Download The Cultural Dimension of Globalization

CONCEPT OF GLOBALIZATION
Globalization is a broad term which includes different concepts in
different fields and the term is most closely associated with the term
economic globalization: the integration of national economies into the
international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital
flows, migration, the spread of technology and military presence. It is
usually recognized as being driven by a combination of economic,
technological, socio cultural, political and biological factors. The term
can also refer to the translational circulation of ideas, languages or
popular culture through acculturation.
Globalization is a new contemporary stage of development of
capitalism over the world. It is a process of social change in which
geographical and cultural barriers are reduced. This break down of
barriers is the result of transportation, communication and electronic
communication. Globalization in its literal sense is the process of
transformation of local or regional things or phenomena into global ones.
The term 'globalization' can be traced back to the early 1960s, it
was not until a quarter of a century later that it took the public
consciousness by storm. 'Globalization' surfaced as the buzzword of the
'Roaring
Nineties'
because
it
best
captured
the
increasingly
interdependent nature of social life on our planet. At the end of the
opening decade of the twenty first century. there were millions of
references to globalization in both virtual and printed space
Globalization is the inevitable process of a universalizing western
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civilization battling the parochial forces of nationalism, localism and
tribalism.
Globalization has been variously used in both popular and
academic literature to describe a process, a condition, a system, a force
and an age.
The term globalization applies to a set of social processes that
appear to transform our present social condition of weakening
nationality into one of globality. At its core, then globalization is about
shifting forms of human contact. Indeed any affirmation of globalization
implies three assertion: first we are slowly leaving behind the condition
of modern nationality that gradually unfolded from the eighteenth
century onwards; second, that we are moving towards the new condition
of postmodern globality; and third, we have not yet reached it, indeed,
like 'modernization' and other verbal nouns that end in the suffix –
'ization', the term 'globalization' suggests a sort of dynamism best
captured by the notion of 'development' or 'unfolding' along discernble
patterns. Such unfolding may occur quickly or slowly but it always
corresponds
to
the
ideas
of
change,
and
therefore,
denotes
transformation.
Globalization is an uneven process, meaning that people living in
various parts of world are affected very differently by this gigantic
transformation of social structures and cultural zones.
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Some Definitions:1. "Globalization as a concept refers both to the compression of the
world and the intensification of consciousness of the world as a
whole".
2.
Roland Robertson
"Globalization compresses the time and space aspects of social
relations"
James Mittelman
3.
"The concepts of globalization reflect the sense of an immense
enlargement of world communication, as well as of the horizon of a
world market both of which seems for mere tangible and immediate
than in earlier stages of modernity."
Fredric Jameson
4.
"The diminution or elimination of state-enforced restriction on
exchanges across borders and the increasingly integrated and
complex global system of production and exchange that has
emerged as a result."
Tom G. Palmer
5.
"Globalization may be thought of as a process (or a set of
processes). which embodies a transformation in the spatial
organization of social relation and transaction-assessed in terms of
their
extensity,
intensity
velocity
and
impeach-generating
transcontinental or interregional flows and networks of activity,
interaction and the exercise of power".
David Held
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6.
"Globalization can be defined as the intensification of world wide
social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local
happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and
vice-versa."
Anthony Giddens
Thomas L. Friedman "examines the impact of the 'flattening' of
the globe", and argues that globalized trade, outsourcing, supplychaining and political forces have changed the world permanently for
both better and worse. He also argues that the pace of globalization is
quickening and will continue to have a growing impact on business
organization and practice.
These definitions point to four additional qualities or characteristic
at the core of the phenomena.
First, globalization involves the creation of new, and the
multiplication of existing, social networks and activities that cut across
traditional, political, economical, cultural and geographical boundaries
The Second quality of globalization is reflected in the expansion
and the stretching of social relations, activities and inter dependencies.
Today's financial markets reach around the globe and technology,
information, education too reach round the Globe.
Third, globalization involves the intensification and acceleration
of social exchanges and activities. As the Spanish sociologist Manual
Castells has pointed out, the creation of a global network society
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required a technological revolution- one that has been powered chiefly
by the rapid development of new information and transportation
technologies. These innovations are reshaping the social landscape of
human life. The Internet relays distant information in real time, and
satellites provide consumers with instant pictures of remote events. The
intensification of worldwide social relations means that local happenings
are shaped by events occurring far away and vice-versa. In other words,
the seemingly opposing processes of globalization and localization
actually imply each other. Rather than sitting at the base and the top of
conventional geographical hierarchies, the local and global intermingle
mainly with the national and regional in new horizontal scale.
Fourth, the global imaginary-globalization processes do not occur
merely on an objective, material level but also involve the subjective
plane of human consciousness. The compression of the world into a
single place increasingly makes global the frame of reference for human
thought and action. Hence, globalization involves both the macrostructures of community and the micro-structures of personhood. It
extends deep into the core of the self and its dispositions, facilitating the
creation of new individual and collective identities nurtured by the
intensifying relations between the individual and the globe. Thus,
Globalization refers to the expansion and intensification of social
relations and consciousness across world-time and world-space.
Globalization has been used to describe a variety of tendencies At
the most general level it has been defined as: 'The forging of a
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multiplicity of linkages and interconnections between the states and
societies which make up the modern world system. The processes by
which events, decision and activities in one part of the world can come
to have significant consequences for individuals and communities in
quite distant parts of globe.'
In the long run, globalization is likely to be an unrelenting
phenomenon but for significant periods of time, its momentum can be
hindered by a variety of factors, ranging from political will to
availability of infrastructure. Globalization, in the words of Roland
Robertson can be defined as "the concrete structuration of the world as a
whole" due to the emergence of a "global" social space where borderless
interactions and interdependencies develop between persons.
HISTORY OF GLOBALIZATION
New innovations like computers, Internet, cellular phones, pagers
personal digital assistants like the popular 'Blackberry', digital camera,
high definition television, satellites, jet planes etc. have played a crucial
role in the expansion and intensification of social relations and
consciousness across world time and world space. The Internet, in
particular has assumed a pivotal function in facilitating globalization
through the creation of worldwide web that connects billions of
individuals, civil society associations and government. Since most of
these technologies have been around for less than three decades, it seems
to make sense to agree with those commentators who claim that
globalization is, indeed, a relatively new phenomena. Globalization is a
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long-term process that over many centuries has crossed distinct
qualitative thresholds.
Globalization in the prehistoric period (10000 BCE – 3500 BCE)
was severely limited. Advanced forms of technology capable of
overcoming existing geographical and social obstacles were largely
absent; thus, enduring long-distance interaction never materialized. It
was only towards the end of this epoch that centrally administered forms
of agriculture, religion, bureaucracy and welfare states slowly emerged
as the key agents of intensifying modes of social exchange that would
involve a growing number of societies in many regions of the world.
During premodern period (3500BCE- 1500 BCE) the invention
of writing, wheel amounted to one of those technological and social
boosts that moved globalization to a new level. Thanks to the suspicious
east-west orientation of Eurasia's major continental axis- a geographical
features that had already facilitated the rapid spread of crops and animals
suitable for food production along the same latitudes- The importance of
these invention for the strengthening of globalization processes should
be obvious. Pre modern period was the age of empires. All of these
empires fostered the multiplication and extension of long-distance
communication and the exchange of culture, technology, commodities
and diseases. Globalization is viewed as centuries long processes,
tracking the expansion of human population and the growth of
civilization that has accelerated dramatically in the past 50 years. Early
forms of globalization existed during the Roman Empire, the Parthian
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empire and the Han Dynasty, when the Silk Road started in China,
reached the boundaries of Parthian empire, and continued onwards
towards Rome. The Islamic Golden Age is also an example, when
Muslim traders and explorers established an early global economy across
the old world resulting in a globalization of crops, trade, knowledge and
technology; and later during the Mongol Empire, when there was greater
integration along the Silk Road.
Towards the end of the premodern period, then the existing global
trade network consisted of several interlocking trade circuits that
connected the most populous regions of Eurasia And north=eastern
Africa. Although both the Australian and the American continents still
remained separate from this expanding web of economical, political and
cultural interdependence. The existence of these sprawling networks of
economic and cultural exchange triggered massive waves of migration,
which is turn, led to further population increase and rapid growth of
urban centers.
The Early Modern period (1500-1750)
The label 'early modern', then refers to the period between the
Enlightment and the Renaissance. During these two centuries, Europe
and its social practices served as the primary catalyst for globalization.
Religious warfare within Europe also created its share of Globalization.
Moreover as a result of these protrachad armed conflicts, military
alliances and political arrangements underwent continuous modification.
Ultimately evolving from the Westphalia states system, the sovereign,
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territorial nation state had emerged by 1648 as the modern container of
social life. As the early modern period drew to a close,
interdependencies among nation-states were multiplying as well as
increasing in density.
Global integration continued through the expansion of European
trade in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Portuguese and Spanish
empires colonized the Americas, followed eventually by France and
England. Globalization has had a tremendous impact on cultures,
particularly indigenous cultures, around the world. In the 15 th century
Portugal's company of Guinea was one of the first chartered commercial
companies established by Europeans in other continent during the Age
of Discovery, whose task was to deal with the species and to fix the
prices of the goods.
In the 17th century- globalization became a business phenomenon
when the British East India company (founded in 1600) which is often
described as the first multinational corporation, was established, as well
as the Dutch East India company (founded in 1602) and the Portuguese
East India company (founded in 1628). Because of the high risks
involved with international trade, the British East India Company
become the first company in the world to share risk and enable joint
ownership of companies through the issuance of shares of stock: an
important driver for globalization.
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The Modern Period (1750-1970)
By the late eighteenth century, Australia and the Pacific islands
were slowly incorporated into the European – dominated networks of
political, economic and cultural exchange.
In 1847 German Political radicals Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels, in famous "Communist Manifesto" capture the qualitative shift
in social relations that pushed globalization to a new level in the modern
period.
Volume of world trade increased dramatically between 1850 and
1914. In order to raise the global visibility of corporation like Brand
name packaged goods like coca-cola, Campbell soups, singer sewing
machines and Remington type-writers, international advertising agencies
launched the first full-blown trans border commercial promotion
campaigns. The nineteenth century also sometimes called "The first Era
of Globalization" It was a period characterized by rapid growth in
international trade and investment between the European imperial
power, their colonies, and later the United States. In nineteenth century
explosion of science and technology, in the twentieth century mass
circulation newspapers and magazines, film and television further
enhanced a growing consciousness of a rapidly shrinking world.
The modern period also witnessed an unprecedented population
explosion. Enormous waves of migration intensified existing cultural
exchanges and transformed traditional social patterns. Process of
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decolonization in the 1950s and 1960s that slowly revived global flows
and international exchanges. The new international system of sovereign
yet interdependent nation-states anchored in the charter of the United
Nations raised the prospect of global democratic governance.
The contemporary Period (From 1970)
The dramatic, creation, expansion and acceleration of worldwide
interdependencies and global exchanges that have occurred since the
early 1970s represent yet another quantum leap in the history of
globalization.
Thus to conclude globalization is not a single process but a set of
processes that operate simultaneously and unevenly on several levels and
in various dimensions.
As a result of planning by economists, business interests, and
politicians who recognized the costs associated with protectionism and
declining international economic integration. Their work led to the
Bretton Woods conference and the founding of several international
institutions intended to oversee the renewed processes of globalization,
promoting growth and managing adverse consequences.
Dimensions of Globalization
1- Economic
2- Political
3- Cultural
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4- Ecological
5- Educational
In
order
to
avoid
the
ensuring
problem
of
overgeneralizations, it is important to make analytical distinctions
between aspects of social life. For example, we associate the
adjective
'economic'
with
the production,
exchange
and
consumption of commodities. If we are discussing the 'political',
we mean practices related to the generations and distribution of
power in societies. If we are talking about the 'cultural', we are
concerned with the symbolic construction, articulation, and
dissemination of meaning. Given that language, music, and
images constitute the major forms of symbolic expression, they
assume special significance in the sphere of culture.
The Economic Dimension of Globalization
New forms of technology are one to the hallmarks of
contemporary globalization. Economic globalization refers to the
intensification and stretching of Economic interrelation across the globe.
Gigantic flows of capital and technology have stimulated trade in goods
and services Markets have extended their reach around the world, in the
process creating new linkages among national economies Huge
transnational corporation, powerful international economic institutions,
and large regional trading system have emerged as the major building
blocks of the twenty-first century's global economic order.
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The Emergence of the global economic orders
Contemporary economic globalization can be traced back to the
gradual emergence of a new international economic order assembled at
an economic conference held towards the end of the Second World War
in the New England town of Britton Woods. Under the leadership of the
United States of America and Great Britain, the major economic powers
of Global North reversed their economic policies of the interwar period
(1918-39) which for example introduced high tariffs on imported goods
to protect the national economy. In addition to arriving at a firm
commitment to expand international trade, the participants in the
conference also agreed to establish binding rules on international
economic activities.
Britton Woods also set the institutional foundation for the
establishment of three new international economic organization. The
International Monetary fund was created to administer the international
monetary system. The International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development later known World Bank, was initially designed to provide
loans for Europe's post-war reconstruction During the 1950s, however,
its purpose was expanded to fund various industrial projects in
developing countries around the world. Finally, the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade was established in 1947 as a global trade
organization charged with fashioning and enforcing multilateral trade
agreements. In 1950, the World Trade Organization was founded as the
successor organization to GATT. In the 1990s the WTO became the
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focal point of intense public controversy over the design and the effects
of economic globalization.
The three most significant development related to economic
globalization have been the internationalization of trade and finance, the
increasing power of transnational corporation and the enhanced role of
international economic institution like the IMF, the World Bank and the
WTO.
1. The Globalization of Trade And Finance
Globalization has increased free trade. The total value of world
trade exploded from $. 57 billion in 1947 to an astonishing $. 12.6
trillion in 2005. Free trade proponents assure the public that the
elimination and reduction of existing trade barriers among nations
will enhance consumer choice, increase global wealth, secure
peaceful international relation and spread new technologies
around the world.
Some national economics have increased their productivity as a
result of free trade, Moreover; there are some benefits that accrue to
societies through specialization, competition and the spread to
technology. But it is not clear whether the profits resulting from free
trade have been distributed fairly within and among countries.
The Globalization of trade has gone hand in hand with the
liberalization of financial transactions. Its key components include the
deregulation of interest rates, the removal of credit controls, and the
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privatization of government owned banks and financial institution.
Globalization of financial trading allows for increased mobility among
different segments of the financial industry, with fewer restrictions and
greater investment opportunities.
2. The Power of Multi National Corporation
The growing power of MNCs has profoundly altered the structure
and functioning of the international economy. These giant firms and
their global strategies have become major determinants of trade flows,
the location of industries and other economic activities around the world.
As a consequence, MNCs have become extremely important players that
influence the economic, political and social welfare of many nations.
3. The Enhanced Role of International Economic Institutions
The three international economic institutions most frequently
mentioned in the context of economic globalization are the IMF the
World Bank, and the WTO. In return for supplying much-needed loans
to developing countries the IMF and the World Bank demand from their
creditor nations the implementation of so-called 'Structural adjustment
programmes'. Unleashed on developing countries in the 1990s, this set of
neoliberal policies is often referred to as the 'Washington consensus'. It
was devised and codified by John Williamson who was an IMF advisor
in 1970s.
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The ten points of the Washington Censuses as defined by
Williamson, required governments to implement the following structural
adjustments in order to qualify for loans:
1. A guarantee of fiscal discipline and a curb to Budget deficits.
2. A reduction of public expenditure, particularly in the military and
public administration.
3. Tax reform aiming at the creation of a system with a broad base and
with effective enforcement.
4. Financial liberalization with interest rates determined by the market.
5. Competitive exchange rates, to assist export-led growth.
6. Trade liberalization coupled with the abolition of import licensing
and a reduction of tariffs.
7. Promotion of Foreign Direct Investment.
8. Privatization of state enterprises, leading to efficient management
and improved performance.
9. Deregulation of the economy.
10.Protection of property rights.
The intensification of global economic interconnections does not
simply fall from sky rather, it is set into motion by a series of political
decisions.
The Political Dimension of Globalization
Political globalization refers to the intensification and expansion
of political interrelation across the globe. These processes raise an
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important set of political issues pertaining to the principle of state
sovereignty, the growing impact of intergovernmental organizations and
the future prospects for regional and global governance.
This artificial division of planetary social space into 'domestic' and
'foreign' spheres corresponds to people's collective identities based on
the creation of a common 'us' and an unfamiliar 'them'. Thus, the modern
nation-state system has rested on psychological foundations and cultural
assumptions that convey a sense of existential security and historical
continuity, while at the same time demanding from its citizens that they
put their national loyalties to the ultimate test.
Contemporary manifestations of globalization have led to the
partial permeation of these old territorial borders, in the process also
softening hard conceptual boundaries and cultural lines of demarcation.
Pronouncing the wise of a 'borderless world', hyperglobalizers seek to
convince the public that globalization inevitably involves the decline of
bounded territory as a meaningful concept for understanding political
and social change. Consequently, this group of commentators suggests
that political power is located in global social formations and expressed
through global networks rather than through territorially-based states.
The activities of global terrorist networks have revealed the
inadequacy of conventional national security structures based on the
modern nation-state system, thus forcing national governments to engage
in new forms of international cooperation. Political globalization is most
visible in the rise of supraterritorial institutions and associations held
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together by common norms and interests. In this early phase of global
governance, these structures resemble an eclectic network of interrelated
power centers such as municipal and provincial authorities, regional
blocs, international organization and national and international private
sector association. On the municipal and provincial level, there has been
a remarkable growth in the number of policy initiatives and trans border
links between various sub-state authorities. On the regional level, there
has been an extraordinary proliferation of multilateral organizations and
agreements. Regional clubs and agencies have sprung up across the
world, leading some observers to speculate that they will eventually
replace nation-states as the basic unit of governance. As globalization
tendencies grew stronger during the 1970s, it became clear that the
international society of separate states was rapidly turning into a global
web of political interdependencies that challenged the sovereignty of
nation-states. On a global level governments have formed a number of
international organizations including the UN, NATO, WTO and OECD.
Full legal membership in these organizations is open to states only and
the decision-making authority lies with representatives from national
governments. The Proliferation of these Trans world bodies has shown
that nation-states find it increasingly difficult to manage sprawling
networks of social interdependence.
Finally, the emerging structure of global governance is also
shaped by 'global civil society', a realm populated by thousands of
voluntary non-governmental associations of world wide, reach.
International NGOs like Amnesty International or Greenpeace represent
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millions of ordinary citizens who are prepaid to challenge political and
economic decisions made by nation-states and intergovernmental
organizations.
According to David Held the cosmopolitan democracy of the
future would contain the following political features:1. A global parliament connected to regions, states and localities;
2. A new charter of rights and duties locked into different domains of
political, social and economic power;
3. The formal separation of political and economic interest;
4. An interconnected global legal system with mechanisms of
enforcement from the local to the global.
Thus, the worldwide intensification of cultural, political, and
economic interaction makes the possibility of resistance and opposition
just as real as the benign vision of mutual accommodation and tolerance
of differences.
The Cultural Dimension of Globalization
Cultural globalization refers to the intensification and expansion
of cultural flows across the globe. Obviously, 'culture' is a very broad
concept; it is frequently used to describe the whole of human experience.
Cultural globalization did not start with the worldwide dissemination of
rock 'n' roll, coca-cola, or football, Expansive civilization exchange are
much older than modernity. Still, the volume and extent of cultural
transmissions in the contemporary period have far exceeded those of
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earlier eras. Facilitated by the Internet and other new technologies, the
dominant symbolic systems of meaning of our age-such as
individualism, consumerism, and various religious discourse- circulate
more freely and widely than ever before.
As images and ideas can be more easily and rapidly transmitted
from one place to another, they profoundly impact the way people
experience their everyday lives. Today, cultural practices frequently
escape fixed localities such as town and nation, eventually acquiring new
meanings in interactions with dominant global themes.
Does globalization make people around the world more alike or
more different? This question is often raised in discussions on the
subject of cultural globalization. Some commentators we might call
'pessimistic' hyperglobalizers argue in favour of the former. They
suggest that we are not moving towards a cultural rainbow that reflects
the diversity of the world's existing cultures. Rather we are witnessing
the rise of an increasingly homogenized popular culture underwritten by
a western 'culture industry' based in New York and London. Referring to
the diffusion of American values and consumer goods as the
Americanization of the world the proponents of the cultural
homogenization argue that western norms and life styles are
overwhelming more vulnerable cultures. Although there have been
serious attempts by some countries to resist these forces of 'Cultural
imperialism'- for example, a ban on satellite dishes in Iran, and the
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French imposition of tariffs and quotas on imported film and television
the spread of American popular culture seems to be unstoppable.
But these manifestations of sameness are also evident inside the
dominant countries of the global North. American sociologist George
Ritzer coined the term 'Mc Donaldization' to describe the wide- ranging
socio cultural processes by which the principles of
the fast-food
restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American
society as well as the rest of the world. On the surface, these principles
appear to be rational in their attempts to offer efficient and predictable
ways of serving people's needs. However, looking behind the facade of
repetitive TV commercial that claim to 'Love to see you smile', we can
identify a number of serious problems. For one, the generally low
nutritional value of fast-food meals- and particularly their high fat
content-has been implicated in the rise of serious health problems such
as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and juvenile obesity. Moreover, the
impersonal, routine operations, of 'rational' fast-service establishments
actually undermine expressions of forms of cultural diversity. In the long
run, the McDonaldizations of the world amounts to the imposition of
uniform standards that eclipse human creativity and dehumanize social
relations.
It is one thing to acknowledge the existence of powerful
homogenizing tendencies in the world, but it is quite clear to assert that
the cultural diversity existing on our planet is designated to vanish. In
fact, several influential commentators offer a contrary assessment that
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links globalization to new forms of cultural expression. Sociologist
Roland Robertson, for example, contends that global cultural flows often
reinvigorate local cultural niches. Hence, rather than being totally
obliterated by the western consumerist forces of sameness, local
difference and particularity still play an important role in creating unique
cultural constellations. Arguing that cultural globalization always takes
place in local contexts, Robertson rejects the cultural homogenization
and speaks instead of 'globalization'- a complex interaction of the global
and local characterized by cultural borrowing. The resulting expressions
of cultural 'hybridity' cannot be reduced to clear-cut manifestations of
'sameness' or 'difference'. As cultural globalization has contributed to a
remarkable expansion of people's consciousness. It appears that old
nations of 'national community' are being complemented by the rise of
global imaginary and modernity is slowly giving way to a new
'postmodern' frame work characterized by a less stable sense of identity
and knowledge. Those who applaud the spread of consumerist capitalism
need to pay attention to its negative consequences, such as the dramatic
decline
of
traditional
communal
sentiments
as
well
as
the
commoditization of society and nature.
The values disseminated by transational media enterprises secure
not only the undisputed cultural hegemony of popular culture, but also
lead to the depoliticalization of social reality and the weakening of civic
bonds. One of the most glaring developments of the last two decades has
been the transformation of news broadcasts and educational programmes
into shallow entertainment shows. Given that news is less than half as
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profitable as entertainment, media firms are increasingly tempted to
pursue higher profits by ignoring journalism's much vaunted separation
of newsroom practices and business decisions. Partnerships and alliances
between news and entertainment companies are fast becoming the norm
making it more common for publishing executives to press journalists to
cooperate with their news paper's business operations. A sustained attack
on the professional autonomy of journalism is, therefore, also part of
cultural globalization.
Thus above examples present the various aspects of cultural
Globalization. In favour of cultural globalization the views of Gandhi,
no culture can flourish without intermingling with other culture.
Recently these views enforced in ‘United Alliance of Civilization Forum
of Doha Round on 12 December 2012. Brazil vice president Michael
Temer in the inaugural session emphasized the relevancy of Gandhi in
present age. He said his Government will follow the Gandhian
Principles.
The Ecological Dimension of Globalization
The ecological impacts of globalizations are increasingly
recognized as the most significant and potentially life threatening for the
world as we have inherited it from our ancestors. In modernity, nature
has come to be considered as a 'resource' to be used instrumentally to
fulfill human desires. The most extreme manifestation of this
'anthropocentric' paradigm is reflected in the dominant values and beliefs
of consumerism. The US-dominated culture industry seeks to convince
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its global audience that the meaning and chief value of life can be found
in the limitless accumulation of material possessions.
At the dawn of the twenty-first century, however, it has become
virtually impossible to ignore the fact that people everywhere on this
planet are inextricably linked to each other through the air they breathe,
the climate they depend upon, the food they eat, and the water they
drink. In spite of this obvious lesson of interdependence, our planet's
ecosystems are subjected to continuous human assault in order to
maintain wasteful lifestyles. Granted, some of the major ecological
challenges the world faces today are problems that afflicted civilizations
even in ancient times. But until the coming of the Industrial Revolution,
environmental degradation was relatively localized and occurred rather
slowly over many centuries. Some of the most dangerous manifestations
of the globalization of environmental degradation are:Two of the major concerns relate to uncontrolled population
growth and lavish consumption patterns, particularly in the global North.
Since farming economies first came into existence about 480 generations
ago, the global population has exploded a thousand-fold to more than 6
billion. Half of this increase has occurred in the last thirty years. With
the possible exception of some rodent species, humans are now the most
numerous mammals on earth. Vastly increased demands for foods,
timber, and fiber have put severe pressure on the planet's ecosystem. The
global impact of humans on the environment is as much a function of per
capita consumption as it is of overall population size. For example the
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United States comprises only 6 percent of the world's populations, but is
consumes 30-40 percent of our planet's natural resources. Global over
consumption and uncontrolled population growth present a serious
problem to the environment. Unless we are willing to change the
underlying cultural and religious value structure that has combined with
the
social
and
economic
dynamics
of
unrestrained
capitalist
accumulation, the health of Mother Earth is likely to deteriorate even
further. Globalization processes such as the expansion of trade and
transport drive overconsumption and environmental degradation. But, on
the other hand, the food crisis also shows how global responses to
environmental problems may also lead to new problems such as the
aforementioned biofuel issue or the considerable risks associated with
nuclear alternatives to carbon-based energy sources.
Another significant ecological problem associated with population
increases and the globalization of environmental degradation is the
worldwide reduction of biodiversity. Seven out of ten biologists today
believe that the world is now in the midst of the fastest mass extinction
of living species in the 4.5 billion year history of the planet. Trans
boundary pollution, global warming, climate change, and species
extinction are challenges that cannot be contained within national or
even regional borders. They do not have isolated causes and effects.
They are global problems, caused by aggregate collective human actions,
and thus require a coordinated global response. To be sure, ecological
problems aggravated by globalization also have significant economic
ramifications. Although these effects will be more significant for less
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developed countries than for rich countries, they will nonetheless affect
all people all nations. Consequences of this vicious circle include
increased illnesses, escalating death rates, and crumbling infrastructure.
The cost of living will continue to rise, leaving poor households and
communities unable to save for future emergencies. Indeed, these issues
are not merely environmental or scientific matters. They are economic,
political, cultural but above all ethical issues that have been expanded
and intensified by globalization processes. Significant agreements exist
that certain limitations on carbon emissions must be placed on all
nations. Yet, poor countries argue that they should not be bound by the
same limits as developed countries. They make this argument for two
reasons. Firstly, they need to build up their industries and infrastructures
in order to pull themselves out of poverty. Placing significant carbon
emission restriction on their industries would seriously impede their
economic development. Secondly, they argue that poor countries have
not been responsible, for the production of most of the greenhouse gases
that have caused the current problem. Identifying developed countries as
the primary producers of greenhouse gases, they suggest that the major
burden for limiting the production of greenhouse gases should fall on the
developed world-at least until developing countries have pulled their
populations out of extreme poverty.
The United States has expressed strong opposition to these
arguments by insisting that all countries should be subjected to the same
limitations on carbon emissions. At the Thirteenth Conference of the
Parties (COP 13) to the United Nations Frame Work Convention on
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Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bali 2007, the US delegation repeatedly
blocked negotiations by demanding that developing countries take more
responsibility for their contribution to global warming. At the same time,
however, America has been reluctant to enter into any agreement that
might slow its own economic growth.
For better or worse, human-made environmental degradation has
emerged as both a powerful cause and effect of globalization. But it
remains to be seen whether the growing recognition of the ecological
limits of our planet will translate into a much-needed revision of
ideologies rooted in the desire for the unlimited accumulation of material
things.
Educational Dimension of Globalization
Education is an important investment in building human capital
that is a driver for technological innovation and economic growth. It is
only through improving the educational status of a society that the multifaceted development of its people can be ensured. In the postindustrialized world, the advanced countries used to derive the major
proportion of their national income not from agriculture and industry but
from the service sector. Since the service sector is based on imparting
skills or training to the students and youth, the education sector is the
most sought after. It must provide gainful employment so that the sector
is developed in a big way. Education as a service industry, is part of
globalization process under the umbrella of General Agreement on Trade
in Services (GATS). However, there is every possibility that this might
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force countries with quite different academic needs and resources to
conform to systems inevitably designed to service the interest of
corporate educational providers and thereby breeding inequality and
dependence. Thus, several teachers' organizations are on record
opposing the inclusion of education in the GATS, on the ground that
education was not a commodity.
Incidentally, there is an emerging threat from the process of
globalizations in the recent times. Because in the words of Arun
Nigvekar of the World Bank's Task Force 2000, "Globalization can lead
to unregulated and poor quality higher education, with the worldwide
marketing of fraudulent degrees or other so-called higher education
credentials". It seems that countries like India, are likely to turn into "an
increasingly attractive market for foreign universities and hence other
nations are going to use 'GATS' provisions to their advantage".
Nobel Laureates T.W. Schultz and Gary Becker in 1961 and 1963
respectively propounded the new economics of education. According to
this, all investments in education are they private or public, were guided
by profitability. It was the profit motive that exhibited in the concern for
the 'rate of return' to the money spent on education, which was the main
factor-behind, one's investment decisions in education. The private
investments were based on the private 'rates of return' calculated by
counting the private costs and gains that were expected as the result of
acquiring one kind of education rather than the other. The objective of
education was the same, be it for individual or for society as a whole, to
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get the best economic value for the money and effort spent. Rather, there
is high dropout rate, called as a key symptom of the system's inability to
reform itself.
Decades of under-investment in education have created shocking
shortages of buildings, laboratories, libraries, sanitary facilities and even
drinking water and sanitation facilities in the nation's decaying education
sector.
In the wake of globalization process and to cope up with the
changing priorities of the people, the planners are bound to revise their
strategies in the education sector. Thus, several specialist committees,
involving the elites and captains of industry and education, constituted
by the union ministry are engaged in the process. Whereas the public
interest demands a wider domain for the national debate on syllabus and
curriculum reform among other related aspects.
Liberalization and deregulatation the education system to
encourage promotion of new schools, colleges, vocational and other
institutions of higher education is going on. Higher education, confer
institutional autonomy and decentralize syllabus designs. Central and
state governments changed their roles within the education system, reinventing themselves as facilitating and supervisory organizations.
Obviously, F.C. Kohli, the vice Chairman of Tata Consultancy
Services (TCS) recommended, "Through the wider use of computers and
technology, curriculums and faculties can be shared by schools and
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colleges across the country". a variety of private 'educational
entrepreneurs', otherwise
known as, edupreneurs', have promoted
internationally recognized institutions of higher education
Teachers and Globalization
Teaching might not be the most popular profession in the world,
but it is undoubtedly the most populated: there are indeed some 57
million teachers in the world, about two-thirds of whom work in the
developing world. The irony in this statement hides a preoccupying
truth. Teachers are an important force in our societies, not only because
of their sheer numbers, but much more because they are the guarantors
of the education of future generations, especially in developing
countries, where few other resources are made available to schools. At
the same time, teachers feel weakened and complain about loss of their
status and diminishing respect. A complaint reflected in parents'
criticism that teachers and schools are offering an irrelevant and
medicore education.
Although statements about teaching are easily made, by both
teachers and policy-makers, those relating to concepts as status or
quality are difficult to verify. The World Education Report 1998
investigates how changes in the demographic, economic and
technological environment have affected teachers and asks if education
policies have successfully drawn benefit from these changes to improve
teachers' motivation and performance.
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The recent economic environment has taken its toll on the
teaching profession. High unemployment levels, which seems endemic
in much of the developed and the developing world, are-rightly or
wrongly-linked to weakness in the education system, which reflects
badly on teachers. At the same time, some people enter the teaching
profession as a stopgap measure, in the absence of anything better.
This has resulted in a lack of faith in education, a feeling probably
strengthened by the ideological mood of the moment, which has turned
opinion against the public service and in favour of the introduction of
market forces in the education.
Teachers are considered to be "carriers of light into dark places, be
it tolerance, international understanding or respect for human rights, and,
on the other hand, as costly 'factors of production' in an enterprise which
absorbs a significant proportion of public budgets."
In a number of countries, this pro-market mood has led to
breaking down some of the hard earned privileges of teachers and, there
are several other strategies which has adverse impact on the teaching
profession. At the same time-public authorities- and teachers – are
requested to work harder towards Education For All or EFA.
In the least developed countries especially, achieving EFA is
becoming every year more challenging-because of the continued rapid
population growth. Combine this with the financial squeeze, in which
these countries find themselves, and it is easy to imagine the headaches
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with which education planners wake up. The temptation to save on what
is the largest budget item (teachers) is difficult to resist, in particular
when some research seems to show that such saving can be obtained
without sacrificing quality.
Before looking in some detail at how education policies have
reacted to this complex environment, the question needs to be asked if
technological changes-and the information revolution in particular, could
not help improve both the access to and the quality of education. Internet
has the potential to render teaching methodology more creative,
interactive and individualized. This revolution has so far benefited
mainly the developed countries and the more affluent groups. Teaching
has seldom made use of, or demanded, technological innovations. One
reason for this, beyond the obvious financial one, probably lies in the
nature of the sector's work: an activity which has at its heart human
interaction and which relies for its success on the quality of that
interaction. Reluctance to innovate what is felt to be at the core of
teaching is therefore to be expected. On the other hand, it is true that the
computer is probably the most child friendly (and hence the most
teacher- threatening?) of these recently developed fools.
Depending on the context and especially the financial room for
maneuver – policy – makers have responded in different ways to the
challenges. In the less developed countries, spending on the main input',
namely the teachers has been cut in three main ways by:
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- hiring teachers on specific contracts with lower remuneration and
fewer rights;
- employing teachers with less qualifications;
- Increasing pupil/teacher ratios and introducing 'Staff saving'
modes of teaching, e.g. double-shifts schools and multi grade
classes.
The last two strategies in particular have been promoted by for
instance, the World Bank, which refers to a number of studies showing
that the quality of education does not suffer from these measures. With
regard to pupil/teacher ratios, the debate so far has focussed on cognitive
outcomes and little is known about the acquisition of personal and social
skills and attitudes especially among poor learners.
Large classes- moreover are bound to have an impact on teachers'
motivation and stress. In addition, when pleas are made to raise
pupil/teacher ratios to 45 or 50 to one, little attention is given to the fact
that these are averages, which naturally hide extremes, within the
country and between grades. The early school years will be particularly
overloaded, because of the high drop-out rates. The fact finally that the
more developed countries have almost systematically tried to increase
the qualifications of teachers and to lower the pupil/teacher ratios seems
to show that these options, when affordable, are preferable.
These 'teacher-cost-saving' policies are fed by an undiscriminating
use of the cost-effectiveness approach to education, which views
teachers as an input rather than, a 'creative partner'. Interestingly, what
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seem to be more 'innocent' policies have also led to greater demands on
teachers, in part because of a poor understanding of their needs and
situation. The emphasis on creating competition between schools, for
instance, is justified by the belief that such competition will almost
automatically lead to improved teacher and school performance.
However, so far, little is known about the ways in which teachers change
their practice and how to motivate them to do so, except for the fact that
it is not sufficient to point out that they are not doing well. Moreover,
improving education quality might well need more co-operations
between schools and teacher rather than more competition.
There are present concern with improving quality and setting up
mechanism to monitor learning achievements. Teachers are aware that
this concern "has not generally been matched up to now by a greater
willingness in national development policies to provide more resources
for education". This has led to an increased sense of isolation among
teachers.
The above should not be read as an indication that all countries
have disregarded teachers' needs. Several developing countries recently
increased teachers' salaries significantly. Surprisingly enough, this has
apparently not led to visible improvements in their efficiency or
performance. Perhaps this is not so startling: it confirms that to change
teachers, it is not sufficient just to raise their salaries, but that more
comprehensive policies are necessary. The World Education Report
1998 gives few indications on how teacher policies should be changed.
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Recent research shows that such policy packages should include
strategies to improve their working conditions, to strengthen feedback
and support, including through practice-oriented an school –based in
service training, to set up structures which allow more interaction and
co-operation between teachers, to develop motivational career ladders, to
get communities to show an interest in their teachers. It is only by giving
teachers more support and more authority that more can be expected
from them.
Conclusion:
Thus, we can say that, each country should decide about the nature
and extent of globalization that can be constructively introduced in their
socio-economic and educational systems. While it is difficult to resist the
temptations of falling in line with the international community, it is
necessary that while doing so, the paramount of national interests should
be kept in view. This is more so in the field of education, which is
intimately concerned with the development of human capital.
Ultimately, any hasty involvement in the global educational market can
end up in harming the vital interests of students, and particularly of poor
and down trodden for generations to come.
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