The Globalization of Nothing 2 by George Ritzer

Author:George Ritzer [Ritzer, George]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology, General
ISBN: 9781452239095
Google: t4l-Qs3motUC
Publisher: SAGE
Published: 2007-01-18T03:35:47+00:00

The Grobalization of Something

While there is a clear elective affinity between grobalization and nothing, that is not to say that something is not being grobalized as well. In fact, some types of something have been grobalized to a considerable degree. This is abundantly clear throughout the world of consumption. However, returning to the idea of elective affinity, the key point here is that there is not an elective affinity between grobalization and something. The process of grobalization must, by necessity, involve products and services that, among other things, are in the main not tied to a particular place, especially a place of origin. If they were, they would not have broad global appeal. One of the key factors in being something is such a tie to a particular locale. Thus, in general, successful grobalization, especially on a large scale, requires characteristics that something cannot offer, and if it is transformed to accommodate the demands of grobalization, it moves in the direction of being nothing. In the latter case, it becomes the grobalization of nothing (where, as was explained above, an elective affinity does exist).

Nevertheless, while the grobalization of nothing dominates in the arena of consumption as it is generally defined, we find domains—art, medicine, science, pharmaceuticals,12 biotechnology,13 education, and others—in which the grobalization of something is of far greater importance. For example, the worldwide scientific community benefits from the almost instantaneous distribution of important scientific findings, often these days via new journals on the Internet.

In Figure 5.1 I have used as examples of the grobalization of something touring art exhibitions (thing) of the works of Vincent van Gogh, the museums throughout the world in which such exhibitions occur for a time (place), the knowledgeable guides who show visitors the highlights of the exhibition (person), and the detailed information and insights they are able to impart in response to questions from gallery visitors (service). To take another example, a touring series of Silk Road concerts brought together Persian artists and music, an American symphony orchestra, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s (Russian) Scheherezade.14 More generally, gourmet foods, handmade crafts, and custom-made clothes are now much more available throughout the world and more likely than ever in history to be traded on a transplanetary basis.

However, even with the recent increase, there is far less grobalization of something than there is grobalization of nothing. Why is there comparatively little connection between grobalization and something? Many of the factors discussed previously as helping to account for the prevalence of other permutations and combinations of the grobal-local and nothing-something, especially the grobalization of nothing, are also involved in explaining the relative paucity of phenomena that can be included under the heading of the grobalization of something.

First, there is simply far less demand throughout the world for most forms of something, at least in comparison to the demand for nothing. One reason for this is that the distinctiveness and complexity of something, be it gourmet foods, handmade crafts, or Silk Road concerts, require far more sophisticated tastes than nothing.

Second, the

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