THE TWO FACES OF GLOBALIZATION: AGAINST GLOBALIZATION AS WE KNOW IT

The paper shows that the current view of globalization as an automatic and benign force is flawed: it focuses on only one, positive, face of globalization while entirely neglecting a malignant one. The two key historical episodes that are adduced by the supporters of the “globalization as it is” (the Halcyon days of the 1870-1913, and the record of the last two decades of development) are shown to be misinterpreted. The “Halcyon days” were never Halcyon for those who were “globalized” through colonization since colonial constraints prevented them from industrializing. The record of the last two decades (1978- 1998) is shown to be almost uniformly worse than that of the previous two (1960-78).