The Contemporary World (Reviewer)

Module 1: Introduction to Globalization

Globalization
• is a process of interaction and integration among the people.
• is a kind of process which every nation interacts with each other in order to
achieve global unity
• is derived from the word “globalize” which refers to the emergence of an
international network of economic systems.
Global economic imperialism (Brazalote et. al 2019) simply a situation in which one
nation assumes economic power or influence over the others.
Global village describes the phenomenon of the entire world becoming more
interconnected as the result of the propagation of media technologies throughout the
world.

Factors of Globalization
1. Economic globalization refers to the increasing interdependence of world economies
as a result of the growing scale of cross-border trade of commodities and services,
flow of international capital and wide and rapid spread of technologies. (Shangquan,
2000)
2. Military Globalization - According to David Held, military globalization is “the process
which embodies the growing extensity and intensity of military relations among the
political units of the world system.
3. Cultural globalization is the transmission of ideas, meanings, and values around the
world in such a way to extend and intensify social relations. This process is marked by
the consumption of cultures that have been diffused by the Internet, popular culture
media and international level. (Martinez, et.al 2018)
• Based on the article made by David Volodzko (2015) entitled “Globalization spells
the death of minority cultures”,
4. Ecological Globalization Based on an article published by Ecological Society of
America (2008) entitled “Ecological Globalization”, it said that “Because of increasing
globalization, people often inadvertently introduce nonnative plants, animals and
diseases into new locations.
Globalization and the politics. Through globalization, political issues such as the
rights of women and children are now currently often discussed. Also, through
globalization, many laws are now already implemented regarding to the issues on the
rights of women and children. Globalization has also a negative effect in politics. In
fact, “Globalization has internationalized crimes. Drug trafficking and the trafficking
of women and children have become much more difficult to control because of their
international character. Not only crimes globalized, but also disease” (Muzaffar 1998)
Globalization with technology. Nowadays, technology really plays a huge part in the
life of every individual. Also, through the advancement of technology we can now
already communicate with the others despite the distance that separates us and
through our technology today, the process of globalization is now taking place much
faster.
 Module 2: Structures of Globalization
Section 1. The Global Economy
• focuses on the process of making the world economy an integral element of a
whole. Also, it elaborates on the important players of economic globalization.
Globalization is multi-dimensional phenomenon, creating economic, political, cultural
and even technological forms of connectivity.
1. Economic globalization refers to the expanding interdependence of world
economies. In the Philippines, cross-border trading can be best illustrated by the
country’s trading partnerships with China, the United States and Australia.
2. Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) a type of investment in which a company
establishes a business in another country for production of goods or services and
still takes part in the management of that business. For example, Toyota Motor
Philippines Corporation which is a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation based
in Toyota Japan.
3. Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) a type of investment in which a company
establishes a business in another country for production of goods or services and
still takes part in the management of that business.
4. International Monetary Fund (IMF) defined economic globalization as a historical
process, the result of human innovation and technological progress
5. Silk Road a network of trades routes that connected the East particularly China
and the West

Four Dimensions of Economy Benczes (2014)

1. Globalization Of Trade and Goods
• demonstrated in the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that
eases trade among countries.
2. Globalization Of Financial and Capital Markets
• is evident in the liberalization of financial markets and capital markets.
3. Globalization Of Technology and Communication
• emphasizes that various transactions and interactives that transpire instantly due to
the internet and communication technology.
4. Globalization Of Production
• best illustrated by the existence of multinational corporations (MNCs) and the
transnational corporations (TNCs).
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY SYSTEM (IMS) is one of the actors that facilitate economic
globalization. IMS refers to internationally agreed rules, conventions and institutions for
facilitating international trade, investments and flow of capital among nations states.

Three International Monetary System (IMS)

1. Gold Standard functions as a fixed exchange rate regime, with gold as the only
international reserve and participating countries determine the gold content of
national currencies.
2. Bretton Woods System, the US dollar was the only convertible currency
• International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) known as World
Bank responsible for funding postwar reconstruction project and International
Monetary Fund (IMF) which was to be global lender of last resort to prevent
individual countries from spiraling into credits crises.
3. European Monetary was a multilateral adjustable exchange rate agreement in
which most of the nations of the European Economic Community linked their
currencies to prevent large fluctuations in relative value.

Second Section: Market Integration

Two Types of International Financial Institutions
1. Intergovernmental
2. Private
• The World Bank is an intergovernmental institution. Its aim to extreme poverty and
promote shared prosperity in a sustainable way. (worldbank.org)
Five Organizations That Belong to World Bank Group
1. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development,
2. International Development Association,
3. International Financial Corporation,
4. Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
5. International Center for Settlement and Investment and Disputes.
• In 1960s, regional development banks were established: Asian Development Bank
(ADB) and the Africa Development Bank (AfDB). These two are intergovernmental
financial institutions that were created to spur social progress and economic growth
in order to address and reduce poverty.
• There are also private international financial institutions such as Citigroup and Merril
Lynch. Citigroup is an American multinational investment banking financial
corporation. It is the fourth largest bank in the US (citigroup.com). On the other
hand, Merril Lynch is the wealth management division of the Bank of America.
Both institutions

Global market integration is a result of the establishment of a global economy that

involved the homogenization of trade commerce

Iwan (2012) identifies the differences among international, multinational,

transnational and global companies.:
●International companies are importers and exporters with no investments outside
their home countries.
● Multinational companies (MNCs) have investments in other countries, but do not
have a coordinated product offering in each country. They are more focused on
adapting their products and services to each individual local market.
• Global companies have investments and are present in many countries. They
typically market their products and services to each individual local market.
• Transnational companies (TNCs) are more complex organizations that have
investment in foreign operations, have a central corporate facility but give decision-
 making, research and development and marketing powers to each individual foreign
market.

Third Section: The Global Interstate System

• Weber (1997) describes the state as a compulsory political organization with a
centralized government that maintains the legitimate use of force within a certain
territory
• Nation emphasizes the organic ties that hold groups of people together and inspire
a sense of loyalty and belonging—i.e., ethnicity, language, religion, and others
(Schattle 2014).
• Combining these two, a nation-state can then be defined as a political community
that emanates from civic society basis of the people’s oneness.

Effects of Globalization to Nation-State

1. globalization is seen to impose a forced choice upon nation-states. Fear from left
behind, the nation-state in contemporary age is forced to submit themselves to the
demands of globally accepted free-market principles.
2. the establishment of economic and political integrations. One good example is
European Union and North America Free Trade Agreement.
3. is the establishment of international laws and principles. This is observable in the
establishment of the UN that operates as a forum for nation-states to air their
differences and try to resolve them. Two of them are the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea.
4. the rise of transnational activities (TNA). Such happens when activist groups of
nation-states connect with their counterparts in other countries.
5. the creation of new communications network. Globalization binds communities
through digital media. People can exchange political perspective through the
internet, therefore stirring political discourse on an online platform.

Intergovernmental Organization (IGOs) were established to facilitate connections

among nation-states their aim is to foster strong economic, political, cultural,
educational and technical intergovernmental relationships.
❖ Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 1967. It aims are:
• to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the
region
• promote regional progression
• advance peace and sustainability
• promote active and beneficial cooperation and mutual assistance on matters of
common interest in economic, technical, cultural, administrative and scientific fields
• provide assistance to each other in the framework of training and research
installations in the educational, professional, technical and administrative spheres
• work hand in hand for more effective and greater use of agriculture and industries
• advance Southeast Asian Research
• preserve close and beneficial collaboration with current international and regional
institutions with similar aims and purposes
 ❖ European Union 1993
• to promote peace, its values and the wellbeing of the citizens
• offer freedom, security and justice without internal borders
• uphold sustainable development based on balanced economic growth and price
stability
• combat social exclusion and discrimination
• promote scientific and technological progress
• enhance economic, social and territorial cohesion and solidarity among member
countries
• establish an economic and monetary union

❖ The World Trade Organization (WTO)

• to ensure that trade runs as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible. It also
encourages trade by lowering trade barriers that may hinder how products and
services flow from nation to nation.

➢ Internationalism is basically anchored on the opinion that nationalism should

be outrun because links that bind people of different countries are more
powerful than those that disconnect them (Anora 2014).
➢ Liberal internationalism (Immanuel Kant, 1795) proposes that nations must
give up their freedom and submit to larger system of laws that is embodied by
common international principles.
➢ Social internationalism on the other hand is on the view that capitalism is a
global system and that the working class must unite as a global class to forward
the struggle against capitalism.
➢ Globalism emerged an attitude that seeks to understand all the
interconnections of the modern world and to highlight patterns that underline
them.
➢ Global interstate system is a facet of contemporary political globalization that
seeks to form collaboration among nation-states through the establishment of
intergovernmental organizations.

Section 4: Contemporary Global Governance

➢ Weiss & Thakur (2014) describe global governance as the totality of norms, laws,
policies and bodies that define, comprise and facilitate transnational relations
between citizens, states, cultures, intergovernmental, and non-governmental
organizations.
➢ United Nations (UN) has the most number of members among the established
global systems, this section discusses its organs, roles and functions.

UN Six Organs
1. General Assembly - Is the central deliberative and the only organ where all
member-state have equal representation in discussion and consideration
and policy making.
2. Security Council - Is the organ which has the commitment to preserve peace
and security.
 3. Economic and Social Council - It is the main organ for cooperation, policy
review, policy dialogue and advice on social, economic and environmental
issues.
4. Trusteeship Council - It is the organ tasked to administer international
oversight for 11 trust territories and make sure that adequate procedures
are taken for independence and self-government.
5. International Court of Justice - UN’s prime judicial organ.
6. Secretariat - Organ tasked to execute the daily activities as assigned by the
five other organs.
UN Central Mission
● To maintain international peace and security
UN Central Mission
● To maintain international peace and security.

Module 3: A World Regions

Section 1: The Global Divides: North and South
• Latin America -Countries that were colonized by the Spaniards in the southern
part of the American continent.
• By virtue of the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, the newly discovered lands outside
Europe were divided into two-the West belonging to the Crown of Castile (now
part of Spain) and the East belonging to the Portuguese Empire.
• The Global South refers to the socio-economic and political divide primarily
focused on the southern hemisphere of the 1569-designed Mercatorian map. It
consists of Africa, Latin America, and Asia including the Middle East.
• The Global North also connotes developing countries as opposed to rich,
industrialized, and wealthy nations. On the contrary, the Global North is the home
of all members of the Group of Eight (G8)- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
United Kingdom, Russia, and the United States of America

Section 2: Asian Regionalism

• In 2016, China was the world’s leading exporter of goods valued at $1.99 trillion,
followed by the United States with $1.45 Trillion (Dillinger, 2018)
• Association of Southeast Asian Nations 5 or the ASEAN 5 (Indonesia, Malaysia,
Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand) had an average of 6.3% and 5.1% GDP growth,
respectively, compared to the world average growth of 3.5% as of 2016 (Obiols,
2017)
• Regionalization, on the other hand, is “the growth of societal integration within a
region and to the often-undirected processes of social and economic interaction”
(Hurrel, 1995)
• Regionalism refers to regional concentration of economic flows while
regionalization refers to a political process by economic policy if cooperation and
coordination are present among countries (Mansfield & Wilmer, 1993)
 • Asian regionalism is a new concept among the continental communities. New to
cooperation and collaboration goals, it has the 50-year-old ASEAN group and the
failed East Asia Economic Group (EAEG)
• The ASEAN community is comprised of three pillars (political security community,
economic community, and socio-cultural community)
ASEAN+3
• Malaysia
• Burma
• Brunei
• Singapore
• Cambodia
• Laos (Lao People’s Democratic Republic)
• Indonesia (India)
• Philippines
• Thailand
• Vietnam
• China
• Japan
• South Korea

Its goal is to address the 1997 Asian financial crisis and help each other cope with
the crisis. In this context, ASEAN has concretized regionalism in the Asian region
• The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a free trade pact between
Canada and the United States (now including Mexico), was created to help reduce
trading costs, increase business investment, and help North America be more
competitive in the global marketplace (NAFTA, 2018).
• The European Union (EU) is a political and economic established to ensure free
movement of people, goods, services, and capital within the EU’s single market (EU,
2018a)
Aspects of ASEAN Integration
• First, integration has been market-driven.
• Second, formal institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) were
established.
• Third, economic grants and overseas development assistance are made available
by better Asian economies
• Fourth, production networks have expanded.
• Fifth, cooperation among the ASEAN and East Asian countries ensued the ASEAN
+3 Financial Ministers’ Process that established two economic structures the
Chiang Mai Initiative and the Asian Bond Markets Initiative.
• Last, if EU is rules-based, ASEAN follows a consensus rule as an approach to
decision making
 ASEAN Declaration Aims and Purposes
1) To accelerate economic growth, social progress, and cultural development in
the region;
2) To promote regional peace and stability;
3) To promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common
interest;
4) To provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research
facilities;
5) To collaborate more effectively for the greater utilization of their agriculture
and industries;
6) To expand trade, improve their transportation and communications facilities,
and raise the living standards of their people;
7) To promote Southeast Asian Studies; and
8) To maintain close and beneficial cooperation

Module 4: A World of Ideas

Section 1: The Global Culture and Media
• MEDIA is a carrier of culture. It is a tool for the interaction of people with different cultures. However, the real
media is the people.
• Media and Its Functions Lule describes media as “a means of conveying something, such as a channel of
communication.
• Culture refers to the unified style of human knowledge, beliefs, and behavior from which people learn, and the
ability to communicate knowledge to the next generations

Five Stages of Media Development, (Lule, 2014)

● It all started with oral communication language allowed humans to
communicate and share information
• The next stage is the invention of script. Distance became a hindrance to oral
communication. Script allowed humans to communicate over a larger space
and for a much longer duration.
• Next followed the printing press. The introduction of the printing press allowed
the continuous production, reproduction, and circulation of print materials.
• Another stage is the emergence of electronic media as characterized by its use
of electricity. Electronic media includes the telegraph, telephone, radio, film,
and television.
• The last stage is the digital media which relies on digital codes. It can be
created, modified, and stored in any digital electronic device. Digitalized
content is transmitted over the internet and computer networks.

Influence of Media Globalization to Culture, (Pieterse, 2004)

• Cultural differentialism views cultural difference as immutable. As the West
and non-Western civilizations interact or are brought in contact through
globalization, clash of civilizations such as that of the West and Islam logically
follows.
 • Cultural convergence suggests that globalization engenders a growing sameness of cultures. However, the
culture of powerful and progressive countries becomes culture. Take the example of Kpop culture.
• Cultural hybridity suggests that globalization spawns an increasing and ongoing mixing of cultures.
• Glocalization, coined from globalization and localization, is a rather new concept brought about by the
increased frequency of contact among cultures. This reinforces the fact that local cultures are not weak,
static, or fixed; they are built and understood anew each day in a globalized world (Lule, 2014).
• Critiques of Cultural Imperialism Proponents of the idea of cultural imperialism ignored the fact that media
messages are not just made by producers, they are also consumed by audiences.

Social Media and the Creation of Cyber Ghettoes

• Social media also have their dark side. In the early 2000s, commentators began
referring to the emergence of a “splinternet” and the phenomenon of
“cyberbalkanization” to refer to the various bubbles people place themselves in
when they are online.

Section 2: The Globalization of Religion

• Religion plays a vital role in the lives of Filipinos for their values are anchored on it. It
has affected their attitudes, characters, and perspectives in life. This truth is not
exclusive to Filipinos.
Effects of Globalization to Religion
1. Globalization gave rise to religious nationalism that came about after the Second
World War. Nationalism was closely associated with particular religious’ beliefs and
affiliations.
2. Globalization led to the turn of religion into public life as a reaction to post-World
War II modernism. The often-forceful entrance of religious traditions, such as the
Catholic liberation theology and Islamic fundamentalism, from private sphere into
public life (Cassanova, 1994) is a good example of this.
3. Globalization affected the proliferation of international terrorism. For one,
religious extremism—a type of political violence anchored on the belief that a
supreme being grants violence in the act of glorifying one’s faith Martin, 2017)—has
become a central issue faced by the global community. Extremists believe that it is
their duty to fulfill God’s will through violence.
4. Globalization prompted the increase of individual religiosity brought about by the
individual’s need to rely on his or her beliefs and relationship with the supreme
being.
Four Models of Religion-Culture Interaction
1. Vernacularization refers to the blending of universal religions with local
languages. For instance, Arabic is used as Islam’s sacred language even outside
the Arab world, while Greek and Bobo Latin remains to be the primary languages
of Christianity.
2. Indigenization transforms a universal religion to suit the specifics of a particular
ethnic group. An example is the practice of Islam by various ethnic groups in the
Zamboanga peninsula.
3. Nationalization constructs a link between the nation and church. Religious
institutions relate to national identities and the realities of that nation. Being
part of the nation means belonging to its national church.
 4. Transnationalization has complemented religious nationalization by focusing
groups on identifying specific religious traditions of real or imagined national
homelands.

Module 5: Global population and mobility

Section 1: The Global City
Globalization as Spatial
• Globalization is spatial because it occurs in physical spaces.
• Globalization is spatial because what makes it move is the fact that it is based in
places.

The Different Characteristics of Globality

1. the cultural diversity of the people
2. existence of a center of economy
3. geographic dispersal of economic activities that marks globalization
4. global reach performance.
The Challenges of Global Cities
● Global cities conjure up images of fast-paced, exciting, cosmopolitan lifestyles. Cities
are like broader processes of winners and losers

Section 2: The global demography

• Demography is a field in statistics that is concerned with births, deaths, incomes or the incidence of disease,
which later illustrates the changing structure of human populations.
• 7,953,000,000 2022 World Human Population Projection of UN
• 109,035,343 Philippine Population as of March 2020 released on March 2022 by PSA
Section 3: The Global Migration
What is Migration?

● There are two types of migration: internal migration, and international migration.

• First, are those who move permanently to another country (immigrants).

• The second refers to workers who stay in another country for a fixed period (at least 6 months in a year).
• Illegal migrants comprise the third group.
• Fourth are migrants whose families have “petitioned” them to move to the destination county.
• The fifth group are refugees.

BOARD EXAM CONCEPTS

• Philippine Oldest City – CEBU CITY
• Oldest City of the World - Jericho, Palestinian Territories
• Palawan – largest province
• Batanes – smallest province
• Palayan city/Nueva Ecija – least populous city
• Manila – most densely populated city
• Puerto Princesa City/Isabela – most sparcely populated city (dikit ang tao)
• Davao city – largest city
• San Juan city – smallest city
• Pateros – smallest municipality
• New York – city that never sleeps
• Las Vegas – sin city of the world
• Vatican City – world’s smallest city/country
• Paris – city of romance

Module 5: Towards a Sustainable World

Section 1: The Sustainable Development Goals
• Sustainable Development has been defined as development that meets the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.

SDG Core Elements

• Economic growth
• social inclusion
• environmental protection
WCED Critical Objectives:
1) reviving growth;
2) changing the quality of growth;
3) meeting essential needs for jobs, food, energy, water, and sanitation;
4) ensuring a sustainable level of population;
5) conserving and enhancing the resource base;
6) reorienting technology and managing risks;
7) merging environment and economics in decision-making

17 Goals to Transform the World

1. No Poverty - "End poverty in all its forms everywhere".
2. Zero Hunger - "End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and
promote sustainable agriculture".
3. Good Health and Well-being - "Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being
for all at all ages".
4. Quality Education - "Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and
promote lifelong learning opportunities for all".
5. Gender Equality - "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and
girls".
6. Clean Water and Sanitation - "Ensure availability and sustainable
management of water and sanitation for all"
7. Affordable and Clean Energy - "Ensure access to affordable, reliable,
sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth - "Promote sustained, inclusive and
sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent
work for all".
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure - "Build resilient infrastructure,
promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation".
10. Reduced Inequalities - "Reduce income inequality within and among
countries".
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities - "Make cities and human settlements
inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable".
12. Responsible Consumption and Production - "Ensure sustainable consumption
and production patterns".
13. Climate Action - "Take urgent action to combat climate change and its
impacts by regulating emissions and promoting developments in renewable
energy".
14. Life Below Water - "Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and
marine resources for sustainable development “.
15. Life on Land - "Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial
ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and
reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss".
16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions - "Promote peaceful and inclusive
societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and
build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels".
17. Partnerships for the Goals - "Strengthen the means of implementation and
revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development"
World’s Leading Environmental Problem
1. Depredation
2. Changes in global weather patterns
3. Overpopulation
4. Exhaustion of the world’s natural nonrenewable resources.
5. Waste disposal catastrophe
6. Destruction of million-year-old ecosystems and the loss of biodiversity
7. Reduction of oxygen and the increase in carbon dioxide
8. Depletion of the ozone layer
9. Deadly acid rain
10. Water pollution
11. Pandemics and other threats to public health
12. Radical alteration of food systems

Section 2: Food Security

• Food is a basic necessity for survival
• Food security, defined as the “physical and economic access, at all times, to
sufficient, safe, and nutritious food for people to meet their dietary needs and
food preferences for an active and healthy life
• Economic and agricultural reforms have proven viable in addressing food security
issues like in the case of China, one of the most populated countries in the world.
• One of the contributing factors that further cripples and weakens food security
both on a domestic and international level is armed conflict.
• Hunger also leads to conflict and, as mentioned, leads to an increased shortage in
food