Globalization: Definitions, Metaphors, and Debates

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, definitions, metaphors, and debates presented in the lecture on globalization.

Globalization

The process by which trade, technology, and other forces make the world more connected and interdependent, producing broad economic and social changes.

Broad and Inclusive Definition (of Globalization)

A wide-ranging explanation that embraces many issues related to overcoming traditional boundaries; often criticized for being vague.

Narrow and Exclusive Definition (of Globalization)

A more specific explanation that limits globalization to particular dimensions or indicators, providing clearer implications but less scope.

Kenichi Ohmae’s “Borderless World” (1992)

A broad definition stating that globalization signals the onset of a world without borders.

Thomas Larsson’s View (2001)

Describes globalization as the ‘process of world shrinkage,’ where distances shorten and people on opposite sides of the planet can interact for mutual benefit.

Metaphor

A figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that is not literally true, used here to frame globalization as solid, liquid, or gas.

Solidity

A condition in which people, things, information, and places ‘harden,’ limiting their mobility and confining social relations to nearby contexts.

Solid (Barrier)

Natural or man-made obstacles—such as mountains, rivers, walls, or fortified borders—that restrict the free movement of people and goods.

Liquid

Represents the growing ease with which people, goods, information, and places move in the global era.

Gas

Symbolizes hyper-mobility, where movement of people, things, and information occurs at extremely high speed and with minimal restriction.

Global Flows

The transnational movement of people, objects, information, decisions, and places enabled by the increasing porosity of global barriers.

Porosity (of Borders)

The tendency of barriers to ‘melt,’ allowing greater cross-border movement and interaction.

Natural Barriers

Geographic features such as mountains, rivers, and oceans that hinder movement and interaction.

Man-Made Barriers

Human-constructed obstacles—e.g., the Mexico–USA border wall, South Korea–North Korea DMZ, Great Wall of China—that restrict mobility.

Globalists

Scholars or observers who assert that globalization is real and affects virtually the entire globe.

Skeptics

Those who argue that globalization is either nonexistent or greatly exaggerated in its reach and influence.

Al- rhodan

Time frame