Journal
of Global Awareness
Journal of Global Awareness
Volume 1
Number 1
Inaugural Issue of the Journal of
Global Awareness
Article 8
August 2020
The Ages of Globalization:
Geography, Technology, and
The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and
Institutions
Institutions
Brenda Massetti
St. John's
University
Recommended Citation
Recommended Citation
Massetti, Brenda (2020) "The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions,"
Journal of
Global Awareness: Vol. 1: No. 1, Article 8.
Available at: https://scholar.stjohns.edu/jga/vol1/iss1/8
This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at St. John's Scholar. It has been
accepted for inclusion in Journal of Global Awareness by an authorized editor of St. John's Scholar. For more
information,
please contact
karniks@stjohns.edu, fuchsc@stjohns.edu
.
Professor Jeffrey Sachs’ new book shows us how globalization has been and will
continue to be a driving force for human progress. The book traces the history of
globalization through seven distinct ages. Each age represents what he terms a
scale-enlarging transformation, expanding both population and production while
changing the nature of governance and geopolitics. Depending on the climate,
technology, and institutional options available to a particular geography, human
progress has been spurred or spurned by globalization.
The Paleolithic Age, dating from 70,000 – 10,000 BCE, marks the formative period
for all of human history, where small groups of humans migrated from one place to
another. As they carried their tools, know-how, and emerging cultures throughout
the world, they adapted to hugely diverse habitats
while causing environmental
upheaval along the way. The Neolithic Age characterizes an era of globalization by
farming. The success of early agriculture hinged on fertile environments where
flora and fauna could be cultivated and domesticated. Farming led to larger
communities, which allowed humans the time and resources to develop new
technologies such as writing, record keeping, and ceramics.
The Equestrian Age is the third scale-enlarging transformation described by
Professor Sachs, where the horse reigns supreme in its contributions to economic
development and globalization.
In specific, the horse provided speed, durability,
power, and intelligence, which enabled advancements in farming, mining,
manufacturing, transport, communications, warfare, and governance. The Classical
age comes next, signifying an era of globalization by politics. Greco-Roman,
Persian, Islamic, Mongolian and Chinese
Empires disseminate ideas, spread
technologies, introduce new institutions, and build infrastructures on a continental
scale. Professor Sachs' discussion of the rise of the Mongol Empire, the largest
contiguous empire in history, is particularly interesting. The Ocean Age brings the
birth of global capitalism, where imperial power
extends across oceans and
ecological zones. During this age, western production systems were globalized with
plantations and mines in the Americas and elsewhere, while profit-oriented
privately owned corporations maintained their military operations and foreign
policies. Conquest was justified as a God-given right, whereby civilization was
brought to the heathens. Financial success became a sign of God's favor and
providence.
The Industrial Age represents Professor Sachs’ sixth age of globalization, bringing
more
extensive, deeper, and faster transformation than any previous age.
Industrialized nations, including Western Europe and the United States, achieve
significant increases in output per person, reductions in extreme poverty, rapid
urbanization, and structural shifts away from strenuous physical labor, with more
opportunities for education and leisure. The seventh age of globalization, the
Digital Age, begins in the 21
st
Century and encompasses the present. Through
advances in information
and communication technology, it brings ubiquitous
1
Massetti: Ages of Globalization
Published by St. John's Scholar, 2020