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 Globalization
reflects a widespread perception that the world is rapidly being
molded
into a shared social space by economic and technological forces and
that developments in one region of the world can have profound consequences
for the life chances of individuals on communities on the other side
of the globe.’ (Held et al, 2001: 1)
There are many possible measures of growing global connections. In this section of the Atlas, we focus on some elements of communications infrastructure, that is, the physical networks that facilitate long distance social interaction. Phone lines and internet connections are growing rapidly, but unevenly across the world. The chart on this page indicates the rapid growth of telephone connections, measured as numbers of voice paths, across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The first transatlantic telephone cables were laid in 1956 and 1957, providing fewer than a hundred voice paths. By 1996, cable lines were providing a million and a quarter voice paths, and satellite another three quarters of a million (Held et al, 1999: 343, citing Staple, 1996). The falling costs, and rising range, of telecommunications connections promote the sense of the globe as a shared social space. References Held, D. et. al. (1999). Global transformations : politics, economics and culture. Stanford, Calif., Stanford University Press. Staple, G. (ed.) (1996) Telegeography, 1996, London: International Institute of Communications. |