Applying Transnational and Historical Globalization Approaches to History - Assignment Example

HISTORY: PROBLEM SOLVING Student`s Name: Institution: Date: Question 1: What do you think the advantages and disadvantages of applying a 'transnational' or 'historical globalization' approach to history are? Are 'globalization' and 'transnationalism' just trendy terms for studying old themes? ‘Transnational history’ is an approach to history that takes a comparative look at the movement of people, products, technology or groups across national borders in a historic period and enables closer examination of these migratory phenomena across regions and not just fixed in one place. Transnationalism and globalization are not just trendy terms for studying old themes because they go beyond the traditional focusing on the nation-state to emphasizing how encounters between nations and travels across geographic borders affect societies. In so doing, transnational history has shaped new historical knowledge and has transformed conventional understanding of history. According to Ian Tyrell (1997) in “Peripheral Visions: Californian-Australian Environmental Contacts”, transnational history offers a broader alternative to comparative history. He notes that existing theorists defined America’s unique identity by emphasizing its differences from Europe which was limiting. Instead, he highlights how connections in trade and commerce between California and Australia and similar environmental landscapes which shaped cultural ideologies influenced society. Notably, transnational history provides a suitable comparative discipline of studying American History beyond nationalistic boundaries but in a global context. However, due to the economic and political standing of the United States in the world, transnational history when applied to other countries may resemble imperialism, for instance in relation to China. Question 2: Identify a process, item or phenomenon that could be considered as having a 'globalized' or transnational history in the period we are considering. Locate some sources (primary or secondary) that would provide a starting point for researching and writing the history of such an item, process or phenomenon. Post a brief report, listing and describing your sources, and providing a brief outline of how you might go about writing a history of this item, process or phenomenon from a transnational/global perspective. Phenomena that can be considered to have a global history include consumption of goods and environmental history which occurred from international trade. By examining these, global history is centered on the concepts of connection, comparison and exchange between different nations. Globalization is viewed as the integration of international commodity markets. According to O’Rouke & Williamson (2000), it is only the technological revolution of the 19th century, through inventions such as steamships and railways that connected continents more easily, that globalization first took place. Globalization was evidenced by the convergence of commodity prices across regions. McCants (2007) examines 18th century colonial groceries trade and reveals that consumption of teas and coffee between the years 1719-1725 increased exponentially and although essentially termed as luxury goods, the sheer volume of tea imports in European countries signified that it was not only the elite who consumed it. Between 1730s and 1740s, mass consumption of tea was witnessed in England and a similar diffusion was observed in Netherlands. For a country whose capital comprised of mainly beer brewers, gin distillers and linen weavers, Netherlands had no known coffee or tea wares in the 1700s but at the end of the 1730s it was a major commodity of consumption in the country. Similar observations of assimilation of coffee and tea commodities were made in other areas e.g. Antwerp despite there being no records of the same commodities in these countries in previous decades. The increase in mass consumption of tea and coffee was as a result of increased interaction through trade between Europe and Asia. Eventually, sugar and tobacco and exotic luxury items e.g. porcelain from China and Japan became mass consumption goods across Europe. Asian influence in European markets influenced European consumption patterns and eventually European manufacture. Textiles such as silk inspired adaptations with European imitations in cotton textile manufacture and decoration as people’s taste shifted towards imported goods. Tyrell (1997) asserts that borderlands exchanges between America and Australia facilitated similar histories to be experienced in the two places. He points out that the two countries faced similar drawbacks in geographical isolation which shaped their political economies and outlooks. In the early twentieth century America and Australia shared similar environmental conditions i.e. they were major exporters, mainly of wheat, they practiced cattle and sheep rearing that harmed local vegetation and experienced gold mine rushes simultaneously. The gold rush in the two countries attracted a similar crop of immigrants to the two countries. The influx of immigrants, especially from China influenced anti-Chinese policies in both countries, with Australia forming its own racial stipulations by learning from the experiences in California. The links between the two countries, through trade and gold rush established an exchange of ideas, irrigation technology, vegetation and biological control. Australian farmers would tour the United States and brought back home the irrigation technologies they observed. Similarly, Americans imported Australian vegetation e.g. eucalyptus and wattle trees for their beneficial properties. Tyrell (1997) and McCants (2007) show that connections between regions or nations often results from trading goods and services across national borders. This international trade consequently results in exchange of capital, personnel and technological knowledge. As such, globalization is understood to refer to cross-border interactions between nations who influence each other socially or politically. In addition, globalization involves similar trends in consumption or lifestyle in areas that are far removed from each other geographically. International trade has a transnational history and from examining the given sources, it is evident that the following aspects of globalization were influenced by international trade:- Influence of markets and distance on society and economy in different regions. Technological inventions e.g. steamships and railways made transportation and migration easier and such interactions resulted in shared language, culture and social aspirations among different regions. Module 2 Question 1: In what ways might we see a type of globalization occurring in the 18th and 19th centuries? What were some of the defining features and processes of this globalization? What are the limits to this globalization? Is this phase of globalization just imperialism? Or something different? In the 18th and 19th century, globalization can be seen in the press of the British colonies e.g. New South Wales's Sydney Morning Herald, New Zealand's Nelson Examiner and the Eastern Cape's Graham's Town Journal. Despite the geographical remoteness from each other, the newspapers in these different British colonies echoed similar ideals. They impressed upon readers the shared reality among settlers in these foreign lands, highlighting their similar attitudes and backgrounds as they struggled to succeed in hostile frontiers. Thus, although the press also fostered colonial identities within different colonies, they helped connect these settlers in different geographical areas through their portrayal of “Britishness” which was similar across all borders. Settler newspapers propelled globalization through embedding a global conception of British identity. Also, these settler newspapers could be shipped back to the British empire or to other colonies postage free although such networks experienced delays. This facilitated easier transmission of ideas and development e.g. levels of metropolitan support as the press enabled colonies to compare and contrast. In the same manner, British settlers used these colonial newspapers to reshape the understanding of ‘Britishness’ from strictly one of philanthropic and humane respectability to include racial superiority and propeller of civilization across the world. Global migration was another vehicle for globalization. As economies in Europe, North America and Japan improved due to industrialization, long distance migration of settlers and workers took place. The development of steamships and railway lines altered migration patterns. Migration entails moving through various social and political landscapes and drives globalization. Migration in the 19th century contributed to the convergence of wages, living standards and industrial production across nations. Question 2: Identify a process, item or phenomenon that could be considered as having a 'globalized' or transnational history in the period we are considering. Locate some sources (primary or secondary) that would provide a starting point for researching and writing the history of such an item, process or phenomenon. Post a brief report, listing and describing your sources, and providing a brief outline of how you might go about writing a history of this item, process or phenomenon from a transnational/global perspective. A phenomenon that had a globalized history after 1780 was media and communication systems. News and information flows have followed channels of trade and migration for ages. In mid 1860s the telegraph industry in Britain, Europe and North America was consolidated to form the International Telegraph Union resulting in heavy capital investments and risks being one of the setbacks in getting into the cabling business thus limiting competition. This altered the trans-border and communication flow and led to the rise of international news agencies such as Reuters. Potter (2007, pg 622) views Reuters to be an institution that was a significant component of British imperialism through the press system. Reuters was a source of international and colonial news and despite other agencies being present in Britain e.g. UK Press Association, Reuters cultivated a specific identity of respectability that favored imperialism. Reuters eventually got monopoly over other news agencies through cartel agreements and became the key source of information in the British Empire. By 1900, Reuters had offices and correspondents in major regional centers of colonial states e.g. Bombay, Cape Town, Melbourne. The telegraph lines facilitated transmission of news from colonial regions to London where they were edited and telegraphed to British newspapers. Then it was cabled back to those regional centers to be edited again for the settler community. Potter (2007, pg 624) argues that in this manner, the telegraph facilitated homogeneity of news, effectively altering existing structures of flows of information that had been more flexible. The media enabled globalization through embedding a global conception of British identity. It encouraged people to view themselves as people of a global chain of kith and kin who shared similar standards, forms of communication and outlooks and in this way they turned regional and national identities into transnational ones. As an agent of the empire, Reuters promoted the identity of British citizens who remained loyal to the empire by covering rhetoric concerning symbols of the empire targeted at readerships in settler colonies as well as Britain. In this manner, communication systems crated a global network that connected the British imperial world to overseas communities forged a homogenous identity of imperialist ‘Britishness’ across diverse geographic regions in which British immigrants settled (Thompson, 2013, pg 12). Potter (2007, pg 630) observes that new communication technologies effectively removed geographical barriers between people but at the same time it tended to concentrate among news agencies within the British Empire due to high installation costs and stated that “ telegraphs and cables did not simply reinforce existing imperial networks; rather, they shaped and to some extent, restricted them.”  Faster flows of information ensured that culture was also homogenized. Being part of a broader world of ideas and consumption made people aware of what was currently trending in other parts of the world. Women in settler colonies especially did not want to appear “backward” or not fashion conscious and so had to keep updated with the latest fashions from London and adapt (Thompson 2013, pg 14). This was also a way of them not to lose their transnational identity with the British Empire. Eventually such Western attire was absorbed by the indigenous communities and helped spread Western culture. Improved communications media also furthered the globalization of markets. Telegraphs and cables increased the flow of business information including knowledge about new markets before entering them. Hoag (2006) asserts that increased availability of information allowed convergence of prices in international markets. Local prices could align with national prices and those could then get aligned with world markets. Hoag (2006, pg 350) illustrates this by comparing New York and London capital markets and observing that “the telegraph shortened the information lag by about nine or ten days” and this helped align the prices in both markets to be almost similar. Between 1870 and 1910, cable building was a lucrative venture and many investors who looked to invest in the industry went to London which was a cosmopolitan hub of finance and business. For instance The French Atlantic Company, The Great Northern Telegraph Company and the Commercial Company owned by the investors from France, Denmark and America respectively. These companies were not British although they were in Britain which demonstrates the globalizing history of communication systems. Module 3 Question: How important were international support and networks for the evolution of women's and non-white activism in the decades before the Second World War? International support and networks was very important for the evolution of women’s and non-white activism before the Second World War. In the 1920s and 1930s, leading white women in Australia took up the Aboriginal Rights cause, particularly women and children rights. These women constantly lobbied through state and federal organizations but it was only on an international platform that their concerns gained importance. Many women’s organizations from countries in the British Commonwealth e.g. South Africa, America, Canada, were involved in the British Commonwealth League and were keen to participate on such issues. By voicing pro-Aborigine feminist politics on a ‘world’ stage, women activists were able to mobilize state, federal and imperial loyalties to comply with world civilization and equality. Their main message involved casting themselves as “protectors” of the downtrodden Aborigines. International networks such as Pan-Pacific Women’s Association (PPWA) helped women develop feminist connections based on regional commonality to improve women’s lives, exchange information and solidarity. Participating in such international networks contributed to women gaining new definitions for who they were i.e. as political actors who could make a difference. In a quest to make women’s organizations truly international, networks such as Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILFP) aimed to include women from minority races e.g. India, Africa, Latin America and Middle East. These non-European women presented new challenges to the traditional feminist orientation. During conventions, women from colonial countries put forward that they alone could represent themselves and rejected the practice of European women standing in for the women of the countries where they had settled. For instance, in a 1937 WILFP congress Hamid Ali criticized the concept that European powers civilized backward people as “hypocritical and wrong”. Third World women used such international networks to lend their own voice to their own issues independently, rejecting the assumption of the superiority of European civilization and effectively starting dialogue within transnational women’s organizations which were mostly dominated by white women, most with their own imperialist mindsets. This paved the way for a global internationalism in the late twentieth century. Module 5 How have transnational/global networks and knowledge helped to further the fight for greater rights and equality for oppressed and marginalized groups in society? The civil rights movement in the United States was fuelled by global events that informed the attitudes of activists. For one, Black World War II veterans who witnessed firsthand the global struggle against fascist ideals were at the helm of demanding voting rights in the South. Coupled with information on struggles for independence in Africa and Asia, these veterans were inspired to demand for their own rights in their own countries. Political consciousness and activism during the civil right era was informed by the global context. European decolonization and emergence of African and Asian leaders provided impetus for black leaders to rise up against oppression. By observing Indian nationalists’ direct action non-violent strategies against British colonialism and how international discourse after the war regarding human rights was conceptualized to be equality regardless of race, the civil rights movement incorporated those arguments and ideals. Also, the cold war struggle between the US and the Soviet Union on the global front influenced the discourse of the civil rights movement. America and the Soviet Union fought to win over newly independent third world countries but racism in the US was an impediment to this. It was hard to reconcile racism in the US with the ideals of democracy that they promoted to such countries. The black community realized how practicing these opposing ideologies could prove a stumbling block to America’s quest to be a superpower and capitalized on that through protest. The development of modern communication technologies after World War II also facilitated the civil rights movement. Through television, audiences across the US and eventually globally were exposed to black protests and got informed on the issues they raised. In this way, the civil rights movement affected the international arena and moved them to take action. References Hoag, C. (2006).  The Atlantic Telegraph Cable and Capital Market Information Flows.  The Journal of Economic History, 66 (2), 342-353. Lester, A. (2002). British settler discourse and the circuits of empire. History Workshop Journal, No 54, pp. 24-48. McCants, A. E. C. (December 2007). Exotic goods, popular consumption and the standard of living: thinking about globalization in the Early Modern world. Journal of World History, Vol. 18, No 4, pp. 433-462. O’Rourke, K. & Williamson, J. (1999). Globalization and History.  Cambridge, MA:  MIT.  Potter, S. (July 2007). Webs, networks and systems: globalization and the mass media in the nineteenth and twentieth-century British Empire. The Journal of British Studies, Vol. 46, No 3, pp. 621-646. Thompson A.S. (March 2013). Empire & Globalisation: a “Cultural Economy” of the British World. 4 GRAAT On-Line issue. Accessed 12th September 2013 from, http://www.graat.fr/1thompsong.pdf Tyrrell, I. (1997). Peripheral visions: Californian-Australian environmental contacts, c. 1850s-1910. Journal of World History Vol. 8, No 2, pp. 275-302. Read More