contemporary world module, Assignments of English

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Computer Communication Development Institute Legazpi City Albay The Contemporary World Course Title: The Contemporary Wold Contents Module I Introduction to Globalization Lesson I: Defining globalization  Definition of Globalization  Metaphors of Globalization o Solid and liquid o Flows Lesson II:  Globalization Theories  Dynamic of Local and Global Culture  The globalization of religion  The globalization and regionalization  Origin and History of Globalization o Harwired o Cycle o Events o Broader, more Recent Changes  Global Demography  Global migration Module II: The Global Economy Lesson I:  Economic Globalization and Global Trade  Economic Globalization and Sustainable Development o Environmental Degradation o Food security  Economic Globalization, Poverty, and Inequality o Global Income Inequality o The Third World and the Global South o The Global City Lesson II:  Theories of Global Stratification o Modernization Theory o Walts Rostow's four stage of modernization o The Modern World-System  The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the European Union (EU).  North American Free Trade Agreement (NAAFTA) Week 11-12: Module III- Lesson II:  History of global market integration o The Agricultural Revolution and the Industrial Revolution o Capitalism and Socialism o The information Revolution  Global Corporation Week 13-15: Module 4- Lesson 1:  Global governance in the Twenty-first Century  Effects of Globalization to Governments o Traditional challenges o Challenges from national movements o Global economics o Global social movements  The relevance of the state amid globalization  Institutions that govern international relations o Peace treaties and military alliances: The UN and NATO o Non-Government Organization (NGOs) o Global economic association: The WTO and NAFTA Week 16-17: Module 4-Lesson III:  Globalization and Globalism  Informationalism Week 17-18: Conclusion  Global Citizenship Introduction To Globalization Module I present. These blocks could slow down one’s activity in another county or could even limit the places a person can visit. If so, why are we going to spend time studying this concept? How can we appreciate these definitions? How can these help up globalization? The perspective of the person who defines globalization shapes its definition – the overview of definitions implies that globalization is many things to many different people. Arjun Appadurai – globalization is a world of things that have different speeds, axes, points of origin and termination and varied relationships to institutional structures in different regions, nations or societies. Definitions suggest the perspective of the author on the origins and the geopolitical implications of globalization. It is a starting point that will guide the rest of any discussions. In effect, one’s definition and perspective could determine concrete steps in addressing the issues of globalization. For example, if one sees globalization as positive, the person can say that it is unifying force. On the other hand, it is is deemed as creating greater inequalities among nations, globalization is negatively treated. Cesare Poppi – Globalization is the debate and the debate is globalization – One become part and parcel of the other. The literature stemming from the debate on globalization has grown in the alst decade beyond any individual’s capability of extracting a workable definition of the concept. In a sense, the meaning of the concept is self-evident. In another, it is vague and obscure as its reaches are wide and constantly shifting. Perhaps, more than any other concept, globalization is the debate about it. Globalization is reality – it is changing as human society develops. It has happened before and it is still happening today. We should expect it to continue to happen in the future. The future of globalization is more difficult to predict. What we would expect in the coming years is what has happened over the past so years and that is the fluidity and complexity of globalization as a concept, which made more debates, discussions and definitions that agreements on it. Overall, globalization is a concept that is not easy to define because in reality globalization has a shifting nature. It is complex, multifaceted and can be influenced by the people who define it. Moreover, the issues and concerns involving globalization have a wide range – from the individual to society, from small communities to nation and states and from the benefits we can gain from it to the costs it could carry. Metaphors of Globalization In order for us to have a better understanding regarding the concept of globalization, we utilize metaphors. 3 Metaphors- a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. Solid – the epoch that precede today’s globalization paved way for people, things, information and places to harden over time, Consequently, they have limited mobility. The social relationships and objects remained where they were created. Solidity refers to barriers that prevent or make difficult the movement of things. Furthermore, solids can either be natural or man-made. Examples of natural solids are landforms and bodies of water. Man-made barriers include the Great Wall of China and the Berlin Wall. An imaginary line such as the nine dash line used by China in their claim to South China Sea is an example of a modern man made solid. This creates limited access of Filipino fishers to the South China Sea. Obviously, these examples still exist. However, they have the tendency to melt. This should not be taken literally like an iceberg melting. Instead, this process involves how we can describe what is happening in today’s global world. It is becoming increasingly liquid. Liquid – as a state of matter takes the shape of a container. Moreover, liquids are not fixed. Liquidity therefore, refers to the increasing ease of movement of people, things, information and places in the contemporary world. - Globalization has since sped up to an unprecedented pace, with public policy changes and communications technology innovations cited as the two main driving factors Characteristics of liquidity: 1. Today’s liquid phenomena change quickly and their aspects spatial and temporal are in continuous fluctuation. This means that space and time are crucial elements of globalization. In global finance, for instance, changes in the stock market are a matter of seconds. 2. Another characteristic of liquid phenomena is that their movement is difficult to stop. For example, videos uploaded on YouTube or Facebook are unstoppable once they become viral. The so-called internet sensations become famous not only in their homeland but also in the entire world. 3. Finally, the forces (the liquid ones) made political boundaries more permeable to the flow of the people and things. This is brings us to the most important characteristic of liquid – It tends to melt whatever stands in the path (especially solids). The clearest example is the decline, if not death of the nation state. Flows The previous discussion described the melting process of solid phenomena flowed by the increase in liquidity. It is only logical to discuss the flow of liquid phenomena. Flows are the movement of people, things, places and information brought about by the growing “porosity of global limitations. 4 Think of the different cuisines being patronized and consumed by the Filipinos. Aside from local dishes, many of us are fond of eating sushi, ramen, hamburger, and French fries – foods introduced to us by foreign cultures. Clearly, foods are becoming globalized. Another example of flow is global financial crises. In global financial system, national borders are porous. This means that a financial crisis in a given country can bring ramifications to other regions of the world. An example of which is the spread of the effects of American financial crisis on Europe in 2008. The following are other kinds of flows that can be observed today: poor illegal migrants flooding many parts of the world, the virtual flow of legal and illegal information such as blogs and child pornography, respectively and immigrants recreating ethnic enclaves in host countries. A concrete example is the Filipino communities abroad and the Chinese communities in the Philippines Proponents of globalization believe it allows developing countries to catch up to industrialized nations through increased manufacturing, diversification, economic expansion, and improvements in standards of living. Outsourcing by companies brings jobs and technology to developing countries. Trade initiatives increase cross-border trading by removing supply-side and trade-related constraints. Globalization has advanced social justice on an international scale, and advocates report that it has focused attention on human rights worldwide. China and India are among the foremost examples of nations that have benefited from globalization, yet there are many smaller players and newer entrants. Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam are among fast- growing global players in Asia. Activity! 1. Answer the following question: a. Enumerate at least three of the most recent movie you have watched. Where did they originate? Identify the nationality of the director/or the actors/actress for each movie. b. What gadgets or device do you usually use to watch movie? c. Where were these gadgets or devices made? Where is the company based? d. How did you access these movies? Did you purchase them online or watch through application like NetFlix, IwantTv and other movie application? 2. Using a visual representation, create your generalization and discuss what globalization? How would you define globalization 5 Week 3-4 Globalization Theories We have discussed the various definition of and issues in defining globalization and the metaphors that we can use to understand easily the concept. This section will give you a glimpse of important theories on globalization. We will analyze globalization culturally, economically, and politically. It would be helpful to assert that the theories see globalization as a process that increases either homogeneity or heterogeneity.  Homogeneity: refers to the increasing sameness in the world as cultural inputs, economic factors, and political orientations of societies expand to create common practices, same economies, and similar forms of government. o Homogeneity in culture is often linked to cultural imperialism. This means a given culture influences other cultures. Example:  The dominant religion in our Country is Christianity, which was brought to us by the Spaniards.  Americanization which is defined by Kuisel (1993) as “ the import by non- American of products, images, technologies, practise, and behaviour that are closely associated with America/Americans”. The political realm also suffers homogenization if one takes into account the emerging similar models of governance in the world. Barber (1995) said that “McWorld” is existing. It means only one political orientation is growing in today’s society. The global flow of meadia is often characterized as media imperialism. TV, music, books,and movies are perceived as imposed on developing countries by the West (Cowen) 2002). Media imperialism undermines the existence of the alternative global media originating from developing countries, such as the Al Jazeera (Biela, 2008) and Bollywood (Larkin, 2003), as well as the influence of the local regional media. The internet can be seen as an arena for alternative of media. Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Apple’s iTunes are some of the large corporation who dominated the Global media.  Heterogeneity: Pertains to the creation of various cultures, practices, new economies, and political groups because of the interaction of elements from different societies in the world. Heterogeneity refers to the differences because of either lasting differences or of the hybrids or combinations of culture that can be produced through the different processes. 1 Lesson II Dynamic of Local and Global Culture Global flows of culture tend to move more easily around the globe than ever before, especially through non-material digital forms there are three perspectives on global cultural flows. These are differentalism, hybridization and convergence. 1. Cultural differentialism emphasizes the fact that cultures are essentially different and are only superficially affected by global flows. The interaction of cultures is deemed to contain the potential for “catastrophic collision.'’ Samuel Huntington’s theory on the dash of the civilizations proposed in 1996 best exemplifies this approach. According to Huntington, after the Cold War, political economic differences were overshadowed by new fault lines, which were primarily cultural in nature. Increasing interaction among different “civilizations” (such as the Sinic, Islamic, Orthodox, and Western) would lead to intense clashes, especially the economic conflict between the Western and Sinic civilizations and bloody political conflict between the Western and Islamic civilizations (Huntington, 2004). This theory has been critiqued for a number of reasons, especially on its portrayal of Muslims as being “prone to violence” (Huntington, 1996). 2. The cultural hybridization approach emphasizes the integration of local and global cultures (Cvetkoyich and Kellner, 1997). Globalization is considered to be a creative process which gives rise to hybrid entities that are not reducible to either the global or the local. A key concept is “glocalization” or the interpenetration of the global and local resulting in unique outcomes in different geographic areas (Giulianotti and Robertson, 2007, p. 133). Another key concept is Arjun Appadurai’s “scapes” in 1996, where global flows involve people, technology, finance, political images, and media and the disjuncture between them, which lead to the creation of cultural hybrids. 3. The cultural convergence approach stresses homogeneity introduced by globalization. Cultures are deemed to be radically altered by strong flows, while cultural imperialism happens when one culture imposes itself on and tends to destroy at least parts of another culture. One important critique of cultural imperialism is John Tomlinson’s idea of “deterritorialization” of culture. Deterritorialization means that it is much more difficult to tie culture to a specific geographic point of origin. 2 The Globalization of Religion The Globalization of Religion Globalization has played a tremendous role in providing a context for the current revival and the resurgence of religion. Today, most religions are not relegated to the countries where they began. Religions have, in fact, spread and scattered on a global scale. Globalization provided religions a fertile milieu to spread and thrive. As Schoite (2005) made clear: “Accelerated globalization of recent times has enabled co- religionists across the planet to have greater direct contact with one another. Global communications, global organizations, global finance, and the like have allowed ideas of the Muslims and the universal Christian church to be given concrete shape as never before” (p. 245). Information technologies, transportation means, and the media are deemed important means on which religionists rely on the dissemination of their religious ideas. For instance, countless websites that provide information about religions have been created. This makes pieces of information and explanations about different religions ready at the disposal of any person regardless of his or her geographical location. In addition, the Internet allows people to contact each other worldwide and therefore hold forums and debates that allow religious ideas to spread. Furthermore, media also play an important role in the dissemination of religious Ideas. In this respect, a lot of television channels, radio stations; and print media are founded solely for advocating religions. Modern transportation has also contributed considerably to the emergence, revivalism, and fortification of religion. In this respect, Turner (2007) cited the case of Islamic revivalism in Asia which “is related to the improvement in transportation that has allowed many Muslims to travel to Mecca, and return with reformist ideas” (p. 163). Modern technology, therefore, has helped religions of different forms, such as fundamentalist, orthodox, or modernist to cross geographical boundaries and be present everywhere. Globalization has also allowed religion or faith to gain considerable significance and importance as a non-territorial touchstone of identity. Being a source of identity and pride, religion has always been promoted by its practitioners so that it could reach the level of globality and be embraced by as many people as possible. Muslims, for instance, aspire to establish the Islamic Ummah, a community of believers. By paving the way for religions to come in contact with each other and providing a context for their flourishing and thriving, globalization has brought such religions to a circle of competition and conflicts. Globalization transforms the generic “religion” into a world-system of competing and conflicting religions. This process of institutional specialization has transformed local, diverse and fragmented cultural practices into recognizable systems of religion. Globalization has, therefore, had the paradoxical effect of making religions more self-conscious of themselves as being “world religions.” (p. 146) 3 The motivations for the recent regionalization in Asia, as well as other regions 1 in the world, cannot be isolated from one another. It is a complex mixture of factors. One of the reasons behind regionalism is the concern for security, which is to ensure peace and stability. Confidence building can be enhanced through economic cooperation within a region. The ASEAN and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) are regional organizations that seek strong security in Asia through cooperation. Huntington (1996), on the contrary, believed that culture and identity guide regionalization. As he put it, “In the post-Cold War world, states increasingly define their interests in civilizational terms” (p. 30). For him, culture and identity are civilizations. He identified nine major civilizations: Western, Latin American, African, Islamic, Sinic, Hindu, Orthodox, Buddhist, and Japanese. He argued that international organizations like the EU or Mercosur share a common culture and identity and are far more successful than NAFTA, whose memberstates belong to different civilizations. If we follow Huntington’s idea of the “clash of civilizations,” one could argue that the potential for such clash can be strong in Asia because many of those civilizations are, at the least, can be found in the region. Nevertheless, economic motivations are arguably the main motivation behind contemporary regionalization. By entering in regional organizations, Asian states may regain some control over flows of capital and enhance their bargaining power against transnational economic actors such as investment groups or transnational corporations (TNCs) (De Martino and Grabel, 2003). Aside from this, domestic companies may benefit from belonging to a regional market big enough to allow them scale economies while still being protected from global competition. In other words, regional organizations allow national companies the opportunity to succeed in a protected but big enough market in a way that they would otherwise fail if exposed to global competition. Finally, non-state actors, such as the TNCs, act as a driving force toward regionalism. These TNCs, whose host countries are not part of a given regional trade agreement, find themselves in a disadvantaged commercial situation with respect to competing companies belonging to the regional organization in question. Given this situation, Ravenhill (2008) said that disadvantaged TNCs will lobby their national governments to sign similar trade agreements in order to end their disadvantaged commercial situation. 6 Origins and History of Globalization The previous discussions answered the question “What is globalization?” The next question “Where did it start?” is not easy to answer as well because there are different views about this. This book generally adheres to the perspective that the major points of the beginnings of globalization started after the Second World War. Nevertheless, it would mean no harm to look at the five different perspectives regarding the origins of globalization. Hardwired According to Nayan Chanda (2007), it is because of our basic human need to make our lives better that made globalization possible. Therefore, one can trace the beginning of globalization from our ancestors in Africa who walked out from the said continent in the late Ice Age. This long journey finally led them to all known continents today, roughly after 50,000 years. Chanda (2007) mentioned that commerce, religion, politics, and warfare are the “urges” of people toward a better life. These are respectively connected to four aspects of globalization and they can be traced all throughout history: trade, missionary work, adventures, and conquest. Cycles For some, globalization is a long-term cyclical process and thus, finding its origin will be a daunting task. What is important is the cycles that globalization has gone through (Scholte, 2005). Subscribing to this view will suggest adherence to the idea that other global ages have appeared. There is also the notion to suspect that this point of globalization will soon disappear and reappear. Epoch Ritzer (2015) cited Therborn’s (2000)six great epochs of globalization. These are also called “waves” and each has its own origin. Today’s globalization is not unique if this is the case. The difference of this view from the second view (cycles) is that it does not treat epochs as returning. The following are the sequential occurrence of the epochs: 1. Globalization of religion (fourth to seventh centuries) 2. European colonial conquests (late fifteenth century) 3. Intra-European wars (late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries) 4. Heyday of European imperialism (mid-nineteenth century to 1918) 5. Post World War II period 6. Post-Cold War period 7 Event Specific events are also considered as part of the fourth view in explaining the origin of globalization. If this is the case, then several points can be treated as the start of globalization. Gibbon (1998), for example, argued that Roman conquests centuries before Christ were its origin. In an issue of the magazine the Economist (2006, January 12), it considered the rampage of the armies of Genghis Khan into Eastern Europe in the thirteenth century. Rosenthal (2007) gave premium to voyages of discovery—Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America in 1942, Vasco da Gama in Cape of Good Hope in 1498, and Ferdinand Magellan’s completed circumnavigation of the globe in 1522. The recent years could also be regarded as the beginnings of globalization with reference to specific technological advances in transportation and communication. Some examples include the first transatlantic telephone cable (1956), the first transatlantic television broadcasts (1962), the founding of the modern Internet in 1988, and the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York (2001). Certainly, with this view, more and more specific events will characterize not just the origins of globalization but also more of its history. Broader, More Recent Changes Recent changes surprised the fifth view. These broad changes happened in the last half of the twentieth century. Scholars today point to these three notable changes as the origin of globalization that we know today. They are as follows: 1. The emergence of the United States as the global power (post-World War) 2. The emergence of multinational corporations (MNCs) 3. The demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Through its dominant military and economic power after WWII, the United States was able to outrun Germany and Japan in terms of industry. Both Axis powers and Allies fall behind economically as compared to the new global power. Because of this, the United States soon began to progress in different aspects like in diplomacy, media, film (as in the Hollywood), and many more. Before MNCs came into being, their foots were from their countries of origin during the eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries. The United States, Germany, and Great Britain had in their homeland great corporations which the world knows today. However, they did not remain there as far as their production and market are concerned. For example, Ford and General Motors originated in the United States but in the twentieth century, they exported more automobiles and opened factories to other countries. More recent than the first two would be the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. This event led to the opening of the major parts of the world for the first time, since the early twentieth century. Many global processes— immigration, tourism, media, diplomacy, and MNCs—spread throughout the planet. This paved way for the so-called “free” world. China, even though the government remains communist, is on its way to becoming a major force in global capitalism (Fishman, 2006). Moreover, China is also globalizing in terms of other aspects such as their hosting of the Olympics in 2008. 8 younger workforce that does work which locals may not perform, and they are consumers who contribute to growth. They also send remittances back to family members in the country of origin, which improves the lives of the recipients, reduces poverty rates, and increases the level of education as well as the foreign reserves of the home country (Economist 2007, November 1). Banks are often unwilling or unable to handle the type (small amounts of money) and volume of remittances. As a result, specialized organizations play a major role in the transmission of remittances. According to Malkin (2007), the Philippines is one of the leaders when it comes to the flow of remittances ($14-7 billion), next to India ($24.5 billion) and China ($21.1 billion). The term “diaspora” has been increasingly used to describe migrant communities. Of particular interest is Paul Gilroy's (1993) conceptualization of the diaspora as a transnational process, which involves dialogue to both imagined and real locales. Diasporization and globalization are closely interconnected and the expansion of the latter will lead to an increase in the former (Dufoix, 2007). Today, there exists “virtual diasporas” (Laguerre, 2002) which utilize technology such as the Internet to maintain the community network. Activity! I. Answer the following question below. 1. Are societies in the world becoming more similar (homogenous) or more different (heterogeneous)? 2. Which of the aforementioned views on the history of globalization you find most appealing? Why? II. Ang Mundo sa Mata ng isang OFW. 1. Find a former or current OFW to be interviewed. Your respondent’s name should not be revealed in class to protect the person’s identity and ensure anonymity. 2. Use the following guide question (you may add additional questions): a. How long have you stayed abroad? 11 b. What are your reason and purpose to stay there? ______________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ c. What were your most unforgettable experience there? How will you describe them, good or bad? ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ d. How will you compare the Philippines with other countries? ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ III. Using Venn diagram below, compare and contrast the process of Globalization and Regionalization. 12 Regionalization GLOBALIZATION