The contemporary world, Summaries of Tourism

Download The contemporary world and more Summaries Tourism in PDF only on Docsity! THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD (What is Globalization; explainity video) Globalization - could be defined plethora of ways, therefore, through this course we need to differentiate the various conceptions of globalization, identify the underlying philosophies of the varying definitions of globalization and hopefully, agree on a working definition of globalization for the course. GLOBALIZATION - comes from the word “Globe” and means the worldwide coming together of countries and nations - It advances in technology such as mobile phones, airplanes, telephones and the internet have made the growth of transport and communication networks possible - People and countries can exchange information and goods more quickly and in a less complicated way Example: Companies used to manufacture products into home countries just like the companies “Profi-TV“and “Supercolor“ who produced televisions in Country A. Their products are in direct competetion with each other, but both companies pay the same salaries and production costs. They have the same customers, use similar suppliers, and sell televisions at similar prices. In short, the same conditions apply to both companies. So far, so good. Due to technical, cultural, and economic developments that have come about through globalization, other companies which manufacture products under different conditions can now offer their products in Country A, too. That’s why a company from country B, can sell televisions here, at a lower price, because they were produced for less. The local firms SuperColor and Profi-TV have to react to withstand the competition and so the world grows closer together and there is an active exchange of goods between countries. More affordable products are available for more people. However, not only does an exchange of products and economic goods take place, but also of services, knowledge, cultural goods and even languages. All of these individual elements are closely linked and influence each other. But, where is light, there is also shadow. Because of globalization and its intense exchange of goods, people and the environment often suffer. if acompany decides to move production to an economically disadvantaged country, people in industrialized countries lose their jobs. At the same time, job opportunities open up too many locals in the economically disadvantaged countries. Many people in these countries work for very little money in comparison to those in industrialized countries. Therefore, they often remain poor and more often than not do not have sufficient insurance, social insurance or health insurance cover. A further disadvantage of globalization is ecological problems such as climate change. The use of airplanes, ships and lorries to transport goods over international borders is constantly on the increase. This causes more carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere which, in turn, is the main cause of global warming. Even national environmental standards are ignored. This is a further cost factor in the worldwide international site competition which should be kept as low as possible to be attractive for a company. There are, therefore, many sides to globalization which affect almost all aspects of life causing me to think that the chain of positive and negative effects will continue to grow further. What’s important is to realize that globalization itself is neither good nor bad. It just depends how the people deal with all the new possibilities in the future. THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD (Introduction to the contemporary world; pdf 51-28) What Is GLOBALIZATION? * COMPLEX PROCESS - Highly interconnected world through - economy, social, political and cultural contacts * INTENSIFICATION OF GLOBAL INTERCONNECTEDNESS - Full of movement and mixture, contract and linkages, persistent cultural interaction and exchange. As a result, the world is shrinking in terms of time and space making the world feel smaller and distances shorter. Globalization symbolizes a world in motion providing people with resources to new ways of being human in the fast-changing world. Continuously cuts across national boundaries - HOW? - There is a flow of goods, capital, people, information, ideas, images and risks across national borders, combines with the emergence of social networks and political institutions. What are the forces of Globalization? @ Growing diffusion (flow) e — Expanding interdependence ® More transnational institutions e@ Emerging world culture and consciousness ** thus, the world is becoming a single place THEORIES OF GLOBALIZATION 1. WORLD SYSTEM THEORY (WST) ¢ Origin: Capitalist world system - _ originated in the 16" century - European traders established a connection with Asia, Africa and the Americas Rise of the dominant class - Supported by the government which led to exploitation (labor and resources) and trade opportunities World system - capital accumulation by competing firms - cycle of growth and decline. ¢ Key definitions means the rich, developed countries CORE also: west; metropolitan countries; developed world means poor, dependent nations PERIPHERY Also: underdeveloped countries; satellites; dependencies SEMI - PERIPHERY means semi-industrialized countries means the vulnerable state of being exploited by core countries DEPENDENCY they depend on the core for trade, investment, loans, technology, etc. (related term: underdevelopment). ¢ WORLD-SYSTEM THEORY (WST) We need to study the entire global economy as a world system - We can’t understand the fate of a single country, without understanding how it fits into the overall system - Countries are rich or poor because of their position relative to others in the global capitalist system. e¢ Arguments: Europe was able to prosper by exploiting resources from other places - The great success of Europe and the failures in the non-West weren't just a coincidence - Europe became wealthy by maintaining economic & military dominance over other nations - Exploited nations will never “modernize” as long as they are oppressed by Western nations. THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD ¢ Issue: Is World Polity Theory “right”? - World polity theory is a new theory - Controversial, but growing fast... 1. World polity research on isomorphism in government policy considered compelling - World polity research now dominates in some areas - Evolutions of education systems around the world - Understanding the success of the environmental movement - _ Also, lots of work on trends regarding human rights 2. World Polity theorists were first to realize the importance of INGOs in driving social change - Other perspectives tended to ignore them... 3. The ideas behind WPT have garnered support in other areas - Called “neo-institutional theory” - Especially the study of organizations - This suggests potential... so people are working to apply its ideas to global issues ¢ — Criticisms of World Polity Theory 1. It doesn’t address power - This is intentional: WPT represents a “corrective”, emphasizing the influence of norms and culture - “the social sciences are reluctant to acknowledge patterns of influence and conformity that cannot be explained solely as matters of power or functional rationality.” But colonial relations were historically important in defining western ideas as the dominant ‘world’ culture. - Also, current global trends reflect US hegemony - WPT scholars point out that US doesn’t always benefit (e.g., when countries conform to US models of education) - But, still it seems like power may be important 2. WPT explains government policies, but not life “on the ground” - Conformity to world culture may be strategic (to garner foreign aid) or very “thini” Example: China may pretend to adapt to global norms... but in fact that is just a facade - Interests rather than culture are really driving behavior. ¢ WPT scholars have begun responding to this criticism... but the issue is still being debated... 3. It doesn’t sufficiently address actors or “agency” - Theory implies we are all controlled by a wider culture - Builds on Durkheim's ideas of ‘collective consciousness’ ¢ Where is room for agency? How can it explain variability in the world? ¢ Bottom line: WPT is a fascinating theory - offers a whole new lens to view the world - Avery useful lens that explains some things that other theories can’t - _ Also, very useful for understanding organizations and may be helpful if you start working for a big company But people interested in power or inequality find it very frustrating - It doesn’t directly address the issues they care most about - Plus, it is a newer perspective... more evidence needed to fully evaluate it. THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD (Introduction to the contemporary world; pdf s29-44) WHEN IS THE START OF GLOBALIZATION? Early Migration - First movement of people out of Africa into other parts of the world Colonialism - mid-1980s at the end of the bipolar world with the collapse of USSR and the rise of uncontested and unregulated capitalism, which marked by unprecedented social- political changes in the world. Because of this: rOoN WO! é Lae Naeere Ta tae MONETARY “The world had to readjust itself to this new phenomenon” - Bretton Woods Conference which set the: * — Structural Adjustment Program (SAP), ¢ — the introduction of New Economic Policy (NEP), ¢ liberation programs What are the drivers of globalization? Eruption of Information Technology (IT) - the Internet -intensity of global contracts. Digital media - Global village Migration - push-pull factor - for better prospects restructuring of the economic, social, cultural and political arrangements Thus, globalization is a complex multidimensional phenomenon that involves simultaneous and complexly, related processes at all levels of society - economic, political, social, cultural, technological, and environmental DIMENSIONS OF GLOBALIZATIONS 1. ECONOMY - Economic globalization means that the monetary and fiscal policies of national governments are dominated by movements in the international financial markets reducing the economic autonomy of nation-states - Globalization takes the whole world as a single economic unit and the market as its instrument - open, liberal, free market and free trade with less regulatory barriers - national economies exceed economic borders - through instant computer link-up - speed and extent of foreign direct investment and instant capital flows - multinational companies move into different locations where the labor is cheap. People from different national boundaries shift their place of work and residence exposing themselves to different cultural worlds. - The global financial organizations appropriate the maximum surplus leading to an intense disparity between the rich and the poor - globalization also produces new understandings of culture. - growing unemployment due to inability of smaller industries to compete with the international industrial firms, loss of livelihood for traditional assistant and craftsmen, and migration of people from their original environment for livelihood 2. CULTURE - Incultural terms, globalization implies an increased cultural interconnectedness across the globe: Mass media, Migration, and Tourism - Globalization opens up the local culture to other ways of living and gives alternatives. Local cultures are exposed to ideas such as human rights, democracy, market economy, as well as new methods of production, new products for consumption and new leisure habits. - creates a troubled relationship between native and international - alarm that local values and nation-states are suffering a sense of threat to identity - here is tension in different countries about the proper role of cultural values from outside - Hence, globalization is seen as the complex interaction of globalizing and localizing tendencies. THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD POLITICS The case for a decline of national power and sovereignty in an age of globalization stands on two legs. One is the notion that the magnitude and velocity of international economic exchanges have eroded the state’s capabilities. The other is the argument that the extension of market relations across national borders diminishes the citizen’s attachment to national authority, leading to a decline in the legitimacy of central government. Unjust laws in some nation-states have been challenged by international law. international rules protecting humanitarian values which conflict with state laws, so long as individuals are in a position to exercise moral choice they are legally and morally bound to transgress the state laws. sovereignty still further by enabling citizens to undertake legal proceedings against their own governments. In the case of India, this implies that the Dalits could challenge the state for violation of human rights in the international forums such as “World conference against racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination” ENVIRONMENT multifaceted phenomena that have a domino-like effect on the environment Increased consumption leads to an increase in the production of goods, which in turn puts stress on the environment led to an increase in the transportation of raw materials and food from one place to another industrial waste that is generated as a result of production has been laden on ships and dumped in oceans particular regions. « changes in ocean waters and how they cause lower protein content in fish Positive Result: milder winters could reduce the death rate from health issues like a stroke difficult for mosquitoes to survive as the weather becomes hotter and drier due to climate change, which could lead to a decline in fatalities resulting from mosquito-borne illnesses like malaria Increase of awareness Does globalization Make the World Homogenous? More global linkages - more in common Nefarious - globalization Work of the Western states Western media -controlling the flow of information Shape global consciousness Popular culture of Mc World Cultural imperialism Consequences of Globalization double-edged sword Availment the scientific, medical and other innovations available to all. labor is losing its voice, national governments are losing their power there is corporate insecurity instability of financial capital Inequality is rising Unskilled labor in rich countries has little prospects of employment “A man’s feet should be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world” - George Santayana McMichael (National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University) discussed: - climate change will make it exceptionally difficult to grow crops, contributing to food scarcity crises, and he predicts that globalization will be partially to blame for the introduction of new diseases to