ABSTRACT
The term globalization conveys many different ideas, depending partially on whether one studies or works in education, economics, politics, technology, entertainment, religion, medicine, or law and lives in Spain, New Zealand, Colombia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Israel, Latvia, or Canada. The word has also entered other international discourses through the media and popular cultures, hence the phrase “the global village.” Differing conceptions of globalization, therefore, abound among well-informed and casual users of the word, often reflecting complex, unconscious, and intentional connections in thought and experience. Frequently, there is a positive connation attached to the concept or at least a conviction that globalization is a way of thinking and proceeding that holds great promise for the world. In business, we hear then of the benefits of global competition and markets. This business frame of reference contrasts with, for example, the belief that foreign aid and economic development can be most effective in the form of unique specific projects at the local level.
