Global Development Theme 1 - Globalisation

ON GLOBALISATION:

• Believe that Globalisation is a good thing 
• Globalisation is a worldwide extension of capitalism and the free market
• This will lead to economic growth, the eradication of poverty and the spread of democracy

ON ECONOMIC TRADE:

• There has been an international increase in trade since the 1950s - this has lead to an increase in wealth, health and education globally
• Increased trade has lead to an increase in GDP and GNP of countries which are a part of the global capitalist system

ON TNCs:

• TNCs bring investment and jobs to developing countries
• They have more power than many Nation States - they are therefore the 'driving force' behind economic globalisation 
• They are responsible for three quarters of global trade

ON CULTURAL CONSUMPTION:

• Asia and South America are becoming more consumerative in their lifestyles, like the West
• Growth of social media also facilitates cultural globalisation                                                                                                                                                      

ON DEMOCRACY:

• Globalisation involves the spread of Western values, such as democracy, freedom of speech etc. 
• Includes respect for meritocracy and the decline of patriarchal control                                                                                         

ON DETRADITIONALISATION:

• Cosmopolitanism - tradition for the sake of tradition is challenged 
• The individual has much more freedom tyo reflect on already existing cultures
• Culture becomes something that is fluid, open to debate and adaptations 

ON GLOBALISATION:

• Believe that globalisation and the erosion of the Nation States is a bad thing
• Globalisation is a negative process involving Western Imperialism 
• It is a process in which Western institutions are imposed on the rest of the world                             

ON ECONOMIC TRADE:

• Not everyone benefits from world trade - Sub-Saharan Africa is still in poverty
• Global trad ecauses an increase in illegal trade, such as drugs and sex trafficking
• Trade depends on industrial manufacturing and transportation which damages the environment and increases pollution                                                                                                                                                                                                              

ON TNCs:

• Removal of indigenous people - destabilising local communities 
• Exploitation of workers
• Ecological damage
• Death and illness 

ON CULTURAL CONSUMPTION:

• Americanisation - where shallow and formulaic American popular culture undermines local traditions
• Influence of the media threatens democracy and freedom of expression
• Mass-advertising of Western cultural icons has resulted in their logos becoming powerful symbols in the developing world - coca-colonisation                                                                                                                                      

ON DEMOCRACY:

• It's the spread of US military power, not democracy
• The USA spends $700 billion every year on its military                                                                                                                                                                      

ON DETRADITIONALISATION:

• Zygmunt Bauman - global cities aren't characterised by educated elites who engage in democracy and challenge traditional ways of life
• Fortress cities - where the rich 'hide' in expensive communities and the poor are left in the slums 

ON GLOBALISATION:

• Globalisation is a complex process involving exchanges between global institutions and local cultures
• Parts of the world are truly a part of the global systems, others are left out
• Globalisation is neither inevitable nor good or bad - it is too complex to understand                                                                                                      

ON ECONOMIC TRADE:

• Trade is a two way process (criticism of global pessimism)
• There has been an expansion of fair trade but also an expansion of illegal trade 
• Governments regulate international companies in different ways                                                                                                         

ON TNCs: 

• There will be people who benefit from TNCs and people who don't
• Governments regulate companies differently depending on where they are in the world - because of a country's pollution laws, tax laws, wages, health and safety laws, trade unions etc. 

ON CULTURAL CONSUMPTION:

• Consumption is characterised by cultural hybridity - when new brands come into contact with local cultures and they are modified by these cultures, which creates new products (e.g. chicken tikka masala)                                                                                                                                                                             

ON DEMOCRACY:

• Characterised by new political formations
• For example, China is a communist country that doesn't allow voting but supports capitalism
• Many African 'democracies' are so corrup that they can't really be called democracies                                                                                              

ON DETRADITIONALISATION:

• Anthony Giddens - people increasingly challenge traditions as they come into contact with new ideas
• However, people still choose to engage in traditional practices - this is not 'traditional traditionalisation', however, when people just do things because it's always been done that way 

ON GLOBALISATION: 

• The extent of globalisation has been rapidly exaggerated
• Nation States and local communities still have the power to resist globalisations                                                      

ON ECONOMIC TRADE:

• Trade is not truly global, it is regional
• About 60% of EU trade is within the EU
• Sub-saharan Africa is largely left out of global trade or they do not receive enough from the trade that they are a part of                                                                                                                                       

ON TNCs:

• They do not operate in all countries - only secure ones 

ON CULTURAL CONSUMPTION:

• Billions of people still live in subsistence lifestyles and cannot afford to take part in globalised, Western-style consumption                                                                                                                        

ON DEMOCRACY:

• Some countries remain cut off from global democracies and military force 
• Some traditional cultures still practice abuses that go against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - e.g. anbout 90% of women in Somalia have undergone FGM                                                                                                       

ON DETRADITIONALISATION:

• Local traditions still remain in some countries, therefore detraditionalisation is exaggerated