HISTORY OF GLOBALIZATION

The historical origins of globalization are the subject of ongoing debate. Though several
scholars situate the origins of globalization in the modern era, others regard it as a phenomenon
with a long history. Some authors have argued that stretching the beginning of globalization
far back in time renders the concept wholly inoperative and useless for political analysis. The
history can be divided in the following stages:-

Archaic globalization

Perhaps the most extreme proponent of a deep historical origin for globalization was Andre
Gunder Frank, an economist associated with dependency theory. Frank argued that a form of
globalization has been in existence since the rise of trade links between Sumer and the Indus
Valley Civilization in the third millennium BC. Critics of this idea contend that it rests upon an
over-broad definition of globalization.

Thomas L. Friedman divides the history of globalization into three periods: Globalization 1.0
(1492–1800), Globalization 2.0 (1800–2000) and Globalization 3.0 (2000–present). He states
that Globalization 1.0 involved the globalization of countries, Globalization 2.0 involved the
globalization of companies and Globalization 3.0 involves the globalization of individuals.

Proto-globalization

The next phase is known as proto-globalization. It was characterized by the rise of maritime
European empires, in the 16th and 17th centuries, first the Portuguese and Spanish Empires,
and later the Dutch and British Empires. In the 17th century, globalization became also a
private business phenomenon when chartered companies like British East India Company
(founded in 1600), often described as the first multinational corporation, as well as the Dutch
East India Company (founded in 1602) were established.

Modern globalization
The 19th century witnessed the advent of globalization approaching its modern form.
Industrialization allowed cheap production of household items using economies of scale while
rapid population growth created sustained demand for commodities. Globalization in this
period was decisively shaped by nineteenth-century imperialism. After the First and Second
Opium Wars, which opened up China to foreign trade, and the completion of the British
conquest of India, the vast populations of these regions became ready consumers of European
exports. It was in this period that areas of sub-Saharan Africa and the Pacific islands were
incorporated into the world system. Meanwhile, the conquest of new parts of the globe, notably
sub-Saharan Africa, by Europeans yielded valuable natural resources such as rubber, diamonds
and coal and helped fuel trade and investment between the European imperial powers, their
colonies, and the United States.

Between the globalization in the 19th and in the 20th there are significant differences. There
are two main points on which the differences can be seen. One point is the global trade in these
centuries as well as the capital, investment and the economy.

Aftermath of World War I: collapse of globalization

The first phase of "modern globalization" began to break down at the beginning of the 20th
century, with World War I. The European-dominated network were increasingly confronted
with images and stories of ‘others’, thus, then took it upon themselves to take the role of world’s
guardians of universal law and morality. Racist and unequal practices became also part of their
practices in search of materials and resources that from other regions of the world. The increase
of world trade before beginning in 1850 right before World War I broke out in 1914 were
incentives for bases of direct colonial rule in the global South. Since other European currencies
were becoming quite largely circulated, the need to own resource bases became imperative.
The novelist VM Yeates criticised the financial forces of globalization as a factor in creating
World War I. Financial forces as a factor for creating World War 1 seem to be partly
responsible. An example of this would be France’s colonial rule over most of Africa during the
20th century. Before World War I broke out, there was no specific aims for the wars in Africa
from the French, which left Africans in a “lost” state. Military potential of Africa was first to
be emphasized unlike its economic potential…at least at first. France’s interest in the military
potential of French Africa took a while to be accepted. Africans in the French army were treated
with feelings of inferiority from the French. As for the economic incentive for colonial rule
came in 1917 when France’s was faced with a crisis of food supply. This coming after the
outbreak of the war which had left France without the ability to support itself agriculturally
since France had a shortage of fertilizers and machinery in 1917.

Post-World War II: globalization resurgent

Globalization, since World War II, is partly the result of planning by politicians to break down
borders hampering trade. Their work led to the Bretton Woods conference, an agreement by
the world's leading politicians to lay down the framework for international commerce and
finance, and the founding of several international institutions intended to oversee the processes
of globalization. Globalization was also driven by the global expansion of multinational
corporations based in the United States and Europe, and worldwide exchange of new
developments in science, technology and products, with most significant inventions of this time
having their origins in the Western world according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. Worldwide
export of western culture went through the new mass media: film, radio and television and
recorded music. Development and growth of international transport and telecommunication
played a decisive role in modern globalization.

Globalization in India

Before the 90s India was probably one of the least preferred economies in the world. But 1991
saw the nation entering into a new phase of economic reforms under the stewardship of the
current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, then Finance Minister (1991-95). Call it the era of
globalization, Indian economy for the first time saw a fundamental shift from its socialist
ideologies. There were some signs of macro-economic changes during Rajiv Gandhi's era but
our economy was already damaged by then. The oil crisis in the 70s and the Gulf war in the
90s tipped the financial situation into a crisis where the foreign reserves were available only
for three weeks. Something drastic had to be done.

Manmohan Singh carves India's economy

This is where the then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh stepped in. In his historic budget
speech June 21, 1991, he announced a bold financial move of opening the markets.
"The grave economic crisis now facing our country requires determined action on the part of
Government. I suggest to this august House that the emergence of India as a major economic
power in the world happens to be one such idea. Let the whole world hear it loud and clear.
India is now wide awake. We shall prevail. We shall overcome."