Development is what we strive for in our lives on a personal, town, city and country level as well (Meurs and Ranasinghe, 2003). In this modern world that came into existence after the industrial revolution, societies and also countries tend to rely on the relations between each other (Waters, 2001). These economic, political and cultural connections assist material, power and symbolic exchange between one another (Waters, 2001). When these principals are applied and used within countries, the phenomenon or the process is called globalisation (Waters, 2001). Globalisation helps the development of countries to a great extent, primarily because of the support that they get from each other (Naím, 2009). However, there are some drawbacks such as the dominant nature of multinational organisations. Nevertheless, countries and societies have a tendency to bend towards the idea of globalisation and this paper would argue that despite the disadvantages, the world will continue to become a more globalised, interconnected world (Munck, 2002).

As for the structure of this essay, the term globalisation was defined at the start of this paper, and had given an overview what this paper is about. Next, how globalisation works will be discussed. This will be followed by discussing the relationship between global economy and globalisation. Thirdly, the contribution globalisation gives to the distribution of resources at a global scale would be discussed. This paper will then compare and contrast on some of the negative impacts of globalisation and extend this by arguing that the high level of power imposed in the international organisations, and regardless of the consequences of large scale globalisation, societies still do want to be part of the globalisation process primarily because the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Trailing this discussion would be the conclusion of this paper which will highlight the main discussions. Also, this essay will attempt to connect and explain the sociological aspects of globalisation throughout the paper.

Globalisation is all about connections within the cities, countries and continents of the world (Munck, 2002). The existence of these connections are greatly felt when economic stability of a country that possess great economic strength is shaken from its roots (Letiche, 2010). For example the great recession in the first decade of the twenty first century, was primarily caused by the financial collapse of a handful of private corporations in the United States of America (USA) (Neumann, 2012). It is also important to note that, it is not only economic relations that helps maintain these connections. Political and cultural attributes of the nations also help preserve these links (Letiche, 2010). Although globalisation is about these associations, globalisation itself is a phenomenon or a process, through which countries make themselves dependent on each other by making use of the technological efficiency that has been brought about in travelling and as well as in communication services (Waters, 2001). These help minimise the effects of geographical boundaries and makes goods and resources more accessible and also facilitates the exchange of social norms and cultural values throughout the world (Waters, 2001). These in turn, jointly assist the world to work collectively in a collaborative environment, at the same time facilitating the achievements of individual countries (Waters, 2001). For instance, China has one of world leading consumer production markets and is focused on production and exportation of their products (Gransow, 1993). On the other hand, USA is one of the largest consumer markets in the world (Gransow, 1993).. This difference in interest makes USA the number one importer of Chinese goods and simultaneously, makes USA the number one export destinations for Chinese products, despite the fact that there are other countries in the world such as Russia that has a higher population, as well as a bigger land mass (Gransow, 1993). This results in shared benefits to both parties and highlights one of the many positives of globalisation.

The process of globalisation is highly unlikely to be slowed down in this rapid economic growth throughout the world (Patti and Navarra, 2009). This is mainly due to the high levels of dependence one has on others (Patti and Navarra, 2009). Unlike European countries and also the countries that belong to Americas (collectively known as the western countries), nations that belong to the continent of Asia Pacific is currently undergoing an economic expansion (Maksoud, 2007). Australia, India, China, Malaysia, Thailand and also Indonesia are amongst the fastest growing economies in the world. However, as Maksoud (2007) has said, the fast growing nature of these countries are primarily the result of the consumer based society which exists in the west. Without the ‘cheap’ and continuous supply of products from Asian countries, it would be more or less impossible for the western societies to keep up with their consumer demand (Maksoud, 2007). On the other hand, without the consumer demands of the western societies, Asian countries would be unable to maintain their economic growth simply because their market is lost (Maksoud, 2007). Thus, the collapse of one side would prove to be disastrous to the other as well. These drawbacks will be discussed later in this paper. Furthermore, this prospective can be tied with the view of Karl Marx regarding the class distribution where the class difference is needed for the efficient functioning of the society (Waters, 2001).

In addition to the financial dependency, the process of globalisation is also essential for the efficient and reliable distribution of resources and also for the development of the countries, throughout the globe (Robinson, 2011). While some parts of the world are rich in natural resources such as oil in Middle East and Arabia, and raw materials needed for the extraction of metals from Australia, these resources being distributed, helps the world to function more efficiently and more productively (Waters, 2001). Without these globalised connections or the notion of an interconnected world, the contribution of these resources to the world’s development would have been compromised and hence, the socio economic development that the world is seeing as a whole, might not even exist (Waters, 2001). This need for connectedness is even true for manmade resources. Things such as good quality education, better health care and technological advancements are essential to be available for the world to use if the countries want to stretch their acquired resources. Even though the world is not yet fully globalised as Costello (2001) have said, the degree of globalisation effect has enabled people to get services and help that they need, which is not available from the societies or the cultural groups that they belong to. For example, although there are formal documents involved, there are no significant barriers between a citizen from the most remote place of the tiniest island in Maldives, to go and get the highest quality of education at an Australian university or get the latest state of the art medical treatments from India. Similarly, there is no difficulty for a high class, posh Australian to spend their entire summer enjoying the white sandy beaches of Maldives. These connections also speed up the evolution of lifestyle of the world making, universally accepted rules and regulations to be implemented throughout the world and contributing to the social development of a society at a higher rate (Costello, 2001). As one of the big four of sociology; Emile Durkheim had addressed, these differences are needed for the bonds between each other to exist (Bernard et al., 2010). Although his idea was exclusively about the difference in individual people in the society, when each country is treated as a single body, the views of Durkheim can be applied and used to explain why the previously mentioned differences are needed for the societies or the countries to be fully functional.

One of the main exclusive results of aiming towards a globalised world is the emergence of various regulatory bodies that are entrusted to; basically standardise the world (Costello, 2001). These bodies help our societies to run on social and economic norms that is accepted globally, helping the previously not-so-connected world to connect and at the same time, enabling the population of the world to be benefited from the same advantages enjoyed by the most developed nations of the world, through standardised goods and services (Costello, 2001). These regulations enforce uniformity and provide help to nations where it is needed, to keep up with these norms (Costello, 2001). As mentioned, the advantages are so immense that countries, especially the developing nations tend to let these organisations such as United Nations, European Union, Commonwealth, International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which are generally ruled by the leading ‘super powers’ of the world (Costello, 2001), to monitor them for the greater good and making the process of globalisation through these means difficult to resist (Wheatley, 2008). However, these advantages also come with some drawbacks. The powerful transnational organisation’s authority over countries, especially over the developing countries shows signs of a capitalist society in a global level (Sengers, 2009). According to Karl Marx, in capitalist societies, the rich and the powerful have control over minorities and makes sure that their interests are put forward before the interest of others. In the context of globalisation, the rich and the powerful are the influential organisations which are dominated by the economic powers of the world, usually manipulating even the least expected features of the society (Waters, 2001).

The globalisation process has an effect on the traditional ways of governance and norms that are held by the nations (Sengers, 2009; Waters, 2001). These affects are enormously observed in developing nations and in small subcultures such as Indigenous Australians that exist within developed nations (Costello, 2001; Susser, 2004). Lost languages and traditions are some of the many consequences that globalisation has brought about (Costello, 2001). Losing these priceless and unrecoverable gems of cultural heritage and implementing cultural attributes of developed nations are usually viewed as development and modernity by these nations (Dobbelaere, 2000; Gransow, 1993). Thus, losing the nation’s proud history and their unique way of life and living becomes a small price to pay for in order to fit into the modern world and enjoy the greatness it has to offer in the interconnected world (Costello, 2001).

As highlighted at the beginning of this paper, the high level of interconnectedness within the countries makes them dependent on one another (Patti and Navarra, 2009). This restricts the level of independence an individual country has on their decision making power (Patti and Navarra, 2009). However, in situations where governments have to put forward their nation before others, the world wide consequences maybe very high and usually, the countries in the spectrum of developing nations suffer the most (Munck, 2002). Subsequently , these consequences might result in bankruptcy of governments itself (Munck, 2002), leaving the societies to collapse and social norms to vanish into poverty once again shedding light to Marxist ideas of power relations (Waters, 2001).

In conclusion, this paper discussed what globalisation is and the relationship between globalisation and societies that exists in the world. The economic dependency that exists within the countries and also the extent to which the effect of international organisations that are entitled to regulate the countries have on these societies were also discussed. Furthermore, some of the negative effects of globalisation were also highlighted. The paper also discussed why globalisation cannot be prevented that easily, primarily because of the benefits that it brings along in the process. Additionally, throughout the paper, the relationship between sociology and globalisation were discussed and contrasted.

References

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Year Written: 2012

This is the final paper I wrote for the course: An Introduction to Sociology, [The University of Queensland 2012].