Globalization is variously defined in the literature. Giddens (1990) sees it as "Intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa".
As Scholte (2005) explains "Globalization is best understood as reconfiguration of social geography market by the growth of transplanetary and supraterritorial connections between people". Although globalization is a relevantly new phenomenon it has been argued that we can track globalization back to the beginnings of human history. [1] Globalization has encouraged the growth of additional areas and forms of accumulation, non- state way of governance, and non- national ways of identity.
Friedman (1999) claims that "Globalization is not a phenomenon. It is not just some passing trend. Today it is an overarching international system shaping the domestic politics and foreign relations of virtually every country, and we need to understand it as such." He further says "[Globalization] can be incredibly empowering and incredibly coercive. It can democratize opportunity and democratize panic. It makes the whales bigger and the minnows stronger. It leaves you behind faster and faster, and it catches up to you faster and faster. While it is homogenizing cultures, it is also enabling people to share their unique individuality farther and wider."
