No man is an island

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The economic forces surrounding international trade have long been known. Try as opponents of globalisation might to convince themselves otherwise, human beings have never been isolated creatures. From the moment the very first brave few ventured out from their communities to source precious items unavailable at home, humans have built interconnections. Since those early days, trade between humans has steadily grown, engulfing spice and silk routes, empire creation, industrial revolutions and arriving at the current stage of e-commerce.

The pace of these developments had been relatively steady until the exponential boom of the twentieth century with the advent of radically improved forms of communication and transport.

They were perhaps disrupted by the intervening world wars but we cannot know the true effect that these had on the world economy world. What we do know is that those relationships amongst humankind that were forged in ancient times and fostered in imperial colonial times have flourished in the post-war technological era. Though the process has been a continual one, it is the recent era of vast and rapid expansion that has been commonly denoted as ‘globalisation'.

It is undeniable that globalisation has touched almost everyone in the world. Even the most isolated contemporary tribes have felt some effect: Inuit communities have suffered from problems associated with the melting ice caps but benefited from ubiquitous GPS navigation systems; Native Indians had their way of life compromised by big business but have been able to use modern mass communication channels as a platform to highlight their claims for rights. Essentially, globalisation means the sharing of the advantages of different ways of life worldwide but brings with it the corresponding disadvantages.

Since globalisation impinges on everyone's lives in some form, debate rages over whether, in its current form, it is a force for good or evil (should it be so clear-cut). Opinion is greatly divided: fervent capitalists claim that globalisation has opened up and enhanced economies everywhere thus serving to close the poverty gap; critics say that it increases the disparity and polarises the wealth resources. Some are so concerned about the ill effects that they resort to public demonstrations and riots.

Yet while most of us are aware of the concept (and some of us feel strongly enough about it to take political action), fewer of us have much of an opinion on the phenomenon itself, instead merely accepting it as part of modern life. It would be impossible within the bounds of just a few pages to fully appraise the two sides of the enormous argument but we can look at the ways in which it touches communities.

Firstly, there are the appreciable benefits of globalisation. On a personal level, omnipresent modern communications allow easy, fast contact with anyone, anywhere, anytime. These simultaneously allow the easy dissemination of information, meaning that schoolgirls in Japan can be aware of (and pledge help to) the problems in Darfur. The most recent example of this has been in Myanmar where the government, recognising the power of modern communications and wanting to conceal the uprising, cut the internet and mobile phones off.

We are now ‘hypermobile' with cheap air carriers and a plethora of international routes meaning we can travel almost anywhere on a whim. International trade agreements have fostered healthy diplomatic relations amongst a number of countries, affording liberal access for international tourists and workers alike.

Europe is one of the areas where this advantage (in conjuntion with hypermobility) is most conspicuous; the creation of the European Union (feasible in the age of improved relations) has created a region with porous borders where workers can follow opportunity with minimal impediment and without becoming estranged from home. Polish workers in the UK, for example, could formerly only afford to return home once every year or two; with the abundance of budget airlines now competing for business, 10 or more trips a year are now commonplace.

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