Unit 9 Introduction: Our Interconnected World (1900 to the Future)
In 1989, an invention changed the world. The World Wide Web (www) connected millions of people. This network made the internet usable to everyone around the world.
The internet has sped up globalization. This is when people from all over the world trade and share ideas together.
The internet can make us feel connected. Sometimes, though, we can feel alone because we see different things online.
The internet is not bad. It is not good. Yet it can be used for good or bad.
The rise of internet usage around the world, 1996–2018. By Jeff Ogden and Jim Scarborough, CC BY-SA 3.0.
An age of intense globalization
With globalization, the world’s communities are tied closer together. New technology, like the internet, can help many people have better lives. Or, it can harm many.
With the internet, people can see how others live across the world. People find new ideas. People buy more new goods.
There are problems with globalization, though. More goods bought can mean more pollution. Smaller groups of people and the languages they speak can be lost. And people in some countries can lose jobs when companies hire people in other countries where jobs pay less.
Globalization does not spread money evenly. Only a small number of people have money and power. Many are still poor.
Inequality between neighbors. Two very unequal neighborhoods meet in Johannesburg, South Africa. © Getty Images.
Globalization did not make people poor. Yet it might not be helping them, either. Can globalization be changed to make things better?
Social transformation
Globalization is not just about sharing information or making money because of the internet. It is also about people’s rights.
Historians say the twentieth century, or 1900s, gave more people rights. New laws tried to protect everyone equally. Around the world, countries decided that slavery should be ended and people should be kept safe when they work. Women won the right to vote.
After World War II in 1945, almost every country in the world signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR created a human rights law for countries around the world to follow.
US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt with a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Women like Roosevelt, many horrified by the devastation and atrocities of the Second World War, were key to the passing of this global declaration. By FDR Presidential Library & Museum, CC BY 2.0.
This was a new kind of globalization. It tries to protect human rights with treaties that countries agree to. So why haven’t international groups stopped wars and protected minorities around the world?
Many people are having a hard time knowing where they fit. They are part of a worldwide community online. They are also part of their country and their religion. Yet some people feel that only their local communities protect them.
What comes next
Globalization has both helped and hurt the environment. The demand for goods has meant using too much oil, gas, coal and other resources from the earth.
Pollution sped up climate change. This creates weather problems and harms people’s health.
Still, globalization can help fix these problems. Many countries signed the Paris Agreement to fight climate change together.
International meetings and agreements, like this discussion between US and Indian delegates, are necessary to any climate-change solution. But so far, they haven’t yielded significant results. Public domain.
We no longer live in small communities. This can give us great power. We can shape how globalization happens. What kind of world do you want?
Trevor Getz
Trevor Getz is a professor of African and world history at San Francisco State University. He has been the author or editor of 11 books, including the award-winning graphic history Abina and the Important Men, and has coproduced several prize-winning documentaries. Trevor is also the author of A Primer for Teaching African History, which explores questions about how we should teach the history of Africa in high school and university classes.
Image credits
This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0 except for the following:
Cover Image: Hong Kongers Protest Ahead of the G20 Summit: Protesters take part at a rally against the extradition bill ahead of 2019 G20 Osaka summit at Edinburgh Place in Central district on June 26, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. © Anthony Kwan / Getty Images.
Inequality between neighbors. Two very unequal neighborhoods meet in Johannesburg, South Africa. © Martin Harvey / Photodisc / Getty Images.
The rise of internet usage around the world, 1996–2018. By Jeff Ogden and Jim Scarborough, CC BY-SA 3.0. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Internet_users_per_100_inhabitants_ITU.svg
Inequality between neighbors. Two very unequal neighborhoods meet in Johannesburg, South Africa. © Getty Images.
US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt with a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Women like Roosevelt, many horrified by the devastation and atrocities of the Second World War, were key to the passing of this global declaration. By FDR Presidential Library & Museum, CC BY 2.0. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eleanor_Roosevelt_UDHR.jpg
International meetings and agreements, like this discussion between US and Indian delegates, are necessary to any climate-change solution. But so far, they haven’t yielded significant results. Public domain. https://picryl.com/media/secretary-kerry-meets-with-representatives-from-india-26584962825-d0235b
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