ABSTRACT
When the general population is brought into the equation, globalization as a concept and a phenomenon involves at least two aspects. That is, two interrelated questions can be raised: Have people ever heard of globalization? If yes, what do they think of it? These two apparently simple questions touch on the important issue of whether people are aware of the phenomenon of globalization or, more precisely, whether they are aware of the discursive resources that they might use to make sense of a range of phenomena that are happening in the world. This issue involves what Mills (2000) called the sociological imagination, or the quality of mind, through which the local evidence of consciousness of globalization (Hobsbawm, 1994) could be ascertained. If people are aware of the term “globalization,” they are more likely to actually observe and discern the social and cultural phenomena that point to the ways in which different parts of the world are becoming more interconnected. Even if they do not understand the complexity of the phenomenon or experience or the full forces of globalization, their conception of globalization, no matter how vague, at least demonstrates a realization of the world they live in or an appreciation for the location of their place vis-à-vis other places.
