Analysis of Globalization and Transnational Processes - Literature review Example

Anthropology Current theoretical discussions in anthropology draw attention to the fact that globalization and transnational processes are not only about the establishment f a system f international financial and currency markets operating in real time. Nor are they only about simultaneous revolutions in information technology, the worldwide spread f an American dominated global popular culture, or mass circular migration. Globalization and transnational processes also establish a new international cultural order. Perhaps inevitably, this literature tends to focus on the relationship between the globalizing center and the freshly reglobalized periphery. The debates therefore dwell on the extent to which nation-states are being superseded by the globalized "ethnoscapes" arising from new worldwide cultural flows. Apart from the highly debatable claims about the diminished role f states, there are additional issues that theories f globalization face. For the focus on how globalization negates the very concept f a center and a periphery by generating diasporic public spaces tends to lead to an undertheorizing f the differentiated peripheries, which have disparate relationships with the various centers. This is an undertheorizing f the centers which, United States hegemony not-withstanding, are composed f a number f complexly hierarchized and contending entities, for example, in Scottish--English--Welsh relationships. It is, as well, an undertheorizing f the peripheries which also have complex hierarchical inter-ethnic, cultural, and sometimes racial inter-relationships, first f all within their own borders, then between themselves as peripheries, and, finally, with the various centers. In other words, in theorizing the undoubtedly new phenomenon f globalization, it is critical not to lose sight f the specifics f this process. There are complex and dynamic patterns f racial, ethnic, cultural, class, and social hierarchies that are being generated within particular societies and on a global scale. Sometimes these generate new hierarchical spaces, but often they reinforce old hegemonies within and between nations, without necessarily undermining the power f nation-states as such. Thus I have pointed out that globalization, as it restructures societies internally, simultaneously establishes and reinforces an international hierarchy f races, ethnicities, cultures, and nations. Broadly speaking, this hierarchy is based on an international ranking according to political, economic, and cultural prestige and power. This is measured, for example, by such standard economic criteria as per capita gross national product, rates f technical innovativeness, and the obvious consequences that economic and technical dominance have for global military dominance. This global racial-cultural hierarchy places Anglo-American culture at the apex and Sub-Saharan African culture at the base. Hegemony is exercised, first f all, within the complex racial and cultural hierarchies internal to the United States and Europe, and through this route, extends itself globally. Latin, Slavic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindu, and other cultures (usually with their own complex and dynamic internal cultural, social, economic, and political hierarchies) jostle to occupy intermediate positions between the two extremes. [1] On occasion they contend with the apex, but at all times they remain determined not to be assimilated into the base, which is itself not uniform. Thus while all non-Anglo cultures and nation-states (including those f transitional economies in Central and Eastern Europe) operate in a general context f globalized subordination, the position f black nationalism in the global system, whether in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, or the United States, is a very special case. [2] In this paper, I question the limits, if any, that the global and local cultural hierarchy places on the assertion f nationalism by local elites who are not from the globally dominant culture but from cultures usually ranked, if only implicitly, at the global base, in an era f a privatized and deregulated world economy. I also raise the issue f under what circumstances these limits can be overcome. The view is put forward that the consolidation f power by an upcoming national bourgeoisie, especially given the long history f continuous oppression f and racial prejudice, against a black bourgeoisie, is f critical interest to the black poor. In many cases, the specifics f the history f the oppression f black people as a group will mean that this black bourgeoisie also has a history f being oppressed and frequently will originate in social strata close to the rural and urban poor. The argument therefore is that this black bourgeoisie has the potential, but only the potential, in the course f its attempt to gain and consolidate power to implement reforms f critical benefit to the majority f the people. I examine this issue through an account f the recent political and economic history f the Caribbean island f Jamaica from the point f view f a brown Jamaican, an anthropologist and someone with more than 30 years f active involvement in the Jamaican political scene. [3] This is a particularly serious issue for Sub-Saharan African countries, which face the acute problem f marginalization. Although generalizations are particularly hazardous in this field, arguably the globalized world is here faced with a new phenomenon: a whole sub-continent with 7.3 million refugees from internal wars and not even fortunate enough to be exploited. [4] It is simply an excluded space--marginalized--with dire consequences in terms f impoverishment and internecine cultural strife. The issue f the socio-cultural specifics f a rising national bourgeoisie -- the social and cultural layer from which it originates and its ethnicity -- is a vital one. Likewise, the question f the manner in which an aspiring national bourgeoisie comes to power and seeks to consolidate its hegemony within the boundaries f a territorial nation state in the era f global capitalism is f the highest importance. This is the case not so much from the point f view f the bourgeoisie, but from the point f view f the masses f people who have a vital stake in how this question is answered. In most countries in the world, the real and immediate political possibility is for the empowerment f a bourgeoisie f some kind. Therefore, the question is, what are the conditions for the consolidation f bourgeois power on terms which benefit the people In other words, the issue f the aspirations and progressive potential f a national (in this case, black) bourgeoisie becomes central from the point f view f the people. The re-opening f this issue, based on a specific Caribbean case, is one f the aims f this paper. This question is posed not in the over-determined form f whether it is at all possible for such aspiring elites effectively to lead nations seeking to make their way ("development") in this globalized world--to achieve some modicum f sovereignty. It is rather an issue f the terms on which such limited sovereignty becomes possible, the limits on the strategies that may realistically be pursued by elites in such a position, given the existing global and local balance f forces. The issue is whether such elites are compelled (if only for a period) to mute their cultural assertiveness and to adopt a completely different posture if they are to lead effectively in the present international configurations f global power. From the point f view f the older bourgeoisie and foreign capital, this may be necessary in order to forestall capital flight and to attract large-scale local and foreign investment. Equally, from the perspective f the poor, it may be important that ruling elites are in a position to obtain funds from international sources to finance the social benefits essential to their well-being. Works Cited Franklin, Sarah., 'Stem Cells R Us: Emergent Life Forms and the Global Biological', 2005b. pp. 59-78 Nguyen, Vinh Kim. Antiretroviral globalism, biopolitics, and therapeutic citizenship., 2005 Ong, Aihwa., and Stephen J. Collier. Global Assemblages: Technology, Politics, and Ethics as Anthropological Problems. Malden, Mass: Blackwell, 2005 Notes (1.) f course, when, for the purposes f analysis, one resorts to reifications such as "Hindu" or "Korean" or "African" culture, one must never forget that one is always dealing with the very specific members f very specific social and cultural strata who act in particular ways in a concrete set f circumstances. (2.) See Castells 1996 and 1998. Castells attempts to synthesize a vast range f material in these books and perhaps, inevitably, arrives at a too uniform and perhaps optimistic picture f the tendencies at work in globalization. His synthesizing efforts nevertheless remain useful as a point f departure. See also an account f how the process is unfolding in mainland China in Ong 1996. (3.) Throughout the paper "black" is used in the Jamaican sense to refer to persons whose skin color is perceived as black, who are the overwhelming majority (about 80%), and who generally are at the bottom f the society. The term also implies, in varying degrees, cultural rootedness in African Jamaican traditions. "Brown," likewise refers to persons whose skin color is perceived as brown, who make up about 15% f the population and who generally are in the upper middle and upper class. Brown also implies attachment, again in varying degrees, to the versions f European culture that have been implanted in Jamaica. "Creole" refers to this adaptation f European, especially British, culture to Jamaica and which in the society and in this paper is associated with the brown group. The picture is complicated by the presence f other minorities--Whites, Jews, Lebanese, Chinese, and Indians--in very small number--less than 5%. These minorities, except Indians, generally occupy positions at the upper end f the society and are in varying degrees assimilated into the brown group and adopt a creole culture. In this sense the term "brown" is taken to include them also and not just persons f mixed European/African origin. Interestingly, "brown" is increasingly the preferred form f ethnic identification for the few remaining white Jamaicans, who see this as a useful way f disassociating themselves from both the former colonial power and from white Americans, thereby reducing their isolation from the wider society. This complex and changing interpenetration f class and color is a long-standing feature f Caribbean society. (4.) Resource flows to Africa declined from $4.5 billion in 1997 to $3 billion in 1998. Net transfers to sub-Saharan Africa declined by 40% in 1998 over 1997. See Financial Times 1999. Read More