Text 2. Three eras of Globalization

Excerpt from the book by Thomas L.Friedman "The World is Flat"

Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York 2005 pp.9-11

(video clip: http://music.nur.kz/clip-76003-lp4znWHvsjU-thomas-friedmans-three-eras-of-globalization)

PRE-READING

Activity 1. What do you know about globalization? Share with your group.

 

There have been three great eras of globalization. The first lasted from 1492 - when Columbus set sail, opening trade between the Old World and the New World – until around 1800. I would call this era Globalization 1.0. It shrank the world from a size large to a size medium. Globalization 1.0 was about countries and muscles. That is, in Globalization 1.0, the key agent of change, the dynamic force driving the process of global integration, was how much brawn - how much muscle, how much horsepower, wind power, or, later, steam power- your country had and how creatively you could deploy it. In this era, countries and governments (often inspired by religion or imperialism or a combination of both) led the way in breaking down walls and knitting the world together, driving global integration. In Globalization 1.0, the primary questions were: Where does my country fit into global competition and opportunities? How can I go global and collaborate with others through my country?

 

The second great era, Globalization 2.0, lasted roughly from 1800 to 2000, interrupted by the Great Depression and World Wars I and II. This era shrank the world from a size medium to a size small. In Globalization 2.0, the key agent of change, the dynamic force driving global integration, was multinational companies. These multinationals went global for markets and labor, spearheaded first by the expansion of the Dutch and English joint-stock companies and the Industrial Revolution. In the first half of this era, global integration was powered by falling transportation costs, thanks to the steam engine and the railroad, and in the second half by falling telecommunication costs – thanks to the diffusion of the telegraph, telephones, the PC, satellites, fiber-optic cable and the early version of the World Wide Web. It was during this era that we really saw the birth and maturation of a global economy, in the sense that there was enough movement of goods and information from continent to continent for there to be a global market, with global arbitrage in products and labor.

 

Right around the year 2000 we entered a whole new era: Globalization 3.0. Globalization 3.0 is shrinking the world from a size small to a size tiny and flattening the playing field at the same time. And while the dy­namic force of Globalization 1.0 was countries globalizing and the dynamic force in Globalization 2.0 was companies globalizing, the dynamic force in Globalization 3.0 is the newfound power for individualsto collaborate and compete globally. And the phenomenon that is enabling, empowering individuals and small groups to go global so easily and so smoothly is what I call the flat-world platform. Just a hint: The flat-world platform is the product of a convergence of the personal computer (which allowed every individual suddenly to become the author of his or her own content in digital form) with fiber-optic cable (which suddenly allowed all those individuals to access more and more digital content around the world for next to nothing) with the rise of work flow software.

 

But Globalization 3.0 differs from the previous eras not only in how it is shrinking and flattening the world and in how it is empowering individuals. It also is different in that Globalization 1.0 and 2.0 were driven primarily by European and American individuals and businesses. Even though China actually had the biggest economy in the world in the eighteenth century, it was Western countries, companies, and explorers who were doing most of the globalizing and shaping of the system. But going forward, this will be less and less true. Because it is flattening and shrink­ing the world, Globalization 3.0 is going to be more and more driven not only by individuals but also by a much more diverse - non-western, non-white-group of individuals. Individuals from every corner of the flat world are being empowered. Globalization 3.0 makes it possible for so many more people to plug in and play, and you are going to see every color of the human rainbow take part.

VOCABULARY FOCUS

 

Activity 2. Match the words and phrases with their definitions:

 

	agent of change	A	attempting to profit by exploiting price differences of identical or similar items on different markets or in different forms.
	flattening of the world	B	people of different races
	human rainbow	C	catalyst for change, the driving force of change
	diffusion	D	the software which helps automate business management routines
	work flow software	E	viewing the world as a level playing field
	arbitrage	F	the process by which molecules of a given substance move from an area of relatively high concentration to an area of lower concentration.

 

Activity 3. Give synonyms/antonyms:

 

word	synonym/antonym
1. shrink
2. brawn
3. diverse
4. deploy
5. maturation
6. empower

GRAMMAR FOCUS

Activity 4. Choose the correct word-form:

1) Globalization 1.0 shrank/had shrunk/is shrinking the world from a size large to a size medium.

2) While in Globalization 1.0 countries and governments led/had led/were leading the way in driving global integration, at the next stage it was/were/had been driven by multinational companies.

3) Globalization 1.0 lasted/had lasted/ lasting from 1492 until around 1800.

4) In Globalization 2.0, the key agent of change was/had been/were multinational companies.

5) During this era we really saw/had seen/see the birth and maturation of a global economy.

6) By now the multinationals went/have gone/go global for markets and labor.

7) Globalization 3.0 is going to be/will be/has been more and more driven by non-white individuals.

8) Globalization 3.0 has been/was/is flattening and shrink­ing the world.

Activity 5. Open the brackets:

1) There (be) three great eras of globalization.

2) In Globalization 1.0 countries (try) to fit into global competition and opportunities.

3) The multinationals went global for markets and labor after the Dutch and English joint-stock companies (expand).

4) Globalization 1.0 and 2.0 (drive) primarily by European and American individuals and businesses.

5) The flat-world platform _____ (empower) individuals and small groups to go global.

6) Individuals from every corner of the flat world (take part) in Globalization 3.0.

7) Due to globalization the worlds (shrink) from size large to size tiny.

WHILE-READING

Activity 6. Read the text and watch the video. Mark the following features as characteristic of a certain globalization stage (G1.0, G2.0, G 3.0):

1) ____ shrank the world from size small to size tiny.

2) ____ shrank the world from size large to size medium.

3) ____ shrank the world from size medium to size small.

4) ____ was driven by multinational companies.

5) ____ was driven by individuals.

6) ____ was driven by countries and governments.

7) ____ was powered by falling transportation and telecommunication costs.

8) ____ equalized people of different races.

9) ____ appeared thanks to fibre-optic cable, satellites, and so on.

Activity 7. Read the text and fill in the table:

Globalization stage	Time	Scale	Geographical spread	Agent of change	Factors
Globalization 1.0
Globalization 2.0
Globalization 3.0

 

Activity 8. Briefly characterize each stage of globalization.

POST-READING

Activity 9. Explain why they are called like computer programs (1.0, 2.0, 3.0).

Activity 10. Summarize the text using the table in Activity 5 and completing the sentence: The text highlights … in terms of their…

Activity 11. What do you think of the author’s approach to globalization? Do you agree with it? Why/not?

Activity 12. Do you think there will be Globalization 4.0 stage? Why/not? If yes, how do you picture it? Characterize it in terms of time, scale, etc. filling in the table below.

Globalization stage	Time	Scale	Geogr. spread	Agent of change	Factors
Globalization 4.0

TEXT 3. DIGITAL DIVIDE

Compiled by B.Jolamanova

(http://vecam.org/article549.html; http://www.lyakhov.kz/iguide/06/stats_kz.shtml;

http://gsf.inesnet.ru/?p=248)

 

edutopia.org

PRE-READING

Activity 1. What are the threats of IT development? Make a list and present it to the class. Then read the text and add to your list.

 

The term "digital divide" is relatively new. It came into the regular usage in the mid-1990s. The term was first used by the UN ICT Task Force, created after the 2003 Summit in Geneva (Camacho, 2006). Digital divide means the difference in access to ICTs between developed and developing countries as well as difference in access inside each country between different groups according to social status, education, age, race, language and gender (Wikipedia, 2008). This term implies disparity in access to technology, in resources and skills needed to use the latest achievements in IT.

Causes of digital divide

 

According to the World Conference on the Development of Telecommunications and Information the causes of this gap are low standards of living, high tariffs for the use of IT infrastructure in developing countries. Because of the bad economic situation, there aren’t enough possibilities to train good IT-specialists in developing countries. So brain drain occurs. It causes the increase in prices for IT-services and decrease in their usage.

 

The lack of education in developing countries and inside some groups in one country is another cause of digital divide. Uneducated people are unlikely to be interested in IT. They consider technologies as something difficult and unclear. All above mentioned can lead to a digital divide (World Conference on the Development of Telecommunications, 2002).