The Role of Globalization in Promoting Inequality in the United States and the World - Essay Example

The Role of Globalization in Promoting Inequality in the United s and the World Introduction Globalization is a concept that describes many worldwide phenomena; it has been awarded positive connotations by those nations that advocate for economic integration across continental boarders. On the other hand, it has been highly criticize by those who view it as an advancement of uncontrolled capitalism, and as a threat to social cohesion, which undermines social welfare. In a bid to understand the role of globalization in promoting inequality, this essay seeks to answer the following question; what is globalization? What does unequal distribution of globalization effects around the world mean? What relationship exists between inequalities and globalization? By addressing this questions, the paper underpins the role of globalization in promoting inequality in the United States and in the world. Discussion Role of Globalization on Poverty and Inequality In John A. Powell and S.P Udayakumar’sRace, Poverty and Globalization, Powell and Udayakumar look into the role of globalization on poverty and inequality in certain nations. Powell and Udayakumar define globalism as the process by which capital, goods and services move freely among countries. As globalization advances, national boundaries become more permeable and less relevant, allowing multinational companies to open branches worldwide. In most developing nations, the cost of living is sky-rocketing every day; the consumer goods are expensive and the governments’ adoption of a market oriented economics translates to loss of consumer goods subsidies. People in South America are forced to work under poor work conditions with low pay if they are to earn a living due to globalism. Inequality exists because while the U.S and other first world governments report budget surpluses, the people of color in this poor nations and in the U.S in general are not able to meet their daily needs. The government does not help improve housing for the low income earners and the homeless; the public schools attended by these minority races are in poor condition; and the government still has not found a proper solution to provide medical attention and social services for the poor. Globalism in the U.S is particularly hostile to people of color; civil rights movements, women’s movements and environmental movements are marginalized in an economic arena by the wealthy and political figures in the economy. Effects of Globalization on the U.S Worker A closer look at Wal-Mart, America’s largest retailer, and one is able to draw conclusions as to the revolutionary power of retailers over manufacturers in America today. Retailers are no longer dependent in the local manufacturer; they continue to push for the move of production offshore which translates to reduced costs on their part, “everyday low prices” for the customers and low wages for the local worker. This new policy of reducing costs to the minimum leads to loss of jobs in America to the globalization trend of moving production offshore, where the cost of labor is cheap and readily available. This puts thousands of Americans on unemployment. At the same time, “globalization has transformed retailers like Wal-Mart into the powers of the economy, the center of business, and the manufacturers have become the vassal, the serf, who has to bid for the retailers,” says Nelson Lichtenstein, a professor at the University of California Santa Barbara. Wal-Mart’s major strategy is to operate at the lowest costs possible and to go global; most local manufacturers have had to either abide by Wal-Mart’s policy or risk losing shelf volume. This translates to workers in these companies suffering due to low wages imposed by these manufacturers in a bid to fit in with Wal-Mart’s policy of low prices. Manufacturing companies like Rubber Maid have had to risk losing volume since Wal-Mart could not take the price increase proposed by Rubber Maid to counter the increasing price of resin, a plastic raw material. This strategy has changed the course of history where Wal-Mart dictates prices if manufacturers are to sell their produce. Wal-Mart workers are also paid average wages to minimize costs; though this strategy is consumer friendly, it is putting many workers out of jobs since manufacturers are either going global or retrenching in order to reduce production costs. In Chapter 4 of The Curious Feminist, Cynthia Enloe discusses “Daughters and Generals in the Politics of the Globalized Sneaker”; in this chapter, Enloe focuses on globalization, politics and power. She draws the link between Asian Women who stitch sneakers, U.S university student athletes, fans of the athletes, university administrators and the Asian governments that control these young women (Enloe 58). Back in the 1970s, major sneaker manufacturers moved from the U.S to exploit the cheap labor services of Korean women. Women have “redefined” globalization. Enloe states, “Korean women working in these sneaker factories crafted their own conceptions on femininity and sneaker companies such as Nike became dependent on this conception” (Enloe 60). These conceptions, however, were planted into the young women by their governments; the politicians encouraged women in rural areas to become “patriots” by moving to the cities to contribute in nationwide development. The government made them believe that by working in the cities, they would be considered respectable women in society; they would be “good daughters” to their poor families back in the rural areas by sending them money; they would save enough money for dowry, which would earn them a good man to help them climb the social ladder (Enloe 63). Companies like Reebok, Adidas, Nike and Puma exploited moved to Asia to exploit this cheap labor; the Korean women could not strike even after learning of their exploitation due to the notion that they were acting as “responsible patriots” to their nations and “good daughters” to their families (Enloe 67). By the 1990s, this low cost “project” was a lucrative venture for many manufacturers thus fostering inequality in the nations;the big companies benefit from this venture by reducing costs and increasing sales volume; on the other hand, people lose employment in America due to the “globalization” of these companies, while the Asian women remain poor due to poor wages. Conclusion Globalization has become a business norm; many multinational companies move to Taiwan, Indonesia, China and other highly populated third-world countries in order to reduce costs; this translate to job insecurity for the U.S manufacturing sector and job losses for many U.S citizens in the manufacturing sector. In conclusion, it is reasonable to say that globalization leads to inequality among nations, and consequently increases the state of poverty of marginalized groups. Works Cited Enloe, Cynthia H.. "Daughters and Generals in the Politics of the Globalized Sneaker." The curious feminist: searching for women in a new age of empire. Berkeley [u.a.: University of California Press, 2004. 58-68. Print. Is Wal-Mart good for America?. Dir. Rick Young. Perf. Hedrick Smith. PBS Video, 2004. Film. Powell, John A., and S.P Udayakumar. "Race, Poverty & Globalization | Global Exchange." Global Exchange. N.p., 1 June 2000. Web. 8 Dec. 2013. . Read More