Technology and Globalization: Assessing Patterns of Interaction

Abstract

Open any scholarly book or popular article on the shape of the future and two ideas leap out: technology and globalization. Despite their evident importance, little agreement exists on what they mean, how they interact, and whether they work for good or for ill. The only certainty is a lack of consensus. Start with globalization. Some commentators laud it as a beneficial process, leading to increased wealth and a peaceful world community. Others view it as regrettable, eroding national sovereignty, destroying local culture and marginalizing much of the world’s population. Analysts equally disagree on the influence of technology. Some hail it as the primrose path to leisure and prosperity, while others damn it as socially divisive and the road to an environmental hell on earth. The one area of agreement seems to be that globalization and technology will continue to exert a major influence on all our lives.

Two vectors shape the world — technology and globalization.

Theodore Levitt (1983: 102)

I would like to thank participants at the ‘Globalization and its Critics’ workshop for helpful comments on an earlier draft.