WORLD. Globalization has been proclaimed dead in relation to the inflation problems, the war in Ukraine, and the recent Covie-19 pandemic. Different academics and experts have talked about deglobalization since 2020. However, new globalization is now being developed and also organized with decentralized technology such as cryptocurrencies.
Comments and myths about “the death of globalization” are false and inaccurate for several reasons. For example, the current inflation problems are mainly a result of shortages of goods, and global value chains will still be important for trade and cooperation. Regarding the ongoing war in Ukraine, one must remember that despite its land size and economy, Russia is still among the least globalized and most trade-preventionist nations.
Regarding trade and other globalizing aspects, there is no strong evidence or support that our world is becoming more or less globalized. As for example liberal opinion-maker and global historian Johan Norberg writes, globalization has “found new ways” and adapted itself as during the recent pandemic and global health problems with the Covid virus. Covid-19 has mainly been handled thanks to global cooperation and flows of important goods, services, and ideas.
Historically, it is nothing new that globalization or global development, in general, is changing. Partly it has to do with general political, economic, social, and technological changes around the world, such as further development of trade agreements and flows in Africa. Regarding technological changes, one of the main current trends in the development of decentralized technology is in the cases of blockchain, self-sovereign identity, and cryptocurrencies.
Covid-19 has mainly been handled thanks to global cooperation and flows of important goods, services, and ideas.
One common factor for these techniques is that they enable people to cooperate and interact without needing “a middle-man” as a bank, company, or government institution. Decentralized technology is also global because the interactions between humans, and private and public institutions are done worldwide. Older cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are already used for buying goods and services worldwide, especially in larger cities such as Miami, Tokyo and Barcelona.
In several ways, cryptocurrencies can be described as a new form of global development where individuals and communities are more dominating and presented than the case was during the 1990s and 2000s when globalization was often seen as mainly beneficial for large multi-national and global companies. When new cryptocurrencies are created, communities are common as well. In such crypto-communities, individuals organize themselves by creating internal democratic governance, markets, products, work, and businesses. This is for example the case with crypto-currencies such as Seeds, Tezos and Algorand.
Currently, the total global trade and value of cryptocurrencies is around two trillion American dollars. At the same time, many new communities, companies, and cooperatives that are using crypto are created. Such businesses and initiatives are also specialized by focusing on different topics such as for example banking, climate transformation and food production.
As post-pandemic and post-Trump&Brexit-style discussions about globalization are taking place, the case of cryptocurrencies offers new insights and methods for how our world can be more integrated and unified. This process is very much driven by economic topics such as markets and money transfers but also includes many examples of non-profit and more meaningful initiatives and actions. On an individual and practical level, being a member of a cryptocurrency community, one directly participates in global development through decentralized cooperation through ideas and systems that can contribute to connecting more people and solving problems as world citizens.
global@opulens.se
