Some of the most important intellectual movements of the 20th century are those which encourage a holistic perspective of the world. The holistic perspective asserts that phenomena can only be understood when viewed in their broadest possible context. Five intellectual movements that have profoundly shaped the world we live in today are globalism, person-centered psychotherapy, holistic health, equal opportunity education, and population control.
The concept of globalism acknowledges the fact that the world is no longer constrained by national borders. A number of respected observers of world affairs have been arguing for more than a decade that our world has become a global village: "A popular belief since the end of World War II has been that the future world will see the development of a single homogeneous world culture" (Haviland 453). Transportation and communication capabilities--for example, supersonic jets, international telephone and computer networks, etc.--make it easier to talk with or visit people on other continents than it was for our ancestors to interact with people from neighboring villages.
The reality of the global village can be demonsrated by looking at the growing impact of multinational corporations and the rise of regional cooperative arrangements between countries. While international businesses have been around for centuries, multinationals are a relatively recent phenomenon. Multinationals use their worldwide operations to develop global strategies: "So great is the power of multinationals that they are increasingly able to thwart the wishes of governments" (Haviland 456). In the public sector, boundaries are being blurred by the creation of regional cooperative arrangements. These arrangements include the European Union and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Globalism is leading to increasing cultural pluralism.
Person-centered therapy is among the most influential an...