This file is a module in the subject contemporary world, Lecture notes of Mathematics

Download This file is a module in the subject contemporary world and more Lecture notes Mathematics in PDF only on Docsity! DOMINICAN COLLEGE OF TARLAC Mac Arthur Highway, Poblacion (Sto.Cristo), Capas. 2315 Tarlac, Philippines Tel.No. (045) 491-7579/Telefax (045) 925-0519 E-mail: domct _2315@yahoo.com COLLEGE DEPARTMENT A.Y. 2020-2021, First Semester OBE FACULTY-DESIGNED MODULE THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD (GE 3) Prepared by: HAZEL P. JAOS, LPT GE 3 – THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD – MODULE 1 Page 2 MODULE 2 The Globalization Theories GE 3 – THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD – MODULE 1 Page 5 diverse and competitive. Independent Media Center, associated with the alter-globalization movement, helps to counter this trend. It disseminates information to facilitate global participation of activists. Hacktivists extend activism to the Internet by hacking into computer programs to promote a particular cause (Juris, 2005). Ritzer(2008) claimed that, in general, the contemporary world is undergoing the process of McDonaldization. It is the process by which Western societies are dominated by the principles of fastfood restaurants. McDonaldization involves the global spread of rational systems, such as efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. Ritzer (2008) pointed out that this process is “extended to other businesses, sectors, and geographic areas” (p. 169). Globalization, in contrast to glocalization, is a process wherein nations, corporations, etc. impose themselves on geographic areas in order to gain profits, power, and so on (Ryan, 2007). Ritzer (2007) also espoused the idea that globalization can also be seen as a flow of “nothing” as opposed to “something,” involving the spread of non-places, nonthings, non-people, and non-services. On the other hand, heterogeneity pertains to the creation of various cultural 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 cultures that can be produced through the different transplanetary processes. Contrary to cultural imperialism, heterogeneity in culture is associated with cultural hybridization. A more specific concept is “glocalization” coined by Roland Robertson in 1992. To him, as global forces interact with local factors or a specific geographic area, the “glocal” is being produced. Economic issues are not exempted from heterogeneity. The commodification of cultures and “glocal” markets are examples of differentiation happening in many economies around the world. The same goes with political institutions. Barber (1995) also provided the alternate of “McWorld”—the “Jihad.” As Ritzer (2008) mentioned, it refers to the political groups that are engaged in an “intensification of nationalism and that leads to greater political heterogeneity throughout the world” (p. 576). GE 3 – THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD – MODULE 1 Page 6 Dynamics 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 differentialism, hybridization, and convergence. 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). 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. 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. GE 3 – THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD – MODULE 1 Page 7 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. GE 3 – THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD – MODULE 1 Page 10 The regionalization of the world system and economic activity undermines the potential benefits coming out from a liberalized global economy. This is because regional organizations prefer regional partners over the rest. Regional organizations respond to the states’ attempt to reduce the perceived negative effects of globalization. Therefore, regionalism is a sort of counter-globalization. in a 2007 survey, the Financial Times revealed that majority of Europeans consider that globalization brings negative effects to their societies (as cited in Jacoby and Meunier, 2010). Many policy makers and scholars think that globalization must be regulated and managed. The threats of an “ungoverned globalization” can be countered what Jacoby and Meunier called managed globalization; it refers to “all attempts to make globalization more palatable to citizens” (p. 1). It is important, however, to consider the gradual development of inter-regional relations such as the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the European Union (EU), or the South American trade bloc, Mercosur. In fact, a sort of “contagion effect” (Held et al., 2005, p. 77) has spread during the past years. Regionalization in one part of the world encourages regionalization elsewhere—whether by imitation, like the success of the European Single Market, or by “defensive” reaction* such as Mercosur’s establishment as response to the creation of NAFTA. According to this, regionalization and the development of interregionalism would indeed be global in nature. As Held et al. (2005) claimed, “the new regionalism is not a barrier to political globalization but, on the contrary, entirely compatible with it—if not an indirect encouragement” (p. 77). Hurrell (2007) captured this debate in his “one (global) world/many (regional) worlds relationship” (p. 1). Regional developments in one part of the world have affected and fueled regionalization everywhere else in a sort of contagion or domino effect. This fact, along with increasing developments in interregional cooperation, shows that the regionalization process is global in nature. Therefore, regionalization is intimately linked to globalization since it is part of it and it builds on it. The argument concerning the relationship between regionalization and globalization is perfectly summarized in this claim: The age of economic globalization has also been the age of regionalization, and much of the analysis of the new regionalism has been devoted to the links between the two tendencies. Thus, regionalism is seen as critical part of the political economy of globalization and the strategies that states (and other actors) have adopted in the face of globalization ...The emergence of regionalism needs to be understood within the global restructuring of power and production. The many worlds are very closely intertwined with the character and fate of the one. The core driving force is global even if the manifestation is regional. (Hurell, 2007, p. 4) Globalization “goes back to when humans first put a boat into the sea” (Sweeney, 2005, p. 203). We can understand globalization as “the increased flows of goods, services, capita, people, and information across borders” (Jacoby and Meunier, 2010, p. 1). But as we have GE 3 – THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD – MODULE 1 Page 11 learned from the previous discussions, there are many controversies about and varying definitions of the term. Defining region and regionalization is complicated. Nevertheless, region, according to Mansfield and Milner (1999) is “a group of countries in the same geographically. specified area” (p. 2.). Hurrell (2007) defined regionalization as the “societal integration and the often undirected process of social and economic interaction” (p. 4). In addition, regionalization is different from regionalism, which is “the formal process of intergovernmental collaboration between two or more states” (Ravenhill, 2008, p. 174). 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. GE 3 – THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD – MODULE 1 Page 12 Answer the following questions. 1. Are societies in the world becoming more similar (homogenous) or more different (heterogeneous)? _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ 2. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of homogenization of culture? How about heterogenization? _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ 3. Which of the aforementioned views on the history of globalization you find most appealing? Why? _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ Activity 2 Analysis GE 3 – THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD – MODULE 1 Page 15 Global Demography Demographic transition is a singular historical period during which mortality and fertility rates decline from high to low levels in a particular country or region The broad outlines of the transition are similar in countries around the world, but the pace and timing of the transition have varied considerably. The transition started in mjd or late 1700s in Europe. During that time death rates and fertility began to decline. High to low fertility happened 20 years in France and 100 years in the United States. In other parts of the world, the transition began later. It was only in the twentieth century that mortality decline in Africa and Asia, with the exemption of Japan. According to Maddison (2001), life expectancy in India was only 24 years in the early twentieth century while the same life expectancy occurred in China in 1929 until 1931. Fertility decline in Asia did not begin until the 1950s and so on. In the case ofJapan, it was until the 1930s that “total fertility rate did not drop below five births per woman” (Shigeyuki et al., 2002, p. 250). This resulted in rapid population growth after the Second World War, affecting the age structure of Asia and the developing world. Specifically, the baby boom in the developing world was caused by the decline of infant and child mortality rates. The West, on the other hand, experienced baby boom that resulted from rising birth rates. A remarkable effect of the demographic transition, as Shigeyuki et al. (2002) stated, is “the enormous gap in life expectancy that emerged between Japan and the West on the one hand and the rest of the world on the other” (p. 251). By 1820, the life expectancy at birth of Japan and the West was 12 years greater than that of other countries. It increased by 20 years by 1900. Although there was an improvement in life expectancy all throughout the world in 1900- 1950, the gap had reached 22 years. In 1999, the gap declined to 14 years. These differences in time of transition affected the global population. During the nineteenth century, Europe and the West had an increased in share in the world's population, from 22.0 percent to 33.0 percent, while Asia and Oceania's contribution dropped from 69.0 percent to 56.7. India and China suffered from economic stagnation and decline during that time. There was a reverse in global population shares during the twentieth century as Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania had high levels of population growth rates. According to Shigeyuki et al. (2002), population growth shows a more remarkable shift: “Between 1820 and 1980, 69.3 percent of the world’s population growth occurred in Europe and Western offshoots. Between 1950 and 2000, however, only 11.7 percent occurred in that region” (p. 252). The United Nations projected that population growth will be shifted toward Africa. It is estimated that by 2150, the regions’ share to the world population will be almost 20 percent, relatively much greater than its share in 1820 (seven percent) and in 1900 (six percent). Also in 2150, there will be a projected increase of two billion if we combine the populations of Asia, Latin America, and Oceania. GE 3 – THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD – MODULE 1 Page 16 In terms of the age structure, the overall trend in Japan and the West was downward until 1950. Their dependency ratio was close to 0.5. It only increased, although temporary, when the baby boom after the Second World War occurred. Japan’s dependency ratio, however, increased between 1888 and 1920. Its dependency ratio was higher than the West between 1920 and the early 1950s. It dropped in 1970 and later since its precipitous decline in childbearing during the 1950s and low fertility rates in recent years. ' . The developing countries like India and the Philippines had higher dependency ratios than the West in 1900. A great increase in dependency ratio was caused by the decline in infant and child mortality and high levels of fertility, with its peak around 1970. Dependency ratios started to disappear because there is a decline in global birth rate. Furthermore, the gap in fertility between the West and the less developed countries became smaller by the twenty-first century. Over the next 50 years, the cases of dependency ratios of these two areas in the world will be reversed (Shigeyuki et al., 2002). The aging of populations will cause a rise in dependency ratio, starting in the West. Global Migration The nuances of the movements of people around the world can be seen through the categories of migrants— “vagabonds” and “tourists” (Bauman, 1998). Vagabonds are on the move “because they have to be” (Ritzer, 2015, p. 179)—they are not faring well in their home countries and are forced to move in the hope that their circumstances will improve. Tourists, on the other hand, are on the move because they want to be and because they can afford it. Refugees are vagabonds forced to flee their home countries due to safety concerns (Haddad, 2003). Asylum seekers are refugees who seek to remain in the country to which they flee. According to Kritz (2008), those who migrate to find work are involved in labor migration. Labor migration is driven by “push” factors (e.g., lack of employment opportunities in home countries), as well as “pull” factors (work available elsewhere). Labor migration mainly involves GE 3 – THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD – MODULE 1 Page 17 the flow of less-skilled and unskilled workers, as well as illegal immigrants who live on the margins of the host society (Landler, 2007). Unlike other global flows, labor migration still faces many restrictions. Many of these barriers are related to the Westphalian conception of the nation-state and are intimately associated with it. Shamir (2005) discussed that the state may seek to control migration because it involves the loss of part of the workforce. An influx of migrants can lead to conflicts with local residents. Concerns about terrorism also affect the desire of the state to restrict population flows (Moses, 2006). Migration is traditionally governed either by “push” factors such as political persecution, economic depression, war, and famine in the home country or by “pull” factors such as a favorable immigration policy, a labor shortage, and a similarity of language and culture in the country of destination (Ritzer, 2015). Global factors, which facilitate easy access to information about the country of destination, also exert a significant influence. Many countries face issues of illegal migration. The United States faces a major influx of illegal immigrants from Mexico and other Central American states (Thompson, 2008). A fence is being constructed on the US-Mexico border to control this flow of people (Fletcher and Weismari, 2006). However, its efficacy is questioned and it is thought that it will only lead illegal immigrants to adopt more dangerous methods to gain entry, in addition, tighter borders have also had the effect of “locking in” people who might otherwise have left the country (Fears, 2006). Other countries with similar concerns about illegal immigration include Great Britain, Switzerland, and Greece as well as countries in Asia. A strong case can be made on the backlash against illegal immigrants (Economist, 2008, January 3, “Keep the Borders Open”). In the North, such immigrants constitute a 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. GE 3 – THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD – MODULE 1 Page 20 1. Find a former or a current QFW 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 questions (you may add additional questions): a. How long have you stayed abroad? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ b. What are the purposes for your stay there? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ c. What were your most unforgettable experiences there? How will you describe them, good or bad? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ d. How will you compare the Philippines with other countries? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ GE 3 – THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD – MODULE 1 Page 21 _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ e. Do you want to go back abroad or to other countries in the future? Why or why not? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 3. Share to the class the results of your interview and your personal insights about your respondent's experience. _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ See Schoology. REFERENCE: Aldama, P. (2018). The contemporary world. Manila, Philippines: Rex Book Store. ASSESSMENT PHASE