Unit 9 Globalization: Global Institutions, Cultural Change, and Responses (AP World History: Modern)

Globalized culture

The spread, mixing, and sometimes standardization of cultural elements (ideas, foods, music, language, norms, products) across the world through global connections.

Cultural hybridity

The blending of global and local influences into new cultural forms (e.g., fusion cuisine or local music scenes mixing global styles with indigenous languages).

English as a lingua franca

The use of English as a common language for communication among people with different native languages, especially in business, science, aviation, and online spaces.

Diaspora

A community formed by people living outside their place of origin, often creating cultural “bridges” that spread and sustain traditions (food, religion, festivals, online networks).

Transnational corporation

A company operating across multiple countries that markets globally and can shape consumer habits, labor patterns, and urban landscapes through global branding and supply chains.

Global consumer culture

Shared consumption patterns encouraged by global brands, fast fashion, and standardized marketing—often producing similar “global mall” experiences while still allowing local adaptations.

Global entertainment networks

International systems (film, music, streaming, social media) that distribute entertainment across borders, helping both Hollywood and non-Western media (e.g., K-pop, anime, Bollywood) reach global audiences.

Cultural mega-events

Large international events (such as the Olympics or FIFA World Cup) that circulate global symbols, celebrities, and national images and intensify cultural exchange.

Cultural flows (top-down, bottom-up, sideways)

Ways culture spreads globally: top-down from powerful states/corporations, bottom-up from grassroots trends, and sideways between regions (not just one-directional “Americanization”).

Resistance to globalization

Efforts by individuals, movements, communities, or governments to oppose, slow, reshape, or limit global integration—often targeting specific harms rather than rejecting connection entirely.

Race to the bottom

The idea that competition in global supply chains can push wages and labor/environmental regulations downward as firms seek the lowest costs and weakest rules.

Environmental NGO

A non-governmental organization that mobilizes public pressure and advocacy to address environmental harms tied to globalization (pollution, deforestation, extraction, climate impacts).

Nationalism

A political ideology prioritizing national sovereignty and identity, often strengthened when people feel globalization weakens control over borders, culture, or economic policy.

Populism

Politics that claims to represent “the people” against perceived elites; may include criticism of global institutions, trade agreements, or immigration policies.

Global institutions

Formal organizations and rule-making systems that manage cross-border problems (trade, finance, security, health, environment) by creating rules, coordinating information, and organizing collective action.

Intergovernmental organization (IGO)

An international organization whose members are states; coordinates cooperation through diplomacy, rules, standards, and joint action (e.g., the UN, IMF, World Bank, WHO).

Non-governmental organization (NGO)

A private voluntary group that operates independently of governments, often providing aid, monitoring elections, advocating human rights, protecting the environment, and pressuring corporations.

United Nations (UN)

A post–World War II organization created to prevent future wars and encourage cooperation, providing forums for diplomacy and coordinating humanitarian and security efforts (including peacekeeping when authorized).

Bretton Woods institutions

Post–World War II financial institutions (especially the IMF and World Bank) that shaped the global financial system and influenced development and economic policy worldwide.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

An IGO focused on international monetary cooperation and financial stability, including lending to countries facing balance-of-payments crises, often with policy conditions.

World Bank

A global financial institution that provides development loans and projects (originally focused on postwar reconstruction), aiming to support long-term economic development.

Structural adjustment

Policy conditions tied to some international loans (often associated with IMF/World Bank) that may require austerity or market reforms—praised for restoring stability but criticized for increasing inequality or cutting social spending.

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

A postwar framework for negotiating reduced tariffs and encouraging international trade, laying groundwork for later, more formal trade institutions.

World Trade Organization (WTO)

A 1990s-era institution that formalizes global trade rules and provides dispute settlement, accelerating trade while also creating debates about job losses and standards (labor/environment).

World Health Organization (WHO)

An IGO that coordinates international public health efforts by monitoring diseases, sharing guidance, and supporting responses to global health threats.