Race, Ethnicity, and Racism: The Links Between Globalization and Racism - Essay Example

 Race, ethnicity and racism: The links between globalization and racism Introduction Human life standards are advancing rapidly along with the huge progresses in science and technology. Human culture is getting more and more civilised as a result of the enormous progress in living standards. However, social evils such as racism are still prevailing in all over the world in different forms. According to Macedo & Gounari (2005), “Racism includes a set of ideologies, discourses, discursive practices, institutions and vocabularies”(Macedo & Gounari, 2005, p.4). In other words, the attempt to segregate people with respect to ideologies, beliefs, traditions, customs, appearances, institutions etc are normally included under the category of racism. Globalization on the other hand is a revolutionary concept which brought huge changes in global political, economic and social life. Collective growth is the slogan of globalization. According to Hill (n.d), “Globalization is the process of growing interconnection, interdependence and integration in the modern world, generated by growing economic, cultural and political cooperation and links”(Hill, n. d. p.1). From the above definition of globalization, it is evident that the major objective of globalization is to bring the entire global community under one umbrella. However, even after decades of introduction of globalization, the objectives were not met fully. Racism, discriminations, and political, social and economic conflicts are growing day by day all over the world at present. The war on terror, growing tensions between America and Iran, Middle East problems etc are examples of growing conflicts among cultures. Even though racism is not much visible in its traditional form now, it is visible in many other forms in the society. Many people believe that globalization and racism have some direct connections. This paper analyses the linkage between racism and globalization. The links between globalization and racism Politicians, the media, and even historians continually tell us that racism has steadily receded in modern societies. Certain specific traditional practices of racism have undoubtedly declined, and one might be tempted to view the end of the apartheid laws in South Africa as the symbolic close of an entire era of racial segregation. However, it is clear that racism has not receded but actually (Lentin & McVeigh, n.d, p.15). It is a fact that slavery in America and the apartheids in South Africa have been abolished by law. People in the past cited these things as examples of racism. However, it doesn’t mean that racism has been gone away from this world. In fact abolition of slavery and apartheid helped racism to attain certain new proportions which are difficult to identify. For example, 9/11 is cited as the major reason for current war on terror; however many people have the belief that elements of racism is evident in the actual reasons of war on terror. In short, racism appears in different forms nowadays which are difficult to identify. Lee (2009) has mentioned that “While race is often explained in relation to skin colour, at the core, it does not concern skin colour alone. Race is a social construct, not a biological concept” (Lee, 2009, p.3). All the people in this world have similar physical and mental attributes even though their skin colour could be different. In fact skin colour of a person is controlled by climatic factors along with genetic factors. In other words, it is difficult for an American to keep his skin colour white, if he is exposed to Indian climate for a prolonged period. In short, skin colour cannot be taken as a measure to segregate between people. However, many of the white people have the superiority complex because of their skin colour. They are forgetting the fact that the contributions of black people in social, political, scientific and economic areas are as important as that of the white people. They should remember that being an American or Indian is not a privilege or curse; but a natural phenomenon. In short, nobody can claim supremacy based on their race or culture. In fact, nobody is becoming great because of their birth in a particular community. However anybody can become great if he is able to contribute significantly to the global community. “The current assaults on Muslims worldwide and in the Unites States in particular points to the fact that race is irreducibly a political category and there is no generic racism”(Macedo & Gounari, 2005,p.6). War on terror is currently going in Iraq and Afghanistan. The tension between America and Iran is growing day by day. The conflicts between Israel and Palestine are also showing no signs of an immediate end. The conflicts between India and Pakistan are also growing gradually. In all these clashes and conflicts, Muslims are at one end which motivated some people to label Muslims as terrorists or war lovers. It is a fact that Islam allows people to conduct war or Jihad against the enemies of Islam. However, labelling of all Muslims as terrorists or antisocial elements is not suitable to the essence of globalization. Globalization is intended for the integration of cultures instead of the integration of whites or blacks. The major objectives of globalization include the prevention of racism and discrimination based on culture or skin colour. Anthias & Lloyd (2002) have pointed out that “Any contemporary analysis of racism should be placed within the social context of increasing transnationalism. Globalized networks now characterize modern societies at all social levels including the cultural and economic” (Anthias & Lloyd, 2002, p.2). Transnationalism is a social phenomenon in which deals with the interconnectivity between people from different cultures. Globalization has resulted in the increase of exchange of workforce between different countries or cultures. It is easy for an Indian or Pakistani to work in America or China now because of globalization. However, such people are facing lot of discriminations at their work places in overseas countries because of racism. In most of the western countries including America, the call for providing employment only to the locals is growing. Many reports are coming out from countries such as America, Britain and Australia about the growing violence and aggressive behaviours against Indians and other Asian immigrants from the locals. “The continuing spate of attacks and violence against Indians and Indian students in particular in Australia has once again exploded the much-touted myth that globalization promotes and respects pluralism and multiculturalism” (Assaults on Indians in Australia: Globalization, recession and renewed racism, n. d). Global exchange of manpower, knowledge, raw materials and other resources is in line with the true spirits of globalization. There are many foreign students studying in Indian, American, and Australian universities. It should be noted that America, Germany, Australia and Britain like western countries are facing severe shortage of manpower. In these countries, the opportunities are more whereas the supply of manpower is less. On the other hand, in India like heavily populated countries, opportunities are less whereas manpower is more. Globalization has opened huge opportunities to the excessive manpower in Asian countries in western countries. Millions of foreigners are currently working in western countries. However, the recent recession has brought many changes in the thinking pattern of the locals in western countries. People in these countries are currently of the view that foreigners are looting their employment opportunities. As a result of that, they started to demonstrate aggressive behaviors against the foreigners. In short, globalization caused financial crisis in western countries which forced the people in these countries to treat foreigners in different manners. Macedo & Gounari (2005) have pointed out the increasing role of technology in giving momentum to racism. In their opinion, “The neoliberal policies imposed through globalization constitute a mutant variety of colonialism which is operated digitally and controlled from a distant place” (Macedo & Gounari, 2005, p.12). The on-going revolutions in Arab world are often labelled as facebook revolution or social network revolutions. Social networks can reach anywhere in the world because of globalization. Only China has recently introduced some controls over the functioning of social networks in their soil. Social media played an important role in causing revolutions in countries such as Libya, Egypt and Tunisia. It should be noted that majority of the social networks are operating from American soil and many people have the belief that America has some hidden agenda which they are executing through social networks. There are so many people who argue that America is currently trying to baptize the Arab world and for that purpose they are conducting revolutions in Gulf countries. Even though American administration is washing their hands, they cannot stay away from the moral responsibilities of causing revolutions in Arab world. They are trying to impose toy governments in these countries so that American interests in this region could be safeguarded. In short, Arab revolutions are caused by globalization and racism. “Globalization is an economic force that threatens the survival of entire cultures and traditions of people of colour. So in many ways, people of colour need to understand and confront globalization as if their very survival depended on it” (International Conference On Racism And Globalization, 2008, p.1). The traditional belief about growth and development in the past was such that domestic resources alone are necessary for the growth of a country. However, current people have realised that no country can develop properly if it relies entirely on domestic resources. In fact the cooperation from other countries is necessary to mobilize internal resources of an under developed country. For example, it should be noted that the oil resources in Gulf countries are exploited using technologies from the world. Gulf countries do not have enough technological expertise to utilize their oil resources. In short, global cooperation is essential for collective growth and therefore racism has no place in a true globalized world. “Globalization negatively impacts the economic, political, religious, and cultural lives of people throughout the world. In this context, racism is subordinated to the profit motive without regard to human costs” (International Conference On Racism And Globalization, 2008, p.3). Commercialization is believed to be the bi-product of globalization. Profit making is the major objective behind majority of the human activities now. Racism is promoted not only to safeguard the cultural interests but also to achieve economic gains. O’Connell, (2009) has pointed out that “The characteristics of new individualism that evolved out of globalization include individual self-aggrandizement, desire for unrestrained individualism instant gratification and insulated hedonism” (O’Connell, 2009, p.8). The life styles of current generation have changed a lot. People in the past were ready to work hard to find their livelihood. However, current generation is reluctant to undertake hard work. Work less; earn more; enjoy life ”is the modern philosophy of life. It should be noted that many people all over the world have already started to work from their home. They are not ready to work under the demanding conditions of business world. Personal life is more important than professional life for many people. These changes in life philosophies and attitudes are believed to be the bi-products of globalization. It should be noted that outsourcing of jobs from America like Western countries to India like cheap labour oriented countries is growing as time goes on. Many Indians are currently working for American companies from their home itself. Obama is trying hard to reduce the volume of outsourcing jobs from American soil in order to prevent excessive volumes of American capital outflow. He has realised that uncontrolled capital outflow is not good for the economic interests of the country. However, many Indians are of the view that America is trying to slow down the growth of India as outsourcing revenues is an important factor in India’s economic growth. According to neutral observers, India is rapidly progressing towards their ambition to become a superpower. America does not like such a scenario. At present, America is controlling global politics and they do not want some others to play that role in future. In short, indirect forms of racism can be witnessed in America’s effort to reduce outsourcing jobs to India. In the dominant discourse the `global’ is the political space in which the dominant local seeks global control, and frees itself of any local and national control. But, contrary to what it suggests, the global does not represent universal human interest but a particular local and parochial interest which has been globalized through its reach and control … In this decision making, the communities who pay the real price … have no control (Perera, 1998). Liu & Mills (2006) and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson also supported the opinions of Perera. “As with all economic restructuring, the benefits of deregulation and market freedom fell unevenly” (Liu & Mills, 2006, p.87). According to Mary Robinson, “globalisation was leading to a rise in racism. Poor countries, she said, were not benefiting from the consequences of globalisation such as open markets and the information revolution” (Doole, 2000). At the time of introduction of globalization, capitalist countries such as America and Britain argued that poor countries may get more benefit out of globalization. However, even after decades of introduction of globalization, poor countries failed to develop properly. At the same time, capitalist countries also failed to exploit globalization properly. Emerging countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and China exploited globalization properly even though many other countries failed to do so. It should be noted that the recent recession has not been affected these countries very much. In fact, lack of social problems like racism helped these countries to exploit globalization properly. On the other hand, African countries failed to develop properly because of internal problems and agitations. To look at imperialism without relating it to globalisation and racism is not just to accept the notion that regime change and pre-emptive strikes have no underlying economic motive but are a defensive strategy against the axis of evil and the terrorists they breed (Sivanandan, 2004). Imperialism refers to the existence of unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationship, between countries. Historically, America and Britain are keeping good friendship whereas Israel and Palestine are enemies. At present, majority of the Islamic countries oppose American policies because of its alleged ant-Muslim stand. Even globalization failed to reduce the gap between America and Islamic world. The opinions of Barlow (2003) are very much relevant here. He has pointed out that “Globalization is creating common conditions stimulating racism throughout Europe and Untied States, but these trends materialize in different national settings in quiet different ways” (Barlow, 2003, p.22). In all the American airport entry points, body scanning made compulsory nowadays for people from a particular community. Former Indian President and renowned nuclear scientist APJ Abdul Kalam and Bollywood celebrity Shah Ruk Khan are some of the VIP’s recently tortured by American airport authorities in the name of security. In fact the involvement of non-Muslims in conducting terrorism is proved beyond doubt at present. For example, David Headley was recently arrested in America because of his suspected connection with terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Under such circumstances, torturing of people from a particular community at American airports can be considered as the examples of racism. “For over a decade, immigration issues have been headlines in the UK. The nature of the discussions bears a clear racial dimension as well as hostility to Eastern Europeans, such as those from Poland” (Shah, 2010). European countries are currently trying to integrate their culture under the common label of EU. The formation of EU and the introduction of common currency Euro were the steps to increase the momentum of the integration process of Europe. Such activities will improve the bargaining power of Europe immensely in the current globalized world. However, recent financial problems in Greece, Spain and Portugal like European countries and the subsequent negative growth of Euro forced countries such as Britain and Germany to think differently. Britain has made immigration tougher even from European countries to their soil. It should be noted that British people and Germans have the belief that their culture is superior to other cultures. In other words, racism prevailing in these countries retards the integration of European countries under one banner. Conclusions Racism and globalization has some direct linkages. Capitalist countries are trying to loot the wealth of other countries in the name of globalization. For a civilized world like ours, racism cannot be acceptable under any circumstances. Capitalist countries know this fact very well and therefore they are trying to implement racism in indirect forms which is evident from the recent incidents in global politics and economics. Anti-immigration stands in developed countries, war on terror, economic and foreign policies of capitalist countries against culturally different countries and formation of regional blocs such as EU are examples of direct linkage between racism and globalization. References 1. Anthias F & Lloyd C. (2002). Rethinking Anti-Racisms: From Theory to Practice Publisher: Routledge (March 1, 2002) 2. Assaults on Indians in Australia: Globalisation, recession and renewed racism, (n.d). International Journal of socialist renewal. Available at: http://links.org.au/node/1084 3. Barlow A.L. (2003). Between fear and hope: Globalization and race in the United States Rawman and Littlefield Publishers Inc. UK. 2003. 4. Doole C. (2000). UN links globalisation to racism. BBC NEWS. 1 may 2000. [Online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/732839.stm [Accessed on 22 January 2012] 5. Hill W.A. (n. d.). Globalization and Racism: A Black Belt Region Perspective. [Online] Available at: http://www.agriculturalmissions.org/Walter%20Hill%20Globalization%20%20Racism%20Conference%20Paper.pdf [Accessed on 22 January 2012] 6. International Conference On Racism And Globalization (n. d.). [Online] Available at: http://www.federationsoutherncoop.com/press/finalreport08.pdf [Accessed on 22 January 2012] 7. Lee, I (2009). Situated Globalization and Racism: An Analysis of Korean High School EFL Textbooks. Language & Literacy: A Canadian Educational Journal. Volume 11 Issue 1 Spring 2009 8. Lentin R & McVeigh R( n.d). After Optimism? Ireland, Racism and Globalisation. 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[Online] Available at: http://www.globalissues.org/article/165/racism [Accessed on 22 January 2012] Read More