This document provides an overview of globalization by defining it as the intensification of connections between people and societies worldwide due to reductions in barriers of time and space. It discusses key processes like increased trade and migration that have driven globalization. It also outlines some public controversies over its economic winners and losers as well as effects on inequality, the environment, and national identities. Scholars debate whether globalization reflects a new era or not, and its impacts are assessed both empirically and normatively regarding how fairly it benefits all people.