UGEB 2161
Resource Issues in the Age of Globalization
Globalization and the World System:
How does it affect me?
Lawal M. Marafa, Ph.D
Department of Geography and Resource Management
Introducing the UN Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs)
Sustainable Development Goals
17 goals and 169 concrete targets
The UN Sustainable Development Goals
17 goals and 169 concrete targets
1. No Poverty - End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2.Zero Hunger - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and
promote sustainable agriculture
3.Good Health and Well-being - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for
all at all ages
4. Quality Education - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Gender Equality - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Clean Water and Sanitation - Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Affordable and Clean Energy - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent
work for all
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
10.Reduced Inequalities - Reduce income inequality within and among countries
11.Sustainable Cities and Communities - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12.Responsible Consumption and Production - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13.Climate Action - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts by regulating emissions and promoting developments in renewable
energy
14.Life Below Water - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15.Life on Land - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat
desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16.Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all
and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17.Partnerships for the Goals - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
but……THE
BIG QUESTION:
1. Is Globalization:
A. Good?
B. Bad?
C. All of the above?
D. None of the above?
2. Is globalization new or old?
Is globalization really “global” or inclusive of all people?
What is Globalization?
a process of interaction and integration among
the people, companies, and governments of
different nations
a process driven by international trade and
investment and aided by information technology
This process has effects on the environment, on
culture, on political systems, on economic
development and prosperity, and on human
physical well-being in societies around the world
Globalization: a brief introduction
What is globalization?
• Globalization is political, cultural, and economic
• Globalization as a technological phenomenon—
”time-space compression”
• Globalization and global governance
• Globalization as a recent phenomenon with
historical antecedents
• Globalization as a puzzle and problem
Globalization:
Scales and Characteristic Quantities
1. Distance
2. Communication
3. Energy
…It works on
Space/Scale/Consumption…
• This allows the economy, politics, culture, and ideology of one
country to penetrate another... Driven by changing modes of
competition, cooperation, etc…. (Mittelman, 1996: 3)
When did it occur and what was the cause?
• What has changed?
• What do we address it?
•
8
Globalization:
According to Thomas L. Friedman:
• First period of Globalization: (~1860 -1914)
• Dominated by British pound, navy and culture
• Build around falling transportation costs
• Key technologies: railroad, steamship and the automobile
• Second period of Globalization: (1990 -
)
• Dominated by American dollar, military power & culture
• Build around falling telecommunication costs
• Key technologies: microchips, satellites, fibre optics, internet
• Differences: In intensity and extent
“The first era of globalization shrank the world from a size
“large” to a size “medium”, this era of globalization is
shrinking the world from a size “medium” to a size “small”.
One of the biggest changes of
the mid-20th century was the
rapid increase in globalization
Globalization is the increased flow of trade, people,
technology, culture, & ideas among countries
Today, globalization is
…advances in technology
most associated with
& communication…
international trade &
…& increase in
multinational corporations…
cultural diffusion
“Globalization”
What changes is this having on the world
today??
– Environment
– Demography
– Technology
– Economy
– Politics
– Ethnicity
– Culture
– Religion, etc…..
• Economy, culture and polity
are being transformed,
reshaped and reworked to
produce a more global world
and global consciousness…
Short and Kim 1999:3
•We can (therefore) distinguish three related aspects of globalization:
economic globalization (a global economy), cultural globalization (a
global culture) and political globalization (a global polity)”
Economic, Cultural and Political Globalization
How does it affect me?
"...globalization is in so many ways Americanization:
globalization wears Mickey Mouse ears, it drinks Pepsi
and Coke, eats Big Macs, does its computing on an IBM,
Lenovo, Apple, ICT, etc…
Recognize these???
And these???
What are the characteristics of globalization?
• Transnational flow of capital, ideas, information and
people
• Cultural products from different countries have
become available in one place
• The nation-state is not the only entity that affects us
• An increasing interdependence of the world through
the facilitation of technological innovation
• Compression of time and space
• Deepening of social and economic polarization
Globalization affects us in
several ways but three different ways stand out……….
Economic
Cultural
Political
Economic Globalization
• The world economy:
 formulation of global production,
 global markets, and
 global finance, etc.
• multinational firms have resulted in massive foreign
direct investment [FDI],
• the growth of producer services, international trade
and
• global market
Economic Globalization
• Three major forces of economic globalization:
(i) the global financial system
(ii) the global service economy
(iii) the global telecommunications network
Economic Globalization
• A number of changes since the 1970s:
(i)
the deregulation of financial markets at the
national and international levels
(ii) the introduction of new financial instruments and
monetary products/Cashless
(iii) the emergence of new market actors
(iv) the spread of new telecommunications and
information technologies
Currently, >200,000 companies from the
USA operate in over 100 countries!!
Global Service Economy
The growth and diversification of service industries
• Export of managerial skills,
organizational techniques
information
and
• The globalization of services has been caused by:
(i) growth of foreign direct investment (FDI) in
services
(ii) explosive growth of producer services and its
internationalization
The World System!!!
Global Telecommunications
Network and Services
• Technology advances in communication networking
x
• The major innovations (fax, mobile phone, social
media and internet, stream) have allowed the use of
telecommunication networks to create new massmarket products that change our lifestyle
Global Telecommunications
Network and Services
• The globalization of telecommunication services has
been facilitated by:
(i) reductions in the cost of service
(ii) improvements in networking capability
(iii) privatization and commercialization of the
telecommunication sector
(iv) emergence
of
global
providers
of
telecommunication
and
information-based
products and services
>1.2 billion
• Facilitates a global financial system and a
global service economy
>300 million subscribers
>2 billion
• Facilitates a global financial system and a global
service economy
• The growth of the Internet and the
World Wide Web
• Massive investment in infrastructures which led to
the rise of world cities
The questions??
• How does Globalization affect cultures?
• Who is in charge of globalization?
• How does globalization increase awareness?
• What is the effect of globalization on the local
environment?
Cultural Globalization
• A continuous flow of ideas, information, values and
tastes across the world
• Formation of a globalized culture in five dimensions:
(i) ethnoscapes (tourists, immigrants, refugees and
guestworkers)
(ii) mediascapes (distribution of information through
newspapers, magazines, TV and films)
(iii) technoscapes (technologies)
(iv) finanscapes (global capital flows)
(v) ideoscapes (political ideas and values)
Cultural homogenization/cultural heterogenization?
Cultural homogenization:
• Global consumer culture
• A deterritorialized
Americanization culture
• Global metropolitanism
• Examples: Watching CNN and
Hollywood films, McDonald etc.
Think of these
Cultural globalization:
• Elements of culture:
 Language
 Religion
 Food and consumption
 Media
 Lifestyle
 Etc.
Cultural Globalization
Globalization
changing, shaping
local cultures
But local cultures
also changing,
shaping, globalization
The Trend:….The Issues
• How does globalization increase awareness?
• Effect of globalization on international/regional
development
• What is the effect of globalization on the local
environment?
Energy/Food
Population Growth
Resources/Migration/Tourism
Land Use
Recommended Readings
Bartelson, J. (2000). Three Concepts of Globalization.
International Sociology, Vol. 15(2). 180-96.
Bickley et al. (2021). How does globalization affect
COVID-19 responses? Globalization and Health,
17:57.
BHARGAVA, V. (2006) Introduction to Global Issues.
Thank You!