I'm wary of this statement:
This is a prime example of why I am increasingly inclined to think that the process of globalization is not fundamentally controllable.
It seems to be used a lot by a whole variety of people for different purposes.
A lot depends what you mean by "fundamentally controllable." For example, I'd probably agree that there are technological factors pushing globalisation forward and that there is no practical ability to make those technologies disappear. At the same time, flows of money and trade are vulnerable to regulation so that is a potential accelerator/brake.
Likewise, whilst the process of globalisation may be difficult to get a handle on, it seems to me that there is every possibility we can cushion the effects on people in lots of ways. Just because in the long run we have to go in a direction doesn't mean we have to go there by jumping off a cliff. Perhaps we can build a more gently sloping roadway.
There are at least two phenomena - the technological and the economic. The first is hard to stop, the second is the result of conscious choices.
Certainly there is a fairly uninterrupted process from the development of long distance sailing ships in the 15th C until now. The Chinese had the jump on that 100 years before with their treasure fleet and backed off. They are only now beginning to catch up.
There is really nothing particularly new about this. Air transportation has increased the range and speed of international trade, but so did the steamship. However, it seems to be that telecommunications technology may be the new genie out of the bottle. The invention of the telegraph had an important on 19th C society and can be seen as a precursor of today's events, but it didn't really move jobs.
