GLOBALISATION

Analyze globalization and how far it eroded the economic role of the state and forced national political economies to become similar



Analyze globalization and how far it eroded the economic role of the state and forced national political economies to become similar

Introduction

Globalization refers to the worldwide diffusion of practices, expansion of relations across continents, organization of social life on a global scale, and growth of a shared global consciousness. As new forms of communication and transportation enable individuals and groups to overcome spatial constraints and cross nation-state boundaries in their activities, “supraterritorial” relations increase (Scholte 2000). Conventionally associated with economic integration in a world market, globalization more broadly comprises many such forms of connectedness. Together, these mark the drawing together of the world as a single society. This is experienced as the “compression” of the world, which gives rise to a widespread intensification of “consciousness of the world as a whole” (Robertson 1992). Since it transforms the context of human experience, globalization ushers in a “global age,” the interpretation of which will require new ideas and concepts (Stiglitz, 2002).

Economic Evils

Globalization as an economic phenomenon is roughly synonymous with the worldwide expansion of capitalist markets, financial and investment flows, and production commodity chains and distribution networks. Globalization's champions insist that these processes boost wealth and prosperity worldwide, giving everyone greater access to goods and services and dramatically increasing standards of living (The Economist 2001b, 2001c, 2001d; Wolf 1997). The benefits of economic globalization purportedly extend to other dimensions as well; the “new world order” proclaimed after the first Gulf War imagined economic liberalization and global integration creating common interests (via interdependence) and promoting shared liberal values (freedom, democracy, civil rights, the rule of law) that would thereby reduce conflict and promote global solidarity.

Globalization's critics espy instead a capitalist juggernaut of untrammeled exploitation and neoimperialism, driven by the avarice of wealthy countries, TNCs, and the western-dominated IMF, WTO, and other IGOs that manage the capitalist world economy (ATTAC 1998; International Forum on Globalization [IFG] 1995; Oxfam 1996). The relentless global expansion of capitalism, uneven in its effects and unstable in its cyclical operations, threatens the rights and well-being of individuals and nations.

Threats to Labor

A good deal of the criticism of globalizing capitalism builds on a less individualized concept of labor, using collective terms such as the working class, peasants, even “the masses.” Such formulations are especially prominent with regard to labor issues. Campaigns against sweatshops, for example, reflect a growing concern over the mistreatment of workers as a class in both the core and the periphery (Bonacich and Appelbaum 2000; Featherstone 2002; Klein 2002; Louie 2001; Ross 1997). Some groups worry as well about lower-level white-collar workers (clerical, administrative, data processing, and similar positions), raising concerns about excessive working hours, poor ergonomics, and even restrictive dress codes. To protect labor and prevent abuses, much agitation focuses on legal measures regarding collective labor rights and regulations. Clearly, the well-meaning efforts of the International Labor Organization (ILO) over many decades have been insufficient to ...