Relationship between Slave Trade and Religion - Essay Example

Relationship between Slave Trade and Religion Globalization is the process of how the world interchanges and integrates due to global views on things, events, and ways of reasoning, products, and aspects of culture. It is the global exchanges of statuary and cultural resources. Globalization has been said to be a modern-day aspect, however, some scholars are of the opinion that it is a very old aspect dated to the European age of discovery- the age during the voyage to the new world. The term globalization has been a source of major debate among the ages, with numerous definitions cropping up. According to Shah, to globalize is to make things accepted internationally, to create international networks of social and economic systems (Olupona 20). Shah also puts it that in 2000 the International Monetary Fund categorized globalization in four major aspects: capital and investment movements, trade and transactions, migration of people and the passing on of knowledge (Srividhya 23). The Supporters of globalization argue that it helps the developing countries catch up with the first worlds much faster through increased employment and technological advances. On the other hand, others argue that the aspect of the ‘migration of people’ has more to it than the world might think. Apart from arguing that it weakens national values and allows jobs to be exported overseas, some people hold it that it is a masked form of the slave trade. The process of globalization is affected and affects the business and work organization, economics, social, cultural resources and the natural environment surrounding us. This is evidence enough that the migration of people as a form of the slave trade is as real as the tsunami disasters (Stieglitz 11). It is no secret that women from poor, undeveloped, third world countries move across the world to raise other people’s children as nannies forcing them to leave their children behind in order to seek greener pastures for their children. Poverty is seen as the main motivation for these women to leave their home countries. These women are presented with two choices. First, they can either stay in their home countries to raise their children which mean raising them in extreme poverty. The second choice is to travel across the world to first world, developed countries and give their children significantly better lives but not raise them. There are also young women who knowingly or unknowingly get into foreign prostitution for the same reason nannies who travel across the world do it. The above instances show that women, specifically move from poorer countries in search of better lives. It is the ‘better’ life that these women go to that is characterized as slave trading. In their article titled, Global Women: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy, Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild explore the various things that affect and cause women who move across the world to fend for their children. In the introduction to the book, the authors site the story of a mother/nanny who is from Sri Lanka but works in Greece (Stieglitz 56). The authors do not fail to mention that most conventional stories tell of the working corporate mother who calls her children from the business trips she goes to and is met warmly by her children at the airport. The conventional stories fail to tell the mother who leaves her children and goes to wealthier countries in search of money to take care of their children. These mothers include the nannies, maids, and sex workers. This clear pattern of women immigration reflects what is known as worldwide gender enslavement. In both rich and poor countries, it is globally conventional that children rely on a father as the breadwinner. In the United States, it is evidenced that the earning power of men has decreased, women have risen to earn. It is in light of these events that women have raised to globalization (Seib 26). Women are expected by the society to take care of people. In a study where a high percentage of women were earning a living, a question was posed on who is taking care of the children. However, the authors do not consider that the migration of women is not always legitimate or legal. There are some facts about the migration that are ignored. An example is the above-mentioned slave movement of both men and women. The trend toward global re-division of women’s traditional work throws new light on the entire process of globalization. Conventionally, it is the less developed countries that are thought to be dependent on the more developed first world countries. This is a dependency owed to even by the debts possessed by the third world countries. An article by Elizabeth Hill explores the changes that have been impacted on the society in relation to justice. It explores the dependency of the rich countries upon the third worlds for a working force (Olupona 43). The workforce provided by these women is not the conventional type of work. First-world women depend on women from poorer countries to help them make their lives meaningful. Other women also are depended upon to provide pleasure to men. During conversion, slaves could take a step toward a range of kinds of equality. The most significant feature of Christianity for slaves was the guarantee of heaven. This thought preached the idea that for all the suffering done in the physical world, the soul will be sealed and experience a hardship-free saintly life. This gave them hope for the future. The converted slaves’ conviction of heaven allowed some to submissively defy their master and center on the eternal life. Every one of the masters beatings along with lashings meant nothing since in heaven the slave would be pleased and the master will be castigated. Eventually, the conversion to Christianity provided additional positives than negatives for the slave. When viewed in a more imagery way, the first world countries are the conventional breadwinners during the poorer countries workers become the caregivers. Working class women go out to work and leave their children with people that help to shape the overall lives of their children (Olupona 14). To greater extends even to teach the children values to uphold. Although the United States is among the leading countries fighting against slave trade it also a sad reality that it is among the country’s leading in migration levels. Humans have interacted with each other for thousands of years this interaction between the human species is the building block of globalization. Rises in the transport network and telecommunications are major factors in the generation of interdependence between nations. Globalization can be said to have changed the nature of work in a number of ways which include; new religion, international outsourcing ,the security of jobs, increase in ‘portfolio based careers’ and the move from manual labor to ‘problem solving’ (Olupona 21). Firstly, is the most conspicuous and cardinal changes in the nature of work- the rise of new religion. Religion according to the dictionary is the scientific knowledge used in practical ways. It can be high religion or information religion. In a social aspect, religion can be defined as the socialized knowledge of producing goods and services. Religion increases the world’s production capacity. When considering the effects religion has had on globalization we are looking at it from a social and political aspect (Stiglitz 37). Religion was necessary to enable globalization and development between countries. Religion has been introduced to developing countries by the multinational developed world companies in them. Religion as in the evolution explained above has enabled interconnection between nations even beyond the economic sphere with broader access to information and communication channels to course more people. The unconstructive impact of the global slave trade on Africa was enormous. It can be observed on the family, personal, communal, and continental levels. Additional to the millions of able-bodied people captured as well as transported, the death toll and the financial and ecological destruction resultant from wars and slave raids were astonishingly high. For the shortages that followed military activities, the old as well as very young were frequently killed or left to go hungry. The advancement of religion though a good thing has been the cause of a rift between nations. The nations with a higher placed religious views and speed in their innovations have an incomparable high quality in the work that they do. Also evident is the rift caused by employers in the first world countries that mistreat people due to their differences in religion. This is what separates the rich technological nations and the poor in religion. Countries unable to take advantage of the technological globalization fall further behind. For example the high innovations by the first world countries are due to their level of the technological rise, this leads to the exploitation of the third worlds with a promise of a piece of the techno-pie. Globalization offers a new opportunity for knowledge passage, but this does not mean that all the nations and institutions will equally benefit from it. On the contrary, it seems that the institutions that have been able to benefit most out of globalization are at almost the highest peak of science and religion advancement. In conclusion, it is important to note that some people owe slavery to religion a real catch. It is observed that the missionary travels to spread religion were what lead to the start of mass globalization. The relationship between religion and slave trade can thus be concluded as a deeply controversial subject. Works cited Joseph E Stieglitz. Globalization and its discontents. Good reads publications.2002. Print Stiglitz, Joseph E. The Price of Inequality. New York, NY [etc.: Norton, 2012. Print. Seib, Philip M. The Al Jazeera Effect: How the New Global Media Are Reshaping World Politics. Washington, D.C: Potomac Books, 2008. Print. Olupona, J. K. African religions: A very short introduction. N.p., 2014. Print. Read More