Read the passage and answer the questions:
Globalization and change
Globalisation as a concept fundamentally deals with flows of various kinds — ideas moving from one part of the world to another, capital shunted between two or more places, commodities being traded across borders, and people moving in search of better livelihoods to different parts of the world. The crucial element is the ‘worldwide interconnectedness’ that is created and sustained as a consequence of these constant flows. If globalisation is about the flows of ideas, capital, commodities, and people, it is perhaps logical to ask if there is anything novel about this phenomenon. Globalisation results in an erosion of state capacity, that is, the ability of government to do what they do. All over the world, the old ‘welfare state’ is now giving way to a more minimalist state that performs certain core functions such as the maintenance of law and order and the security of its citizens. A part of the problem has to do with defining economic globalisation itself. The mention of economic globalisation draws our attention immediately to the role of international institutions like the IMF and the WTO and the role they play in determining economic policies across the world. While cultural homogenisation is an aspect of globalisation, the same process also generates precisely the opposite effect. It leads to each culture becoming more different and distinctive. This phenomenon is called cultural heterogenisation.
The international institutions like the IMF and the WTO play key role in which one of the following?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → determining economic policies across the world
Option (1) determining social policies across the world — Incorrect. The IMF and the WTO are named in the passage only in connection with economic globalisation; social policy is not their field.
Option (2) determining gender policies across the world — Incorrect. These two bodies deal with money and trade; questions of gender are not part of their work.
Option (3) determining cultural policies across the world — Incorrect. The passage takes up culture separately, as cultural homogenisation and heterogenisation, and does not tie it to the IMF or the WTO.
Option (4) determining economic policies across the world — Correct. The mention of economic globalisation draws attention to the role of international institutions like the IMF and the WTO and the role they play in determining economic policies across the world.
NCERT (2025-26): “Economic Consequences … A part of the problem has to do with defining economic globalisation itself. The mention of economic globalisation draws our attention immediately to the role of international institutions like the IMF and the WTO and the role they play in determining economic policies across the world. Yet, globalisation must not be viewed in such narrow terms. Economic globalisation involves many actors other than these international institutions.…” |