The term globalization is commonly related to the interdependence between the world economies. Market capitalism was consolidated as the only viable economic choice after the fall of the communist regimes of Eastern Europe and the Chinese economic opening. During the ´80s and ´90s, national governments have liberalized and privatized different economic sectors previously controlled by the State: communications, transports, energy. the strategy was to create the best conditions for trade exchanges. From this point of view, economic efficiency is reached when a country is free to import the products it needs and to produce goods at competitive prices.
Thus the World Trade Organization was created in 1995 to substitute the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), in order to favour the elimination or reduction of restrictions to trade. As a matter of fact, the increasing commercial movements all over the world have been the basis of a strong economic growth during the past twenty years. In the days of crisis, however, world markets seem to come back to protectionist policies.
Moreover, multinational corporations play a leading role in the globalization process due to their enormous resources. Large enterprises operate internationally, since they are able to purchase raw materials in the region of the globe where they are available, to manufacture different products in different countries, and to sell them anywhere.
Nevertheless, the concept of globalization is not limited to economy. Multinational corporations supply the international markets with similar and well-known brands, which are easily identified worldwide (for example a pair of Nike or a can of Coke). Cultural globalization actually concerns the American social and cultural model. Consumer society goes beyond the basic needs of people and takes a socio-cultural aspect, thanks to mass media and global corporations. From fast food (McDonalds, Pizza Hut), beverages (Coca-Cola), clothes (blue jeans, T-shirts) to music, educational models and malls, the existence of common cultural elements is evident everywhere. English has actually become a universal language.
Technological advances since the end of WWII have radically transformed social and cultural relations, above all through the improvement of communications. The creation of the microchip at the end of the 50s made it possible to store a huge amount of data on a reduced space. It paved the way for most of current inventions, such as computers, which simplify all aspects of everyday life, mobile phones that are able to connect virtually the entire globe using a network of satellites, and so on. The Internet, created at the end of the '80s for academic purposes, nowadays allows access to all kind of information sources and the exchange of knowledge. Information and knowledge have become the pillars of the so-called information society, where the economic basis is related to a number of products ranging from education to research and development.
Although universal cultural patterns spread, economic globalization as a model of economic success is restricted to developed countries. Nowadays one billion people are on the verge of famine, are illiterate and/or without access to basic medical or sanitation services. On the other hand, the world trade system has been accused to favour only exports of manufactured goods and not the raw materials or agricultural products exported by the less-developed countries. As a matter of fact, anti-globalization movements reject trade agreements and multinational corporations as instruments of an unfair economic structure.
