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Unit 11: Globalisation and Its Impact on India

Between 1492 and 1498: Columbus and Vasco da Gama travel west and east to the Indies, initiating Notes
an age of European sea-borne empires.

In South Asia, it should be observed, the Delhi Sultanate and Deccan states offered a system of
power that linked the inland trading routes of Central Asia with the coastal towns of Bengal and
the peninsula and hence to Indian Ocean trade for the earliest time.

The commodities trade persisted well into the seventeenth century, focusing on local products
from every area of the Eurasian system— Sumatra spices, Chinese silk and porcelain, Malabar
cinnamon and pepper, etc.—but by the 1600s, long - distance trade was more intensely ingrained
in the production process. A growth of commercial production and commodities trade was
supported by the arrival into Asia of valuable metals from the New World, which appeared
both from the East and West (the Atlantic and Pacific routes—through Palestine and Iran, and
also the Philippines and China).
Liberalisation of the 19th century is frequently termed as “The First Era of Globalisation”. The
“First Era of Globalisation” is said to have broken down in stages, starting with the First World
War, and thereafter collapsing with the crisis of gold standard in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Countries that involved in that period of globalisation, including the European core, few of the
European periphery and several European offshoots in the Americas and Oceania, flourished.
Inequality between those states declined, as goods, capital and labour flowed remarkably liberally
between nations.
The 20th century was also ruled by economic nationalism. Majority of the European nations
pursued this policy. After the Second World War economic nationalism turned into the key for
most nations in Asia and Europe. Even nations such as the US and France were not untouched
with the phenomenon of economic nationalism.
When the US began losing jobs due to globalisation it reacted sharply. Not only this, in the 20th
century itself it took several steps to protect its domestic industry such as automobiles and
motorcycles. It levied quantitative restrictions on the imports of automobiles from Japan.
Likewise, when in 2006 a Britain-based NRI made a bid for Europe’s largest steel maker France
responded sharply.
Economic nationalism is a term utilised to describe policies which are directed by the notion of
protecting domestic consumption, labour and capital formation, even if this needs the imposition
of tariffs and other limitations on the movement of labour, goods and capital. It resists
globalisation in many cases, or at least it questions the perceived advantages of unrestricted free
trade. Economic nationalism may involve such doctrines as protectionism and import substitution.

11.1 Concept of Globalisation

In this section, you will learn about the concept of globalisation. People across the globe are
more linked with each other than ever before. Information and money flow more quickly than
ever. Goods and services generated in one part of the world are progressively available in all
portions of the world. International travel is more recurrent. International communication is
ordinary. This phenomenon has been termed as “globalisation.”
It depicts the increasing integration of economies around the world, especially through trade
and financial flows. The term at times also depicts the movement of people (labour) and
knowledge (technology) across international borders.
It is essential to understand that globalisation is a contemporary term utilised to describe the
changes in societies and the world economy that arise from dramatically enhanced international
trade and cultural exchange. It explains the increase of trade and investment because of the

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