ABSTRACT
This chapter examines main features, several perspectives on globalization and disagreement over whether or not it is positive or negative. Globalization's key features include the spread of communication and information technologies. The spread of global culture Globalization has been accompanied by the spread of culture, originally Western, featuring shared norms based on free-market or neoliberal capitalism, secularism, and consumerism. Knowledge and information are critical commodities in the global economy as societies seek to acquire skills and norms to compete in global markets. With the declining capacity of states and the reduced importance of territory, the role of identity based on features such as religion and ethnicity has grown in global politics. The proliferation and networking of intergovernmental and transnational nongovernment organizations have led some to suggest that a global civil society is beginning to coalesce. Critics claim that capitalism and privatization of public functions increase poverty in the developing world and economic inequality within and between countries.
