Abstract

Globalisation, as a phenomenon of the introduction of the various innovative structures in different spheres of life, enriches the postmodern reality; it expands the boundaries of national economic and politic systems; it creates a qualitatively new stage in the development of modern society. The basic features of the transformational trends in the modern economic system are highlighted. Globalization is defined as an objective process that is associated with a gradual and unavoidable increasing of interdependence and relationships between states, nations and regions. All this is manifested first of all in economic relations. The current global economy is a kind of a single mechanism, all elements of which are spread across all countries and continents. Economic dependence entails many consequences, the most obvious of them to society is an existing division of labor with the trend of increasing differentiation. The economic system of the world is increasingly globalized. State boundaries and differences between world markets lost its former importance. The globalization of the financial system covers the internationalization of three components: domestic currencies, banking, capital markets. In the policy reduced the role of national states. Structural and functional characteristics of the global world are emergined by neo-liberal system. Implementation of market principles in all areas of life becomes all-embracing. The author of the article focuses on the essential changes in a such concepts as liberalism and democracy. The polarity effects of the globalization process are analyzed, but not only in the sphere of politics and economics, also in the sphere of culture and anthropological dimension of existence. Particular attention is paid to the concept of «risk society», its meaning and implications. Different types of threat, uncertainty, and fear is the main indicator and the main fact of risks society. As a conclusion, it is proposed alternative vision of contemporary global processes within the framework of globalization itself.