© Peter Dicken 2015
Winning and Losing:
Where You Live Really Matters
Global Shift
Chapter 10
Review
• Concepts to Review
– Globalization, geographical inequalities,
historical variations, technological change
• Key Words
– Development, underdevelopment,
‘archipelagos’, poverty, location
Global Impacts
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Globalization as Archipelago
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A person’s place of birth or residence determines their range of life chances
These are unevenly distributed across the globe
The global economy as an archipelago: economic activities as variably interconnected ‘islands’
Development and Underdevelopment
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Development and underdevelopment are two sides of the same coin
At global scale, developed countries are clear winners
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Not everyone in the developed world is a winner
Changes in Developed and Developing Economies
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Significant shifts in developed economies
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‘the 20 per cent of the world’s population living in the highest income countries have well over 80 per cent of world income,
trade, investment and communications technology. The 20 per cent … in the poorest countries have around 1 per cent.’
move from manufacturing to service economy
rising participation of women in the workforce
the two shifts are related; women’s presence greater in service jobs
Age composition of the population
Links Between Developed and Developing Economies
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Competition of cheaper manufactured goods from developing countries influences manufacturing in
developed world
Does this lead to deindustrialization and unemployment in developed world?
Higher education may not insulate workers from pressures of global economy
Income Distribution
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Income and Poverty
– Income is key to material well-being
• is not an end in itself but a means to freedom
• poverty as ‘unfreedom’
– Poverty gap is getting bigger (see Figure 10.8)
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Uneven Income Distribution
– Uneven income distributions have geographical manifestation
– Differences reflect different histories and social policies
– Inequality also exists on smaller scales, and on non-geographic scales
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Income: Winners and Losers
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The Gini coefficient and other measures of income distribution
Who is identified as a winner depends on the criteria used to identify them
Emergence of transnational capitalist class
‘The 1%’: who are they, and why?
Employment and Labour
• Employment
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Where will the jobs come from?
For most people employment is the most important source of income
However, there are not enough jobs to meet the growing demand
Total global labour force rose by 17 per cent between 1995 and 2005
Projected growth to 2025, only 1 per cent will be in high-income
countries
• Unemployment
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The end of work is nigh?
Unemployment is always a selective process
Women and young people are most vulnerable to unemployment
Uneven trends are not due to a single set of causes
Unemployment in older industrialized countries is cyclical, driven by
recession
Geographical Trends
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Urban living
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Technology transfer and TNCs
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Manufacturing versus agriculture
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Migration
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Number of international migrants is 3 per cent of total global population
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Benefits for sending country: reduces pressure on labour markets and produces remittances
Negative consequences
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lower than in nineteenth century when they were 10 per cent
but in absolute terms, there are more migrants than ever
majority are migrant workers
migrants are often youngest and most active members of population
they do not often get vocational training or bring with them initiative or employment when they return
reinforces the conditions that created migration in the first place
Benefits for host countries: balances out the ageing of the population
Negative consequences: xenophobia, fears of loss of jobs