The GLOBALIZATION debate: A better world for all?

Lesson Plan

1. Brainstorming: what comes to mind?

3. Differing types of globalisation

3. Globalisation as an historical process

4. Defining globalization

5. How does globalization work? New actors and processes

7. Migratory flows: the case of the US-Mexico border

6. Globalization caricatures analyses

7. Global alternatives?

GLOBALIZATION

INDUSTRIALaccess to foreign goodsworldwide production marketsContainer shippingGlobalized productsOutsourcing / cheap labourFINANCIALworldwide financial marketsCAC40 / Dow Jones / FTSENASDAQ / NIKEI DOWWorld economic crises

ECOLOGICALclimate changeglobal warmingwater/air pollutiongreenhouse gasesECONOMICIMF / World BankFree Trade: no barriers or tariffsImports / ExportsPOLITICALworld governanceUnited NationsG8 / G20 / WTOEconomic Blocs(the EU / NAFTA)LINGUISTIC / CULTURALRule of English35% world mail40% world radio programmes50% world internet traficWestern culture?Regionalism?

Globalization as an historical process origins?

Archaic globalization:

3rd millenium B.C. / Hellenistic Age / China / India / Silk Road

Proto-globalization:

Voyages of discovery during the Renaissance / British, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese empires in the 16th/17th centuries

Modern: 19th century steamships and railways / imperialism Stopped by depression and WWI Restarts after WWII with Bretton Woods (IMF / World Bank) Acceleration after the fall of the Communist Bloc 1991

Trying to define globalization

Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among people, companies and governments of different nations. It is a process driven by international trade and investment, based on the disappearance of barriers and tariffs, and aided by information technology. This process has effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems, on economic development and prosperity, and on human well-being in societies around the world.

Today, globalization is farther, faster, cheaper and deeper Thomas Friedman NYT

How does globalization work?New actors and processes

Globalization: new actors and processes

In the new global world order, individual nation states have lost their traditional rle and power and have been replaced by Multi-National Corporations (MNCs), blurring borders and frontiers or even wiping them out completely. Their loss of power has led to the creation of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to deal with global problems. Nation states have responded by forming huge economic blocs in order to maintain some power and influence.

Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs)

Maritime trade and commerce accounts for 90% of the world total

In 2011, the dollar value of world merchandise trade advanced 19% to $18.2 trillion, surpassing the previous peak of $16.1 trillion from 2008

In order of importance for oil transportStrait of Hormuz Straits of Malacca Suez Canal Danish Straits Turkish Straits (Bosphorus and Dardenelles) Bab al Mandab Panama Canal

Between 50% and 75% of crude oil is transported by sea so it is necessary to control the checkpoints

Checkpoints or Chokepoints

In 2009, China overtook Germany as the third-largest shipowning country, surpassed Japan as the second-biggest shipbuilding country, and replaced India as the busiest ship-recycling country.

Access to the sea: an imperative in global tradeLandlocked countries

Globalization has been made possible by the revolution in information technology. It has never been more easy for people to communicate with each around the world because new technologies are global standard. However, not everyone has the same access to the internet. The More Industrialised Countries (MICs) have greater access than sub-Saharan countries in Africa which is the least connected continent in the world.

The Interconnected Globalized World

Who benefits from modern globalization?

If we consider the similarities between the world maritime sealines and the flows in information technology we can come to the following conclusion:

The documents suggest that the phenomenon of modern globalization benefits the more industrialised countries of the world (NAFTA the EU East Asia (TRIAD) including China. The triad countries represent only 8% of the world population but 80% of world trade and over 50% of world GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The new emerging countries also benefit from globalization (the BRICS). This means that there are parts of the world left behind and even excluded from the phenomenon (landlocked countries).

The importance of information technology and maritime sea routes is obvious in new global trade and commerce the race to send new satellites into space and the current tensions for control in the Pacific are further proof of this fact.

US Immigration TendenciesMigratory Flows 19th Century to Today

America, a Nation of Immigrants but is it still a Land of Immigration?

World Migration and Immmigration Tendencies United Nations report 2012

Despite the phenomenon of globalisation and the outsourcing of production and jobs to south east Asia and the other emerging world economies, the USA continues to be the country which attracts the most immigrants in the world.

A Timeline of American Immigration and Immigrants' Origins

Document 1 Immigration Bar Graph

The bar chart shows that the USA has always attracted millions of immigrants to its shores, from the middle of the 19th century up to today.The numbers of immigrants has fluctuated with high points at the turn of the 20th century, a low point during and after WWII followed by a steady rise up to today when numbers are at an all time high.

Document 2 Bar Graph of Immigrants' Origins

What has changed is the region of origin of the immigrants. Historically, it was Europeans who emigrated massively at the trurn of the 20th century and then their numbers gradually dwindled up to and following WWII. If immigration has increased since that time it is because of new immigrants from Asia but essentially Latin America who have arrived in their millions.

The New Immigarnts and where they settle

Document 3 Chart showing countries of origin of modern day immigrants

This pie chart shows the make up of modern day immigrants arriving in the USA. Whilst 41% come from all over the world, 59% of thenew immigrants are from Latin America or South East Asia including India. By far the largest group of immigrants from one country are the Mexicans who make up over a quarter of all immigrants.

Document 4 Map of the USA showing where immigrants settle

This dot map shows clearly that the new immigrants have not spread evenly throughout the country. They have massed together in specific areas such as New York (wealth), the Great Lakes (industry), Florida (employment) but especially in Texas and on the west coast - the US-Mexican border runs between Texas and California. The vast majority of new Mexican immigrants have settled here (proximity/family) which has given rise to numerous problems (language/education/employment).

The US-Mexico Border Le Frontera Facts and Figures

The US-Mexico border is the international border between the two states. It has a length of 1969 miles or just over 3000 km. It is the most frequently crossed border in the world with over 250 million people crossing every year.It runs from San Diego / Tijuana on the Pacific coast to Brownsville / Matamoros in the Gulf of Mexico.Between these two extremities, the border crosses different terrains: the Rio Grande and the Colorado river, as well as scorching deserts and huge urban conurbations

The Origins and Makeup of Illegal Immigration

Document 5 Origins and settlement of illegal immigrants

The pie chart shows that the vast majority of illigal immigrants in the USA are from Latin America (over three quarters) and well over half of all illegal immigrants come specifically from Mexico.The bar chart shows us that the illegal immigrants have stayed very close to the border region of the USA and Mexico, especially California but also Florida, adding to the number of legal immigrants already there.

Document 6 Make up of the illegal immigrant population

The first pie chart shows the huge number of illegal immigrants in the USA 11 million at the time but now around 13 million. Mexicans make up more than half of the number of illegal immigrants in the USA.More importantly, a high number are solo males and females which means young people looking for work, housing, education and eventually a family life.

The Effects of the New Immigration on Traditional American Society

Document 7 Graph showing evolution of the Hispanic population of the USA

This bar graph shows how the Hispanic population has increased 17 fold (1700%) since 1950 to reach 68 miliion today. Knowing that the population of the USA is around 317 million, the Hispanics make up 21% of the total number.The projection shows the possible evolution until 2050 when their number will have tripled, challenging caucasians as the main ethnic group in the country.

Document 8 Graph of changing make up of US society between 2010 and 2030

What this bar chart makes clear is that all the ethnic groups which make up US society are stable (Black) or increasing (Asian, Other, Hispanic). The only ethnic group which is decreasing as a precentage of the total population are the caucasians (white).

National Geographic Determined What Americans Will Look Like in 2050 and It's Beautiful

This is a critical cartoon of corporate globalism. The man in the centre, representing the MNCs, is misquoting a speech by ML King in 1963 he has added the word trade to free. Free trade was introduced on a global scale from the 1980s onwards. The stereotyped figure in the middle holds chains in his left hand and a whip in his right. The chains represent the WTO created in 1995 which replaced the GATT agreements. The WTO is supposed to help govern the global economic system but in the hands of MNCs it allows them to pay workers in poor countries extremely low wages and prevent them from having any workers rights it maintains them in poverty. The whip stands for NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) signed in 1994 which set up the free circulation of goods and services between Canada, the USA and Mexico- the largest trade bloc in the world. It has led to growing unemployment due to outsourcing and has reduced workers' rights as they fear for their jobs and livelihoods.Corporate globalisation benefits only MNCs and their shareholders' dividends while the workers of the world suffer, both in MICs and LICs. The rich get richer, the rest get poorer.

Outsourcing in More Industrialised Countries (MICs)

Slave labour in Less Industrialised Countries (LICs)

Greater profits from dividends and shares for the MNCs

This is a cartoon which criticizes corporate globalisation. In it, we can see two rather fat men,caricatures of businessmen, riding on the backs of the poor (here, they look Indian, Asian or African). One of the men represents global corporatism and the other the British East India Company. Modern global corporatism politely asks the way to the future whereas he is heading in the wrong direction he's going back to the past. The figure representing the East India Company assures him he is going the right way. The British East India company was founded in 1600 and is consodered to be one of the first examples of an MNC. It was a private company, with no control over it from government. It became responsible for half of world trade over the next centuries. It exploited workers in foreign countries and imposed its own military rule in parts of India. This led to exploitation, starvation and genocide, as indicated on the signpost. Modern day corporate globalisation is pictured heading in the same direction meaning that it too does exactly the same today exploiting poor workers around the world to make more profit for private companies. The past seems to be repeating itself or perhaos it means that the system has never really changed international big business has always exploited others in order to make greater profits for the shareholders.Corporate globalisation is nothing more than modern day colonialism.

The colonial past and modern globalisation are one and the same

Colonialism and globalisation exploit the poor for their own benefits

The richer countries, normally in the North, have always exploited the poor, traditionally in the South

This is a cartoon strip which criticises the effects of globalisation. In it we can see children in a queue, lining up to see Father Christmas (Santa Claus) in a department store. Normally children tell him what they would like for a Christmas present. All the traditional features are there the big chair, the reindeer, the Christmas tree and the elf but there is no Father Christmas. In his place, the children find a TV screen and they must tell a man in a call centre in Bangalore, India, what they would like.

Christmas is the period when companies in the western world make most of their annual turnover (chiffre d'affaires). It is also a period which plays on our childhood memories. Here, everything has been changed by globalisation. As one of the children in the queue comments, Father Christmas has lost his job due to outsourcing it was cheaper to employ an Indian in Bangalore than a man in the store. India, and Bangalore in particular, is home to most of the world's call centres where calls are redirected since the cost is low.

The criticism seems to be that there are no limits to what MNCs will do make a profit nothing is sacred, not even Father Christmas. Moreover, the girl looks surprised and confused like many people who cannot understand why and how their lives and jobs are being effected by the consequences of globalisation.

The cartoon plays on our childhood memories

Nothing can resist the consequences of globalisation - nothing is sacred not even Father Christmas

We feel confused and often angry at events caused by globalisation which we cannot control

GROUP 4

Globalization has direct, often disastrous effects on the environment. In the background, the air is polluted, nothing grows and animals die. However, there is always room for profit: the gas mask. Trade and commerce continue in the face of climatic catastrophe.

GLOBAL ALTERNATIVES?

Sustainable Development

Fair Trade

Slow Movement ...

Sustainable Development

development that meets the needs of the present without comprimising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs BRUTLAND COMMISSION 1987

Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency, and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers especially in the South

Alternatives to corporate globalization: SLOW FOOD

Slow food is an international movement founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986. It strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and promotes farming of plants, seeds and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem.