the world. Giddens observed that the globalization has made the countries to build virtual walls around the boundaries and protect themselves from navigating native countries and the actual real walls have been shed off. The boundaries are important because they highlight the areas of governance and autonomy of a state. However, countries are getting nearer to each other and harmonizing their businesses and cultures along with the respective economy (Clyne and Woock 2000). The most obvious dimension of the globalization is the world capital economy. Globalization has impacted the economy of the world by bringing the nations closer and integrating the business with each other. Referring to this, Giddens states, “The main centers of power in the world economy are capitalist states – states in which capitalist economic enterprise is the chief form of production. The domestic and international economic policies of these states involve many forms of regulation of economic activity, but their institutional organization maintains an “insulation “of the economic from the political” (Giddens 2009). Giddens provided another dimension and viewpoint of thinking that allowed the home based business corporations bounded in a particular nation state to start other regional investments in the worldwide. This can be seen in the budgets of biggest multinationals, the budgets are generally greater than the companies operating in a single nation state are. But a fact is that “there are some key respects in which their power cannot rival that of states – especially important here are the factors of territoriality and control of the means of violence. If nation-states are the principle “actors” within the global political order, corporations are the dominant agents within the world economy” (Giddens 2009). The agency relation has been provided a new look by Giddens by referring corporations as an agent working for them in different nations and the home base is the main principle that directs and controls the working agent. Nearly all the multinational and transnational companies fall under this concept except those agents, which are not completely governed, and control by the home based principle sue to government of legislative restrictions. The concept of Giddens does not successfully applied to the present world, as in present times the international and corporate world has suffered from countless scandals of fraud and deceit. Hence, the relation of principle and agent cannot be applied universally (Clyne and Woock 2000). The last dimension discussed by Giddens is the International Division of Labor as follows. “The most obvious aspect of this is the expansion of the global (international) division of labor, which includes the differentiation between more and less industrialized areas in the world. Modern industry is intrinsically based on division of labor, not only on the level of job tasks but also on that of regional specialization in terms of type of industry, skills, and the production of raw materials” (Giddens 2009). The companies and nations have become interdependent globally in countless aspects; division of labor is one of those major areas that make the nations to look forward at each other. After the Second World War, the industrialism has become totally dependent and diffused in technology. “There has undoubtedly taken place a major expansion of global interdependence in the division of labor since the Second World War one of the main features of the globalizing implication of industrialism is the worldwide diffusion of technologies.” (Giddens 2009). Giddens also made it very clear that the industrialism is not solely related to production only, it has its roots in other areas of daily life of an individual and its comfort zones by changing its surroundings and atmospheres. With addition to it, Giddens also states, “Yet industrialism has also decisively conditioned our very sense of living in “one world.” For one of the most important effects of industrialism has been the transformation of technologies of communication” (Giddens 2009). The above argument supports the cycle of employment. The employment of right person on the right place is essential for the transnational companies so that overall balance in the economy can be achieved and social unevenness can be maintained at low levels. The impact of new technology on the living standards of individual employee and their skills has also discussed. Giddens talks about the modern industry and relates it to the division of labor but it has not explained by Gidden that what modernization is? The industrialization and modernization has been linked by Giddens and the impact of globalization on it can be seen (Georgantzas 2009). The link between the levels can also be viewed as: Source: (Giddens 2009). Another important and fundamental dimension of the globalization, which has not been catered in the above analysis of Giddens, is the cultural dimension and the industrial dimension. The other matters and risks that have been identified by Giddens are also matters of serious concerns, such as the Risk of social disorientation faced by the world globally, the effects of citizens on the world, the threat of health risk and the ecological risk. These described risks continuously reduce the standards and quality of life of people (Georgantzas 2009). Giddens has observed that the movement of industries from national to global market has created a steeped downfall in the volume of manufacturers in the European Union. The blame on the globalization cannot be placed for being the only purpose of short-term unemployment; other technological advancement reasons have also contributed in that (Petra 2009). It can be argued against that many organizations have fostered by moving towards globalization from national markets and have experienced a radical and organic growth that has curved the economy of the base country more positive and stable (Clyne and Woock 2000). On the other hand, outsourcing has become very essential for the organization to grow and develop them. The required skills if are not available in the base country, should be persuaded from native countries (Clyne and Woock 2000). As the development is necessary for the nation and to improve the quality of life of the nation (Petra 2009), Gidden states that the major European challenges can be as “The intensity of technological change conjoined this and more globalized division of labor, creates new vulnerabilities for some groups. Young men with just qualifications, race mentioned, are likely to fare especially poorly. Older workers in manufacture, whose jobs disappear, risk long spells of unemployment, or the prospect of never working again, unless appropriate policy interventions are made”(Giddens 2009) The transnational corporations are a threat to the nation because it brings social unevenness and creates job dissatisfaction among the employees. Job dissatisfaction will generate dysfunctional behavior among the workers that can easily harm the operational processes of the organization led by a reputational risk. Giddens supports the transformation. On the other hand Giddens supports the idea of transnational organizations that has a maximum possibility to outsource its operations and tasks to the third parties. Both the ideas cannot be implemented at the same time but can be adjusted with each other and prioritized (Routledge 2012).. Responding to the weaknesses and demerits of the process of globalization Giddens proposes a system of social services, the management of risk, state of Social investment, protection of weak, equality, freedom, democratizing the democracy, an active civil society, and the principle of subsidy, and positive social protection. Giddens also suggests some possible market controls, building stability in the movement of currencies, enhancing the responsibilities of the transnational corporations, and separating investments from short term speculations in order to manage the world’s economy (Routledge 2012). Concluding the whole discussion, it can be found that the globalization is a dynamic process that is difficult to be plotted in a dimensional or confined model. The limitations of the model have also highlighted that focusing on the manufacturing and industrial sectors will only be defining the financial problems and achievements of the nation state and common people. There are other factors too that needs to be discussed here, as globalization is not solely linked to financial terms, it is also equally connected and affect the non-financial lives and processes of the people. However, the efforts of Giddens are appreciable as it provides a flow of logical arguments. List of References BBC. April 14, 1999. BBC News . [Online] Available from [Accessed April 14, 2012]. Clyne, Fiona, and Roger Woock. "Giddens on Globalisation." Ethical Politics, 2000: 51. Georgantzas, Nicholas. 2009. Giddens’ globalization: Exploring dynamic implications. [Online] Available from [Accessed April 14, 2012]. Giddens, Anthony. 2009. Essential of Sociology. New Jersy: Routledge university Press. Petra. 2009. Analysis of Globalization and Its Impacts. [Online] Available from [Accessed April 14, 2012]. Routledge. 2012. Social Theory. [Online] Available from [Accessed April 14, 2012]. Read More