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This lesson examines how technological developments in transport and communications have driven globalisation. It addresses the Edexcel Enquiry Question: "What are the causes of globalisation and why has it accelerated in recent decades?" by focusing on the role of technology in enabling the movement of goods, people and information across the globe.
Technology is the enabling mechanism of globalisation. Without advances in transport and communications, the economic, social and cultural integration of the world would have been impossible. Technology operates at two levels:
These two effects together have progressively removed the "friction of distance" — the idea that distance acts as a barrier to interaction between places.
Containerisation is arguably the single most important transport innovation for economic globalisation. Before the 1950s, goods were loaded and unloaded individually from ships — a process called break-bulk shipping. This was:
In 1956, the American trucking entrepreneur Malcolm McLean shipped 58 metal containers on the converted tanker Ideal X from Newark, New Jersey to Houston, Texas. This was the birth of modern containerisation.
| Factor | Before Containerisation | After Containerisation |
|---|---|---|
| Loading time | Days to a week per ship | Hours (automated cranes) |
| Cost per ton | ~$5.86 per ton (1956 prices) | ~$0.16 per ton |
| Theft/damage | Common (goods handled multiple times) | Rare (sealed containers, handled mechanically) |
| Ship capacity | A few thousand tons | Modern container ships carry 24,000+ TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) |
| Port labour | Thousands of dockers per port | Hundreds of crane operators |
| Intermodal transport | Goods reloaded at each stage | Same container moves from ship to rail to truck without opening |
The standardisation of container sizes (20-foot and 40-foot TEU) meant that any container could be loaded onto any ship, train or truck anywhere in the world. This intermodal capability was revolutionary.
Exam Tip: Containerisation is an excellent case study for showing how a single technological innovation can have cascading economic, social and spatial effects. Link it to: the growth of TNCs, the global shift, deindustrialisation in HICs, and the growth of mega-ports like Shanghai, Singapore and Rotterdam.
The development of jet aircraft in the post-war period transformed the movement of people and high-value goods:
| Effect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tourism | International tourist arrivals grew from 25 million (1950) to over 1.3 billion (2023) |
| Business travel | Face-to-face meetings, conferences and trade fairs enable global business networks |
| Air freight | High-value, perishable or time-sensitive goods (electronics, flowers, fresh food, pharmaceuticals) are transported by air |
| Migration | Cheaper air travel makes international migration more accessible |
| Diaspora connections | Migrants can visit home countries more frequently, maintaining cultural ties |
Beyond containers, the sheer scale of modern vessels has driven down shipping costs:
High-speed rail networks connect cities within regions:
The internet is the most transformative communications technology in human history:
| Milestone | Year | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| ARPANET (US military) | 1969 | First computer network |
| World Wide Web (Tim Berners-Lee) | 1991 | Made the internet accessible to non-specialists |
| Broadband rollout | 2000s | Always-on, high-speed connections |
| Social media era | 2004–2010 | Facebook (2004), YouTube (2005), Twitter (2006), Instagram (2010) |
| Mobile internet | 2007+ | Smartphones made the internet portable |
| 5G networks | 2020s | Ultra-fast mobile data enabling IoT, remote surgery, autonomous vehicles |
The internet enables:
The physical infrastructure of the internet consists largely of submarine fibre optic cables:
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