The two globalizations: notes on a confused dialogue

Abstract

Globalization is highly controversial, but a major weakness in the global debate concerning its effects is that the word “globalization” itself is used in different ways. For some it is primarily an economic process (Globalization One), and of fairly recent origin. For others, it is a huge evolutionary unfolding (Globalization Two) which has been underway for centuries if not millennia and which involves not only economic but also political, cultural and biological transformations—and not only the processes, but also consciousness of globalization. Most of the current policy debates have to do with Globalization One. Both may be to some degree governable, but neither is reversible.