Globalisation connects economies, cultures, and societies across borders — creating opportunities for some while generating anxieties and resistance among others. — NCERT
7.1 What Is Globalisation?
Globalisation is the process of increasing interconnectedness across the world:
- Economic — trade, investment, finance, supply chains
- Political — international organisations, treaties, diplomacy
- Cultural — media, migration, spread of ideas and lifestyles
- Technological — internet, telecommunications, transport
Drivers include liberalisation of trade, advances in technology, and the end of Cold War bloc politics.
Key terms: interdependence, liberalisation, MNCs, global value chains
7.2 Economic Dimensions
Economic globalisation involves:
- Free trade — reduction of tariffs and quotas (WTO framework)
- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) — MNCs operating across borders
- Financial globalisation — capital flows, stock markets, currency trading
- Global supply chains — production fragmented across countries
Benefits: growth, technology transfer, consumer choice, poverty reduction in some regions.
Costs: job losses in uncompetitive industries, inequality, vulnerability to financial crises (2008).
7.3 Cultural and Political Dimensions
Cultural globalisation:
- Spread of Western media — Hollywood, social media platforms
- Cultural homogenisation vs. glocalisation — adapting global products locally
- Concerns about erosion of local languages and traditions
Political globalisation:
- Rise of international norms — human rights, democracy, environmental standards
- Governance gaps — global problems outpace national and international institutions
- Debates over sovereignty — do global rules limit democratic self-governance?
7.4 Resistance to Globalisation
Not everyone benefits equally — resistance takes many forms:
- Anti-globalisation protests — Seattle WTO protests (1999), World Social Forum
- Trade protectionism — tariffs, "America First" policies
- Cultural nationalism — defending local identity against Westernisation
- Labour movements — demanding fair wages and working conditions in global supply chains
- Environmental activism — opposing exploitative resource extraction
Resistance is not anti-connection — it often demands fairer globalisation.
7.5 India and Globalisation
India's experience since 1991 reforms:
- LPG policy — Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation
- Growth in IT, pharmaceuticals, services exports
- Rising middle class and consumer culture
- Rural distress — agricultural crisis, farmer protests
- Diaspora — NRIs as bridge between India and global economy
- Strategic autonomy — engaging global economy while maintaining policy independence
India is both a beneficiary and critic of globalisation — advocating reform of global institutions.
Chapter Summary
- Globalisation integrates economies, cultures, and politics across borders
- Economic globalisation brings growth and interdependence but also inequality and vulnerability
- Cultural and political globalisation spreads norms while provoking sovereignty concerns
- Resistance movements demand fairer trade, labour rights, and cultural preservation
- India's 1991 reforms opened the economy; benefits and costs remain debated
Exercises (NCERT)
- Exercise 1 — dimensions and drivers of globalisation
- Exercise 2 — economic benefits and costs of globalisation
- Exercise 3 — India's experience with globalisation since 1991