Blog 1: What is globalization - Jiwoo Jung

 1. What I Understood from the Reading and Class

Before taking this class, I usually thought globalization simply meant that countries around the world were becoming more connected. I mainly associated it with international trade, travel, the Internet, and the spread of products and culture from one country to another. I thought that the development of technology was basically making the world smaller.

However, after reading Roland Robertson and Kathleen E. White’s “What Is Globalization?” and discussing the topic in class, I realized that globalization is much more complicated than I had thought. The authors describe globalization as an “essentially contested concept,” meaning that there is no single definition that everyone agrees on. Different people can understand globalization from different perspectives.

What I found especially important was the authors’ explanation of globalization through two major tendencies: global connectivity and global consciousness. Connectivity means that people, societies, and countries are becoming increasingly connected through things such as communication, transportation, trade, and migration. But globalization is not only about these connections. It also involves becoming more conscious of the world as a whole.

I found the idea of global consciousness interesting because I had never really thought about globalization in this way. For example, when something happens in another country, I can find out about it almost immediately through social media or the news. Even though I am physically far away from that event, I can still feel that it is connected to the world I live in. In this sense, globalization is not just about countries being connected. It is also about how people begin to think about the world as a whole.

The reading also explains globalization through four dimensions: economic, political, social, and cultural. These dimensions are connected rather than completely separate. This made me realize that globalization cannot be understood only through international trade or the economy. Changes in the economy can affect culture and society, while political and social changes can also influence economic relationships.

2. What I Found Interesting

The part I found most interesting was the relationship between the global and the local. Before this class, I thought globalization would eventually make different countries and cultures more similar. If people around the world use the same platforms, watch the same content, and buy products from the same global companies, it seems natural to think that local differences might gradually disappear.

However, the reading presented a different perspective. The global and the local are not necessarily opposites. Global products and ideas can be changed and adapted depending on the local environment. The concept of “glocalization” helped me understand this relationship better.

I can easily see this in everyday life. For example, global food companies often change their menus depending on the country they operate in. The same global brand can therefore look quite different depending on where you encounter it. I think this shows that globalization does not necessarily mean that every country becomes exactly the same.

This also made me think about Korean culture. These days, Korean music, dramas, food, and beauty products are consumed in many different countries. However, people in each country may interpret and consume Korean culture in their own way. In some cases, they may even combine it with their own culture and create something new.

Because of this, I now think globalization can produce both similarity and difference at the same time. The world can become more connected while local cultures continue to maintain their own characteristics. That seemed more interesting to me than the simple idea that globalization just makes the whole world the same.

3. A Question and Discussion Angle

After reading the article, I started thinking about whether becoming more connected to the world is always the same thing as becoming more similar to the world.

For example, social media allows people from completely different countries to watch the same videos, listen to the same music, and communicate with each other almost instantly. In this sense, our experiences can become increasingly similar. At the same time, however, people interpret the same content based on their own language, culture, and experiences.

This made me wonder whether globalization is actually creating one global culture, or whether it is creating many different cultures that are increasingly connected to each other.

Main Question: If globalization makes people around the world more connected but local cultures continue to adapt global ideas in their own ways, are we actually becoming more culturally similar, or are we creating more new and mixed cultures?

AI Use: I used AI to help organize my ideas, improve grammar, and make some sentences clearer. The main ideas, examples, and questions in this post are based on my own understanding of the reading and class.