Resources

This paper tries to define the origins of the globalization process. In order to do this, it has proceeded to review the abundant and scattered scientific literature. The analysis concludes that there are four usual answers about the origins of globalization. Firstly, place it alongside the emergence of the earliest human civilizations. Secondly, link the globalization process with the emergence of the European modernity during the fifteenth century. Thirdly, connect it to the consolidation of the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century. And finally, consider it the last stage of the expansion of global capitalism in the late twentieth century. Afterwards, the paper will attempt to make a critical assessment of these approaches. The article concludes that the latter is the more plausible answer, because it is closer to the available empirical facts and it avoids the pitfalls of teleology.