Globalisation (1)

Globalisation (1)

1. definition

   • - process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views and ideas, products, movement of people and aspects of culture - among the ppl, companies and govts of different nations driven by international trade and investment, improvements in global travel and aided by information technology - creates a movement towards an integrated global economy marked by free trade, the free flow of capital and corporate use of foreign labour mkts to maximize returns

2. Types

   • Economic
     • - greater global connectedness of economic activities through international trade, financial flows and transport - increasingly significant roles of international investment and multinational corporations
   • Cultural
     • - connections among languages, ways of living and perceived global homogeneity through the spread of North American and European languages and culture - increasingly, the Chinese language
   • Political
     • - wider acceptance of global political standards such as human rights, democracy and rights of workers, environmental standards as well as increased coordination of actions by govts and international agencies

3. Concepts

   • The World is "Flat"
     • - The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the TwentyFirst Century is an international bestselling book by Thomas L.Friedman that analyses Globalisation primarily in the early 21st century - title is a metaphor for viewing the world as a level playing field in terms of commerce where all competitors have an equal opportunity - title also alludes to perpetual shift required for countries, companies and individuals to remain competitive in a global mkt where historical and geographical divisions are becoming increasingly irrelevant
   • Global Village
     • - closely associated with Canadian born Marshall mcLuhan, popularized in his books The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Tyographic Man (1962) and Understanding Media (1964) --> described how globe has been contracted into a village by electric technology and instantaneous movement of info from everywhere at the same time

4. Terms

   • Deglobalisation
     • - process of diminishing interdependence and integration betw certain units around the world, typically nation states - widely used to describe periods of history when economic trade and investment betw countries decline
   • Brexit
     • - UK's withdrawal from EU - a portmanteau of "British" and "exit" - following a referendum held on 23 Jun 2016 in which 52% of votes cast were in favour of leaving EU - UK govt intends to invoke Article 50 of the Treaty on EU (formal procedure for withdrawing) by end of March 2017 --> put UK on a course to leave EU by March 2019

5. Contrarian Views on Effects of Globalisation

   • 1) Globalisation requires opening up of local and nationalistic perspectives to a broader outlook of an interconnected and interdependent world with free transfer of capital, G&S and ppl across national frontiers
   • 2) Many social scientists adopt a neutral stance on globalisation while attempting to elucidate both benefits and detriments of current and historical trends
   • 3) Within larger public debate, there are ppl who believe that globalisation will eventually lead to a utopian world society while others believe it will cause obliteration of less dominant cultures in favour of more economically developed cultures

6. key contributors

   • multinational corps, govts, commpanies

7. Migration

   • - strong impetus towards development - often seen as a threat or problem - defined as permanent change of resident of a grp, penetrated the whole world - in the form of military conquests, fleeing refugees, expulsion, enslavement, economic opportunities, new settlement areas, trade routes
     • Push & Pull Factors
       • Push = circumstances of countries of origin that lead ppl to emigrate e.g. war, poverty, environmental disasters
       • Pull = conditions in a destination country that make immigration attractive e.g. economic opportunity, political freedom
     • Labour Migration
       • - based on hope for better economic future - difficult for ppl in poor countries to get work or residence VISA in a rich country
   • Illegal Migration
     • - enter country in an informal way or did not leave country after VISA expiration
   • 215mil 800 thousands migrants worldwide in 2010 - most in US (42.8%), RU (12.3%), DE (10.8%)
     • countries of origin - MX (11.9%), IN (11.4%), RU (11.1%), CN (8.3%)
   • - strong migration within Europe that is promoted by EU principle of Free Movement - citizens of EU are allowed to live in any EU member states without restrictions
     • Fear & Threat
       • - idea that immigrants are expensive - burdened welfare system of destination country especially in host countries that offer few social mobility to migrants --> usually most vulnerable parts of society - fear that host country will lose national identity - often no successful integration strategy where ethnic minorities live in separate neighbourhoods