Globalization and Its Impact on Families

The term “Globalization” has been widely used in the last fifteen years. It is a controversial term and has been defined in several different ways. Globalization indicates that the world today is more interconnected than before. Globalization in its basic economic sense refers to the adoption of open and unfettered trading markets (through lowering of trade barriers, removal of capital controls, and liberalization of foreign exchange restrictions). Large volumes of money movement, increased volumes of trade, changes in information technology and communication are all integral to a global world. There is also a significant movement of people from one country to another for trade and work. Such increases in the movement of goods, labor, and services have weakened national barriers and restrictions that are imposed by a nation state. Some identify a new emergence of a “global village.” In the past two decades, economic globalization has been the driving force behind the overall process of globalization.