Globalisation (Edexcel A Level Geography)

Globalisation

• Globalisation is the increasing connectedness of countries around the world through movement of goods, services, capital and ideas across borders
• People and countries have become more connected in four main ways

• Transnational Corporations (TNCs) – Companies who operate in many countries producing and selling goods and services
• Glocalisation – Changing the design of products to meet local tastes or laws
• Trading blocs – A group of countries and/or organisations that work together for trading purposes

Global Connections

• The process of how global connections are made have changed over time
• Past global connections were made through trade, Colonialism and co-operation between countries through international organisations
• Modern globalisation
  • Lengthening of connections between people and places, with products obtained from further away than ever before
  • Deepening of connections with the feeling of being deeply connected to other people and places in every aspect of life
  • Faster speed of connections, with the ability to communicate with others in real time using new technologies or travelling quickly between continents

Global Flows & Interdependence

• The world consists of networks connecting countries together
• These connections between countries represent different types of network flow
• Flows of movement
• Capital – money flows through the world’s stock markets
• Commodities – valuable raw materials (e.g., fossil fuels, food and minerals) are traded
• Information – the internet allows real-time communication between countries globally
• Migrants – the permanent movement of people still face challenges due to border controls and immigration laws
• Tourists – Budget airlines have made it possible for people to travel further more easily
• These global flows have increased the interconnectedness of places which has increased the interdependence of places

Transport & Trade Developments

• During the 19th and 20th century developments in trade and transport were interdependent
• Improvements in transport has led to an increase in the amount and value of trade
• As countries make a profit through trade, they will invest in developing transport technologies in the hope of increasing their profits
• There have been many important developments in transport in the 19th and 20th century
• Steam power – steam ships and trains moved goods and armies along trade routes quickly in the 1800s
• Railways – railway networks expanded globally in the 1800s and remains important for governments globally e.g., the High Speed 2 Railway linking London to northern England which will reduce some journey times by a half
• Jet aircraft – intercontinental jet aircraft made international travel easier with the arrival of the intercontinental Boeing 747 in the 1960s
• Container shipping – vital to the global economy since the 1950s (today, the largest container ships carry 24,000 containers)

A Shrinking World

• The Shrinking World effect is when places around the world take less time to reach, due to developments in technology, and therefore start to feel closer
• This change in perceptions can also be referred to as time-space compression

Time space compression

Development in ICT & Global Communication

• Technology is used in a range of different ways, all contributing to globalisation
• Telephone and the telegraph – vital for communicating long distances in real time no longer needing to wait days, weeks, months for responses
• Broadband and fibre optics – large amounts of data (e.g., in emails, tweets) are carried across the ocean floor by fibre optic cables in real time reducing the cost of communication
• GIS and GPS – satellites broadcast position and time data continuously all over the world so deliveries can be tracked in real time
• The internet, social networks and Skype – connects people and places across the world in real time which speeds up business between countries
• Mobile phones – countries that had limited communication infrastructure have skipped the telephone and moved straight to the mobile phone enabling them to connect with other places more effectively