POLS 374 Foundations of Global Politics

POLS 374 Foundations of Global Politics Lecture 1: Globalization Debates September 26, 2006

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Lead Question: • What is globalization?

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) What is globalization? Some Definitions: • Globalization refers to all those processes by which the peoples of the world are incorporated into a single world society, global society. • Globalization can be defined as the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happening are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa. The old form of interdependence Globalization: Even the US can catch a cold

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) What is globalization? Some More Definitions: • Characteristics of the globalization trend include the internationalizing of production, the new international division of labor, new migratory movements from South to North, the new competitive environment that accelerates these processes, and the internationalizing of the state …making states into agencies of the globalizing world. • Globalization refers to the processes whereby social relations acquire relatively distanceless and borderless qualities, so that human lives are increasingly played out in the world as a single place. • Globalization is what we the Third World have for several centuries called colonialization.

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) What is globalization? • Key point: There is much disagreement and even more “loose” talk about globalization, which creates the basis for a lot of confusion, distortion, and poor analysis.

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) What is globalization? • The Blind Man and the Elephant: Understanding the Different Views of Globalization, or … Globalization is in the eye of the beholder

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Touching the elephant’s tusk: • “I see, the elephant is very much like a spear!”

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Touching the elephant’s ear: • “I see, the elephant is very much like a fan!”

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Touching the elephant’s tail: • “I see, the elephant is very much like a brush!”

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Touching the elephant’s trunk: • “I see, the elephant is very much like a coiled snake!”

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Touching the elephant’s foot: • “I see, the elephant is very much like a tree stump!”

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) What is globalization? • “And so these men of Indostan disputed loud and long, each in his own opinion exceeding stiff and strong, though each was partly in the right, and all were in the wrong!” (from the poem, “The Blind Men and the Elephant”)

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) What is globalization? • Key lesson: Keep in mind that when different scholars or commentators talk about “globalization,” they are not always talking about the same thing, or they are talking about one aspect of a much bigger process. • What they say about their part of the “globalization elephant” may be right, but only in a limited sense

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) • No. 1 Globalization as internationalization • No. 2 Globalization as liberalization • No. 3 Globalization as universalization • No. 4 Globalization as westernization and modernization • No. 5 Globalization as respatialization Five Broad Conceptions of Globalization

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Internationalization • Internationalization as greater contact and stronger “interdependence” between “countries” • States still matter Five Broad Conceptions of Globalization

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Liberalization • From book: “the process of removing state-imposed restrictions on movements between countries in order to create an ‘open,’‘borderless’ world economy Five Broad Conceptions of Globalization

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Universalization • We might also use the term “homogenization”: suggests that the world is becoming one big mono-culture, where we all are exposed to and share the same set of values, practices, beliefs and ideologies—e.g., the universal belief in human rights, democracy, individual liberty/freedom of choice, capitalism, and so on • Also suggests the emergence of truly globalized (or denationalized) economy: a Starbucks on every corner, a global media environment, the decreasing significance of nationality in the ownership and control of firms (i.e., the development of “global firms”) Five Broad Conceptions of Globalization

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Westernization • This is more narrow form of universalization, in which the world is becoming more homogenized in terms of western and American values and practices specifically • Some see this a new form of imperialism Five Broad Conceptions of Globalization

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Respatialization • A little more abstract than the other conceptions, respatialization implies that the world is becoming “reorganized” in ways in which traditional political boundaries (i.e., country borders) take on different and often less significant meaning • Highlights the rise of supraterritoriality Five Broad Conceptions of Globalization

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Two Extreme Positions • Globalist • Ultra Skeptic Globalization: Fact or Fantasy?

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Globalists • Globalists come in all ideological stripes, from die-hard radicals to gung ho supporters • The common thread between these two groups is the belief that globalization is already a ubiquitous, all-important and all-encompassing phenomenon: in short, they believe that “globalization” is already here and is only getting stronger • They disagree, however, on what can or should be done about globalization: some wish to embrace it, some wish to stop it and even push it back Globalization: Fact or Fantasy?

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Ultra Skeptics • Some simply deny that anything significant or different is happening: except for some new technologies that make it easier to communicate across borders, the world is the same as it has always been. • Actually, what they mean is that the most significant aspects of world politics or international relations has remained largely unaffected by all the new forms of technology, production, communication, and so on Globalization: Fact or Fantasy?

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Ultra Skeptics • More specifically: • Nationality still matters; American firms are still American, Japanese ones are still Japanese, French ones are still French, and so on • Borders and states still matter: National governments continue to exercise preponderant power; new transnational forms of governance are an illusion; corporations are still subservient to states, and so on Globalization: Fact or Fantasy?

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) • What Drives Globalization? • Or, how does globalization work? Globalization: More Questions

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) What Drives Globalization? • Several competing explanations • Idealist approaches • Materialist approaches

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) What Drives Globalization? • Idealist Approaches Idealist approaches regard globalization as the product of mental forces or subjective processes, such as imagination, invention, metaphor, identity and ideology

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) What Drives Globalization? • Materialist Approaches Materialist approaches focus on concrete (often economic) processes. Marxism, for example, asserts that “capitalism” shapes society is very specific and generally unavoidable ways

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) What Drives Globalization? • Individualist versus Structuralist Approaches • This debate is reflected in the first division, in that structuralists are generally materialists and individualists are often idealists

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) • Additional discussion on agency and structure Consider the following questions: • What causes people to engage in acts of terrorism? • Why are some people and countries poor while others are rich? • Where does racism come from? • Why do people vote or not vote?

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) • Additional discussion on agency and structure • Key point: embedded in all of your responses are assumptions about agency and structure. • If you believe that individuals are ultimately and mostly, if not completely, responsible for their own actions and for the conditions of their lives, then you believe that agency matters most. • If you believe that people are products of their environment—that they are shaped by forces over which they have limited control—then you believe that structure is important

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) • A third aspect of the methodological debate on globalization concerns the relationship between the analyst and the analyzed Globalization: More Questions

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) • In discussion globalization, we need to consider how globalization may be or is, in fact, changing the world in which we live • But on this point, we need to be careful in not assuming that change is a generic thing, but, rather, can and does take place in different domains or areas Globalization: Change and Continuity

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) • The author discusses five separate areas in his chapter: geography, production, governance, identity, and knowledge Globalization: Change and Continuity

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Production: • Refers to the economy, to the nature of economic relations within countries, between countries, and beyond countries Globalization: Change and Continuity

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Governance: • Refers to the role and significance of the state. Will states continue to be the dominant actor in world politics? Or will other actors—from corporations to supranational organizations (e.g., UN, IMF, WTO, EU)—eventually usurp the state? Or will the role of the state simply change? Globalization: Change and Continuity

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Identity: • Refers to how people define themselves? Will nationality continue to matter? Or will transnational identities take on greater significance? What identities will be most important in the future? Globalization: Change and Continuity

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Knowledge: • Refers to how people seek to understand themselves and the world around them? What is knowledge? Who has it? How should it be used? Globalization: Change and Continuity For Augustine, all true knowledge proceeds from God. "The only source of knowledge is experience” - Albert Einstein The preservation of the means of knowledge among the lowest ranks is of more importance to the public than all the property of the rich men in the country. - John Adams

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) • Another important aspect of the debates on globalization are the normative questions: • Is globalization good or bad? • Does the process enhance or degrade the human condition? • Is globalization progress or decay? Globalization: Liberation or Shackles?

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) • When we consider the normative aspects of globalization, we also need to be careful about being too general; instead, we need to think of different areas in which globalization is having an impact: security, equality, democracy Globalization: Liberation or Shackles?

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Security • This does not just refer to security from an external enemy (although this is important), but security in a more general sense: ecological security, economic security, cultural security, security from intentional violence Globalization: Liberation or Shackles?

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Equality • What effects is globalization having on economic and political equality? Are the costs of globalization borne equally? How about the benefits? • How are different groups being affected between/among social classes, countries, men and women, “races,” urban and rural areas, children, and so on Globalization: Liberation or Shackles?

Globalization Debates (ch. 1) Democracy • Does globalization necessarily imply greater democracy and political power for ordinary citizens? Does globalization enhance participation, transparency and accountability in the governance process? Globalization: Liberation or Shackles?

POLS 374 Foundations of Global Politics