Globalization: Myth and Reality

The paper takes Hirst, P., and Thompson, G., 1996, Globalization in Question as the basis for developing some arguments on the globalization debate. Following a summary of the book, the paper focuses on three points. Firstly the need to divorce the issue of globalism from the one on liberalism. Secondly, the authors’ thesis that very little has changed in the international scene in the last few decades, is criticised. It is argued that the major changes are due to the fact that integration is now brought about by the activities of transnational companies rather than through those of uninational companies. Moreover, the paper stresses that trade and foreign direct investment are complementary and they are both controlled by the transnational companies. In this perspective, the major change is seen as due to the fact that the new integration process takes on an ownership rather than a territory configuration. However, this could strengthen the potential for international collaboration in macroeconomic governance, at least among the developed countries. Thirdly, it is claimed that a major qualitative change in the new integration process is due to the dichotomy between those actors in the economic systems that have transnational power and those that do not.