INTEREST GROUPS IN THE WORLD ECONOMY? HOW ARE THEY AFFECTED
BY DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF GLOBALIZATION?
INTRODUCTION
Many authors have attempted, with relative success, to define globalization in a variety of ways. Some claim that it cannot be done, others claim that it would constrain the meaning to do so, and still others have defied these two beliefs and have constructed a working definition. Despite differing opinions about developing a definition, all authors agree on one thing: that defining this term is anything but easy.
WHAT IS GLOBALIZATION
Globalization is not a single concept that can be defined and encompassed within a set time frame, nor is it a process that can be defined clearly with a beginning and an end.
Furthermore, it cannot be expounded upon with certainty and be applicable to all people and in all situations. Globalization involves economic integration; the transfer of policies across borders; the transmission of knowledge; cultural stability; the reproduction, relations, and discourses of power; it is a global process, a concept, a revolution, and “an establishment of the global market free from sociopolitical control.”
Globalization encompasses all of these things. It is a concept that has been defined variously over the years, with some connotations referring to progress, development and stability, integration and cooperation, and others referring to regression, colonialism, and destabilization. Despite these challenges, this term brings with it a multitude of hidden agendas. An individual’s political ideology, geographic location, social status, cultural background, and ethnic and religious affiliation provide the background that determines how globalization is interpreted.
In 1995, Martin Khor, President of the Third World Network in Malaysia, referred to globalization as colonization. Concurrently, Swedish journalist Thomas Larsson, in his book The Race to
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