Cultural Competence for Public Managers

Chapter 2

How Globalization and Immigration Are Changing the World

2.1 Introduction

Globalization is commonly described as a greater interconnectedness among the countries of the world along several dimensions: economic, political, trade, and cultural. Many barriers have been eliminated or lowered. Global economies are now intermixed. A trip to the grocery store in the United States shows fruits and vegetables grown in countries such as Mexico, Ecuador, and South Africa. Medical tourism, where patients go to different countries for medical care, is flourishing. Technology makes it easier to communicate across the world. The Internet and computer-based communications such as Skype can instantly connect people across the world, helping to ...