Globalization, Enterprise, and Governance
| Author | Daryl Copeland |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070209805300110 |
| Published date | 01 March 1998 |
| Date | 01 March 1998 |
| Subject Matter | Comment & Opinion |
DARYL
COPELAND
Globalization,
enterprise,
and
governance
What
does
a
changing
world
mean
for
Canada?
G
lobalization
is
about
borderless
nations,
stateless
firms,
infirm
sta-
tes,
and
a
new
frontier
-
without
frontiers.
That's
the
Reader's
Digest
version,
popular with
cocktail
party
cognoscenti
and
among
those who
imagine
themselves,
someday,
attending
the
World Economic Forum
in
Davos,
Switzerland.
Globalization
is
emerging
as
the
defining
his-
torical
phenomenon
of
our
times,
transforming
structures
and
condi-
tioning
outcomes
across
an expansive
range
of
endeavour.
It
is
a
work
in
progress,
a
new
order
under construction,
an
expression
of
power
relationships.
Given
the
relentless
diffusion
of
the
mass
media
and
entertainment
industries and
rising
levels
of
trade
and
international
investment,
travel
and immigration,
education
and communications,
it
seems
likely
that
more
of
the
same
is
in train.
Loved
or
loathed,
glob-
alization
can
be
resisted,
but
it
can't
be
ignored.
Simply
put,
globalization
is
working
at
the
supranational
level
to
create
a
single
world
society.
This
is
possible
because
fundamental
Canadian
diplomat
who
has
served
in
Thailana4
Ethiopia, New Zealand,
and
Malaysia;
mem-
ber
of
the
Executive
Committee,
Professional
Association
of
Foreign
Service
Officers.
He
was
sec-
onded
to
the
Canadian
Institute
of
International
Affairs
in
1995
and
is
at
present
its
National
Programme
Director
and
Editor
ofBehind
the Headlines.
The
views
expressed
in
this
article
are
his
alone.
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Winter
1997-8
Daryl
Copeland
change
-
greater
interdependence
and technological
capacity;
in-
creased
mobility
of
most
factors
of
production;
higher
levels
of
market
integration
and
liberalization;
and
deregulation, privatization,
and
a
reduced
role
for
government
-
has
reshaped
the
world economy.
Globalization
is
an
active
and
comprehensive
process
in
which
a
critical
range
of
activities
-
economic,
social,
and
cultural
-
are
trans-
ferred to
the
global
scale. Because
they
contribute
to
insecurity
and
threaten
democratization,
the
political
implications
of
globalization,
too
often
overlooked,
are
profound.
Perhaps
more
than anything
else,
the
striking
speed
of
globalization
has
generated
attention.
To
date,
and quite
understandably,
the
negative
aspects
of
globalization
have
dominated
the
debate.
But
because
the
process
is
dialectic
in
nature,
it
also
provides
opportunities
for
creative
response.
This
aspect
of
global-
ization
has
been lost
in
much
of
the
contemporary commentary. Those
with
a
limited
tolerance
for
ambiguity
or uncertainty,
be
forewarned.
It
is
extremely
difficult
to
assign
precise cause
and
effect
to
the
various
impacts
of
globalization.
In some
cases
it
accelerates
or
exacerbates
change
already
under
way,
and
in
others
the
causal
relationship
is
ambivalent or
unclear.
THE
BIG
PICTURE,
TRANSFORMED
As
the
industrial
age
is
supplanted
by
the
information
age,
many
eco-
nomic
constructions,
political
relationships,
and
diplomatic
conven-
tions
established
in
the
wake
of
the
Second
World
War
are
being
over-
taken
by events.
Among
a
variety
of
colossal
shifts,
the
end
of
the
cold
war
and
the
dissolution
of
the
Soviet
empire,
accelerated
moderniza-
tion
and
urbanization,
and
the
dynamic
emergence
of
the
Asia-Pacific
region
figure
prominently.
Simultaneously,
the
triumph
of
transna-
tional structures
and
forces
has
shifted
much
of
the action
beyond
the
purview
of
governments.
In
both
theoretical
and
practical
terms,
many
traditional
assumptions
which
have
informed our
perceptions
and
underpinned
the
legitimacy
of
institutions
and
activities
have
become
obsolete.
The
exchange
of
goods
among
countries
is
being
dwarfed
by
trade
in
services
and the
exchange
of
both
goods
and
services
within
and
between
corporations:
one
third
of
world
trade now
occurs
among
units
of
the
same firm.
The
lines
between
national
and
international,
domestic
and
foreign
are
no
longer
clear,
if
they
exist
at
all.
The
rules,
players,
and
games
are
changing.
Among and
inside
regions
and
coun-
18
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Winter
1997-8
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