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Globalization CMN 2168 Florian Grandena, PhD. Definitions Globalization has different meanings and is perceived in different ways: ‘for some, globalization means freedom, while others see it as prison. For some it means prosperity, while for others it guarantees the poverty of the developing world’ (2). Definitions - Globalization changes meanings according to the sphere of human activity one refers to. Economy Culture (Geo)-politics Ecology Terrorism etc. Economy Globalization is understood as the economic interpendence of different nations through international transactions in goods and services, fast and widespread diffusion of (new) technologies etc. Economy Globalization is based on capitalist economy. To a certain extent, capitalism has always functioned as a world economy. It is based on the Washington consensus (more on this later…). What has changed? Some argue that there has been a rupture in contemporary capitalist productions and global relations of power. Politics Some theorists argue that the new political order of globalization should be seen in line with our historical understanding of Empire as a universal order that accepts no boundaries or limits (see Empire by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. Harvard, 2000). Culture and globalization Culture and globalization Terrorism Definitions The idea of interdependency and interaction between individuals and corporations is central to globalization. The implications of globalization are economic, political and technological as well as social and cultural. Definitions ‘Globalization is the ‘name’ that is often used to designate the power relations and technologies that characterize, and have helped into being, the contemporary world’ (1). Definitions Globalization has a hegemonic role in organizing and decoding the meaning of the world (1). (Hegemony: ‘the way states and state institutions work to ‘win’ popular consent for their authority through a variety of processes which disguises their position of dominance’. Glossary p.217). The politics of naming There are different positions that seek to explain and describe globalization. Globalists or ‘liberals’ believe that globalization is an important and overall positive development (‘the effect of real structural changes in the past few centuries’). Liberals usually present globalization as an order that is both natural and unavoidable. Sceptics think that globalization is an extension of ‘trends that developed in the period of European colonial expansion, peaked during the period 1870-1914, and were interrupted by the two great wars and the ‘cold war’ of the 20th century’ (7). Globalization is more a matter of discourse than reality. For globalists and sceptics, the market economy has a central place in globalization. Some theorists add another category: the ‘moderately optimistic’. For this group, the market economy is not as important as for the sceptics and the liberals. Also, the moderately optimistic agree ‘that there are globalizing tendencies which can be identified and measured, but that they are not all-encompassing as the literature might imply: and nor are they operating without resistance, and without exceptions’ (8). Resistance Attac was founded in 1998 and its first concrete proposal was the taxation of financial transactions in order to create a development fund and to help curb stock market speculation. This is what gave A T T A C its name: the Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions to Aid Citizens. Today, the Attac network is present in many countries and is active on a wide range of issues: the WTO and international financial institutions, debt, taxation of financial transactions, tax havens, public services, water, free-trade zones (Mediterranean, American, European etc.). In each country, the association has groups working on various themes. All of these groups are involved in national and international campaigns whose aim is to propose concrete alternatives to neoliberal orthodoxy, based on solidarity. Resistance The Fair Trade mouvement is a trading partnership for which equity, respect and transparency are central. It aims at promoting and defending the rights of ‘small’ and independent producers and workers (usually considered as victims of capitalism / globalization). It also aims at campaigning for better and fairer rules and practices of conventional international trade. Some of the issues it wants to address is dumping, tariffs and subsidisation. It aims at helping and promoting the production of Fairtrade labelled and unlabelled goods. Emphasis is put on exports from developing countries to developed countries. One of the aims of fair trade is to use some of the resources made available by the capitalist system: for example, it wants to permit small producers to become stockholders in their own organizations so that these producers can enjoy both a better place on the global scene and greater equity in international trade (in other words, fair trade wants producers to become competitive…) Alter-globalization ATTAC! and Fair trade are arguably examples of alter-globalization movements. Alter-globalization does not question the existence of globalization but argues that mere economic concerns should not be more important than human rights, democracy, the environment etc. It seeks new and better uses to globalization. (the term comes from the French ‘alter-mondialisation’). Anti/alter-globalization resistance Anti/alter-globalization protests took place in Madrid 1994 during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB). In 1999, in Seattle, protesters provoked major disruption during the World Trade Organization meetings (the opening ceremonies were cancelled). During the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa, massive demonstrations took place. A young man was killed during the confrontation between the police and protesters. To what extent global warming, the exploitation of workers etc. are results of ‘globalization, or the set of processes, values, technologies and politics associated with it?’ (9). Liberals would argue that not enough globalization is responsible for the world’s miseries and misfortunes. In other words, globalization itself is perceived to be the answer to these problems. In contrast, protesters focus on some transnational corporations’ specific practices (IMF, WB). Protesters also define globalization ‘as the various ways in which American hegemony has imposed itself upon the world; or point to the ways in which the IMF and the WB , operating de facto arms of American free-trade policies, have effectively undermined of developping nations’ (9). ‘Davos chaos’. The annual World Economic Forum took place in Davos (Switzerland) in January 2006. ‘Growth is madness’.