Teaching Geography Workshop 8: Global Forces Local Impact – Part 1: Guangdong and
Southeast Asia
JIM BINKO:
We begin this program in the province of Guangdong on China’s
southern coast. This area has sustained extraordinary economic growth
in the past two decades. Standard 3: how to analyze the spatial
organization of people, places and environments on the earth’s
surface helps us understand the importance of Guangdong’s proximity to
Hong Kong in determining its position at the epicenter of Chinese
economic development.
Understanding the patterns and networks of economic
interdependence on Earth’s surface shows us how advancements in
communication and transportation have allowed Guangdong to thrive in a
global economy.
After watching this case study, you should be able to explain why
optimum plant location decisions in a commercial economy take
into account labor costs, transportation costs and market locations.
The impact of globalization is complex. Better international
communications may lead to social progress, democratization and a
heightened awareness of human rights. Yet at the same time, a
homogenous consumer culture enveloping the world puts local diversity
at risk and may aggravate the disparity between rich and poor.
Awareness of these contrasts helps analyze and evaluate issues related
to the spatial distribution of economic activity. We close this half hour in
Fred Walk’s World Geography classroom. Using an ARGWorld inquiry
lesson centered on Southeast Asia, he guides his class as they explore
the factors that determine quality of life.
NARRATOR:
Many observers argue the costs and benefits but few dispute that
globalization is the most profound reorganization of the world since the
Industrial Revolution. The driving force of globalization is economic and
at the core of the global economy is the global production system.
Du Neng Ji makes Nike shoes-- one of tens of thousands of Nike
employees scattered across the world. Du Neng Ji and his fellow workers
are a small part of the Chinese link in the chain of global production.
(\man speaking Chinese\)
TRANSLATOR:
The reason I came to work here is simply to earn a living. I came from
Chendgu in Sichuan Province. I didn’t have much of a job back home.
I’ve been working at the number two factory for two and half years. I feel
good about it. My ambition is to become a manager.
NARRATOR:
Most of these workers are like Du Neng Ji. Until the factories came, they
either scratched out a living from farming or had no work at all. Now life
has changed dramatically.
(\Du Neng Ji speaking Chinese\)
TRANSLATOR:
Although we have to work hard for eight to nine sometimes ten hours a
day, I still feel very happy. I live in a dormitory but I feel as if I’m living at
home.
NARRATOR:
Millions of Chinese have left their homes to work in places like
Guangdong.
MAN:
China has changed. It’s one of the most exciting places to be doing
business in the world right now.
NARRATOR:
These workers make almost half a million shoes a month but Nike could
have these shoes made anywhere in the world. Why did they choose to
make them here? The answer lies in a mix of local and global factors.
The factory is located in Guangdong Province in Southern China, near
the capital, Guangzhou, and about 100 kilometers from Hong Kong. And
the proximity of Hong Kong is the key to massive foreign investment
throughout Guangdong Province.
MAN:
People who work in the world economy who work in the global trading
system, trust Hong Kong. They know what to expect there. They know
they’re going to have certain guarantees if they invest money and this is
what is really driving this thing. It’s that... it's that proximity to a system
that they know and trust and feel very comfortable working in.
NARRATOR:
The Guangdong factory where Du Neng Ji works is owned by a
Taiwanese company and operated jointly by Taiwanese and Chinese
management.
MAN:
And when these entrepreneurs or investors operate from Hong Kong-these overseas Chinese-- they are coming into a cultural milieu-- a
cultural environment-- where they feel quite comfortable. So the idea of
native place where someone originated from is a very, very powerful
current in Chinese culture even today.
NARRATOR:
So here local factors such as its location relative to Hong Kong, cultural
and ethnic links throughout the region and a history of stable trade
relations all contribute to Guangdong’s rapid economic growth in recent
decades. But just as important are the global forces exerted by the
spread of global production systems. The pattern of development for
global production facilities has been shaped by the drive for cheap labor.
MAN:
The diffusion from Japan to South Korea to Taiwan and then
subsequently to other parts of Southeast Asia is driven by seeking lowwage labor.
NARRATOR:
And the search for inexpensive labor has led companies like Nike to
China. Compared with many parts of the world such as America, Europe
or Japan, Du Neng Ji earns little-- the equivalent of just 80 U.S. dollars a
month. However, by Chinese standards, he and his fellow workers earn a
healthy wage. The changes the new industry brings to China are
dramatic. By the mid 1990s, more than half a million factories were at
work in Guangdong Province. The region pulsates with development.
BROWN:
It is an emerging, uh, huge-growth country, uh, very exciting. There’s
building going on everywhere. There's, uh... The whole province, the
whole country, basically, is under construction.
NARRATOR:
Towering hotels and commercial buildings show China’s ambition to play
a key role on the world economic stage. In 2001, after years of
negotiations, China was admitted to the World Trade Organization,
cementing its role as a player in the global economy. This Nike factory,
for example, fits in a chain of production that stretches around the globe.
Orders for Nike footwear are placed in its headquarters in Beaverton,
Oregon, in the United States. Complex communications systems allow
the head office to arrange raw materials and allocate production to
factories around the globe. Guangdong has virtually none of the raw
materials for making shoes, but they can be imported through Hong
Kong.
And here in Hong Kong we finally meet the unsung hero of the global
economy-- the freight container of containerized shipping. This homely
steel box holds up to 60,000 pounds of raw materials, like rubber or
leather or finished goods like sneakers. And since it was invented in
1956, it has slashed shipping costs dramatically. In just the last 15 years,
the cost of shipping a VCR across the Pacific was reduced by 95% from
$30 to about $1.50.
Computer tracking and instant communications have also improved
efficiency of the global assembly line. As these bar codes are read,
Nike’s main computer on the other side of the world is automatically
updated. The computer tracks production supplies right to the factory
floor. This leather came from Venezuela, the rubber from Malaysia.
These synthetics came from Taiwan, Japan, Germany and America. All
Nike’s shoes made here in China are sent back through Hong Kong for
export. And here the bar code reader again connects to corporate
headquarters to track the delivery of the finished goods to customers
around the world.
Nike is able to harness low-wage structures through use of its flexible
production system and with the encouragement and support of China’s
government. Nike doesn’t own these factories. Production can be moved
at very short notice. That means Nike could stop producing here if wages
became too expensive. But according to Clif Pannell, that’s unlikely.
PANNELL:
The labor force in China is huge. There are, uh, over 600 million people
at work in China. Uh, most of them are still in the agricultural sector of the
economy. And there are too many. There are probably at least 100
million redundant laborers in the agricultural workforce. What to do with
them? How to make them more productive? Well, one thing is you’ve got
to enhance their mobility and allow them to go where the jobs are and the
jobs are down in places like Guangdong Province and the Pearl River
Delta. New factories are building, a lot of new construction workers are
needed, transportation workers are needed, factory workers are needed.
NARRATOR:
And here we can begin to see the local impact of the powerful forces at
play in this globalizing economy. Migration, urbanization, cultural and
social change are echoing across this region.
PANNELL:
This is going to be one of the great human processes of change that
happens anywhere in the world-- this enormous flow of people out of the
rural areas into the cities or the peripheral areas of the cities where these
factories are taking up these jobs.
NARRATOR:
Wherever you look at the process of globalization, you will find evidence
of local change. Managing the social and political friction that such largescale change inevitably creates is sure to be among the new century’s
biggest challenges.
GIL LATZ:
Does globalization mean that location and place just don’t matter
anymore? Well, let’s take a look from a geographic perspective. In this
case study, the characteristics of Guangdong and its relative location to
Hong Kong matter tremendously. In Guangdong we see a key part of the
global production system in action. It works here because of the very
specific characteristics of this unique place. The province’s available
labor force, the transportation and communication infrastructure, the
relatively stable political environment and the relative location and cultural
connections with Hong Kong all make this place a noteworthy player in
the global production enterprise.
This province serves as the epicenter of Chinese economic development.
It attracts literally millions of Chinese laborers from rural areas to work in
its factories. Whole cities like Shenzhen have been created to
accommodate the inflow of people.
It is in Guangdong, then, that China meets the world and it is here that
China’s industrializing economy confronts the need to transform the way
its people work. This is a balancing act between the country’s interior and
the coast, one that will have a decisive and unpredictable influence on the
country’s future integration into the world economy.
SUSAN HARDWICK: Globalization happens when barriers between nations are minimized.
These barriers may include poor transportation, political turmoil and
cultural differences. These barriers make participation in the global
economy nearly impossible for some countries.
The affordability and availability of transportation plays a major role in
globalization. Shipping by sea is especially cost-effective. Countries
lacking access to the sea, like Laos, may be cut out of potential markets
because land transport is simply too expensive. As a result some places
just aren’t participating in the global economy. Parts of Central Asia, for
example, and some of the nation states in Central Africa. These areas
have been almost completely bypassed by economic development.
Political instability can also present a barrier to globalization. In places
like Jerusalem, political and cultural differences are so extreme that
collaboration between nations remains quite difficult.
As critics continue to blame globalization for poverty, injustice and the
loss of cultural diversity in the world, one wonders how much farther
behind nations who are not participating in the global economy might
become in the future.
BINKO:
As we have seen, globalization can have great positive benefit for some
people. For others the benefits are slow in coming or may even take a
negative turn. How can we assess these differences?
In our next lesson, Fred Walk’s high school students pursue information
that will permit them to answer a vital geographic question: how can we
measure quality of life in different places? To do this, they investigate the
region of Southeast Asia, focusing on Indonesia and Singapore. Fred
uses an ARGWorld CD-ROM lesson to guide his students through the
inquiry process. These lessons present a variety of data-- pictures,
figures, maps-- in a way that engages students and encourages critical
thinking.
As you view, look for the ways that Fred incorporates cooperative and
inquiry learning to promote divergent student thinking and
understanding of complex geographic concepts. Notice, too, the
steps our teacher takes to ensure that the classroom will be an
emotionally and intellectually safe environment for his students to
conduct their investigation.
FRED WALK:
Define quality of life.
NARRATOR:
Today Fred Walk begins an ARGWorld lesson designed to help students
analyze geographic information. His class will look at ways to measure
quality of life, using Indonesia as a case study. To stimulate the students’
thinking on the subject, Fred began by asking them to define quality of
life in their own words.
WALK:
Anna, what did you say?
ANNA:
"Whether or not the people in a particular area can live comfortably with
all their basic needs met."
WALK:
And what did you say it is?
JOHN:
I said, "Quality of life is how easy survival is, as well as how comfortable
living is." That's pretty good.
NARRATOR:
With these definitions as a starting point, Fred moves into the ARGWorld
lesson.
WALK:
All right, so here’s what I want you to do and some of you already started
to do this. I want you to identify five factors that you think best determines
a nation’s quality of life. Take a minute.
NARRATOR:
Students come up with five factors on their own, then meet in groups to
reach consensus. They must rank the factors in order of importance.
STUDENTS:
I had birthrate, shelter, GNP. I thought healthcare was good, too.
BOY:
Technology, did you say? Yeah, I like that one.
WALK:
Okay, education you say is first. Yeah. Okay, what do you mean by that,
education?
GIRL:
You can’t really have high income or anything else if you don’t have a
good education. Somebody generalize. Nations... having...
BOY:
...Higher education have higher quality of life.
WALK:
That’s what you’re thinking. We’re just speculating.
NARRATOR:
Using the ARGWorld CD-ROM, Fred shows his students that they’re on
the right track.
WALK:
You had these kinds of things. I don’t know, did anyone say access to
electricity, medical services, safe water, life expectancy, a number of you
had that. And what you guys are doing here is trying to sort out what it is
that influences a nation’s quality of life.
NARRATOR:
These factors are a start but how can we compare quality of life in
different places? One of the most common measures is gross national
product per capita. ARGWorld provides the necessary data and Fred
asks his students to do the rest. They’ll estimate the GNP per capita for
two Southeast Asian countries-- Singapore and Indonesia.
WALK:
Now, this particular country has 212 million people. What do you think it’s
going to be, just off the top of your head? Kyle, give me a number.
KYLE:
21,000.
WALK:
21,000 per person? Okay, here we go. Here’s Indonesia. Ooh! $1,110.
Ooh, Kyle, you’re up. You’re high. That’s okay because you’re thinking,
right? Singapore, higher or lower?
CLASS:
Higher.
WALK:
What? Give me a number. 32,810. Here we go. Oh, yes. What was
Indonesia’s?
GIRL:
1,110.
(\Walk whistles\)
WALK:
And what’s Singapore’s? 32,810. What do you guys have to say about
the quality of life in Singapore compared to Indonesia?
GIRL:
Probably a lot better.
WALK:
It’s a lot better.
Just simply by giving students an answer doesn’t guarantee any kind of
learning. By peaking their interest and... and challenging their way of
thinking and creating conflict in their mind is... is where the real learning,
uh, takes place.
Somebody make a statement for me. Nations... having... higher... GNP...
per...
GIRL:
...Per capita have a higher quality of life. ...Have a higher quality of life.
WALK:
Is that true in all cases? Is it guaranteed?
GIRL:
No.
WALK:
Not necessarily.
GIRL:
Not necessarily.
WALK:
Ah, but it’s a pretty good indicator, you think? Is this fair? Do you have a
choice where you live?
NARRATOR:
Differences in GNP per capita raise deeper philosophical questions about
the way people live. They’ll discuss these questions in the second part of
their investigation.
On day two, the class will wrap up the ARGWorld lesson by looking at
some other measures of quality of life. But first they return to GNP per
capita.
WALK:
A problem with that is that it hides differences within countries. What
does that mean, hides differences within countries?
BOY:
One country could have just, like, all middle class and another could have
a real high class and a real low class.
WALK:
Does every Singaporean have $32,800?
CLASS:
No.
WALK:
No, not at all. So in other words, it doesn’t mean that the wealth is evenly
distributed. Indonesia is a diverse country. Many people in Indonesia are
poor. Some are very, very rich. Yeah, Elizabeth, you had a reaction to
that the other day. Does that concern you?
ELIZABETH:
In some ways, I mean, because if there’s, like, enough money for
someone to buy a big house like that when a lot of people can get by
without not that big of a house or a lot of expensive cars or toys and
things like that, then somebody that’s living in a little run-down shack can
have a little house of their own, too. There’s that much money to go
around.
WALK:
Mm-hmm, yeah, so you’re questioning the... the distribution of that
wealth.
ELIZABETH:
Right.
WALK:
You’re not suggesting maybe these people are just lazy or inferior, they
suffer from some character flaws. Of course we only find that in some
place like Indonesia. You wouldn’t find that in a major industrialized
country.
ELIZABETH:
I’ve seen that same thing in, like... like, right across the street from each
other.
WALK:
In this country?
ELIZABETH:
In Atlanta, Georgia, yeah.
WALK:
So you’re saying that we as a nation are not, um, removed from this?
How about this community, Bloomington-Normal?
GIRL:
I don’t think we are, either.
WALK:
You see this kind of living in Bloomington-Normal?
GIRL:
The projects right across the street, it looks really bad.
WALK:
Yeah, yeah, and so... so even in Bloomington-Normal, we can see
instances of where there’s tremendous gaps of disparity of wealth. So but
the point is when you see a GNP-per-capita figure, it doesn’t mean that
everybody has the same amount. Okay, you have to be careful how you
interpret that.
What indicators do you think would provide a better measure of the
quality of life in a place? I’m going to show you four maps-- GNP per
capita, toddler mortality, people per TV and then the last one is life
expectancy. I want you to hypothesize, okay? For example, let me get
you started here. See letter A. It says here, "Nations having a high GNP
per capita will have..." You need to finish the statement. Pick one of those
three-- TVs, life expectancy, toddler mortality rate. Give me one of your
hypotheses. I’m just curious what you say.
BOY:
Nations having a high GNP will have more, uh, more TVs and low peopleto-TV ratio.
NARRATOR:
Students will work in groups to test their hypotheses against the data
from their maps.
GIRL:
If a nation had a high GNP per capita, it would have a lower toddler
mortality.
WALK:
What information would you need to know in order to... to really
determine if there is indeed a correlation between these variables?
GIRL:
Their availability of healthcare. I don’t know how you’d actually test that,
though. Because you want to see how available healthcare is because if
they can't get immunizations and stuff for, like, their kids, they’re more
likely to die at a young age. Like, they could contract polio or a nasty
disease.
GIRL:
Employment. Unemployment rates.
WALK:
Well, you could determine how many doctors there are per 1,000 people
in a country, couldn’t you?
GIRL:
That's true.
WALK:
How many hospitals, hospital beds there might be per 1,000 people. That
data’s out there.
GIRL:
Maybe vaccination rates.
WALK:
Have you tested your other hypothesis?
BOY:
Life expectancy is higher with higher GNPs, just like we predicted.
WALK:
Like you predicted. Is there a correlation between GNP per capita and
toddler mortality rate?
GIRL:
Yeah.
WALK:
And how do you describe that?
GIRL:
We put the higher the GNP, the lower the toddler mortality rate. The
higher the GNP... ...The lower the toddler mortality rate.
WALK:
All right, we have a lot of data that you’ve been looking at, observing,
analyzing the spatial distributions and, um, and you’re making some...
some inferences here and, uh, I want to ask you guys over here. Uh,
Tara, give me your generalization here.
GIRL:
"Countries that have a higher GNP in general, have an overall better
quality of life."
WALK:
Why would you say that’s generally true?
GIRL:
We found, like, when a country has a higher GNP, the infant mortality
rate is lower and the life expectancy is higher.
WALK:
Michael, does that mean that those countries... countries having a high
GNP per capita will always have low toddler mortality rate and a high life
expectancy?
MICHAEL:
Not always but in most cases.
WALK:
Can somebody give me an exception to this generalization?
GIRL:
Yeah, China.
WALK:
And you’re saying China?
GIRL:
Because they have a relatively low GNP per capita but their life
expectancy is fairly high.
WALK:
How could that possibly be?
GIRL:
We looked at their map and it has, like, on the physicians per 1,000
people, it has, um, they were in the higher rank where they don’t have as
many people per doctor.
WALK:
Yeah, so, I mean, there’s lots of things here we can look at. But... but
when you look at this map, folks, what country stands out?
CLASS:
Singapore.
WALK:
Now, what’s going through your minds?
GIRL:
How can a country that small make so much money and have such a
quality of life while everyone around them has less?
WALK:
You got to be wondering that, don’t you? What allows us to ask that
question?
STUDENT:
Maps. The maps.
NARRATOR:
Using maps to answer the day’s inquiry-- how can we measure quality of
life in different places-- has raised a new and perplexing question. They
will try to answer this one on Monday.
WALK:
Go to the Internet, go to some other source and simply look up Singapore
and read about Singapore and see if you can figure out what’s going on
there. Try and see if you can solve it. Figure it out. Quality of life, it varies,
doesn’t it? Yeah, hey, you guys have a stellar weekend.
BINKO:
Can there be any doubt that at the conclusion of this lesson these
students are better able to answer the primary question? How can we
compare quality of life in different places?
Their understandings are the products of their own investigation-investigations guided by Fred’s meticulous attention to the steps of the
inquiry process. He poses the question, then makes available all the
necessary resources-- maps, charts, graphs, the Internet. Learning, then,
is the result of student-generated questions, hypotheses and finally,
generalizations.
Good teaching is not so much about giving students answers as it is
about raising questions, challenging assumptions and having students
explain their ideas in their own words. Collaborative learning and inquiry
blend to provide the environment and incentive for active student
engagement and this engagement is vital if students are to apply
geographic skills to understand their world.