What is Globalisation and What Does it Do?

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• Makoto Nishibe (University of Hokkaido)
• Monday 28 January 2013, 20:00-22:00
• Clare College, Trinity Lane Cambridge, CB2 1TL, in the Latimer Room, in the Old Court.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Cambridge Social Ontology Group.

Drinks served from 19:30

The term ‘Globalization’ has been used as the magic word to describe the world socio-economy since the 1990s, but its theoretical definition is often unclear.

Obviously, its technical base can be seen in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) like Internet. Then, is Globalization related to deindustrialization, i.e., informatization and servicization since the 1970s? Is it realized as socioeconomic ‘Americanization’ (= American standardization) and/or emergence of geopolitical and warfare ‘Empire’ (Hardt-Negri)?

The focus of the present talk is rather on the socioeconomic sides of Globalization that are seen as the following seven trends. 1. Globalization of market economy, 2. Deregulation and libertization of markets, 3. Libertization of trades and investments, 4. Emergence of Transnational Corporations (TNC), 5. Development of transportation and communication technology, 6. Expansion and speculatization of international financial markets, 7. Decline of nation-states and regional economic integration.

Globalization is thus a complex composed of such several trends, but can be depicted as a single tendency towards expansion of Market (Exchange) and reduction of Community (Reciprocity) and State (Redistribution) in K. Polanyi’s terms. Globalization is now defined as manifestation of innate tendency of Market (commodification/ capitalization) to extensively expand and connotatively deepen in socio-economy.

Market tends to emerge between or outside Communities and States and internalize itself into them. We construct a model of three (external, internal and general) modes of commodification in terms of general goods as development of internalization of Market. Then we explain emergence and evolution of capitalistic market economy by applying the three modes of commodification to labour-power.

Finally, globalization is understood as the process of self-organization of capitalistic market economy in order to overcome the tendency of falling rate of profit caused by ‘fictitious capitalization’ of labour-power and revitalize itself by rebuilding the mutually beneficial relation between capital and labour for innovation.

This talk is part of the Cambridge Realist Workshop series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Cambridge Realist Workshop
• Cambridge Social Ontology Group (CSOG)
• Clare College, Trinity Lane Cambridge, CB2 1TL, in the Latimer Room, in the Old Court

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