Justifiable Risk or headless Fear? The Difference between experienced and factual Disadvantages of a Process called Globalisation: Difference between revisions

'''Introduction: My Initial Thoughts on Globalisation'''

(Eligible Concern or headless Fear? The Individuals' Handling with the Challenge called Globalisation)  

Globalisation is a concept nowadays every single one of us has heard of. However, not many people deal with the subject of globalisation.  

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for instance refers to this mistakable term as “a process of closer economic integration of global markets“ ([http://www.oecd.org/document/30/0,3343,en_2649_37447_37478942_1_1_1_1,00.html]) and although quite simple it can be regarded as a reasoned definition for an organisation, which deals primarily with economical issues. Nevertheless, this definition is too limited in order to stress the complexity and duality of the process of globalisation. The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology adds, that “this development is being driven forward by world-wide information networks and communication technologies“ ([http://www.bmwi.de/English/Navigation/Economy/Economic-policy/globalisation,did=76820.html]), while the U.S. Department of Commerce focusses on the “potential to affect each other more quickly and to a higher degree than ever before“ (Globalization and Minority-owned Businesses in the United States: Assessment and Prospects (2003), p. 4). Hence, misunderstandings and information of dubious origin lead to hasty conclusions. Therefore it seems to be of the utmost importance to clear the meaning and definition of certain terms before starting to analyse the content matters. First of all, a clear determination is necessary between chances and risks and hopes and concerns in regards to the issues of globalisation. The Oxford Dictionary claims quite plainly that concern is “a feeling of worry, especially one that is shared by many people“ (Oxford Advanced Learner‘s Dictionary, 2000, p. 253), while hope is “a belief that something you want will happen“ (Oxford Advanced Learner‘s Dictionary, 2000, p. 627). Chance on the other hand is defined as “a possibility of something happening“ (ibid, p. 193), while risk means “the possibility of something bad happening at sometime in the future“ or “a situation that could be bad or have a dangerous result“ (ibid, 2000, p. 1105).  As a result of the definition the difference between potential and realistic prognoses, especially in regards to the globalisation process, becomes evident. In addition, another important difference between the terms hopes and concerns and accordingly chances and risks is, that the latter is rather characterised by the opportunity of active shaping, while hope and concerns are if anything passive attributes. When mentioning the term globalisation, this article refers to the definition of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology ([http://www.oecd.org/document/30/0,3343,en_2649_37447_37478942_1_1_1_1,00.html]).