Abstract

The talk is devoted to the problem of defining the concept of globalization and the nature of the globalization process. We criticize the tendency to speak about globalization without defining its nature first, and to reduce it to global issues, to issues of Environmental Philosophy, and to cultural and social homogenization. We characterize the First Globalization of the 19th century, interrupted by the World War I, and look into reasons why globalization had only restarted as late as the end of the 20th century. We specify the novel features of the Second Globalization. We expand on its significance as a megatrend and on how modernization lost its megatrend status. We show that there are numerous modernizations today, and that these modernizations are no longer the catch-up ones. They draw upon the cultural and ethnic specifics of their countries and stand out as local trends. We discuss the relationship between globalization and the afore-mentioned factors that tend to be mistaken for globalization itself.