THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

BSN 2 Y2-2 REVIEWER

A.Y. 2024-2025 2ND SEM.

exchange rate in 1971. The group meets every year to

talk about economic policies and has taken on many
OUTLINE
initiatives throughout the years, including an initiative for
I Midterms Topic the world’s heavily indebted poor countries in 1996 and
A Global Divides a meeting to discuss the global financial crisis of the
B Asian Regionalism 2000s.
C Global Media Cultures
D Religion and Globalization
THE BRANDT LINE
E Global City ● The Brandt line, a definition from the 1980s dividing the
world into the wealthy north and the poor south.
GLOBAL DIVIDES
NORTH SOUTH
HEMISPHERE HEMISPHERE
GLOBAL NORTH GLOBAL SOUTH
● Rich ● Poor
Home to all members of G8 Largely corresponds ● Industrialized ● Agricultural
and to four (4) of the five (5) with Wealthy Nations Developing Nations
permanent members of UN ● Democratic Capitalist ● Non- Democratic
Security Council Countries Countries

United States, Canada, Africa Latin America

Western Europe CONCEPT OF SOCIOLOGICAL RELATIONS

Developed parts of Asia, Developing Asia

Australia and New Zealand including Middle East MAJOR PREMISE PREVALENT
● The Group of Eight, or G8, was the name of a political 95% of the North has Lacks of appropriate
forum that ran from 1997 until 2014. Devoted to enough food and shelter. technology, no political
addressing global issues such as world hunger, security, Similarly, 95% of the stability, the economies
medicine, and poverty, its membership included the North has a functioning are disarticulated, and
following nations: educational system. In the foreign exchange
○ France the South, on the other earnings depend on
hand, only 5% of the primary product exports.
○ Germany population has enough
○ Italy food and shelter.
○ Japan
○ United States
CONCEPT OF ECONOMIC RELATIONS
○ United Kingdom
○ Canada
○ Russia MAJOR PREMISE PREVALENT
○ The European Union ("non-enumerated"
member) The North - with one The countries with
● The forum that grew into the G8 was founded in the quarter of the world capital will unfortunately
early 1970s. Though it initially included only four population-controls become investors of
member countries (the US, UK, West Germany, and four-fifths of the income countries incapable of
earned anywhere in the developing industry. The
France), it quickly added Japan, Italy, and Canada and world. 90% of the regulation of policies and
became the Group of Seven (G7) in 1976. Russia manufacturing industries laws is the way to attract
accepted an invitation to join in 1997, forming the G8. are owned by and investors.
● However, when Russia annexed the Ukrainian region of located in the North.
Crimea in 2014, its membership in the G8 was
suspended. The remaining members reverted back to The South - with three
the G7 name, and Russia officially withdrew from the quarters of the world
population has access to
group in 2017.
one-fifth of the world
● These seven nations have about 58% of the world’s total income.
wealth at about $317 trillion. Over 46% of the world’s
nominal GDP is represented in these nations.
● The forum was founded in order to facilitate
macroeconomic initiatives following the collapse of the

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A.Y. 2024-2025 2ND SEM.

IMPLICATIONS
CONCEPT OF NATURAL RESOURCES RELATIONS ● Outlined the historical progression terms of a society’s
capacity to produce and consume material goods.
MAJOR PREMISE PREVALENT (Modernization Theory, Rostow).
● The sameness represents the cultural homogenization that
The South's lack of An aftermath effects of many critics have associated with globalization. (Same as
development and the Age of Imperialism of the the rich influenced the poor).
high level of western world ● The spaces of affluence in the developing world may mirror
development of the North the Global North
deepen the inequality ● The spaces of underdevelopment in developed countries
between them and leave
may mirror the poverty of the Global South.
the South a source of
raw material for the ● Global economic integration is not inevitable given the rise
developed countries. of new technologies; it is, more importantly, a normative
international goal. (Globalism: Steger)
The North becomes ● The Dominant ideology of colonialism and the topic that
synonymous with shaped the birth of international order.
economic development
and industrialization
while the South
represents the previously
colonized countries
which are in need of help
in the form of
international aid
agendas.
ASIAN REGIONALISM
TOWARDS ASIAN REGIONALISM
CONCEPTS OF GLOBAL RELATIONS ● The center of gravity of the global economy is shifting to
● Asia. The region’s economy is already similar in size to
those of Europe and North America, and its influence in
MAJOR PREMISE PREVALENT
the world continues to increase.
The underdevelopment Imbalances of Aggregate ● Asia’s economic rise is unprecedented. The region is
of certain states/peoples economics and political home to over half the world’s population, produces three
and their lack of states Interstate tenths of global output (in terms of purchasing power),
representations in global dimensions and consistently records the world’s highest economic
political process is a growth rates.
reality ● Regionalism is a relatively new aspect of Asia’s rise.
Asia’s economies are increasingly connected through
trade, financial transactions, direct investment,
technology, labor and tourist flows, and other economic
relationships.Asian economies are principally connected
through markets— but where markets lead, governments
follow. Asian leaders have committed to work together
more closely and have already taken concrete steps in
some areas.
HOW CAN REGIONALISM BENEFIT ASIA
● link the competitive strengths of its diverse economies in
order to boost their productivity and sustain the region’s
exceptional growth;
● Connect the region’s capital markets to enhance
financial stability, reduce the cost of capital, and improve
opportunities for sharing risks;
● Cooperate in setting exchange rate and macroeconomic
policies in order to minimize the effects of global and

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regional shocks and to facilitate the resolution of global blocs—a “fortress Asia” is no more desirable than a
imbalances; “fortress Europe” or a “fortress North America” would be.
● Pool the region’s foreign exchange reserves to make ● But the open, outward-oriented regionalism that is
more resources available for investment and emerging in Asia can avoid posing such a threat. Just as
development; the absence of barriers to commerce within national
● Exercise leadership in global decision making to sustain economies—that is, among the states and provinces of
the open global trade and financial systems that have countries such as the People’s Republic of China (PRC),
supported a half century of unparalleled economic India, Germany,and the United States (US)—is generally
development; beneficial, so too is the creation of a market spanning
● Build connected infrastructure and collaborate on several national economies. Much of the evidence
inclusive development to reduce inequalities within and assembled in this report suggests that Asia has—and
across economies and thus to strengthen support for will continue to have—a fundamental stake in both
pro-growth policies; and regional and global integration.
● Create regional mechanisms to manage cross-border ● Asia comprises several powerful countries and centers
health, safety, and environmental issues better. of economic activity, with many shared economic
HOW CAN REGIONALISM BENEFIT THE WORLD priorities, but also some diverging ones. At times, these
● Generate productivity gains, new ideas, and competition differences are amplified by history and politics. The
that boost economic growth and raise incomes across price of cooperation is the loss of some national
the world; sovereignty and the narrowing of policy options for
● Contribute to the efficiency and stability of global pursuing purely national objectives.
financial markets by making Asian capital markets GLOBAL MEDIA CULTURE
● Diversify sources of global demand, helping to stabilize MEDIA
the world economy and diminish the risks posed by ● Are the communication outlets or tools used to store and
global imbalances and downturns in other major deliver information or data.
economies; ● Various means of communication
● Provide leadership to help sustain open global trade and
TYPES OF MEDIA
financial systems; and
● create regional mechanisms to manage health, safety,
and environmental issues better, and thus contribute to News Paper Information, Opinion,
more effective global solutions of these problems. Current events, and
News
THE ECONOMIC OF ASIAN REGIONALISM
● The economics of regionalism have a complex and Television System of transmitting
troubled history. visual images and sound
● In the 1930s, countries created preferential trade blocs used for broadcast
in an attempt to shelter their economies from the Great
Internet Network system of the
Depression. interconnected computer
● Several countries established discriminatory currency systems
blocs with strict exchange controls against outsiders. Far
from helping, these arrangements led to the collapse of Traditional/ Old Media Print media such as
international trade and financial flows, accelerating the books, newspapers,
downward spiral of economic activity. magazines, newsletters,
● This experience was foremost in the mind of the journals, pamphlets,
fliers, broadsides,
architects of the post-war global economic system as billboard
they adopted the principle of nondiscrimination as a
central pillar of the General Agreement on Tariffs and New Media Means of communication
Trade (GATT), the forerunner of the World Trade using digital technologies
Organization (WTO). such as :
● Many economists and policy makers remain skeptical Telephone, computers,
about regionalism because of its potentially negative social media, mobile
phones
impact on the multilateral trade and financial system.
● The case for regionalism therefore has to be carefully
formulated. Regionalism must not lead to protectionist

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STAGES OF EVOLUTION
PRE-INDUSTRIAL AGE
● Time before there were machines and tools to help
perform tasks on mass.
● Enhanced processing of language
● Oral tradition as the basic ancestor of information and
communication flow.
● Communication through writing symbols and drawing
crude pictures
● Symbolic impressions in clay and stones tablets; e,g.
Code of Hammurabi.
● The discovery of papyrus by ancient Egyptians and
other forms of writing tools led to the advent of paper.
INDUSTRIAL AGE
● Defined by mass production, broadcasting the rise of the
nation state, power, modern machine and running water.
● Inventions with electricity related experimentation
● Active role of technology in communication and
dissemination of information.
● Existence of printing press
● Newspaper- access to news and information
● Image recording and invention of photography
● Other technological advancement that led to our
modern- day media such as telegraph, wires and cables.
ELECTRONIC AGE
● Began when electronic equipment, including computers,
came into use.
● Realization of the importance and relevance of
information as a commodity.
● Development of fax machines and cell phones- fastest
way of transmitting messages.
● Cable and satellite technologies
● Development of broadcast industry; Expansion of radio
and television.
● Portable gadgets like walkman and discman
revolutionized the access to mass media.
DIGITAL AGE
● Starting 1970’s with the introduction of personal
computers and subsequent technology.
● Refers to our current age; information is seen as a
commodity.
● Evolution of personal computers-Apple, IBM company,
Windows.
● Emergence of digital photography with digital single lens
reflex camera known as DSLR.
CULTURAL IMPERIALISM
GLOBAL MEDIA DEBATE
CULTURAL IMPERIALISM
● Argues that audiences across the globe are heavily
affected by media messages emanating from the
western industrialized countries.
● Nation - states as primary actors in international
relations. They imputed rich, Industrialized, and Western
nation-states with intentions and actions by which they
export their cultural products and impose their
sociocultural values on poorer and weaker nations in the
developing world.
● Flows of news and entertainment were biased in favor of
industrialized countries.
● This bias was clear both in terms of quantity, because
most media flows were exported by Western countries
and imported by developing nations, and in terms of
quality, because developing nations received scant and
prejudicial coverage in Western media.
● The global media debate was launched during the 1973
General Conference of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in
Nairobi, Kenya.
● As a specialized agency of the United Nations, the
mission of UNESCO includes issues of communication
and culture.
CULTURAL IMPERIALISM TO GLOBALIZATION
● First, the end of the Cold War as a global framework for
ideological, geopolitical, and economic competition calls
for a rethinking of the analytical categories and
paradigms of thought.
● Second, according to John Tomlinson (1991),
globalization replaced cultural imperialism because it
conveys a process with less coherence and direction,
which will weaken the cultural unity of all nation-states,
not only those in the developing world.
● Finally, globalization has emerged as a key perspective
across the humanities and social sciences, a current
undoubtedly affecting the discipline of communication.
A HYBRID OR HOMOGENOUS GLOBAL CULTURE
● Transnational mass media intensify the hybridity that is
already in existence in cultures across the globe.
Consequently, the globalization of culture through the
media is not a process of complete homogenization, but
rather one where cohesion and fragmentation coexist.
RELIGION AND GLOBALIZATION
BEYOND THE SECULARIZATION DEBATE
● There is a discontinuity between research agendas that
focus on secularization and globalization.
● Social scientists have debated the scope, nature, extent
and parameters of secularization in an effort to unveil
the overall patterns and/or trajectories of the modern
world.
● Initially secularization had a strong following but
eventually it was superseded by re-evaluation.
● Various debates lead to re-appraisal.
● Secularization debate has been reframed.
● Secularization is understood as a shift in the overall
frameworks of human condition; it makes it possible for
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people to have a choice between belief and non-belief in
a manner hitherto unknown.
TRANSNATIONAL RELIGION AND MULTIPLE
GLOCALIZATION
● Migration of faiths across the globe has been a major
feature of the world throughout the 20th century.
● Transnational religion emerged through the post-World
War II.
● Two distinct blends of religious universalism and local
particularism.
○ It is possible for religious universalism to
gain the upper hand, whereby religion
becomes the central reference for
immigrants. Religion transnationalism=
“religion going global”.
○ It is possible for local ethnic or national
particularism to gain or maintain the most
important place for local immigrant
communities.
RELIGION IN GLOBAL CONFLICT
● Religious ideas, values, symbols and rites relate to deep
issues of existence, it should not be surprising when
religion enters the picture in times of crisis.
● The era of globalization brought with it 3 enormous
problems, namely:
○ Identity
○ Accountability
○ Security
● Religion provides answer to these problems
○ It provides a sense of identity
○ Traditional religious leadership provides a
sense of accountability.
○ Religion offers a sense of security.
GLOBAL CITY
● The idea emerged in the social science literature in the
1980’s, shortly after the concept of globalization.
● It has a central place in understanding contemporary
spatial patterns of globalization.
● It is the main physical and geographic playground of the
globalizing forces.
● The global flows of people, capital and ideas are woven
into the daily lived experiences of its residents.
● It means power, sophistication, wealth, and influence.
● The ideas and values of the metropolis shape the world.
● Embodies both the good and the bad effects of
globalization.
● The global city transcends boundaries of nation-states
● According to Sassen (1991), global cities are
characterized by occupational and income polarization,
with the highly paid professional class on the one end
and providers of low-paid services on the other.
● The lifestyle and needs of the well-off professional
classes bring into the global city an army of low-paid
workers who deliver personal and labor-intensive
services like cleaning, child-care, delivery, restaurants
and eateries, catering, maintenance, transport, hotels,
domestic help and retail.
● Sassen (2005) introduces global cities as global
command centers of the world economy.
COSMOPOLITANISM
● It is the phenomenon most readily associated with the
global city.
● Large, diverse cities attract people, material and cultural
products from all over the world.
● The idea of cosmopolitanism invokes pleasant images of
travel, exploration, and ‘worldly’ pursuits enjoyed by
those who have benefited from globalization
● Everyday life is significantly shaped by commercial
culture, retail and shopping as well as cross-cultural
variety of food, fashion, entertainment and various other
consumables and artifacts.
● Consumption is costly in resources
● Networks and groups rely on geographic proximity.
GLOBAL CITIES ARE LIVABLE CITIES BECAUSE
● They provide jobs that pay an adequate wage.
● They provide basic services, including safe water and
adequate sanitation.
● They are void of discriminatory practices.
● People have access to educational opportunities and
health care.
● People are not at risk of forced eviction.
● People are not at risk of forced eviction.
● People enjoy the security of tenure in affordable
housing.
● People live in communities that are safe and
environments that are clean.
● The cities are governed through inclusive local
democratic processes.
JAPANESE MORI FOUNDATION’S GLOBAL
POWER CITY INDEX
● It measures the global power of cities using the
combination of six (6) criteria:
○ Economy
○ Research and Development
○ Cultural Interaction
○ Livability
○ Environment
○ Accessibility
DOWNSIDES OF THE GLOBAL CITY
● High costs
● Alienation
● Impersonality
● Social isolation
● Discrimination against migrants of certain kinds
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KEY ISSUES
● Diversity and community
● Mobility and community
TRENDS FOR THE TOP 3 CITIES
● LONDON, the No. 1 city in the comprehensive
ranking for the sixth year in a row, further extends
its lead over the competition by improving its scores
for such indicators as GDP Growth Rate and Level
of Political, Economic and Business Risk in
Economy, and for Attractiveness of Dining Options
and Number of Visitors from Abroad in Cultural
Interaction.
● NEW YORK (No. 2) increases its scores for the
Economy indicators of Nominal GDP and GDP
Growth Rate, but fails to make any significant
headway in comprehensive score, having returned
weaker scores this year in Cultural Interaction
indicators such as Number of World-Class Cultural
Events Held and Livability indicators like Variety of
Retail Shops .
● TOKYO (No. 3) ranked for the first time last year
and closed the gap on New York (No. 2) this year.
This is a result of the American city’s score stalling
while Tokyo continues to improve every year in the
cultural interaction indicator of number of visitors
from abroad. However , Japan’s capital city slips
from No. 1 to No. 4 in economy due to weaker
scores in “Market Size” and “Market Attractiveness”.

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