Globalization

You may not have realized it, but we live in a world defined by globalization. Whether you’ve been listening to the British artist Adele, watching a soccer match taking place in South Africa, or using a blender that was made in Singapore, you have been taking part in a widespread and complex global system. It has become such an integral part of our lives that we hardly think about how this system came to be and what the historical consequences have been.

Because of the importance and centrality of globalism in our world today, you would be wise to believe that it’s one of those concepts that are going to show up on the AP World History exam!

The global system that we live in has a long and complicated history. But don’t worry! That’s why we’ve created this AP World History crash course and globalization. This AP World History review is going to cover everything you’ll need to know for the test, leaving out all of the unimportant details while focusing on those concepts that are going to help you the most.

Without further ado, let’s take a trip around the globe and learn a thing or two about globalization!

What is Globalization?

Like we mentioned above, globalization is going to pop up on the AP World History exam. Very simply, globalization refers to the growing interaction between different parts of the world. As technology and medicine have improved, the population has grown. The world has been more interconnected not only in terms of money, but in terms of people. Advances in transportation technology have allowed people to move in search of greater opportunities. This has brought benefit to many, and enriched the cultures of many countries, but has also caused resentment towards other cultures and peoples, and increased racial and ethnic tensions. Globalization has included the movement of cultures, ideas, technology, peoples, etc. The list is really endless. But this has been a historical process as well, one that has generally grown quite a bit over the last 500 years. It has also drastically changed our lives. The effects of globalization have ranged from being able to connect with your friends on the internet to eating corn that was grown in China.

How Should You Study Globalization?

Trying to learn about such a loaded term like globalization can seem a bit daunting at first. But it really isn’t all that bad if you break it down into separate components.

What follows is a list of the ways you should think about the term globalization as you continue through your AP World History review and studies.

Periodization

First thing’s first: when did globalization start? This is actually a very debatable topic. Historians have discussed the true origins of what we’ve come to understand as globalization for some time now. But for the purposes of the AP World History exam, globalization mostly refers to the modern era, or the 19th century to the current moment.

Historians do generally agree that the era of Global Interactions helped to spark the processes of globalization but the full effects did not take off full steam until Industrialization became a more common part of our daily lives.

For example, you should be aware of the ways that the Age of Exploration helped to make the world a smaller place. Explorers like Christopher Columbus opened Asia, Europe, and Africa to a new era of interaction with the New World. This included the introduction of foodstuffs like the potato into Old World diets and the exploitation of African enslaved labor in New World Plantations.

However, when Industrialization took off in Europe and North America in the 19th century, all of these things multiplied across the board.

Causes of Globalization

Like we mentioned above, the more humans explored the globe, the more close knit global interactions became. This is the fundamental building block of globalization. But where the Age of Exploration was limited to ship and sail, the Industrial Revolution made global interaction much easier.

Inventions like the steam-powered ship, the locomotive, and electricity all shrunk the world. Soon, Americans could cross the United States coast to coast in a matter of days when it used to take months; rubber from Brazil could be harvested from a company headquartered in Great Britain due to the use of the internet in business management; and cod from Norway could be shipped to Germany without spoiling thanks to refrigerated shipping containers. Inventions like these have been on the rise since the Industrial Revolution. As industry and technology keep bringing new forms of communication, travel, and exchange, globalization extends its reach.

For example: cell phones allow texting across the world in an instant, refrigerated trucks allow you to eat food from around the world, and airplanes can get you almost anywhere you desire. Almost every aspect of our economy, culture, and political situation is now related to global events.

Economic Globalization

Have you ever noticed that some of your clothes/gadgets/consumer goods have been manufactured in Singapore? How about China? That’s because inventions from the Industrial Revolution and onward have allowed for the increase in the commerce of goods across the globe. A company owned in the United States can have a product manufactured in Japan and sold in the French marketplace. This arrangement would have been close to impossible 500 years ago.

But this is only a minor example of how global economics have shifted since the Industrial Revolution. By just observing data regarding port of Shanghai proves the global interactions of the economy. The port opened in the 19th century thanks to new innovations in seaport technology and now ships around 750 tons of goods across the globe. The manufactured goods themselves did not originate from the Port of Shanghai, but from the entire Pacific region.

Commerce isn’t that only aspect of the global economy that has made our modern world seem smaller. Global corporations are now commonplace as well. You can find a Coca-Cola product nearly anywhere across the globe. Or if you wanted to eat at McDonald’s while in Japan, that is now a possibility.

There have also been major international economic institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank that have sought to regulate the ways that international economics operate worldwide. These too have helped to create a world in which global economics are interconnected.

Cultural Globalization

Economic Globalization is perhaps the easiest aspect of our global world to think about, but you are also going to need to consider the increase of cultural interaction for the AP World History exam.

American television shows now air to viewers across the world. Yoga is seen as a fitness activity in the English-speaking world. On top of this, pop-music has become the norm from Russia to South Africa.

This has had the dual effect of linking a diverse world, where modern peoples can experience the ideas and beliefs of those they may never even have the chance to meet. It’s not all been evenhanded, however, as Westernization has started to overtake the ethnic and cultural identities of those across the globe.

Political Globalization

The spread of global politics has also been a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, countries have come together to form ultra-mega organizations like the United Nations and the European Union, creating links that unify. But events like the Cold War put global politics into the realm of competitive us-vs-them moments that often resulted in war and economic catastrophe.

There has also been a trend known as global citizenship, where people across the globe have viewed their political fates as being the same. So, instead of identifying as part of a single nation, they believe that all people are global actors and that our actions can touch everyone around the world.

Globalization and the AP World History Exam

As we’ve shown in this AP World History Crash Course, globalization has been one massive undertaking that has taken place over the last several hundred years and literally occurred across the entire world. We know that there is a lot to soak in when it comes to this topic, but there are a few things that you are going to want to keep in mind for the AP World History exam. First, remember that globalization isn’t really pinned down to one period. A good historian would know that this is a slippery subject that can actually be applied to several points in World History. For example, you could argue that the Age of Exploration was in fact an example of globalization well before the modern era. Goods were shipped from across the globe, people traveled to new places, and international businesses linked several continents together. So, always remember that this is a complicated term and is most definitely up for debate, especially when it comes to periodization. While we are thinking of complicated, it would be a good idea to always remember the good and bad. Sure, globalization has meant that you can get Japanese sushi in a place like Germany, but that has also meant that local German cuisine has become less popular and suffered in the process. The same can be applied to the spread of international corporations and increased international political activities.