ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a brief review of the different definitions of contemporary economic globalization and settles on a working definition that combines the two aspects of the capitalist market: consumption and production. It, then, traces the origins of each of the two forms of globalization. While globalization of consumption can be attributed to progressive economic liberalization after the Second World War, as is commonly accepted in the literature, I argue that globalization of production originated in neo-protectionist policies of the early 1980s that led to the global spread and adoption of Japanese networked manufacturing technologies by western firms to eventually take shape in the form of global production networks, that define the core of contemporary economic globalization. Finally, the chapter will draw out some of the key consequences of globalization of production, especially for trade stability and economic development.
