Impact of globalization on human work
Introduction
Two dates can be identified that give the term “globalization” a generally accepted currency: 9/11/01 and 12/26/04. These dates especially have gained an evident world-wide significance. The first evokes the horror and inhumanity of the terrorist attack on New York’s World Trade Towers in 2001. The second vividly incites scenes of hundreds of thousands of persons perishing within seconds in the deadly Tsunami in South-East Asia. The reason why these events awaken within us the feeling of a truly global phenomenon is probably the fact that people throughout the world can perceive the possibility of becoming a victim of such catastrophes.
The term “Globalization” entered public use only during the early 1990s. Meanwhile it has become yet another “catch-all” term – everyone uses it, everyone associates something with it, everyone probably something different. The attempt to define the term is as futile as nailing a pudding to the wall (Beck, 2002). And yet, there cannot be any doubt that the ubiquitous use of the term hides various most intriguing problems. Their precise nature co-varies with the particular notion various authors and disciplines denote with the term and phenomenon which is considered a crucial and extremely influential characteristic of our time. Not withstanding this consensus, psychology has hardly given it any attention. An exception is Arnett (2002) who focuses globalization’s effects on adolescence and assumes that “globalization is likely to be one of the dominant forces in the psychological development of the people of the 21st century” (781). This paper addresses the effects of globalization on work and workers.
First, a short review of some major disciplinary treatments of globalization in the relevant literature of various social science disciplines (Section 2) is presented. While each of these topics warrant separate treatments in volumes of books, this contribution confines itself to a sketch of two more specific and yet very broad issues: The significant changing demands in work places (Section 3) and the psychological and behavioral response adjusting/mal-adjusting to the changes by employees/workers (Section 4).
Section snippets
Economy
For Altvater and Mahnkopf (1996) globalization means the disappearance of economic and financial borders. The “process of globalization (in the perspective of the world system) appears as increasing integration of regions and Nations into the world market” (21). Its actors are mainly three kinds of enterprises: global players (internationally active companies and banks) which can withdraw themselves from competition, enterprises which cannot withdraw themselves but still are internationally
The impact of new information technologies
Technological innovation has always been an important factor of change in work. But changes due to the world-wide and wholesale introduction of new information technologies (NIT) in work have particularly important impacts, in part in promoting and speeding up globalization, in part of recurrently influencing work settings.
One consequence of NIT has often been noted: the switch from physical work demands to mental, information handling, “intellective” operations with their concomitant stressors
Groping for identity
For Arnett (2002:777) globalization influences fundamental psychological functioning: “The central psychological consequence of globalization is that it results in transformations in identity”. This, he assumes, is due to “the degree and intensity of the connections among different cultures and different world regions have accelerated dramatically because of the advances in telecommunication and a rapid increase in economic and financial interdependence world-wide.” (774). This new
Outlook
As has been shown, globalization dramatically upsets traditional and received structures and order on all societal levels: the individual, the family, the social community, the institutional and inter-institutional level. Formerly functional recipes and responses are increasingly becoming obsolete. Therefore, revolutionary rethinking is needed. It is unlikely that central political planning and action will achieve drastic changes in these complex and sensitive societal fabrics, because they
Acknowledgement
I gratefully acknowledge the support by Lisa Otte in the literature search.
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Deceased author.