BharatNotes Why this chapter matters for UPSC: "Globalisation" is Chapter 7, the last, of the current Contemporary World Politics (Reprint 2026-27); it was Chapter 9 before the rationalisation of 2022-23, and this site keeps the old numbering in its page order. NCERT treats globalisation as a concept to be clarified before it is judged: it "fundamentally deals with flows" of ideas, capital, commodities and people, its "crucial element" is "worldwide interconnectedness", and it has political, economic and cultural consequences that "must be adequately distinguished". GS1 asks the cultural question almost every year: homogenisation against the strengthening of "cultural specificities" (Mains 2018), globalisation and "the core of cultural diversity in India" (Mains 2016), diversity and pluralism "under threat" (Mains 2020), globalisation and new technology (Mains 2022), its effects on women (Mains 2015) and on young women migrants (Mains 2024). GS2 asked whether the governmental system responded to "Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization started in 1991" (Mains 2016) and about WTO reform (Mains 2018); GS3 asked about informalisation of employment (Mains 2016) and agricultural subsidies at the WTO (Mains 2023). This page follows NCERT's sections in order, keeps its three vignettes and its definitions, and dates every figure beyond NCERT to the record as read in October 2026.
🧠 First Principles — Read This First
Globalisation is flows, and their recognition. "Globalisation as a concept fundamentally deals with flows. These flows could be of various kinds — ideas moving from one part of the world to another, capital shunted between two or more places, commodities being traded across borders, and people moving in search of better livelihoods to different parts of the world. The crucial element is the 'worldwide interconnectedness' that is created and sustained as a consequence of these constant flows." But flows alone are not enough: "what is important is for people in different parts of the world to recognise these interconnections with the rest of the world".
Multi-dimensional, and uneven. "Globalisation is a multi-dimensional concept. It has political, economic and cultural manifestations, and these must be adequately distinguished." Its impact "is vastly uneven — it affects some societies more than others and some parts of some societies more than others", so "it is important to avoid drawing general conclusions ... without paying sufficient attention to specific contexts". Every Mains answer should carry this caution.
Not new, but different in scale and speed. Flows "have taken place through much of human history"; what is distinct about contemporary globalisation is "the scale and speed of these flows". NCERT's three vignettes make the point: Janardhan who becomes John at the call centre, Ramdhari's Chinese cycle and American Barbie, and Sarika's "conflict of values" over a career her family's women never had.
PART 1 — Quick Reference
The Chapter at a Glance
| NCERT section | What it holds |
|---|---|
| The concept of globalisation | three vignettes (services; commodities; values); everyday usages (farmers' suicides and MNC seeds; an Indian firm buying a European rival; retail fears; a Mumbai producer accused of lifting a Hollywood story; a militant threat against western dress); globalisation "need not always be positive", "need not be only about the economic issues", nor flow only "from the rich to the poor countries"; flows and interconnectedness; multi-dimensional and uneven |
| Causes of globalisation | not new; scale and speed; technology (telegraph, telephone, microchip; printing and nationalism); capital and commodities move faster than people; the recognition of interconnection (bird flu, the tsunami, economic events) |
| Political consequences | erosion of state capacity and the welfare state's retreat to "a more minimalist state"; the market as "the prime determinant"; MNCs; yet "the primacy of the state continues to be the unchallenged basis of political community"; technology boosts the state's capacity to collect information |
| Economic consequences | the IMF and the WTO, but globalisation "must not be viewed in such narrow terms"; the distribution of gains; flows of commodities, capital, ideas, with "visa policies" guarding the movement of people; "the same set of policies do not lead to the same results everywhere"; the division of opinion: "social safety nets" and "re-colonisation" against "greater economic growth" and inevitability; "inter-dependence and integration" |
| Cultural consequences | the fear of "cultural homogenisation" and "the soft power of US hegemony" ("McDonaldisation"); cultures "are not static"; the burger "no substitute for a masala dosa"; "a khadi kurta worn over jeans" exported back; "cultural heterogenisation" |
| India and globalisation | flows "go back several centuries"; the colonial exporter of primary goods; post-1947 "protectionism" and its neglect of "health, housing and primary education"; the 1991 reforms; "the ultimate test is not high growth rates as making sure that the benefits of growth are shared"; the call-centre box ("Gosh, an Indian again!") |
| Resistance to globalisation | left critics (a phase of capitalism making "the rich richer (and fewer) and the poor poorer"); right critics (the state, self-reliance, culture); anti-globalisation movements as global networks opposed to "a specific programme of globalisation"; Seattle 1999; the World Social Forum (Porto Alegre 2001; Mumbai 2004; Nepal, February 2024) |
| India and resistance to globalisation | left protests through parties and the Indian Social Forum; trade unions and farmers against multinationals; the Neem patents; right resistance to foreign TV channels, Valentine's Day and "westernisation of the dress tastes of girl students" |
Figures and Dates (NCERT first; the record as read on 4 October 2026)
| Item | NCERT | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Globalisation's four flows | ideas, capital, commodities, people | NCERT's definition |
| India's turn to reform | "In 1991, responding to a financial crisis and to the desire for higher rates of economic growth, India embarked on a programme of economic reforms" | NCERT gives no reserve or import-cover figure; this page prints none, because no Reserve Bank record of the often-quoted "days of imports" could be read |
| Seattle | "In 1999, at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Meeting there were widespread protests at Seattle" | the Third Ministerial Conference, 30 November to 3 December 1999 |
| World Social Forum | first meeting Porto Alegre, 2001; the fourth Mumbai, 2004; "the latest WSF meeting was held in Nepal in February 2024" (the 2020-21 edition said Salvador, Brazil, March 2018) | NCERT's statement |
| WTO | not given in this chapter (chapter 4's box: 164 members at 29 July 2016) | 166 members "representing 98 per cent of world trade"; the 14th Ministerial Conference, Yaoundé, 26-30 March 2026; the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions "lapsed on 30 March 2026"; the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, adopted at MC12 in June 2022, in force 15 September 2025 (wto.org) |
| Poverty | not given | NITI Aayog's national Multidimensional Poverty Index: "the share of India's population who are multidimensionally poor has declined from 24.85% to 14.96%" between 2015-16 and 2019-21 (NITI Aayog, National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress Review 2023) |
| Remittances | not given | "Personal transfer receipts under secondary income account, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, rose to US$ 43.5 billion in Q4:2025-26 from US$ 33.9 billion in Q4:2024-25" (Reserve Bank of India, balance of payments release 2026-2027/412, 8 June 2026) |
| Production Linked Incentive schemes | not given | "Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes for 14 key sectors have been announced with an outlay of Rs. 1.97 lakh crore" (PIB, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2 August 2023) |
Prelims traps in this chapter. (1) NCERT's definition is flows and "worldwide interconnectedness", not "networks that transcend boundaries" or any other paraphrase. (2) NCERT's cultural pair is homogenisation and heterogenisation (its word), not "hybridisation". (3) Globalisation "need not be only about the economic issues" and its direction is not always "from the rich to the poor countries": both are NCERT's statements and exercise 1 tests them. (4) NCERT's third political consequence is that technology "boosts" state capacity: "states become more powerful than they were earlier as an outcome of the new technology". (5) The movement of people is the flow that globalisation has not increased to the same degree, because of "visa policies". (6) Seattle 1999 was a WTO Ministerial Meeting; the World Social Forum's first meeting was Porto Alegre, 2001, its fourth Mumbai, 2004, its latest in NCERT Nepal, February 2024. (7) NCERT's left and right critics object to different things: distribution and the weakened state (left); the state, self-reliance and culture (right). (8) The reforms began in 1991; NCERT says "it may be too early to say how good this has been for India".
PART 2 — Concepts & Narrative
Cultural homogenisation and heterogenisation. The "cultural effect of globalisation leads to the fear that this process poses a threat to cultures in the world", because "globalisation leads to the rise of a uniform culture or what is called cultural homogenisation". "The rise of a uniform culture is not the emergence of a global culture. What we have in the name of a global culture is the imposition of Western culture on the rest of the world. This phenomenon is known as the soft power of US hegemony", and its critics "often draw attention to the 'McDonaldisation' of the world". But "cultures are not static things. All cultures accept outside influences all the time"; some influences "reduce our choices", others "simply enlarge our choices", and others "modify our culture without overwhelming the traditional". "While cultural homogenisation is an aspect of globalisation, the same process also generates precisely the opposite effect. It leads to each culture becoming more different and distinctive. This phenomenon is called cultural heterogenisation."
Erosion of state capacity, and its opposite. "At the most simple level, globalisation results in an erosion of state capacity, that is, the ability of government to do what they do. All over the world, the old 'welfare state' is now giving way to a more minimalist state that performs certain core functions such as the maintenance of law and order and the security of its citizens", withdrawing "from many of its earlier welfare functions"; "in place of the welfare state, it is the market that becomes the prime determinant of economic and social priorities", and MNCs reduce "the capacity of governments to take decisions on their own". Yet "globalisation does not always reduce state capacity. The primacy of the state continues to be the unchallenged basis of political community"; "states continue to be important"; and "state capacity has received a boost as a consequence of globalisation, with enhanced technologies available at the disposal of the state to collect information about its citizens", so that "states become more powerful than they were earlier".
The Concept of Globalisation
NCERT's three vignettes, which Prelims has paraphrased: Janardhan "works in a call centre", "becomes John when he enters his office, acquires a new accent and speaks a different language", and keeps his clients' American holidays: "the globalisation of services". Ramdhari buys his daughter "a cycle, which is actually manufactured in China but is being marketed in India", a year after "a Barbie doll, which was originally manufactured in the US": "the movement of commodities from one part of the world to another". Sarika, "a first generation learner", takes a job "which the women of her family had never dreamt of earlier" over some relatives' opposition: "a conflict of values partly originating from a new opportunity". NCERT's list of everyday usages then shows "that globalisation need not always be positive; it can have negative consequences for the people", that "there are many who believe that globalisation has more negative consequences than positive", that it "need not be only about the economic issues, nor is the direction of influence always from the rich to the poor countries". The definition and the cautions are in First Principles.
Causes of Globalisation
"If globalisation is about the flows of ideas, capital, commodities, and people, it is perhaps logical to ask if there is anything novel about this phenomenon." The answer is scale and speed. "While globalisation is not caused by any single factor, technology remains a critical element. There is no doubt that the invention of the telegraph, the telephone, and the microchip in more recent times has revolutionised communication between different parts of the world. When printing initially came into being it laid the basis for the creation of nationalism. So also today we should expect that technology will affect the way we think of our personal but also our collective lives." Flows differ in pace: "the movement of capital and commodities will most likely be quicker and wider than the movement of peoples". And "globalisation ... does not emerge merely because of the availability of improved communications": people must "recognise these interconnections"; "the Bird flu or tsunami is not confined to any particular nation. It does not respect national boundaries", and "when major economic events take place, their impact is felt outside their immediate local, national or regional environment at the global level". NCERT's margin bubble asks: "Isn't globalisation a new name for imperialism? Why do we need a new name?"
Political Consequences
"How does globalisation affect traditional conceptions of state sovereignty? There are at least three aspects that we need to consider." The three are in the key-term box: erosion of state capacity and the retreat of the welfare state; the continuing primacy of the state ("the old jealousies and rivalries between countries have not ceased to matter in world politics"; the state "consciously withdraws from certain domains from which it wishes to"); and the boost that information technology gives to state capacity. An answer that gives only the first has missed two-thirds of NCERT's argument.
Economic Consequences
"The mention of economic globalisation draws our attention immediately to the role of international institutions like the IMF and the WTO and the role they play in determining economic policies across the world. Yet, globalisation must not be viewed in such narrow terms. Economic globalisation involves many actors other than these international institutions. A much broader way of understanding of economic globalisation requires us to look at the distribution of economic gains, i.e. who gets the most from globalisation and who gets less, indeed who loses from it." It "usually involves greater economic flows among different countries", "some of this ... voluntary and some forced by international institutions and powerful countries". The flows: trade in commodities ("the restrictions imposed by different countries on allowing the imports of other countries have been reduced"); capital ("investors in the rich countries can invest their money in countries other than their own ... where they might get better returns"); ideas ("the spread of internet and computer related services"). "But globalisation has not led to the same degree of increase in the movement of people across the globe. Developed countries have carefully guarded their borders with visa policies to ensure that citizens of other countries cannot take away the jobs of their own citizens."
"The same set of policies do not lead to the same results everywhere": "while globalisation has led to similar economic policies adopted by governments in different parts of the world, this has generated vastly different outcomes". The division of opinion: "those who are concerned about social justice are worried about the extent of state withdrawal", which "is likely to benefit only a small section of the population while impoverishing those who were dependent on the government for jobs and welfare (education, health, sanitation, etc.)"; they want "'social safety nets' to minimise the negative effects", while "many movements all over the world feel that safety nets are insufficient or unworkable" and "have called for a halt to forced economic globalisation"; "some economists have described economic globalisation as re-colonisation of the world". Advocates "argue that it generates greater economic growth and well-being for larger sections of the population when there is de-regulation", that "greater trade among countries allows each economy to do what it does best", and that "economic globalisation is inevitable and it is not wise to resist the march of history"; "more moderate supporters ... say that globalisation provides a challenge that can be responded to intelligently without accepting it uncritically". What "cannot be denied is the increased momentum towards inter-dependence and integration between governments, businesses, and ordinary people".
The trade institutions, dated. NCERT names the IMF and the WTO; chapter 4's boxes give their membership as of 2024 and 2016. The WTO had 166 members "representing 98 per cent of world trade" when read on 4 October 2026 (Comoros and Timor-Leste joined in August 2024). Its 14th Ministerial Conference met at Yaoundé, Cameroon, from 26 to 30 March 2026; because "members were unable to reach consensus on a decision", "the Work Programme and the moratorium lapsed on 30 March 2026", ending the suspension of customs duties on electronic transmissions that members had kept in place under the work programme adopted in 1998 (wto.org, e-commerce work programme page). The Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, "adopted at the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference in June 2022", "entered into force once two-thirds of members had deposited their instruments of acceptance", a threshold reached on 15 September 2025 (wto.org); it was adopted by consensus, so the claim in some coaching notes that India "blocked" it is wrong, and India's stated concern has been the treatment of small-scale and artisanal fishers in the second phase of the negotiations. For GS2 2018's question on WTO reform under a "trade war" and GS3 2023's on agricultural subsidies, NCERT's economic section is the frame and these are the dated facts.
Cultural Consequences
The homogenisation argument and its answer are in the key-term box. NCERT's examples are the ones to quote: "the popularity of a burger or blue jeans, some argue, has a lot to do with the powerful influence of the American way of life", so that "the world begins to look more like the dominant power wishes it to be", which "is dangerous not only for the poor countries but for the whole of humanity, for it leads to the shrinking of the rich cultural heritage of the entire globe". Against it: "the burger is no substitute for a masala dosa and, therefore, does not pose any real challenge. It is simply added on to our food choices. Blue jeans, on the other hand, can go well with a homespun khadi kurta. Here the outcome of outside influence is a new combination that is unique — a khadi kurta worn over jeans. Interestingly, this clothing combination has been exported back to the country that gave us blue jeans so that it is possible to see young Americans wearing a kurta and jeans!" Heterogenisation "is not to deny that there remain differences in power when cultures interact but instead more fundamentally to suggest that cultural exchange is rarely one way". NCERT's margin asks the reader to list the dialects of their language and ask how many people speak them today.
India and Globalisation
"Flows pertaining to the movement of capital, commodities, ideas and people go back several centuries in Indian history. During the colonial period, as a consequence of Britain's imperial ambitions, India became an exporter of primary goods and raw materials and a consumer of finished goods. After independence, because of this experience with the British, we decided to make things ourselves rather than relying on others. We also decided not to allow others to export to us so that our own producers could learn to make things. This 'protectionism' generated its own problems. While some advances were made in certain arenas, critical sectors such as health, housing and primary education did not receive the attention they deserved. India had a fairly sluggish rate of economic growth. In 1991, responding to a financial crisis and to the desire for higher rates of economic growth, India embarked on a programme of economic reforms that has sought increasingly to de-regulate various sectors including trade and foreign investment. While it may be too early to say how good this has been for India, the ultimate test is not high growth rates as making sure that the benefits of growth are shared so that everyone is better off." NCERT's call-centre box (The Hindu, 10 January 2005) records both the "insight into the true American culture" and the callers who say "Oh gosh, an Indian again! Connect me to an American please".
India's record, dated. NCERT gives no figures for 1991 or since, and this page adds only figures with a government record. On "whether the benefits of growth are shared": NITI Aayog's national Multidimensional Poverty Index reports that "the share of India's population who are multidimensionally poor has declined from 24.85% to 14.96%" between the National Family Health Surveys of 2015-16 and 2019-21 (NITI Aayog, National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress Review 2023). On the flow of people and the money they send: the Reserve Bank's balance-of-payments release for the fourth quarter of 2025-26 (8 June 2026) reports that "personal transfer receipts under secondary income account, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, rose to US$ 43.5 billion in Q4:2025-26 from US$ 33.9 billion in Q4:2024-25"; the annual total for 2025-26 belongs to the Bank's annual data. On the state as an active participant rather than a withdrawing one, which is NCERT's second political point: "Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes for 14 key sectors have been announced with an outlay of Rs. 1.97 lakh crore" (PIB, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2 August 2023); and India concluded negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union on 27 January 2026 (page 4). Figures often printed for 1991 ("reserves for 13 days of imports"), for export growth in the 1990s and for farm subsidies abroad are not reproduced here: no Reserve Bank, Economic Survey or OECD record of them could be read for this page.
Resistance to Globalisation
"Globalisation is a very contentious subject and has invited strong criticism all over the globe." The left: "contemporary globalisation represents a particular phase of global capitalism that makes the rich richer (and fewer) and the poor poorer. Weakening of the state leads to a reduction in the capacity of the state to protect the interest of its poor." The right: "anxiety over the political, economic and cultural effects. In political terms, they also fear the weakening of the state. Economically, they want a return to self-reliance and protectionism, at least in certain areas of the economy. Culturally, they are worried that traditional culture will be harmed and people will lose their age-old values and ways." NCERT's observation: "anti-globalisation movements too participate in global networks, allying with those who feel like them in other countries. Many anti-globalisation movements are not opposed to the idea of globalisation per se as much as they are opposed to a specific programme of globalisation, which they see as a form of imperialism."
The two landmarks. "In 1999, at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Meeting there were widespread protests at Seattle alleging unfair trading practices by the economically powerful states. It was argued that the interests of the developing world were not given sufficient importance in the evolving global economic system." And "the World Social Forum (WSF) is another global platform, which brings together a wide coalition composed of human rights activists, environmentalists, labour, youth and women activists opposed to neo-liberal globalisation. The first WSF meeting was organised in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 2001. The fourth WSF meeting was held in Mumbai in 2004. The latest WSF meeting was held in Nepal in February 2024."
India and Resistance to Globalisation
"Social movements play a role in helping people make sense of the world around them and finding ways to deal with matters that trouble them. Resistance to globalisation in India has come from different quarters. There have been left wing protests to economic liberalisation voiced through political parties as well as through forums like the Indian Social Forum. Trade unions of industrial workforce as well as those representing farmer interests have organised protests against the entry of multinationals. The patenting of certain plants like Neem by American and European firms has also generated considerable opposition. Resistance to globalisation has also come from the political right. This has taken the form of objecting particularly to various cultural influences — ranging from the availability of foreign T.V. channels provided by cable networks, celebration of Valentine's Day, and westernisation of the dress tastes of girl students in schools and colleges." The sister book's dropped chapter on popular movements, and the environment chapter of this book (page 8), carry the farmers' and anti-dam movements NCERT groups with these.
PART 3 — UPSC Integration
How UPSC has asked this chapter. GS1 2018: "'Globalisation is generally said to promote cultural homogenisation but due to this cultural specificities appear to be strengthened in the Indian society.' Elucidate." That is NCERT's homogenisation-heterogenisation pair in the examiner's words; answer with the burger, the masala dosa and the kurta over jeans, then Indian examples of your own. GS1 2016 ("the core of cultural diversity in India"), GS1 2020 ("diversity and pluralism ... under threat"), GS1 2022 (globalisation and new technology "in a world of scarce resources"), GS1 2015 (women), GS1 2024 (urban migration of young women: NCERT's Sarika). GS2 2016: whether the governmental system "responded adequately to the demands of Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization started in 1991": NCERT's three political consequences, applied. GS2 2018 and GS3 2023: WTO reform and agricultural subsidies, with the dated WTO box. GS3 2016: globalisation and informalisation of employment, which is NCERT's "who gets less, indeed who loses".
Three Frameworks
1. Four flows, three dimensions. Ideas, capital, commodities, people; political, economic, cultural. Any question on globalisation can be gridded on them, and NCERT's own finding that people move least and that culture both homogenises and differentiates gives the grid its surprises.
2. The state: eroded, primary, strengthened. NCERT's three political aspects in order. The welfare state retreats; the state remains "the unchallenged basis of political community"; technology makes it "more powerful". India's PLI schemes and its trade agreements are the second and third aspects in practice.
3. Who gains, who loses, where. NCERT's test of economic globalisation is distribution, with the caution that "the same set of policies do not lead to the same results everywhere". Use the NITI MPI series and the remittance figures for India's gains, and NCERT's lists of losers (those "dependent on the government for jobs and welfare"; small retailers; farmers facing MNC seeds) for the other side.
Confused Pairs
- Globalisation (flows and interconnectedness) vs liberalisation (India's 1991 policy choice) vs westernisation (one cultural direction; NCERT's exercise 1 says they are not the same).
- Homogenisation vs heterogenisation (NCERT's term; not "hybridisation").
- Erosion of state capacity vs the primacy of the state vs state capacity boosted by technology: three aspects, not one.
- Left critics (distribution; the weakened state) vs right critics (the state; self-reliance; culture).
- Seattle 1999 (a WTO ministerial, protested) vs the World Social Forum (a movement's own platform: Porto Alegre 2001, Mumbai 2004, Nepal 2024).
- WTO membership (166, October 2026) vs "98 per cent of world trade" (a coverage figure, not a count).
Exam Strategy
- Prelims: memorise NCERT's definition word for word, the four flows, the three political aspects, the fact that people move least, the cultural pair, the two landmarks and the WSF's three dates, and the dated WTO facts above.
- Mains: open with NCERT's definition and its caution against general conclusions; structure on the three dimensions; use NCERT's examples before your own; for India, quote "the ultimate test is not high growth rates as making sure that the benefits of growth are shared", then the NITI and RBI figures with their dates.
- Avoid: "NCERT defines globalisation as networks transcending boundaries"; "hybridisation" as NCERT's term; "globalisation began in 1991" (NCERT: "several centuries"); "reserves for 13 days of imports" and other 1991 figures without an RBI record; "India blocked the WTO fisheries agreement"; "the e-commerce moratorium was extended at Yaoundé" (it lapsed).
- Cross-reading: page 2 (shock therapy as a programme of globalisation); page 4 (China's step-by-step opening; the India-EU agreement); page 6 (the IMF and WTO boxes); page 8 (environmental movements and indigenous rights, which NCERT links to anti-globalisation movements); the sister book's "Recent Developments" (the 1991 reforms in India's politics).
Practice Questions
NCERT's exercises, worked
- (d) only: globalisation is multi-dimensional; (a) is false (not purely economic), (b) false (flows "go back several centuries"; 1991 is India's reforms), (c) false (westernisation is one direction of influence, and NCERT says the direction is "not always from the rich to the poor countries").
- (a) only: its impact "is vastly uneven"; (b), (c) and (d) contradict NCERT (not uniform; not confined to politics; heterogenisation as well as homogenisation).
- (a) only: "technology remains a critical element"; (b) and (c) are false (no single community or country causes it), and (d) is false (NCERT also requires the recognition of interconnection; "not caused by any single factor").
- (d) only: "worldwide interconnectedness"; (a), (b) and (c) contradict the vignettes (commodities are one flow; Sarika's story is a conflict of values; Janardhan's work is the globalisation of services).
- (c) is false: advocates argue for growth, not for homogenisation; (a), (b) and (d) are true statements of the positions NCERT describes.
- The connectedness "created and sustained as a consequence of these constant flows" of ideas, capital, commodities and people, recognised by people in different parts of the world.
- The telegraph, telephone and microchip "revolutionised communication"; technology lets ideas, capital, commodities and people move "more easily"; as printing "laid the basis for the creation of nationalism", today's technology changes "the way we think of our personal but also our collective lives"; but technology alone does not make globalisation, recognition does.
- Erosion: the welfare state yields to "a more minimalist state", the market sets priorities, MNCs constrain decisions (India's 1991 de-regulation of trade and investment). Continuity: the state remains "the unchallenged basis of political community" and "consciously withdraws" where it chooses. Boost: information technology makes the state "better able to rule" (India's digital systems of identification and payment). Evaluate with NCERT's "ultimate test": whether the benefits are shared.
- Greater flows of commodities, capital and ideas, with people's movement guarded by visas; the role of the IMF and WTO; "vastly different outcomes" from similar policies; a division between those who want safety nets or a halt and those who see growth and inevitability. India: the 1991 reforms, growth, the sharing test; the NITI MPI decline and the remittance record as evidence; the losers NCERT names.
- Yes, as one of two effects: NCERT's own position is that homogenisation and heterogenisation occur together, "cultural exchange is rarely one way", and the kurta over jeans is the example; disagree with any claim that heterogeneity is the only or the dominant effect.
- Impact on India: from colonial primary exporter to protectionism to the 1991 reforms; growth; the call-centre economy; cultural anxieties on the right and distributional ones on the left. India's impact on globalisation: its services exports, its diaspora and remittances, its positions at the WTO (agriculture, fisheries, e-commerce), its trade agreements (the EU, 2026), its cultural exports (the kurta over jeans; Hindi films, as chapter 1's Uzbekistan box shows), and its movements' part in global resistance (the Indian Social Forum; the WSF in Mumbai, 2004).
Practice (UPSC-pattern, not past papers)
- "Globalisation fundamentally deals with flows", yet "has not led to the same degree of increase in the movement of people". Explain the asymmetry and its consequences for India's diaspora policy. (GS1/GS2, 10 marks)
- NCERT says globalisation both erodes and boosts state capacity. Examine the claim with reference to India since 1991. (GS2, 15 marks)
- "The burger is no substitute for a masala dosa." Use NCERT's cultural argument to assess the claim that globalisation threatens India's cultural diversity. (GS1, 15 marks)
- Compare the critiques of globalisation from the left and from the right as NCERT presents them, and show how each has appeared in India's resistance to globalisation. (GS1/GS2, 10 marks)
📦 Revision Capsule
Hard Facts
- Definition: flows (ideas, capital, commodities, people); "worldwide interconnectedness"; recognition of interconnection; multi-dimensional; uneven; not new, distinct in scale and speed.
- Causes: technology (telegraph, telephone, microchip; printing and nationalism); capital and commodities move faster than people; events (bird flu, tsunami) recognised as global.
- Political: welfare state to minimalist state; market as prime determinant; MNCs; primacy of the state; technology boosts state capacity.
- Economic: IMF and WTO but "not ... such narrow terms"; distribution of gains; visas guard the movement of people; same policies, different outcomes; safety nets vs halt; "re-colonisation" vs growth and inevitability.
- Cultural: homogenisation; "soft power of US hegemony"; McDonaldisation; burger vs masala dosa; kurta over jeans; heterogenisation.
- India: colonial exporter; protectionism and neglected health, housing, education; reforms 1991; "ultimate test" is sharing; NITI MPI 24.85 to 14.96 per cent (2015-16 to 2019-21); remittances US$43.5 billion in Q4 2025-26 (RBI); PLI 14 sectors, Rs 1.97 lakh crore (PIB 2023); India-EU FTA concluded 27 January 2026.
- Resistance: left and right critiques; Seattle WTO ministerial 1999; WSF Porto Alegre 2001, Mumbai 2004, Nepal February 2024; Indian Social Forum; trade unions and farmers; Neem patents; TV channels, Valentine's Day, dress.
- WTO: 166 members; MC14 Yaoundé 26-30 March 2026, e-commerce moratorium lapsed 30 March 2026; fisheries agreement in force 15 September 2025.
Core Concepts
- Flows and interconnectedness; three dimensions; erosion, primacy, boost; who gains and who loses; homogenisation and heterogenisation; resistance as itself global.
Confused Pairs
- Globalisation vs liberalisation vs westernisation; homogenisation vs heterogenisation; erosion vs boost; left vs right critics; Seattle vs WSF; members vs share of trade.
PYQ Pattern
- Mains GS1 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024 (culture, women, technology, pluralism); GS2 2016 (LPG and government), 2018 (WTO reform); GS3 2016 (informalisation), 2023 (agricultural subsidies at the WTO).
Sources
- NCERT, Contemporary World Politics (Class XII), ch. 7 "Globalisation", Reprint 2026-27: ncert.nic.in PDF; the 2020-21 edition (Chapter 9) via the Wayback copy of 9 April 2022.
- World Trade Organization, What is the WTO?, Electronic commerce work programme, 14th Ministerial Conference, Fisheries subsidies.
- NITI Aayog, National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress Review 2023: niti.gov.in PDF.
- Reserve Bank of India, "Developments in India's Balance of Payments during the Fourth Quarter (January-March) of 2025-26", press release 2026-2027/412, 8 June 2026: rbi.org.in.
- PIB, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, "Production Linked Incentive Schemes for 14 key sectors aim to enhance India's manufacturing capabilities and exports", 2 August 2023: pib.gov.in.
