Globalization and the Tower of Babel

It is pointed out that according to present-day visionaries, man is heading toward a new form of social organization, a 'borderless world' in which people will live as citizens in a 'global village'-a change enabled by communications and information technologies. It is further noted that, in the absence of a clear-cut understanding of the direction of technological change, rhetoric takes over as people seek to make sense of the power and place of these new technologies. The visions of 'borderless worlds' and 'Towers of Babel' fall into this category. The authors examine these two metaphors as a means of making sense of how globalization will re-shape the image of the world in which they live.<
>