The Past Speaks

I am currently planning my teaching for the next academic year, when I expect to deliver a first-year class on the history of globalization.

History of Globalisation

The aim of this module is to introduce students to a range of social, economic and political themes in the history of globalisation. The module looks at global historical change from 1800 to the present. The emphasis is one three different types of globalisation: the globalisation of goods, the globalisation of ideas/culture, and the global migrations of peoples. The module will discuss the history of global governance and will explore the political foundations of globalisation. The module will also introduce students to the ongoing scholarly debates about the history of globalisation.

Intended Module Learning Outcomes

The intended learning outcomes are that, on successful completion of this module, a student should be able to:

1. Demonstrate an awareness of the major events in the history of globalisation and the scholarly debate over when globalisation actually began.

2. Evaluate the political, economic, and technological foundations of globalisation. A student should be able to discuss the debate among historians about what ‘causes’ globalisation.

3. Discuss the impact of globalisation on diverse countries and on diverse economic groups within societies.

4. Become more familiar with research methods in History and be able to do a document analysis of a primary source.

5. Demonstrate a broad understanding of some theoretical debates in relation to globalisation.

6. Be able to write a historical essay that includes footnotes and bibliography.

The ability to students to achieve these outcomes will be evaluated with an essay and an exam.
Week Title of Lecture
1 Introduction: When Did Globalisation Begin?
2 The History of Sugar and Coffee: What Your Morning Cup of Coffee Says About the History of Globalisation
3 The Atlantic Economy in the Nineteenth Century
4 Nineteenth Century Global Migrations and the Settler Revolution
5 Empire and Globalisation: Gunboat Diplomacy and Overseas Trade
6 The Victorian Internet: the Great Undersea Telegraph Cables
7 The Global Diffusion of Football: How Soccer Spread to Six Continents
8 The Invention of the Passport: Controlling the Movement of People
9 Deglobalisation: the World Economy 1914-45
10 The Parliament of Man: the Creation of the United Nations
11 The Prize: the Epic Struggle to Control the World’s Oil
12 Coca-Colonization: the Diffusion of Fizzy Soft Drinks and the American Empire
13 The Shipping Container: the Box that Changed the World
14 In For The Long Haul: The Growth of Intercontinental Passenger Aviation
15 The History of the Internet: 1962-1992
16 Globalisation’s Paradoxes

Key Textbook

OSTERHAMMEL, J., & PETERSSON, N. P. (2005). Globalization: a short history. Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press. (all students should purchase this book) £11.25 from Amazon.co.uk

Seminar Readings Will Be Drawn From:

Essay Topics

1) Why did the League of Nations fail to deliver security and other global public goods?

2) What was the role of the British Empire in globalisation in the nineteenth century? Would globalisation have taken place anyway without the Royal Navy?
3) Why were the Most Favoured Nations clauses very important to the growth of an interconnected global economy?
4) To what extent did the Eastern Bloc or Comecon countries practice their own form of globalisation? Does globalisation require the existence of capitalist market economies?
5) Which technology has done the most to promote globalisation since 1945?

6) Between 1815 and 1914, Europe exported vast numbers of people. What were the implications of this exodus for Europe and for the lands that received these immigrants?
7) To what extent has the anti-globalisation movement become globalised?
8) What have been the consequences of globalisation for the car industry of the West Midlands?