Globalisation and Social Change

2.1 Core concepts

• No discussion of social change in the twenty-first century is possible without reference to globalisation; sociology uses the sociological imagination to connect the micro/local with the macro/global — a click on a Bengaluru keyboard appears instantly on a New York screen (NCERT §Introduction, pp. 72–73). The very fabric of everyday life — what we eat, watch, wear and aspire to — is shaped by decisions taken in far-away boardrooms.
• Effects of globalisation are uneven: urban affluent consumers may gain greater choice while farmers face a livelihood crisis. Specific groups named in NCERT: women silk spinners and twisters of Bihar (hurt by import of Chinese and Korean silk yarn), women fish workers (large foreign fishing vessels in Indian waters), Gujarat gum collectors of julifera/baval trees (Sudanese gum imports), and rag pickers (waste-paper imports) — all lost livelihoods to liberalised imports (NCERT §Introduction, p. 74).
• India was never isolated: the Silk Route linked it with China, Persia, Egypt and Rome; Panini (4th-century BCE Sanskrit grammarian) was of Afghan origin; Chinese scholar Yi Jing learned Sanskrit in Java (Shri Vijaya); Bodhisattva sculptures along the route blended Indo-Greek forms. The kupamanduka (well-frog) parable from the Panchatantra warns against isolationism (NCERT §6.1 / Box 6.1, p. 75).
• Modern capitalism had a global dimension from inception; colonialism supplied capital, raw materials, energy and markets; the largest single migration was Europeans to the Americas/Australia, followed by Indian indentured labour (1834–1920) and the African slave trade — historically the most violent flow (NCERT §6.1 Colonialism, p. 75).
• Globalisation is the growing interdependence between people, regions and countries as social and economic relationships come to stretch worldwide; though economic forces are integral, ICTs above all have intensified the speed and scope of interaction (NCERT §6.2, p. 76). Anthony Giddens calls it "time-space compression".
• Liberalisation = the range of policy decisions the Indian state took since July 1991 to open up the Indian economy to the world market; it broke from the post-Independence policy of state control protecting indigenous business (the Nehruvian licence-permit raj) (NCERT §6.2 a, pp. 76–77).
• Liberalisation involves loans from the IMF with structural-adjustment conditions (cuts in state expenditure on health, education and social security) and a greater say for the WTO; this is the institutional triangle of IMF–World Bank–WTO (NCERT §6.2 a, p. 77).
• Transnational corporations (TNCs) are companies that produce goods or market services in more than one country — e.g. Coca-Cola, General Motors, Colgate-Palmolive, Kodak, Mitsubishi. They are oriented to global markets and global profits even with a clear national base; their internal turnover often exceeds the GDP of small countries (NCERT §6.2 b, p. 77).
• The electronic economy lets banks, corporations, fund managers and individual investors shift funds internationally with the click of a mouse, but carries great risks — sudden stock-market dips when foreign investors sell (the 1997 East Asian crisis, the 2008 global financial crisis) (NCERT §6.2 c, pp. 77–78).
• The weightless / knowledge economy has its base in information — computer software, media, entertainment and internet services — and much of the workforce is in design, development, marketing, sale and servicing rather than physical production; new occupations like event managers have emerged (NCERT §6.2 d, p. 78).
• Globalisation of finance: globally integrated markets do billions of dollars of trades within seconds, 24-hour trading; New York, Tokyo and London are key centres; Mumbai is India's financial capital (NCERT §6.2 e, p. 78).
• Global communications via satellite "compress" time and space; the Government of India's Digital India programme seeks to make India a "digitally empowered society" and a "knowledge economy"; a digital divide persists, especially in rural areas (erratic power, illiteracy, lack of infrastructure) (NCERT §Global Communications / Box 6.2, pp. 80–81).
• Telecom expansion: 84,000 lines in 1947 for 350 million people; by 1999 a network of over 25 million lines across 300 cities, 4,869 towns and 310,897 villages, ninth largest in the world; by 2000, around 650,000 PCOs; cell phones moved from "luxury/distrust" to fourth-largest user country by 2006 (NCERT Box 6.3, p. 81).
• A new international division of labour has emerged: routine manufacturing has shifted to Third World cities. The Nike trajectory: Japan (1960s) → South Korea (mid-1970s) → Thailand and Indonesia (1980s) → India (since the 1990s). This is a shift from Fordism (mass production of standardised goods at a single centralised location, Detroit-style) to post-Fordism (flexible production of differentiated goods at dispersed locations) (NCERT §Globalisation and Labour, p. 82).
• General Motors' Pontiac Le Mans example: of the $20,000 showroom price only $7,600 stays with Americans; 48% goes to South Korea (labour/assembly), 28% to Japan (engines/electronics), 12% to Germany (styling), 7% to Taiwan/Singapore, 4% to UK, 1% to Barbados/Ireland — a single car embodies the new international division of labour (NCERT Box 6.4, p. 82).
• Politically, the collapse of the socialist bloc (USSR 1991, Eastern European regimes 1989) hastened globalisation; the underlying vision is neo-liberal — free enterprise, critical of state regulation and subsidies. Regional bodies like the EU, ASEAN, SAARC and IGOs like the WTO have grown in importance; INGOs (Greenpeace, Red Cross, Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières) are independent of governments (NCERT §Globalisation and Political Changes, pp. 83–84).
• Culturally, the central debate is homogenisation vs glocalisation. Glocalisation = mixing of the global with the local; not entirely spontaneous, often a strategy by foreign firms — Star/MTV/Channel V/Cartoon Network using Indian languages; McDonald's selling only vegetarian and chicken products in India and going vegetarian during Navaratri; Bhangra pop, Indi pop, fusion music and remixes illustrate the same logic in entertainment (NCERT §Homogenisation Versus Glocalisation, p. 84).
• Culture of consumption: cultural consumption (art, food, fashion, music, tourism) — not manufacturing as before the 1970s — now shapes city growth; shopping malls, multiplexes, amusement parks proliferate; "to be careful with money is no longer a virtue" — the older Gandhian/Nehruvian thrift ethic is replaced by aspirational consumerism (NCERT §Culture of Consumption, p. 85).
• Corporate culture: a branch of management theory that seeks to increase productivity and competitiveness through a unique organisational culture — events, rituals, traditions — to enhance employee loyalty and group solidarity. Often borrowed from Japanese management practice (NCERT §Corporate Culture, p. 86).
• Threats to indigenous traditions: ~30 theatre groups around Parel/Girgaum textile mills in Mumbai became defunct after mill closures; traditional weavers in Sircilla (Karimnagar) and Dubakka (Medak), Andhra Pradesh, committed suicides as cheap polyester displaced handloom; MNCs have tried to patent Tulsi, Haldi (turmeric), Rudraksha and Basmati rice — countered by India's traditional-knowledge digital library; the dombari community's acrobatics are dying out due to TV and circus (NCERT §Threat to Indigenous Crafts / Box 6.6, p. 87).

2.2 Definitions to memorise

2.3 Diagrams / processes to remember

• Nike production-shift timeline (p. 82) — Japan (1960s) → South Korea (mid-1970s) → Thailand & Indonesia (1980s) → India (since the 1990s). Illustrates the new international division of labour and the move from Fordism to post-Fordism.
• Pontiac Le Mans cost-distribution (Box 6.4, p. 82) — $7,600 to USA; 48% South Korea, 28% Japan, 12% Germany, 7% Taiwan/Singapore, 4% UK, 1% Barbados/Ireland.
• India's telecom growth (Box 6.3, p. 81) — 84,000 lines (1947, 350 m population) → 2.5 million telephones + 12,000 public phones (1980, 700 m population) → 25 million lines across 300 cities / 4,869 towns / 310,897 villages by 1999 (ninth-largest network) → 650,000 PCOs by 2000.
• Internet growth (Box 6.2, p. 80) — 70 million users globally in 1998 (USA/Canada 62%, Asia 12%) → 325 million by 2000; India 3 million subscribers / 15 million users in 2000 → 700 million now.
• Glocalisation examples cluster — Star/MTV/Channel V using Indian languages; McDonald's going vegetarian during Navaratri; Bhangra pop, Indi pop, fusion music.
• Threats-to-indigenous-traditions cluster — Parel/Girgaum theatre groups; Sircilla & Dubakka weaver suicides; MNCs patenting Tulsi/Haldi/Rudraksha/Basmati; dombari acrobats.

2.4 Common confusions / NTA trap points

• Liberalisation ≠ Globalisation. Liberalisation is the specific Indian 1991 policy package; globalisation is the wider worldwide process. NCERT explicitly says they "are related but not the same" (p. 76).
• TNC vs MNC. NCERT uses TNC as the formal term but says some of the biggest MNCs are Coca-Cola, GM, Colgate-Palmolive, Kodak, Mitsubishi — distractors often swap "operate in more than one country" with "headquartered in more than one country".
• Glocalisation is NOT pure spontaneity. NCERT stresses it is "not entirely spontaneous" and is often a foreign-firm marketing strategy (McDonald's going vegetarian in Navaratri).
• Fordism vs post-Fordism. Fordism = mass production at one centralised location; post-Fordism = flexible production at dispersed locations. Distractors invert this.
• Financial capitals. Key global centres of financial trading are New York, Tokyo and London; Mumbai is named as India's financial capital — not a "global" key centre in NCERT's list.
• Examples to associate correctly. Bihar = women silk spinners (Chinese/Korean yarn); Gujarat = women gum collectors (Sudanese gum); Andhra Pradesh = weaver suicides in Sircilla (Karimnagar) and Dubakka (Medak); Mumbai = Parel/Girgaum theatre groups.
• Weightless economy ≠ Electronic economy. Weightless = information-based products (software, media); electronic = mouse-click finance.
• IGO vs INGO. WTO, IMF, World Bank, SAARC, ASEAN, EU are IGOs; Greenpeace, MSF, Red Cross, Amnesty are INGOs. Don't mix them up.
• Nike timeline order — Japan → S. Korea → Thailand/Indonesia → India. Mixing up the order is a common trap.
• Cultural consumption shapes cities from the 1970s onwards (NCERT, p. 85) — not from 1991 or from globalisation alone.
• Patented Indian items = Tulsi, Haldi, Rudraksha, Basmati — not neem (a separate biopiracy case not named here).

2.5 Thinkers / Theories