‘The Impact of Globalization on Albania’

Abstract The term globalization has been widely used in recent decades. Its definition has been subject to various tense debates and has involved a number of evolving theories which compete in the literature (Jones, 2010). Looking at different aspects of the globalization process, they analyze its features, present its advantages and discuss its disadvantages for economic restructuring, international political power and people’s lives (Martell, 2010). Consequently there is no single concept for this macro phenomenon which impacts on economic integration, the transfer of policies across borders, knowledge transmission and cultural stability, as well as the reproduction, relations and discourses of power (Al-Rodhan & Stroudmann, 2006). The main purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of globalization on Albania during the years of democratic transition towards a market economy, in the process focusing on the economic, political and social factors that continuously have underpinned it.