Finally, there are economic factors changing global patterns of investment, production, distribution and consumption (Bauman, 1998). Fifth, in relation to political change, the growing importance of transnational institutions and agencies, such as the European Union (EU) has become increasingly apparent. Fourth, social transformations are taking place that loosen the constraints of traditional institutions and local communities on individuals. Boundaries become increasingly porous as they experience growing flows of people, culture, information, goods, and services. Cultural values can no longer be contained and constrained within a single nation state. Third, there has been a cultural transformation, particularly in terms of the decline of tradition. Some of this activity has been facilitated by a revolution of global technology. Second, social action groups and political movements have tended to transcend the local and to make common cause at a transnational scale. First, there has been a growing awareness of the ecological environment and the global impact of human activities upon a fragile and interdependent biosphere.
According to Bramham and Spink (2001), such dramatic changes can be thought of in six separate dimensions. During the past generation, especially from the 1980s to the present, the world has experienced fundamental changes, and “globalization has emerged as one of the foremost discourses” (Jackson & Hokowhitu, 2002).
