Globalization

Globalization has been an on-going process since the moment human beings created civilization. Globalization is the the connections human make via trade and the culture that blends and diffuses as a result.

Today, globalization is truly a "global" phenomenon--with entertainment, music, sports, brands and corporations having global influence and recognition.

Seal from the Indus Valley Civilization
Public Domain.

Globalization began occurring during the ancient world.  Wax seals made in the Indus River Valley have been discovered in Mesopotamia, demonstrating that those two civilization had been in contact through trade. Greek culture was spread by Alexander the Great and influenced culture in the Middle East and India.

As religions moved from their places of origin they acquired characteristics of cultures in other parts of the world. For example, Christianity was influenced not only by Judaism but also the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism.

Buddhism, while originating in India, acquired distinctly Chinese features when it moved to China.

Globalization, as a process, became "global" with the Age of Discovery in the 15th century.  The opening up of North and South America after Columbus caused a boom in trade and an unprecedented movement of not only people, but plants and animals across the world.  Corn, a New World-only crop, soon starting being grown in Europe, Africa and Asia.  Horses, unknown at the time in the New World, became the mode of transportation used by Native Americans once the animals were brought by Europeans.

This event was known as "The Columbian Exchange" and it created the modern world.  Boats began criss-crossing the hemispheres like never before. People began moving to different locations across the world.

The Columbian Exchange led to a change in food production across the globe. The chili pepper, for example, was first grown by people in Mexico. It is now a main ingredient in food in India, Thailand, South Korea andChina.

The trade in sugar became one of the first global industries.  Unfortunately, this fueled another global industry as well: the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.  As a result, millions of people from Africa were kidnapped and brought to the New World and other places across the globe.

Slavery has not ended, however.  In fact, because of globalization there are more slaves in the world today than at any other time in our history.

The Industrial Revolution, which began in England in the late 18th century, further spurred globalization as the need for raw materials drove corporations to gather these materials from other places, often at the point of a gun.

It is no different today. All you need to do is look at the cell phone in your pocket. Ingredients and labor used to make that cell phone has come from all over the globe.

The electronic industry is made up of multinational corporations which have an influence all across the world.  Although Samsung, for example, is a corporation located in South Korea, it has offices virtually in every major nation and sources its materials from all over the world.

Soccer is a global sport, although it has it's origins in Europe.

Fast-food, once just a part of American culture, is now recognized all over the world.

Musicians and entertainers have global appeal.

When Hollywood makes movies, they gear the movies not just to American audiences, but for global audiences as well.

Through technology that was created through globalization, the world in which we live today is connected unlike any time before.

Check out the following images related to globalization:

Source: http://www.indexmundi.com/blog/index.php/2013/02/25/the-presence-of-mcdonalds-across-the-world/

Source: http://www.altenergyshift.com/gallery/image/143-globalization-starbucks-vs-mcdonalds-infographic/