How Important is the UK Economy in Shaping British Society - Literature review Example

How important is the economy in shaping UK society? How important the economy shapes the society of the United Kingdom can be seen in three ways. Firstly, economic sociology teaches us that economics affect culture, values, politics, and social organization. Secondly, there is an economics-environment-economics nexus. In the climate change issue, for instance, economics is primarily seen as the fundamental cause of anthropogenic climate change that we are experiencing this century. At the same time, what we can do to arrest climate change or the adoption of low-carbon economy would most likely have deep effects on our way of life and on our society as a whole. Lastly or thirdly, history itself has been showing us that the economy has been shaping UK society. We derive guidance from economic sociology and its toolkits (Swedberg, 2004). Several publications have shown how economics has been shaping UK society. Numerous scholars have noted how values are affected by the economy. For instance, Browne (2008, p. 1) observed that in UK society: There has been a profusion of beliefs causing a clash of values. There is a decline in moral values resulting from the decline of the family. Sense of individual responsibility has declined in British society due to the growth of the role of the state. The decline in moral values and sense of responsibility can be attributed to technological progress from economic growth. The technological progress from economic growth decreased conversation and reduced shared experienced among individuals and the phenomenon promoted individualism. In a publication of the British Council, British Council Chair Rt Hon. Lord Neil Kinnock (2007) made the following predictions in 2007: International, economic, technological changes will negatively affect the leading position of English as the language of the world market and, consequently, the advantages enjoyed by the United Kingdom in the dominance of English as a language would diminish. As a result, the United Kingdom would experience new pressures. UK's education sector with direct earning of £1.3 billion in "invisible exports" and related export earnings of £10 billion will continue with its slowdown. The effect of such a slowdown is a dilution in UK's international cultural and civil contacts and understanding. In particular, qualified multilingual youngsters from other countries are acquiring competitive advantages over their British counterparts as several countries introduce English into their primary curriculum. Works are outsourced in Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, Japanese, French, and Mandarin languages. Thus, the world influence of UK diminishes as world economies change or improve. Lord Kinnock made the predictions based on the economic assessment of Graddol (2007) who wrote for the British Council. According to David Graddol, trends in UK's economy and the world will lead to changes in the UK and UK's influence over the world: Rise of Brazil, Russia, India, and China or BRIC. Citing data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Graddol estimated that the four countries could emerge as among the leading world economies of the future (p. 32). In less than 40 years, the four economies has the potential to emerge larger than the Group of six (G-6: United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Italy, and France) and by 2025, the four countries or BRICS can be half the economy of the G-6 (p. 32). According to Graddol, these estimates may even be conservative (p. 32-33). Globalisation, Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO), and Business Process Outsourcing. Globalisation means operations can be global or the plant can be anywhere in the world just like its market (Graddol, 2007, p. 34). This means that UK firms alone need not address the needs of UK and that the UK can produce for the world. The effects of globalisation on UK and any country of the world will be tremendous. Both ITO and BPO mean that foreign firms can address UK company skills requirements: company reports, audit, payroll preparation, accounting, computer skills, and the like (p. 34). Call centres can address customer inquiries and can seek out buyers. They can also address practically all the needs of customers of UK firms. There are also changes in lifestyle in a globalizing economy: before globalisation, typical tutors are students or the unemployed in British society, with globalisation tutors for students can be someone from India or one of the top 20 favourite outsource as identified by Table 1. Global operations and developments in the computer and internet technology made possible ITO and BPO (Graddol, 2007, p. 42). Internet surveillance technologies from afar (Graddol, 2007, p. 43) enhance the feasibility of managing global operations. Table 1. Top 20 countries for labour outsource Source: Graddol (2007, p. 35) Table 1.16 Emergence of "knowledge economy" and the UK. The days of unskilled labour in mass production plants are about to be over. The main bulk of the older economy does not require skilled labour to operate. Increasingly, the economy will require labour that is knowledgeable and skilled. This will most like imply a change in demographic characteristics as living requires higher knowledge and skills. Thus, the term "knowledge economy". At the same, Graddol (2007, p. 36) said that call centres tend to be relocated to cities with lower costs and this promote competition among BPO countries to be the main provider of BPO services. Table 2 shows the countries that are most attractive as BPO sources: Table 2. Countries most popular as BPO source Source: Graddol (2007, p. 37) Table 1.17 Redistribution of poverty. The dominance of the United Kingdom and the rest of the developed economy on the world economy is about to end (Graddol, 2007, p. 40). BPO, ITO, and globalisation in general will lead to higher incomes for members of developing country populations. There may less pressure to developing country populations to migrate to developed countries such as the United Kingdom (p. 39). Yet, at the same time, cross-country operations of globalisation imply greater mobility, transit, and cultural interface. Rise of wage rates in the UK may be controlled (p. 39). However, contrary to marxist predictions, the "reserve army of labour" may not be primarily domestic but offshore (Graddol, 2007, p. 39). The trend in global outsourcing that will have ultimately have an impact on UK society is indicated in Table 3. Table 3. Global remittances in $ of countries most engaged in supplying outsourced labour Source: Graddol (2007, p. 38) Table 1.18 based on World Bank data According to Graddol (2007), the economy that made possible the development of internet technology has the following effects on UK society as well as other societies: Individuals can be become estrange from their neighbours but more connected with people who are so many miles from them (p. 52). Intergenerational gaps may exacerbate from the technologies created by the new economy and which in turn also reciprocally created the new economy (p. 54). A UK society divided by age rather than by class (p. 55). Another way that the economy affects UK society is via the economy-environment-economy nexus. According to the Parliament of the United Kingdom's Quality of Life Policy Group (2007, p. 89), a blueprint for a low carbon economy that can address climate change should include the following: A "poly-centric" development so towns and cities will not be overly dependent on the centre for jobs and services. A redistributed pattern of growth. Deep concern for optimising existing or new public transport routes consistent with the principles of "location efficiency". Focused on strengthening and interlinking a walkable neighbourhood as the "primary building block of land-use allocation and planning". Optimise UK's limited land resource. Further, the Parliament of the United Kingdom's Quality of Life Policy Group prescribes (p. 90) what it callas a "Smart Growth" as the way towards carbon reduction and a better quality of life. "Smart Growth" consists of the following (Parliament of the United Kingdom's Quality of Life Policy Group, 2007, p. 91): Mixed land use, tenure-blind, and deep access to a range of social services. Primary reliance on walking and biking rather than the use of a motor car. Dense and optimal land use. Ample green spaces like gardens, parks, or open public space. In what the Parliament of the United Kingdom's Quality of Life Policy Group calls as a "Smart Growth", a dense population pattern is favoured because such an arrangement can lead to reduced fuel use and carbon emission. Figure 1 indicates this point. As shown by Figure 1, a denser human population system leads to lower fuel consumption per capita. Figure 1. Population density versus average gasoline use per capita Source: Parliament of the United Kingdom's Quality of Life Policy Group (2007, p. 91) citing the work of Andrew Wright Associates of 1999 Based on Figure 4, a low carbon economy prescribed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom's Quality of Life Policy Group implies greater concentration of the human population who are walking or biking their way to work and recreation rather than using the car, bus, or rail system (although the rail system will be part of the low carbon economy). This can imply more face-to-face contacts, human social interaction, and a different set of consciousness and experience. Indeed, the impact on society will be great: there can be more interaction as people bike or walk their way to school, work, or recreation. The concept of "location efficiency" (Parliament of the United Kingdom's Quality of Life Policy Group, 2007, p. 91) that is required by a low carbon economy implies that work will be a bicycle or walk away rather than the current of a car or train ride away and can imply more time for leisure and human interaction. To elaborate, the main characteristics of location efficiency involve the following (Parliament of the United Kingdom's Quality of Life Policy Group, 2007, p. 91, citing several studies): Population concentration and adequacy of customer base Accessibility of population centres, products, and services through walks and bicycles Multiple uses for land and mix of facilities therein Again, applying a number of studies, the Parliament of the United Kingdom's Quality of Life Policy Group (2007, p. 91) estimated that the population or customer base for select facilities and services can be those reflected in Table 4. Table 4. Services and facilities versus reasonable support population/customer base in terms of number of individuals Even in agriculture, the Parliament of the United Kingdom's Quality of Life Policy Group (2007, p. 169) prescribes an agriculture that is sustainable and with low carbon emissions, capable of delivering food security and advance safe access to food and nutrition, and respectful on ceilings of outputs of natural resources. This implies that a genuine shift to low carbon economy implies not only changes in the configuration of institutions, accessibility, more possibilities for face-to-face relationships, but also implies a lifestyle and way of living with deep effects on what to eat, what not to eat, and were much of the social interactions will take place. It is even very likely that a low carbon economy would be determinant on what locations each individual would likely find his or her mate, spouse, loved ones, and friends. Finally, history has consistently shown how the economy has been shaping UK society. From mercantilist wealth accumulation, the British Empire derived its initial capital to become a great world power ruling about one-fourth of the globe at its peak. Today, the United Kingdom continues to be an influential if not a leading country of the world as it is part of the so-called Anglo-Cluster of seven countries: Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States (Ashkanasy & others, 2002, p. 28). The Anglo-Cluster countries account for only 7% of the world population but 40% of the world's Gross National Product (Ashkanasy & others, 2002, p. 30). The same wealth is providing British society with a high standard of living and sense of affluence. Health and education figures indicate that British society belongs to one of the developed nations of the world. The relative affluence and higher standard of living will not be possible if the United Kingdom has an inferior economy compared to the rest of the world. In conclusion, just like in all societies, the economy plays an important role in shaping society through social institutions of the United Kingdom. In turn, the institution shaped or influenced by the economy determines the character of the economy shaping the social institutions. The relationship between economy and social institutions is reciprocal. In the case of the economy-environment-economy nexus, environmental effects by economic activities can lead to economic reforms that can have deep effects on the economy's lifestyles and way of life. Bibliography Ashkanasy, N., Trevor-Roberts, E., & Earnshaw, L. (2002). Journal of World Business, 37 (1), 28-39. Browne, A. (2008). Has there been a decline in values in British society. Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Available from http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/2279.pdf [Accessed 30 December 2009]. Graddol, D. (2007). English next. British Council: The English Company (UK) Ltd. Kinnock, K. (2007). Foreword. English next. British Council: The English Company (UK) Ltd. Quality of Life Policy Group, United kingdom. (2007). Blueprint for a green economy. Swedberg. R. (2004). The toolkit of Economic Sociology. New York: Center for the Study of Economy and Society. Read More