People would often see globalization as some form of

interdependence fuelled by “new technologies” such as

computers, transportation and communication:

- The problem lies in the idea that these technological

advances, albeit three decades in existence, created the
point that globalization is a relatively “new” concept
- These gradual advances are essentially gradual processes
with deep historical roots, that can be traced with the
development of human civilization
- Technology provides only a partial explanation for the
existence of contemporary forms of globalization, though
it would be fair enough to say that they contributed in the
way social interconnections are being done today
The answer to the question of whether globalization
constitutes a new phenomenon depends upon how far we are
willing to extend the chain of causation:

- The last four decades of post-industrialism

- Groundbreaking developments in the 19th century
(Industrial Revolution)
- A continuation and expansion of complex processes with
the emergence of the capitalist world system some five
centuries ago
- Not measured by decades or centuries but by millenia
Globalization is as old as humanity itself.

- This brief historical sketch identifies five distinct

historical periods that are separated from each other by
significant accelerations in the pace of social exchanges as
well as a widening of their geographical scope
- technological and social advances
- continuity with the novelty
- transcended human society and culture
Prehistoric Period (10,000 BCE - 3,000 BCE)

- The settlement of all major continents were all but

complete, thus the global dispersion of humans were
achieved
- Migration that was started several million years
ago/humans crossing land bridges that connected
continents before
- Long journeys were primarily done as a way of finding
food sources as early human civilizations are nomadic in
nature, maximizing whatever resources that they have
until there were none and moved on to the location
Prehistoric Period (10,000 BCE - 3,000 BCE)

- Production of food changed the society as it paved the way in the

creation of communities that eventually evolved into states that we
know today as humans settled on areas that were highly farmable
- Societies evolved as farming societies are able to create two additional
social classes
- full time craft specialists: creation of new technologies
- professional bureaucrats/soldiers: organization and
management, creation of policies

 Globalization is severely limited during this period; long distance

interactions never materialized
Premodern Period (3,500 BCE - 1,500 BCE)

- Writing and the invention of the wheel were seen as a boost

in that took globalization to a new level
- the wheel facilitated a more efficient and faster transport of
people and goods
- writing influenced the coordination of complex social
activities and state formation

• Age of empires
• The Chinese Empire was seen as the epitome of all early
civilizations, with its enduring and most advanced
technological advances that revealed the early dynamics of
globalization i.e trade, innovations/inventions, explorations
Premodern Period (3,500 BCE - 1,500 BCE)

• Trade opened up new waves of migration

• Increase in population and expansion of urban centers
• New interactions brought about new problems i.e. spread of
disease among the people, clashes of culture
Early Modern Period (1500-1750)

• Characterized by the Reformation of the Church and the Age

of Exploration among European kingdoms such as Spain and
Portugal
• creation of inter-regional markets/discovery of new routes as
to make trade more profitable and faster
• national joint stock companies such as the Dutch and British
East India Company, slave trades, forced population transfers

* All of these became the building blocks of what we call the

capitalists system today.
Modern Period (1750-1970)

- Continued expansion, with Australia and the Pacific Islands

coming into fold
- Racism became apparent inspite of what Western powers
claim as “civilizational leadership”
- Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
- Trade volume grew between 1850 and 1914
- New technologies such as electricity and petroleum
modernized the way transportation and trade were done
- Population explosion - United States, Canada and Australia
- World Wars I and II paved the way for decolonization
Contemporary Period (1970-present)

- Globalization is not a single process but a set of processes

that operate simultaneously and unevenly on several levels
and in various dimensions
- Application of analytical distinctions in order to make sense
of the web of global interdependencies