Conceptualizing Globalization

Abstract

The term globe in the English language enjoys the same meaning as
the English word world. The term globalization is now used to denote a
trend in world affairs in which several factors and forces impact on the
way we view ourselves, our world, societies, cultures, the physical world,
and the rest of the universe. The Arabic word for this geographic world is
‘ciZum; hence, the Qur’anic usage describing the Creator as Rabb uZ
‘&zmSn (The Lord of the Worlds). This Islamic term conjures up an
image that cuts across the vast range of beings and their domains of existence
in creation.
The understanding of globalization that is beginning to gain acceptance
throughout the world centers on the hegemony of the mass media
in the realm of human consciousness. To put the matter humorously, one
can say that the electron has now become the secret mediator between
people located in one part of the world and their counterparts located elsewhere
on the globe. It was this image that led the late Marshall MacLuhan
to use the metaphor of the tele-village to describe what he believed was
happening in the area of human communications.
Globalization now manifests itself in five important ways. The first
involves the shortening of geographic distances and the ease of human
travel via faster means of locomotion, such as supersonic planes, nuclear-
powered ships, high-speed cars, and bullet trains. These modem means
of travel have combined to create a new world order for humanity. The
world is no longer a wild place where humans must battle with other zoological
rivals; rather, it has become a place where human creativity and
power now reign supreme, if matters are seen through the eyes of nonhuman
flora and fauna.
The second manner in which globalization is shaping our world is in
the traversing of physical distances through the effective manipulation of
the electron in the service of humanity. By virtue of humanity’s scientific ...