Using these Study Sources A and B and your own knowledge, distinguish between political and economic globalization.
Source A
(A) Globalization as a historical epoch: In this context, globalization is a specific period of history - rather than a sociological phenomenon or a theoretical framework. It is broadly dated from the beginning of detente and the end of the Cold War, and is immortalized in the destruction of the Berlin wall....
(B) Globalization as a confluence of economic phenomena: Alternatively, globalization, rather than being seen historically, might be characterized functionally as an intrinsically related series of economic phenomena. These include the liberalization and deregulation of markets, privatization of assets, retreat of state functions (particularly welfare ones), diffusion of technology, cross-national distribution of manufacturing production (foreign direct investment), and the integration of capital markets. In its narrowest formulation, the term refers to the world-wide spread of sales, production and manufacturing processes, all of which reconstitute the international division of labour. This is what we might call an economically defined, process, definition of globalization....
(C) Globalization as the hegemony of American values: An understanding of this definition is best captured in the triumphalism tone inherent in the title of Frances Fukayama's book The End of History and the Last Man. The end of the 'Cold War' represented the outcome of an ideological battle that had begun at the end of World War Two. It stresses the diffusion and assimilation of western - for which read 'American' - technological capability, finance and institutions (political and economic ones in the public sector, and 'best business practices' in the private sector.) ...
(D) Globalization as technological and social revolution: This view directly contradicts the second definition of globalization as being but a new cluster of activities. Rather this view argues that globalization is a new form of activity in which a decisive shift from industrial capitalism to a post-industrial conception of economic relations is taking place. This shift is driven by a revolution among techno-industrial elites that will eventually consolidate a single global market. It is a comprehensive process of globally integrated production; of specialized but interdependent labour markets; of the privatization of state assets; and of the linkage of technology across conventional national borders.
Richard Higgott and Simon Reich, "Globalization and Sites of Conflict: Towards Definition and Taxonomy", University of Warwick Centre for the Study of Globalization and Regionalization,
Source B
It is now possible for more people than ever to collaborate and compete in real time with more other people on more different kinds of work from more different corners of the planet and on a more equal footing than at any time in the history of the world - using computers, e-mail, fiber-optic networks, teleconferencing, and dynamic new software.... What the flattening of the world means is that we are now connecting all of the knowledge centers on the planet together into a single global network, which - if politics and terrorism do not get in the way - could usher in an amazing era of prosperity, innovation, and collaboration, by companies, communities, and individuals.