The Globalization Monster: Challenges and Alternatives of Jacques B. Gélinas

Abstract

This text describes the historical evolution of the term globalization, accompanied by different economic, political, and social events that account for the current state of extreme concentration of wealth, which causes inequalities and social fractures in the world. In the work “The Globalization Monster: Challenges and Alternatives” by Jacques B. Gélinas, translated to Spanish in 2006, the author presents a proposal for the development of a unique cultural thought, one that invites us to understand, criticize, resist, and build alternatives to socioeconomic phenomena and the meaning of history, to awaken planetary consciousness, and to achieve a global balance between economic, social, cultural, and environmental aspirations. Likewise, a reflection is made on the Colombian case, where the ideological discrepancy is presented, precisely
because of the conservative conception of Colombian society, not-so-high salary levels, and local cohesion based on agricultural and textile products; in the same way, the high level of regionalism, enhanced by geographical limitations and communication routes, have slowed down the development of manufactured products in Colombia, focusing as a historical continuity on dependence of commodities such as coffee, oil, mining, and agricultural products.