GLOBALIZATION
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
GLOBALIZATION DEFINED
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“By globalization we simply mean the process of increasing
interconnectedness between societies such that events in one
part of the world more and more have effects on people and
societies far away.”
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Globalization is “the inevitable integration of markets, nationstates and technologies to a degree never witnessed before – in
a way that is enabling individuals, corporations and nationstates to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper and
cheaper than ever before and in a way that is enabling the
world to reach into individuals, corporations and nation-states
farther, faster, and deeper, cheaper than ever before.”
- Thomas Friedman
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Multi-dimensional processes of integration
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Economic
Social/cultural
Political
GLOBALIZATION OF INDIVIDUALS
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“Ideas spread faster, leaping borders. Poor countries
will have immediate access to information that was
once restricted to the industrial world and traveled
slowly, if at all, beyond it. Entire electorates will
learn things that once only a few bureaucrats knew.
Small companies will offer services that previously
only giants could provide. In all these ways the
communications revolution is profoundly democratic
and liberating, leveling the imbalance between large
and small, rich and poor. We seem to live in a world
that is no longer a collection of isolated “local”
nations, effectively separated by high tariff walls,
poor communication networks and mutual suspicion.
It’s a world that, if you believe the most prominent
proponents of globalization, is wired, informed, and
well, ‘flat’.”– Pankaj Ghemawat
CONSIDER THESE GLOBALIZING TRENDS
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Economic Dimension of Globalization:
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Social and Cultural Dimensions of Globalization
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Exponential increases in international economic transactions;
Demand for a product in one part of the world can have significant impact on a people
and society on the other side of the globe.
Global Production Lines: Growth of Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) that spread
the production and distribution of a product across the globe
Hyper-increase in social interactions across borders
Technological development has allowing ideas to flow and spread easily and quickly
from one country to another.
The flow of ideas across borders can challenge local identities and beliefs and affect
cultural change.
Political dimension of Globalization
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Increase in number and relevance of International Organizations
Increase in transnational NGOs and social movements seeking to promote global
values and goals. These movements affect political change.Increase in number of
IGOs and increase in rules and regulations for inter-state transactions. These
organizations affect political development.
A CRITIQUE OF THE GLOBALIZATION OF
CAPITALISM
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Neo-Marxists highlight the fact that there are
winners and losers in the process of economic
globalization. The benefits of economic growth
through the expansion of global capitalism have
concentrated wealth in a few very rich countries,
while leaving billions of people in poverty.
Neo- Marxists argue that the economic dimension
of globalization has created huge economic disparities
between the Global North and Global South.
Consider: Half the world lives on less than $2.50 a
day.
MARX’S THEORY OF CAPITALISM
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Capitalism--Contains the seed of its own
destruction—
That ‘seed’ is the exploitation of workers.
 Exploitation is ‘needed’ to maximize profit and accumulate
capital---but ultimately the system will crash because
workers are not paid enough to buy back the very goods
that they are producing.
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An exploited workforce will eventually rebel and
bring about a new ‘mode of production’—communism
Once we enter the communist mode of production our
society will be guided by the principle “from each
according to his ability and to each according to his
need.”.
WHY DID MARX’S VISION OF A COMMUNIST
REVOLUTION NEVER MATERIALIZE?
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Vladimir Lenin argues it did not happen because
rich states pursued Imperialism to ward off
workers rebellions at home.
Rich countries sought to exploit foreign lands and
foreign workers instead. This diffused workers so
they were unable to organize a workers
revolution.
DEPENDENCY THEORY
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Dependency theory emerged in the 1970s, and drew
on Marxists concepts, in order to explain why
countries in the “Global South” (Africa, Latin America
and parts of Asia) have been locked into a cycle of
poverty.
The Dependency School developed as a voice within
the Global South challenging the terms on which poor
countries were expected to modernize and develop.
Dependency theory is associated with a neo-Marxist
view because it focuses on the way in which global
capitalism favors some and disadvantages others. It
focuses on patterns and structures of exploitation and
inequality.
ESSENCE OF THE DEPENDENCY
ARGUMENT
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Historical patterns of exploitation (and the legacies
and institutions left behind) make it impossible for
poor countries to follow the same trajectory of
development that have made rich countries
prosperous.
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Hey, free market economists at the IMF—did you forget
the whole history of colonialism that made rich countries
rich in the first place?
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Oh, and by the way—patterns of colonialism have not
evaporated. Even though formal colonial rule and
shameless colonial exploitation have ended- there,
nevertheless, still remain patterns of dependency and
exploitation between rich and poor countries.
KEY DEPENDENCY THEORY CONCEPTS:
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Colonial legacies (neo-colonialism)
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Declining terms of trade
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Many former colonies in Africa, Latin America, and Asia continue to have
economies that are dependent on the export of a few raw material (s)
(bananas, coffee, cotton, peanuts).
Many former colonies in Africa, Latin America, and Asia have
infrastructure that was developed for the purposes of resource extraction.
Transportation and communication infrastructure is built to take resources
out of the country- rather than create a vibrant and integrated domestic
economy.
Trading bananas for computers is not a good long-term growth strategy,
but one that many former colonies are stuck in.
Trading raw materials for ‘valued added’ goods puts poor countries at a
structural disadvantage in trade
Raw materials are subject to big price fluctuations, making developing
countries highly vulnerable
“Development of Underdevelopment” thesis
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The same historical process that ‘developed’ the rich countries
(Imperialism) underdeveloped the poor countries. We can’t expect poor
countries to simply liberalize trade, adopt the Washington consensus
policies, and then miraculously move along the same trajectory as the
Global North.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF
UNDERDEVELOPMENT THESIS
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We, are politely referred to as "underdeveloped." In
truth, we are colonial, semi-colonial or dependent
countries. We are countries whose economies have
been distorted by imperialism, which has abnormally
developed those branches of industry or agriculture
needed to complement its complex economy.
"Underdevelopment", or distorted development,
brings a dangerous specialization in raw materials,
inherent in which is the threat of hunger for all our
peoples. We, the "underdeveloped", are also those
with the single crop, the single product, the single
market. A single product whose uncertain sale
depends on a single market imposing and fixing
conditions. That is the great formula for imperialist
economic domination.
— Ché Guevara, 9 April 1961
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS ON ECONOMIC
GLOBALIZATION
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In the following slides I highlight some of the
good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of economic
globalization..
THE GOOD
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With economic globalization we have seen overall
global per capita income
Percent of the world living in extreme poverty
has declined
THE BAD
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Widening global income inequality
The world's 85 richest people own as much as the poorest
50 percent of humanity.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jan/20/oxfam85-richest-people-half-of-the-world
Why should we care about inequality?
Marginalizes and silences voices—does not support democratic
principles of equality
 Causes a sense of relative deprivation which can aggravate
conflicts
 May not be good for sustaining economic growth
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Rising questions and concerns about the sustainability and
environmental implications of economic growth.
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Consider, for example that the carbon dioxide emissions from
the U.S. make up 20% of total global emissions (while we only
account for 5% of the world’s population) What happens when
developing countries develop along this same trajectory?
THE UGLY
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Despite increased economic transactions and unprecedented economic
growth, many, many people on the planet have yet to see their quality
of life improve as a result of this global economic growth.
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Over half the world’s population (over 3 billion people) remain locked
in conditions of abject poverty.
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According to UNICEF, 25,000 children die each day due to poverty
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780 million people on the globe do not have access to clean water.
(3.4 million people die each year from water related disease)
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Tremendous economic growth has so far failed to achieve meeting the
basic survival needs of billions of people on the planet.
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And the Global North’s commitment to development in the Global
South is, shall we say, not overwhelming. The U.S. give a fraction of
a percent (0.2%) of its GDP to development aid.