Glocalization

Global self-organizing development of local communities. Glocalization, a neologism and portmanteau of globalization and localization, entails one or both of the following: the creation or distribution of products or services intended for a global or transregional market, but customized to suit local laws or culture. Using electronic communications technologies, such as the Internet, to provide local services on a global or transregional basis. The global and the local may be regarded as two sides of the same coin. A place may be better understood by recognizing the dual nature of glocalization. Very often localization is a neglected process because globalization presents an omnipresent veneer. Yet, in many cases, local forces constantly strive to attenuate the impact of global processes. Glocalization as a term, though originating in the 1980s from within Japanese business practices, was first popularized in the English-speaking world by the British sociologist Roland Robertson in the 1990s.