A Brief Description of Globalization
IN DEFENSE OF GLOBALIZATION
The term “globalization” has become a catchall term for all manner of political, economical , social, environmental, and cultural change. In Defense of Globalization, Jagdish Bhagwati , the term “globalization” refers to the liberalization of trade and trade barriers between countries and corporations. Despite its elusive definition, or perhaps because of it, globalization has acquired many critics in the past decade or so. Globalization is certainly the buzzword of the new millennium. The nature and impact of globalization has been the subject of profound debate and concern in economic circles since the mid-1990s. The controversy surrounding the on-going debates about globalization is whether unfettered market forces will further diverge or converge income the world over. On the one hand, proponents of globalization say it has promoted information exchange, led to a greater understanding of other cultures, raised living standards, increased purchasing power (most especially in the west) and allowed democracy to triumph over communism. (1) On the other hand, opponents of globalization, such as those who protested against the ministerial meetings of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle and most recently in Quebec City, say the West’s gain is at the expense of developing countries. These opponents charge that globalization is synonymous with imperialism and does little more than encourage corporations to relocate factories to countries with the cheapest labor and the weakest environmental laws. (2) They further argue that, “even in the developed world, not everyone has been a winner. The freedoms granted by globalization are leading to increased insecurity in the workplace. Unskilled workers in particular are under threat as companies shift their production lines overseas to low-wage economies.”(3)Mainstream economic thought promises that globalization would lift the poor above poverty,
The term “globalization” has become a catchall term for all manner of political, economical , social, environmental, and cultural change. In Defense of Globalization, Jagdish Bhagwati , the term “globalization” refers to the liberalization of trade and trade barriers between countries and corporations. Despite its elusive definition, or perhaps because of it, globalization has acquired many critics in the past decade or so. Globalization is certainly the buzzword of the new millennium. The nature and impact of globalization has been the subject of profound debate and concern in economic circles since the mid-1990s. The controversy surrounding the on-going debates about globalization is whether unfettered market forces will further diverge or converge income the world over. On the one hand, proponents of globalization say it has promoted information exchange, led to a greater understanding of other cultures, raised living standards, increased purchasing power (most especially in the west) and allowed democracy to triumph over communism. (1) On the other hand, opponents of globalization, such as those who protested against the ministerial meetings of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle and most recently in Quebec City, say the West’s gain is at the expense of developing countries. These opponents charge that globalization is synonymous with imperialism and does little more than encourage corporations to relocate factories to countries with the cheapest labor and the weakest environmental laws. (2) They further argue that, “even in the developed world, not everyone has been a winner. The freedoms granted by globalization are leading to increased insecurity in the workplace. Unskilled workers in particular are under threat as companies shift their production lines overseas to low-wage economies.”(3)Mainstream economic thought promises that globalization would lift the poor above poverty,
References: (1). ^ Friedman, Thomas L. "The Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention". Emerging: A Reader. Ed. Barclay Barrios. Boston: Bedford, St. Martins, 2008. 49 (2). ^ IMF Team. (2000). ‘Globalization: Threats or Opportunity.’ 12th April 2000, IMF Publications. http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/ib/2000/041200.htm ; Also see, Catarina Kinnvall & Kristina Jonsson (edited). (2002). Globalization & Democratization in Asia: The Construction of Identity. London: Routledge. P.249-263. (3). ^ See Conversi, Daniele (2010) 'The limits of cultural globalisation? ', Journal of Critical Globalisation Studies, 3, pp. 36–59. (4). ^ "Globalisation shakes the world". BBC News. 21 January 2007. (5). ^ Culture and Globalization: Center for Global Studies at the University of Illinois (6). ^ McAlister, Elizabeth. 2005. "Globalization and the Religious Production of Space." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 44, No 3, September 2005, 249–255. (7). ^ John Parker, Burgeoning bourgeoisie, A special report on the new middle classes in emerging markets. The Economist .12 Feb 2009.http://www.economist.com/node/13063298?story_id=13063298&source=hptextfeature (8). ^ Carol Graham "Winners and Losers: Perspectives on Globalization from the Emerging Market Economies" Brookings. Saturday 1 January 2011http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2001/fall_globaleconomics_graham.aspx (9). ^ Gordon, Philip. 2004. "Globalization: Europe 's Wary Embrace". Yale Global, 1 November 2004. http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/globalization-europes-wary-embrace (10). ^ Steger, Manfred.Globalization. New York: Sterling Publishing, 2009.