global village
global village
Pronunciation
/ˌɡloʊbəl ˈvɪlɪdʒ/
glo /ɡloʊ/ - /g/ (voiced velar plosive) + /l/ (voiced alveolar lateral approximant) + /oʊ/ (close-mid back rounded vowel)
bal /bəl/ - /b/ (voiced bilabial plosive) + /ə/ (schwa) + /l/ (voiced alveolar lateral approximant)
vil /vɪl/ - /v/ (voiced labiodental fricative) + /ɪ/ (near-close near-front unrounded vowel) + /l/ (voiced alveolar lateral approximant)
lage /ɪdʒ/ - /ɪ/ (near-close near-front unrounded vowel) + /dʒ/ (voiced postalveolar affricate)
Word Form Variations
Singular: global village
Plural: global villages
Adjective: global-village
Adverb: global-village-style
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
Noun
A term used to describe the world as a single community where people are interconnected through technology, particularly the internet and mass media. This interconnectedness allows for rapid sharing of information, ideas, and cultures across geographical boundaries.
Synonyms: interconnected world, global community, digital society
Antonyms: isolated community, local society, hermetic world
A hypothetical or theoretical construct representing a world where communication technologies have made physical distances and national borders less significant, leading to increased cultural exchange and a shared sense of identity among diverse populations.
Synonyms: planetary society, interconnected network, shared global space
Antonyms: fragmented world, disconnected societies, insular cultures
Adjective
Relating to or characteristic of the interconnectedness and cultural exchange associated with the global village.
Synonyms: interconnected, cosmopolitan, transnational
Antonyms: isolated, local, provincial
Examples of Use
Books and Academic Discourse
The term was first coined by Marshall McLuhan in his 1962 book The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man. He argued that electronic media, particularly television, would shrink the world into a single, interconnected community.
In their book Networks in the Global Village, editors Barry Wellman and Caroline Haythornthwaite examine how people create and maintain social networks in a world where technology allows for constant connection across geographical distances. (Wellman & Haythornthwaite, 2002)
An academic paper discussing the impact of digital media on communication noted, "Although the metaphor of a globally integrated village is compelling, it is ill-suited to account for the set of problems that have appeared in the past decade, namely the upsurge in hyperpartisanship...and the spread of misinformation." (Cogitatio Press, 2021)
News and Online Publications
A 1999 speech by Stanley Fischer, then First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, reflected on the term's prescience, stating, "The global village even has its own market square in the shape of the internet." (IMF.org, November 1999)
A blog post from a digital marketing expert asserts that the internet has fully realized McLuhan's vision, with "platforms like Wikipedia, where global collaboration redefines knowledge creation and dissemination" and social media acting as the "digital village he predicted, where experiences are shared and disseminated globally." (Carlos Apitz POP ART, undated)
A student essay on the topic points out that the global village is not without its drawbacks, noting, "As cultures interact, people develop a shared understanding...However, this interconnectedness can also lead to the dominance of a few powerful media firms, which can threaten local cultures." (IvyPanda, March 2019)
Entertainment
A former Australian television program, also named Global Village, was broadcast on SBS from 1998 to 2015. The show's premise was to educate viewers about different cultures around the world by showcasing short films about communities from various countries.
A video resource center founded in the 1960s in New York City was named "Global Village Video" and produced "Guerrilla TV" style documentaries. The name reflected a desire to use the new technology of portable video cameras to document a wide range of subjects and make them accessible to a broad audience. (Wikipedia, undated)
The term is sometimes used in film and television reviews or documentaries to describe the theme of a production. For example, a film might be described as exploring the challenges of maintaining cultural identity in the "global village" where traditions are often blended or overshadowed by a dominant global culture.
Public Discourse
The term is frequently used in discussions about the pros and cons of globalization. For instance, people might say something like, "The global village has made it easier to share ideas, but it has also led to a loss of unique local traditions."
In conversations about international politics and events, a person might comment, "We all live in a global village now, and what happens in one country inevitably affects us all."
When talking about the ease of communicating with people from other countries, someone might say, "Thanks to social media and video calls, the world really is a global village."
10 Famous Quotes Using Global Village
"The new electronic independence re-creates the world in the image of a global village." (Marshall McLuhan, 1962)
"The internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow." (Bill Gates, 1999)
"We live now in a global village and we are in one single family." (Jackie Chan, undated)
"The global village will have its village idiots, and they'll have global range." (Martin Rees, 2018)
"If the world is becoming a global village, it will also take on the feature of real village life, including cliques, lifelong feuds, and impassable social barriers." (Northrop Frye, 1970)
"We need to become good citizens in the global village, instead of competing." (Yuan T. Lee, undated)
"In this era of the global village, the tide of democracy is running." (Paul Tsongas, undated)
"Simplicity enables us to live lives of integrity in the face of the terrible realities of our global village." (Richard J. Foster, 2010)
"When we say, even in a global village, that all politics is local, we mean that national sovereignties are the only reliable source of political authority." (Michael Ignatieff, undated)
"The global village is a place of very arduous interfaces and very abrasive situations." (Marshall McLuhan, 1977)
Etymology
The term "global village" was coined by the Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan in the 1960s. The word is a combination of two older words:
Global: This comes from the Latin word globus, meaning "round mass" or "sphere." In English, it evolved to describe things related to the entire world.
Village: This word has French and Latin roots (villaticus), originally referring to a small cluster of houses or a small community in the countryside.
McLuhan used these two words together to create a powerful metaphor. He believed that with the rise of electronic media, particularly television, the world would become so interconnected that it would function like a single, small village. In this "village," everyone would be instantly aware of what was happening to everyone else, just as people in a traditional village would know each other's business.
The first known use and full explanation of the term appeared in McLuhan's 1962 book, The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man. He argued that the invention of the printing press had created a fragmented world of individual readers, but that electronic media was now reversing that process, creating a new kind of unified, tribal community on a global scale.
Phrases + Idioms Containing Global Village
The world is a global village.
We're all connected in this global village.
Living in a global village.
The global village effect.
The paradox of the global village.
The global village has shrunk the world.
Navigating the global village.
Building bridges in the global village.
A global village without borders.
The dark side of the global village.
Welcome to the global community.
Interconnected in a planetary neighborhood.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of global village from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
