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Introduction, "The Term Globalization Should Be Used To Refer To A Set of Social Processes
Introduction, "The Term Globalization Should Be Used To Refer To A Set of Social Processes
Introduction, "The Term Globalization Should Be Used To Refer To A Set of Social Processes
RB AUSTRIA
INSTRUCTOR, GE 5
GE 5: THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD: LECTURE NOTES
According to Dennis O. Flynn and Arturo Giráldez ,”Global trade emerged when 1)
all heavily populated continents began to exchange products continuously – both with
each other directly and indirectly via other continents – and 2) did so in values sufficient
to generate lasting impacts on all trading partners” (“Globalization Began in 1571.p2 )
GLOBAL ACTORS
Multinational Corporation
The multinational corporation is a business organization whose activities are
located in more than two countries and is the organizational form that defines foreign
direct investment. This form consists of a country location where the firm is incorporated
and of the establishment of branches or subsidiaries in foreign countries (A.A Lazarus,
2001 p. 10197)
RB AUSTRIA
INSTRUCTOR, GE 5
GE 5: THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD: LECTURE NOTES
World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the
World Bank
The World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
and the World Bank are the three institutions that underwrite the basic rules and
regulations of economic, monetary, and trade relations between countries. Many
developing nations have loosened trade rules under pressure from the IMF and the
World Bank.
The domestic financial markets in these countries have not been developed and
do not have appropriate laws in place to enable domestic financial institutions to stand
up to foreign competition. The administrative setup, judicial systems, and law-enforcing
agencies generally cannot guarantee the social discipline and political stability that are
necessary in order to support a growth-friendly atmosphere.
Market integration is the fusing of many markets into one. Global market
integration means that price differences between countries are eliminated as all markets
become one. One way to the progress of globalization is to look at trends how prices
converge or become similar across countries. The time when the costs of trading across
the country fall and that is the time the other firm will take advantage of price
differences, other countries may enter the market of the other country. Trading cost fall
when new product invented or developed becomes cheaper and also, some cost are
man-made like when they impose a barriers for trade
Integration
By the end of the 20th century globalization across most markets had returned to
the levels seen just before World War I. Today, markets are more integrated than ever
RB AUSTRIA
INSTRUCTOR, GE 5
GE 5: THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD: LECTURE NOTES
as transportation costs have continued to fall and most tariffs have been scrapped
altogether.
One vision of the future of globalization involves the elimination of other kind’s
barriers to trade caused by institutional differences between countries. Markets are
embedded in institutions such as property rights, legal systems, and regulatory regimes.
Differences in institutions between countries create trading costs in the same way that
tariffs or distance do. For example, there may be different laws in Kenya, China about
what happens when a buyer fails to pay. This might make it hard for a Chinese exporter
to recover what it is owed in the event of a dispute, which could make the firm reluctant
to enter the Kenyan market. Despite the removal of tariffs the world is far from being a
single market. Borders still matter because of these kinds of institutional
incompatibilities. Complete integration requires the ironing out of legal and regulatory
differences to create a single institutional space.
Interstate System
Most studies of war that take the interstate system as the unit of analysis begin
with assumptions from the ‘realist’ paradigm. States are seen as unitary actors, and
their actions are explained in terms of structural characteristics of the system. The most
important feature of the interstate system is that it is anarchic. Unlike politics within
states, relations between states take place in a Hobbesian ‘state of nature.’ Since an
anarchic system is one in which all states constantly face actual or potential threats,
their main goal is security. Security can only be achieved in such a system by
maintaining power. In realist theories, the distribution of power in the interstate system
is the main determinant of the frequency of war.
As to the concept of system, we like to refer to the definition in The Oxford
English Dictionary. It defines ‘system’ to be (1) a set or assemblage of things
connected, associated, or interdependent, so as to form a complex unity, or (2) a whole
composed of parts in orderly arrangement according to some scheme or plan. In studies
of international politics, the conception of ‘system’ has been used mainly in two ways:
international system, and world system(s). The term ‘international system’ is a concept
for analysis or description of international politics.
RB AUSTRIA
INSTRUCTOR, GE 5
GE 5: THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD: LECTURE NOTES
However, there have been criticisms by some against the idea of global
governance. For example, the WHO (2015) points out some arguments that critics
make, namely that “Critics argue that global governance mechanisms support the neo-
liberal ideology of globalization and reduce the role of the state (and thus its
sovereignty) to that of an adjusting body for the implementation of international policies.
Some argue that, as a result, the interests of the poorest people and nations will be
ignored unless they have a direct impact on the global economy.”
Gaps
There are a number of gaps within global governance systems. For example, the
World Health Organization (2015) argues that three primary gaps exist. Namely:
The jurisdictional gap, between the increasing need for global governance in many
areas – such as health – and the lack of an authority with the power, or jurisdiction, to
take action.
RB AUSTRIA
INSTRUCTOR, GE 5
GE 5: THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD: LECTURE NOTES
The incentive gap, between the need for international cooperation and the motivation to
undertake it. The incentive gap is said to be closing as globalization provides increasing
impetus for countries to cooperate. However, there are concerns that, as Africa lags
further behind economically, its influence on global governance processes will diminish.
The participation gap, which refers to the fact that international cooperation remains
primarily the affair of governments, leaving civil society groups on the fringes of policy-
making. On the other hand, globalization of communication is facilitating the
development of global civil society movements.”
Thakur & Weiss (2015) argue that there are five particular “gaps” in global
governance. They are as follows:
Knowledge Gaps
Normative Gaps
Policy Gaps
Institutional Gaps
Compliance Gaps
Knowledge gaps are important because if we do not know the severity of a problem, or
if we don’t have the resources to investigate a particular issue, then this could become
difficult for effective global governance.
Normative Gaps follow knowledge gaps. After we understand that an issue exists, it is
important to establish (and develop) norms to address that problem. This often forms
within societies, but international organizations such as the United Nations also have a
role to form law on the issues (Thakur & Weiss, 2015). Norms are important; they
“matter because people–citizens as well as politicians and officials–care about what
others think of them” (Thakur & Weiss, 2015: 32).
Policy Gaps are related to the specifically policies that one can implement in order to
address the stated problem. When we speak of policy, we are talking about “the
articulated and linked set of governing principles and goals, and the agreed programs of
action to implement those principles and achieve those goals” (Thakur & Weiss, 2015:
33
Institutional Gaps are the challenges of implementing any policies that are put forth by
the international community. If we are speaking about environmental rights abuses,
institutional gaps would include any failures of effective mechanisms to ensure that
environmental law is in place.
Compliance Gaps are one of the final challenges with regards to global governance.
This includes effective implementation, as well as enforcement. Amongst the challenges
is the fact that “recalcitrant or fragile actors may be unwilling or unable to implement
RB AUSTRIA
INSTRUCTOR, GE 5
GE 5: THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD: LECTURE NOTES
agreed elements of international policy, for example a ban on commercial whaling, the
acquisition of proliferation-sensitive nuclear technology and material, or the cross-
border movement of terrorist material and personnel” (Thakur & Weiss, 2015: 36). Or, it
might be difficult to enforce penalties on violators.
Mahler (2017) coined three primary definitions of Global South. First, it has
traditionally been used within intergovernmental development organizations –– primarily
those that originated in the Non-Aligned Movement –– to refer to economically
disadvantaged nation-states and as a post-cold war alternative to “Third World.”
However, the term Global South is employed in a post-national sense to address
spaces and peoples negatively impacted by contemporary capitalist globalization.
RB AUSTRIA
INSTRUCTOR, GE 5
GE 5: THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD: LECTURE NOTES
The term “Third World” countries was coined by Alfred Sauvy, a French
demographer, after World War II and during the Cold War-era. It is also the tagged to
those countries that did not align with democratic or communist countries. This
eventually evolved to refer levels of development. The Third World included the
developing nations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Nevertheless, the concept of the Global South shares some of the limitations
of the concept of the Third World. It evokes imaginations of a geographical North-South
divide, which does not correspond to the complex entanglements and uneven
developments in the real world. Areas incorporated under the label Global South can
also be found in the geographical North. Ethnic ghettos and barrios in US American
cities are one example; the “Latinoization” of the US is another. And the gated
communities of the cosmopolitan elite in Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, or Santiago de
Chile have more in common with their counterparts in Miami, L.A. or Chicago than with
the surrounding barrios, marginales and favelas
Regionalism and globalization are two different concepts which are interrelated.
Regionalism is the process through which geographical regions become significant
political and/or economic units serving as the basis for cooperation and possibly identity
whereas, Globalization is the interconnectedness and interdependence of states,
forming a process of international integration arising from the interchange of world
views, products, ideas, and other aspects of culture.
RB AUSTRIA
INSTRUCTOR, GE 5
GE 5: THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD: LECTURE NOTES
Benefit of Regionalism
According to ADB report (2008), the following are benefits of Asia from regionalism,
namely:
1. link the competitive strengths of its diverse economies in order to boost their
productivity and sustain the region’s exceptional growth;
2. connect the region’s capital markets to enhance financial stability, reduce the cost
of capital, and improve opportunities for sharing risks;
3. cooperate in setting exchange rate and macroeconomic policies in order to
minimize the effects of global and regional shocks and to facilitate the resolution of
global imbalances;
4. pool the region’s foreign exchange reserves to make more resources available for
investment and development;
5. exercise leadership in global decision making to sustain the open global trade and
financial systems that have supported a half century of unparalleled economic
development;
6. build connected infrastructure and collaborate on inclusive development to reduce
inequalities within and across economies and thus to strengthen support for pro-
growth policies; and
7. create regional mechanisms to manage cross-border health, safety, and
environmental issues better.
Characteristics of Regionalism
1. Local Identity. Strong local identity and a loyalty to the region. Politicians and many
residents feel pride in the local culture and its people. Politicians try to exploit that
identity to gain supporters for their proposals. They often claim that the regional
interest should always come before the national interest. Moreover, emphasizes
local development and well-being, at times without considering other regions.
2. Autonomy. Greater autonomy is another characteristic and a priority of regionalism.
It can be economic, in the form of more power to administer economic resources
and modify fiscal policies; it can also be political, with stronger local institutions and
the ability to pass laws and enforce local policies
Factors leading to a greater integration of the Asian region
1. Trade. The world economy is intertwined with each other whether we like it or not.
We all want or need something from another part of the world, and global trade
facilitates that.
2. Similar Culture. The cultures of Asia is diverse but they do share many things.
This makes it an easier fit during times of negotiations.
3. Common Goals. The Asian region recognizes the mutual benefit of a slow
integration. The territories involved are not far from each other and the
industriousness of its population can work as a powerful negotiating block against
those from other parts of the world.
RB AUSTRIA
INSTRUCTOR, GE 5
GE 5: THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD: LECTURE NOTES
Function
The understanding of the relation between media and globalization should not be
restricted to the differences of internet speed among countries; which country is the
leading giant in technology production; or to the number of views a worldwide movie
premiere has. Being active users of media, it is also our duty to look into the effects of
this consumerist attitude to our cultural identity, ideology, and value systems. Aside
from the evident “uneven” process of media globalization occurring worldwide, which
implies that its effects and consequences are not identically experienced, globalists
recognize a certain “power geometry” at work. Accordingly, it talks about the idea that
some groups are more in-command than others in terms of the proliferation of ideas and
to an extent specific interests – a dictator.
The global sphere is continuously being bombarded and affected with media messages
carrying western ideology to a point that, some would believe, intimidates the rest of the
world’s native thoughts and philosophies. Being rational creatures faced with the real
threat of losing a nation’s identity due to cultural imperialism, several coping
mechanisms come into play. One of these movements is dedicated toward opposing the
blind acceptance of foreign cultures is called contra-flows
RB AUSTRIA
INSTRUCTOR, GE 5
GE 5: THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD: LECTURE NOTES
a. Mixing previously separate cultural systems, such as mixing elite art of opera with
popular music;
b. Deterritorialization of cultural processes from their original physical environment
to new foreign contexts and;
c. Impure cultural genres that are formed out of the mixture of several cultural
domains.
RB AUSTRIA
INSTRUCTOR, GE 5