While I don’t consider this Musings# to be political, due to the topic that is being discussed I understand that the conversation may be seen as political. While I don’t think readers need to “hold onto your butts!” for this post, feel free to!
Image by Global Sherpa/Caption: This image is associated with an interesting article about the different types of globalization that you can read about here
Hello, Hello, Fellow Musers! Today we are going take a look at two topics that have been around for quite some time and have been in the news for at least a few decades: Trade and Globalization. You may wonder, what does this have to do with anthropology? It has a lot to do with anthropology, which you will see shortly. For today’s article-essay-post, I’m going to share with you a short paper I wrote for extra credit in a class that I took for my minor, International Studies.
Why International Studies? Well, when I applied and was accepted at the university that I received my bachelor’s degree from, I was told that I was required to have a minor in order to graduate, and when I looked at the long list, I saw that my first choice (Museum Studies) was not available as a minor for an undergraduate degree.
Grrrrrrr!!!
So after taking some time to think, and doing some research to see which of the available minors would go great with an undergrad anthropology degree, I settled on International Studies. I got really lucky, class wise-I only had to take two classes because a lot of my classes from my junior college that transferred fulfilled most of the required hours (up to 18 hours I believe) needed for my minor. So I took my very first and so far only political science class, International Political Economy, and my very first sociology class, Sociology of Globalization.
Ironically, up until this point in my life, I had tried to actively avoid taking any classes that directly involved politics (minus the required government classes in junior college). But I enjoyed both of these classes more than I thought I would. The sociology class was a bit more challenging than the political science class, but I aced them both with A’s. That semester I was also taking an Intro to Film class because I apparently needed one last Core class requirement.
I did enjoy the film class as well. This was Spring Semester 2022-and the only semester where I made all A’s! One of the highlights of going back to school so far, haha!
Background For This Essay
Soooooo which class am I going to be referring to for this article-essay? You may be thinking Sociology of Globalization-that would definitely be the logical conclusion based on the title. But no, the extra credit paper I will be sharing with y’all today is actually from my political science class, International Political Economy, which will now be referred to as IPE.
There came a point in my IPE class where we talked about globalization. We were watching a three-part series on YouTube called Commanding Heights. The video series focused on how the politics of globalization has affected the international community of which we are all part of. It’s a very interesting series and I encourage all of you to watch it if you’re interested in that kind of thing. You can find the video links in the footnotes1. What stood out to me in the videos was the effect of trade and how it was intertwined with globalization. I use the symbolic representation of the Ouroboros to tie in cultural anthropology to my ideas in the paper.
For the extra credit assignment that we did, we were told to write our thoughts about globalization and somehow tie it to the series. I guess I did a good job because I got all of the available extra credit points! I believe that we could get up to either 3 or 5 points. Then again, the professor didn’t really make the class difficult, and he basically told us that-unlike some other professors in other classes and majors-he wasn’t trying to make it difficult for us. All we had to do was show up, participate as best as we could, communicate with him if we needed to miss class for any reason, and when he asked send him or the TA an occasional email for a 1 point extra credit. He also had a Zoom link available if we didn’t feel comfortable going to in-person class, or if we just weren’t able to make it to the classroom for whatever reason.
At the time, I had an in-person class (my film class) that was on the opposite side of campus from the building where my IPE class was, so I took advantage of the Zoom option. Often times, I was able to stay in the classroom after the film lecture was over and jump on Zoom from there2. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. But that’s not the only reason I found myself enjoying this class. The professor was originally from South Korea and also showed that he knew his shit. Honestly made me want to take another political science class!
Anyways, you’re not reading this to read about me gushing about how I find political science interesting. Nope, you’re probably curious to know what academic fuckery did I pour out of my head to Microsoft Word that has eventually made its way to this Substack post.
Before we get into the fuckery and to help any readers get an idea of the topics being discussed, let’s take a look at the definitions of Trade and Globalization. A quick search engine search will reveal that:
Trade-is the transfer of goods and services between two or more groups in exchange for some kind of currency (paper, digital, metals, minerals, etc.)
Globalization-is the interconnection and interdependence of countries around the world driven by the exchange of goods and services, capitol, information, and cultural ideas
Paper Presentation
Now that you have an idea of the paper’s backstory as well as what trade and globalization are, how am I going to present my paper to you in Substack form? Basically, I will be breaking up the essay-style paper into sections, and I will be using Heading 5 to differentiate between my sections and my reflections. For my reflections, I’ll be using Normal Heading. You’ll be reading my thoughts about globalization from 2022, and then you will read Present Me reflecting on each section in 2025. So basically, it’s gonna go like this:
Yada yada yada, more words and stuff <more paragraphs>
Rinse.
Repeat.
Y’all get the picture. I’ll try to keep the reflections brief because re-reading the paper, I personally don’t have too much to add to it even 3 years later. That’s right-Future/Present Me still agrees with Past Me about what I wrote🤭
So, without further ado, here is my short paper on trade and globalization from an anthropology and international political economic perspective3!
<My gawd, that’s a mouthful!> <That’s literally what she said!> <Would my anxious, overthinking inner selves kindly shut up and drink your tea so that we can get on with this thing? Thank you!>
Globalization
For this assignment I will discuss the various directions of globalization via the aspect of trade. In my major, Anthropology, there hasn’t been a lot of discussion-at least in the classes that I’ve taken-about globalization directly (as in the word itself hasn’t really come up). However, this semester, in addition to taking this IPE class, I am also taking a sociology class that is about globalization, and I can say that due to both of these classes, I will be incorporating what I have learned into my future studies and also take a shot at exploring the subject of globalization (both of the economic and political aspects) in my future career. With that said, I will also be writing this from an anthropology perspective as well, specifically a generalized cultural anthropology perspective.
In some ways, I believe that globalization has been-in some form-in effect since pre-historical/ancient/pre-modern times. As a species, humans have always relied on each other to get by, regardless of if we liked our fellow humans or not. As we are all well aware of, one of the oldest commodities of humanity is trade-specifically trade between empires, kingdoms, countries, territories, localities, etc. But how do humans keep trade between their countries alive? Through agreements, treatises, etc. via merchants, rulers, etc. Post ancient times but pre-modern times, we begin to notice the formation of companies along with the invention of coin and paper money, and before we know it-bam! -trade is now called business. This is, of course, a simplified explanation of a what can be a complicated subject but I believe it serves the purpose of my point. In some respects, trade and globalization are like the Ouroboros-the snake with the tail in its mouth that represents the infinite cycle of life and death. In this example, though, I feel that globalization and trade tend to take turns when it comes to being the head and tail of the snake-hence the cycles.
1.) If you’ve ever taken an anthropology class-specifically a Cultural Anthropology class or an Archaeology class-Trade is a big topic in these fields, but the word Globalization is (currently) not-at least in the classes that I took it was not mentioned.
2.) I honestly don’t remember what exactly made me think of the Ouroboros. I’m sure if I went back and watched the videos, I’d be able to recall. Also, I realized that I forgot to add Rebirth as part of the Ouroboros’ role in the ancient world as well.
Trade as an entity has served humanity well-it has helped build up/tear down/redefine cultures. It has kept religions and politics alive. It has kept humans from wiping each other out during war (I speak of the human spirit of helping each other during crisis), as well as funded war (the exchange of weaponry and fighters for safety). In terms of specific goods and services, trade has helped make and break economies. The trade of art, clothing, food, inventions, shelter, services for money, and so on and so forth, has required humanity to in some form be global. One could also say that trade is a culture unto itself.
When I say “be global”, I don’t mean when humanity was starting out. I’m talking about when our ancestors become spread out enough over a few continents and start producing various goods to start trading. Fast forward to modern and post-modern times and now even money-which is still coin and paper to some degree-has become tradeable in itself thanks to digital currency. While I personally don’t participate in the trading of digital coin, I will say that my Venmo app has expanded my vocabulary on the different types of crypto-currencies besides Bitcoin. It has introduced me to Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash (which to me sounds like an oxymoron but it’s not a big enough rabbit hole to tempt me away from my main topic).
I still stand by that Bitcoin Cash, as well as other “digital cash” is an oxymoron. Let’s just admit that we’ve stepped foot into a wider world and call them for what they are: Credits!
That’s right, people, we’re on the path to make the payment aspects of Star Wars and Star Trek a reality!
Now, we can’t talk about trade and globalization without talking about the effect that humans have had-either willingly or unwillingly. There’s also the side that just doesn’t care as long as their money isn’t affected by the outcomes (unless the outcome gives them more money, of course). I’m just going to focus on the willing and unwilling participants for this argument, though.
Of course, as the video series we’ve been watching, Commanding Heights, has shown, not everyone is accepting of globalization-even as they participate in it (hence, the unwilling side). However, this in turn makes the willing humans the masters and mistresses of globalization. One thing that struck me while watching Commanding Heights: Episode 3 was how out of touch both sides seem to be with each other. On one side, we have the willing participants who are in charge of making sure that the globalized trade stays flowing. On the other side we have the protestors (aka the unwilling participants) who say they are against the rich and powerful from running the world, yet they don’t actively come up with solutions to counter the policies put in place to make globalization run smoothly. Then towards the end of the episode, the woman put it best (starts at 01:48:16):
“When the first protest started, I remember feeling very frustrated because they had no alternative program. And more I thought about it, the more I realized that if one looks historically the role of protest movements isn’t to provide solutions-it’s their job to be critical. And then it’s the job of the ‘insiders’-people in the system-in their response to those protests to come up with new solutions. Um, and I think that’s where we’re at now. So I do think it’s healthy that we do have them banging at the gates.”
It was that comment that helped me realize that-in the larger scheme of things-the various roles that humans have is also what helps globalization flow, thus keeping trade alive. The laws of today that are brought into play as the result of the roles the willing and unwilling participants can be seen as another example of the figurative ouroboros.
One of my reasons for not being an activist protestor-you know, the people who stand in the streets and hold signs up with (usually) creative slogans-is because I often wonder just how effective that type of protesting is.
Photo Credit: Amy Lee of Evanescence/Caption: Possibly my favorite protest sign ever!/Place: No Kings protest, June 14, 2025
While I do believe that it is important to use one’s voice when things need to change and to show up in unison with like-minded humans, there are other ways to protest. Seeing people putting their words into actions that will help their cause and sometimes help their fellow humans is also a good way to protest. Actions like actively riding a bike to work because you don’t want to contribute to the carbon footprint, not having a car but using a rideshare or taxi services to protest too damn high car insurance rates4 while also supporting your fellow human pay their bills or save up for something, composting because you truly believe that it’s better for the environment, buying or making eco-friendly coffins, choosing cremation and then having your ashes planted with a tree because it’s less expensive than buying a coffin and cutting down a tree5, etc.
One movement that has had an impact on me: tiny house living. Although I will soon be living in an apartment with a roommate (different roommate, not my current one) I’ve been inspired by the Tiny Home shows that I’ve watched to not go out and buy a lot of new items for my room, including a lot of clothes. I’m in no way, shape, or form a minimalist but I do like the idea of downsizing, especially since I would eventually like to travel. And while I love museums, I don’t want my home to feel like a museum. I want it to be clean, but also look like someone lives there-a little clutter is good for the soul. For me, that is balance.
But Kimber, we humans have short memories! We’ll just go back to doing what we-
Forgive me, Fellow Muser. I don’t mean to be rude in my interruption of your spoken or unspoken thought, but I would like to gently counter argue that writing down or documenting why you are doing these things is a great way to keep a reminder of why someone does what they do (whether it’s for an individual or community cause) so that it can be remembered that-a-way! Also, I write about these multiple forms of protest, because a lot of times when they are being done simultaneously, they tend to have a bigger impact than just one form. There is also another form of protest known as citizens assembly.
did a Substack Live about it. Once Elle releases the live video, I will update this post with a link to their conversation. (July 25, 2025 Update: You can watch/listen to the video here!) It was a very invigorating talk and actually brought me out of a mental haze that I have been feeling for the past few days, and has given me hope for a different and more effective way to make the will of diverse groups of citizens of a country be heard. Dare I say, that for the U.S. it sounds like it would be more effective than say the Electoral College. While this concept starts out more as a localized grouping and is more on the political side of things, it could also have an effect on how trade and globalization occur in the future.
And now⬇️
To conclude this discussion, while there are many directions that globalization has gone to, I believe the main factor that sets off globalization and keeps it going is trade. Even if nations become isolated, I don’t think they’ll be able to stay in isolation for long.
Human nature requires us to interact with each other to varying degrees. It doesn’t matter if it’s cultures exchanging goods for survival or vanity, interacting with each other in the culture of trade will-in many ways-keep the flow of globalization alive and well for generations to come.
Unintentional food for thought for Homo sapiens who long for their country(ies) to be isolated away from everyone👀
Conclusion
Thank you Fellow Musers for taking the time to read my academic fuckery paper and reflections of said paper. I hope it sparked thoughts in your head about the way things are going on in individual countries and how it can affect the international community. While my intention for this post is not to spark a debate (but you are welcome to do so in the comments), I have been thinking a lot about globalization and trade since my Spring 2022 class. I hope to write another Musings# or even a Deep Dive about globalization and trade as separate topics-maybe this year, maybe another year, but definitely sometime soon.
My final thoughts, for now-the topics of globalization and trade have truly affected how I approach anthropology, and it also has some influence of how I view the world. In a roundabout way, it’s also one of the reasons that I sometime interchange humans and people with Homo sapiens or H. sapiens when I write to you, Fellow Muser6. Trade and globalization will always happen in various forms-whether it starts out small with just a three or four communities to 5 countries participating which eventually stretch to all 6 or 7 continents to possible planetary systems. Neither will be stopped, and both will always take multiple forms to either fit into the various cultures of this world or shape this world’s cultures to fit its multiple forms. And remember, regardless of your stance as a willing or unwilling participant, we all participate in this unavoidable way of life to some degree.
As always, Carpe Diem and Huzzah! ~Kimber, Salem, and Nalia
Nalia: Strap in, Chewbacca-Salem!/Salem: Do I look like a walking carpet to you?!?/Nalia: The way you shed, you could make a carpet out of all that fur!/Salem: *punches hyperdrive button before Nalia can strap in*/Nalia: Yooowww!/Salem: *Purrs in satisfaction*
Musings of an Anthropology Student is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions options are $6 monthly or $35 for a year. To upgrade or subscribe with a paid sub, you must do so from the Substack website as I am not currently making the option available yet for this space on the Substack app. Either way, free or paid, I appreciate you subscribing and reading my work! Carpe Diem and Huzzah to you!
I believe there wasn’t another class until about an hour after my film class ended, so it was pretty convenient. Other students would come in, but the classroom (which could probably be described as more of a lecture hall) was also a nice, quiet place to study
Unless you want to go through the process of mummification, then by all means get that coffin-preferably with an awesome design for future archaeologists to admire and ponder over, as well as a headstone that has your image on it so they know what you looked like when you were alive!
A very in-depth analysis Kimber.
I remember when I first started thinking about the pros and cons of globalisation and what a deep rabbit hole that was. You covered it well :)