Globalisation from 1500 to the Present

Course goals

Learning outcomes: after completing the course, you will have:

• knowledge and understanding of historical developments related to the course topic;
• knowledge of the historiography within the course topic;
• familiarity with the diverse ways in which historical knowledge of the course topic can be relevant to their own job market prospects;
• a skills set enabling them to think, act and communicate at an academic level and in line with academic standards of conduct ('academic integrity').

 
Learning objectives and skills: after completing the course, you will be able to:

• explore a broad historical or historiographical topic in depth;
• critically evaluate different interpretations and formulate their own viewpoint;
• present a well-formulated discourse analysis both orally and in writing;
• collaborate with fellow students on a group presentation;
• link knowledge of historical thinking on the course topic to their own job market prospects;
• connect historical knowledge of the course topic to modern-day social and political issues­
• work in accordance with academic standards.

Content

This is the first course of Specialisation 6: Globalisation and World Order (Track International Relations).

This course covers the history of globalisation over the past 500 years, paying special attention to the various dimensions of the globalisation process. We will also zoom in on the socio-economic determinants and
consequences of this process in order to understand the historical roots of vast global-scale inequality.
 
We will start by defining precisely what is meantby globalisation and how this process has evolved over time. Was there such a thing as globalisation before the Industrial Revolution? Why did the world economy experience a phase of deglobalisation in the twentieth century?
Then, we will describe the consequences. Latin America was the first continent in the period after Columbus to undergo dramatic changes as a consequence of closer economic and political ties with Europe. But how did this first phase of globalisation affect Africa and Asia? In the period after 1820 the world economy grew highly integrated. Europe and North America reaped the benefits of this development, whereas Asia, in particular, deindustrialised and lost economic ground. From 1880, modern imperialism accelerated this domination by wealthy Western nations. This situation did not change until after 1980 and the massive tide of globalisation that propelled the rise of new economies such as India and China. More recently, the financial crisis of 2007–8 and the rise of populism are thought to be leading to a new period of deglobalisation.
 

Additional information

This is the first course of Specialisation 6: Globalisation and World Order.