Globalization Takes a Toll on Us All

Jay Carroll

HIS 104

Ballantyne

April 29, 2013

Globalization: Takes A Toll on Us All

Historians, economists, politicians, religious leaders, social reformers, business people, and average everyday citizens use the word globalization a lot. They use it to talk large-scale changes and trends in the world today. Many historians take this idea and try to see if globalizing across the world is a good idea. Through research, I have come across four secondary sources that I believe can clarify if globalization would be considered a good idea. Also, with the help of primary sources, one can show how globalization has its impact on us all. First, I will give some historiographical evidence on globalization, and then use my primary sources to follow-up on the matter.

The sources I am using come from two texts and two online journals that I accessed in through the library’s database. One of the main problems with globalization was trying to find a fitting definition. In Dr. Nayef R.F. Al-Rodhan and Ambassador Ge ́rad Stoudmann proposal, they proposed the following definition, “Globalization is a process that encompasses the causes, course, and consequences of transnational and transcultural integration of human and non-human activities” (Al-Rodhan and Stoudmann 2). In their work, Al-Rodhan and Stoudmann observed the different definitions of the word and gave an overview of the definitions as well as their given definition of the word. There are many definitions out there that make it hard for historians and other people to make use of the word. Also since there are so many definitions it is harder to use the word in works of writing, too. As stated in their paper, “the debate about what to do about globalization is still very much a debate what globalization is.” (4) The way they came up with their results was they looked for similarities and patterns in the definitions that they chose. They stated that in the literature that it was clear, in the reviewing all of the definitions, one may not come any closer to an understanding to what globalization means. (5) This text differs from the other texts I have looked at because it focuses on the word itself and the quest to find a definition suited for the word. Al-Rodhan and Stoudmann made a good argument with this text and the proposed definition is a good definition to use for further research, if needed.

Globalization is a hot topic in the world of history. In fact, in Kevin Reilly’s ¬Worlds of History: A Comparative Reader Volume 2, he raises a few questions on the topic, (actually a whole chapter). Some of the questions he asks about globalization query whether is a new phenomenon, or is it a continuation of earlier trends. (1050) All his questions address globalization being a positive or negative