Abstract
Defining the concept of globalization is very controversial and much disputed among economists, sociologists and political observers. There is no single concept of globalization, and commentators are unable to agree on the empirical evidence for its extent. These divisions are, however, considerably less acrimonious that the essentially normative or ideological confrontations that surround the idea (Ian Clark 1997, 35). A vibrant debate on these issues has developed in which it is possible to distinguish three broad schools of thought, which we will refer to as the hyperglobalizers, the sceptics, and the transformationalists (David Held 1999, 257). The aim of this paper is not to analyze the position of each of these schools but to stress the fact that there is a fundamental disagreement about what globalization is and about whether it is actually taking place at all, because the term is often used vaguely and inconsistently and in a very general way, and consequently is very imprecise (Ian Clark 1997, 20; John Baylis and Steve Smith 2001, 14; Eleonore Kofmanand, Gilian Youngs 2003, 3; David Held et all 2000, 2). The concept of globalization is recent. It comes from obscure origins American and French writings in the 1960s, and finds expression today in all the world's major languages (David Held et all. 2000, 1).
