Sociology of Development and Globalization - Essay Example

Your Finals: Sociology 1 Describe and explain three measures of poverty and/ or inequality on the international level. Briefly analyze one example with regard to each of the measures. In addition, discuss one major advantage and one major shortcoming of each of the measures. There are three methods of measuring poverty presented in the lectures. They are a) definition of well being b) threshold of the indicator that represents the minimum level for subsistence and c) generate a poverty threshold level based on the incidence of poverty. Other methods can be as simple as looking at the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Survey; or checking the International Poverty Line; or even checking the Human Development Index (Luek). Poverty or inequality is basically a deprivation of necessities that would empower humanity towards living a better life. For example, a family living in a remote area without access to running water and electricity – that is a family living in poverty. One can measure it through those various methods mentioned above (Luek). According to the World Bank, it is a pronounced deprivation of well-being. This method of determining poverty is quite easy, but then it is too qualitative. How can one measure well-being? How can you say it is “pronounced”? Of course, one can say that you know it once you see it, but then again, in research, everything has to be quantified, so they quantified it through the living standards measurement survey. The problem with this is that it is applied to all nations and societies. Sometimes, what is normal for a community may not be normal for another community. For example, a certain tribe is culturally required lived in thatched houses. Of course that is “living poverty” but not for them; should the society “uplift” their way of living by endangering culture? Another method is identifying the threshold for the minimum level of subsistence. This is like the previous method, which quantifies the qualitative characteristic of, in this case, level of subsistence. This is easy because one can just assign numbers and check if the people reached the threshold. Then that would be easily documented. However, subsistence is also subjective. There are people who can survive even if they have virtually nothing, and they are not complaining. This is how the way they live and they have adapted to that certain kind of lifestyle. They subsist even if they live in a society that’s not abundant. The last is to generate a poverty threshold level based on the incidence of poverty. This is by far the easiest measure since one should just count on the incidence of poverty. However, that concept of “poverty” is subjective as well, because, well, the definition of poverty being used in this whole setup is a Western Concept. There are cultures in developing countries that the Westerners perceive as a backward, impoverished way of life but they are actually not. Those are the weaknesses of these methods of determining the poverty level. 1.2 Briefly describe and explain the Segmented Labor Market Theory. Discuss and explain the relevance of the theory with regards to globalization and international migration Segmented Labor Market Theory occurs when a labor market is segmented. This segmentation is common in globalization. This happens because the capitalists from the industrialized countries outsource their production to developing countries (Luek). The Segmented Labor Market Theory is a theory that states that the workers’ wages would depend on their skills and level of education and experience. Thus, compensation becomes different for each (kind of) worker. It has three sectors: the first sector which is capital intensive; the second sector which is labor intensive; and the last sector which happens to blend both features of the primary and secondary sector. In the first sector, the capitalist-intensive sector, offers stable, skilled jobs offered to those who have finished schooling. The employers in this sector invest heavily on the employees. Now, in the second sector, the labor-intensive sector, it provides unstable, unskilled jobs for workers with little or no education. These workers are usually migrants who escape their mother countries because of war or poverty, in general. The third sector is the blend of the first and second sectors. This is called the ethnic enclave. This happens when the immigrants are elite: they can provide skills that the first sector needs, and they are well-skilled and educated (Massey and Taylor, 2004). In today’s trend of Globalization, the exploitation of the migrant workers happens a lot. This is because the companies are seeking ways of lessening their labor/production costs for their products to be competitive. Many companies seek immigrant or at least outsource their production to developing countries because they demand cheap labor in that area since they are not as skilled and they have not really been educated. Thus, the laborers from the first world who are also not that well-educated, do not have jobs because the capitalists opt to outsource the jobs to the less-privileged immigrants/ people of the Third World country. The market labor is segmented because of the laborers’ characteristics, and that’s how Segmented Market Labor is. 1.3. Based on lectures and readings; briefly analyze two changing patterns of international migration within and from the African continent. Provide one example for each of the changing pattern Africa is seeing different patterns in their migration. This is due to feminization of migration and diversification of destinations, among other reasons. Sociologically speaking, African countries have a male-dominated society. Modernization and globalization brought different views to the current African societies. Now, because of education and new opportunities for the females, there are now more empowered women in Africa. This leads to more jobs for women and more opportunities as well. Because of these exposures, they are also more in demand. This trend continues to be a significant force in contributing to the shift in gender roles. Another social pattern to emerge in Africa is due to the diversification of destinations. This is related to African migration. Today, African migration is more varied, spontaneous and commercialized. Because of globalization, moving in and out of the country is also easier. Emigration is also increasing since the people want to escape from poverty in their motherland, seeking greener pastures. Because of this shift from the classic migration patterns, the job sector is also changing in Africa. The market gets segmented because of immigrants, especially if they had emigrated to a first world country. Also, the people continue to move from the metropolitan areas due to recession and lack of jobs. Especially in emigration, the people have seen the trend in coming to a country even if they do not have any idea on the language or culture, because of commerce. This brings another shift in the sociological setup of family, community and friends. 1.4 Briefly explain and analyze the role of colonialization on the social construction of conflict and violence in Rwanda. Racism, violence and separatism had long been elements of Rwandan political climate, and this is due to colonization. Years of being under the Western rule forced the Rwandans to adapt, and this adaptation unfortunately needs violence and racism, which led the way for separatism. Like any colony, the natives of Rwanda were subjugated. They were considered second, even third, class citizens of the colonizers. In order for them to gain power, they adapted the Western ways and this led them to shed off their identity. Also, to gain power and influence, the locals tried hard to impress the colonizers. This is what happened to the Tutsis and the Hutus. The Tutsis and the Hutus are native people of Rwanda, with the Hutus comprising 80% of the population. The Tutsis are the minority with only 15%. The Tutsis are preferred by the colonists. The Hutus and the Tutsis have a long standing difference against each other; in fact, they have divided Rwanda. Now since the Tutsis are preferred by the colonists, they were given governmental posts. Tutsis have more power. The Hutus have made their own manifesto which practically discriminates Tutsis. This implied more violence on their country because of their own cultural differences. Add to that the fact that the colonizers also contribute to the differences of both local ethnic groups; thus, the violence ensued more. The nature of the violence is also genocidal, meaning that the friction that the two ethnic groups had been there for a long time, and that the colonizers’ hand in aggravating it is just an appendage. This violence made Rwanda a dangerous place for investment; also a dangerous place for the people to live in, meaning immigrants abound. And since the people are unskilled, they were relegated to do menial and underpaid jobs in other places. 1.5 Provide two major strengths and two weaknesses of the Gacacas and the Arusha Tribunal. The ethnic conflict and resolution at Rwanda was resolved by using the Gacaca courts and the Arusha Tribunal. The Gacacas are informal, community based courts that resolve conflict on the micro-level. The approaches towards their peacekeeping missions were concentrated on giving out equal opportunities to both ethnic groups. They had made laws that democratized the people: they recognized who they were, they have given rights to the minority, they shared power over their land, and they employed multiparty systems in the government so that everyone is represented. They also had legal justices and trials. Giving out justice in form of trials made the difference. Many people were affected by this. This means that there are Truth Committees as well as Reconciliation Committees in order to foster goodwill between two ethnic groups. There were also regional, as well as international efforts to put these two ethnic groups at peace, although the regional efforts did not work effectively. The gagacas were employed to foster a more traditional and informal way of settling things between the warring tribes. They employ tribal ways of conflict resolution. They also provided information for the courts when they investigated the genocides, thus speeding up the judicial process. The major aim of the gagacas was to unite the Rwandan nation and revive traditional methods of dispensing justice. However, the gagacas’ success relies on the participation of everyone: from the religious authorities to the civil society since many people are bent to do revenge. The strengths of the gagacas lie on the fact that they are traditional and informal. Because of these traits, the people could easily come up and express themselves because they knew each other in a small community setting in which the gagacas serve. They are familiar to people, that is its strength too. The weaknesses of this gagacas is the fact it is quite informal and traditional that many people fail to recognize it as a legit arm for justice, and do not really report what they have to report, which fails the purpose of it. The Arusha Tribunal also contributed to the spread of justice in Rwanda. Compared to the gagacas, the Arusha Tribunal was more formal and international in scope. The tribunal is supported by the UN. Like the gagacas its main aim is to promote peace and reconciliation to the tribes. It is also responsible for prosecuting the people responsible for genocide and other serious human rights offense makers especially on the year 1994. The Arusha Tribunal also made it sure that genocide will never happen again in the world, as Rwanda provided the example of the ills that can happen with genocide. However, it is also panned because of its slowness and the limited number of people it prosecuted. 2. Compare and Contrast: Dying to Leave and Class Readings Globalization, with all the free trade, free markets and free people are theoretically ideal, since it promises a market that is not bound by race or territory. However, the reality is proving this wrong. Globalization, with all its good intents and purposes, is making corporations compete too much that the laborers are put in jeopardy. Dying to Leave and the class readings prove that point. Human trafficking and smuggling are quite similar in meaning, however, they differ in one thing: the freedom of will. In human trafficking, the traffickers work for purely financial gain, while smugglers can sometimes smuggle people because of humanitarian reasons (like, say there’s a war in the other country) and/or financial reasons too. Both are violations of migration laws in at least one country that they are entering in/exiting from. Dying to Leave (Woolf, 2003) is a documentary that shows the effects of globalization in terms of the effects it has on laborers. Laborers here, take note, refer to the underprivileged class who are exploited because they are usually underskilled and could not be employed elsewhere. The documentary features the laborers in the United States who are trafficked and smuggled. The Latinos are usually the victims in the United States, simply because of their geographical proximity to the country, and the promise of the good life in one of the world’s most powerful and richest countries. They searched for greener pastures, and they thought they’d find it across the border. The documentary shows that their lives have not improved at all. In fact, their lives got worse because of the socio-cultural barriers that the new country presented. The economic disparity between the immigrants and the local Americans is huge, and the worst part is, most of them are unaware that this was going to happen to them. Most of the immigrants in the United States are victims of human trafficking. The people actually voluntarily enlist the help of a smuggler with hopes that they’d find better luck in the new country, to find better work, a new lease in life. Human traffickers on the other hand, exploit the needs of these potential migrants by charging them fees in order for them to get to the other country. Then to pay for their debts, they are forced to work in subhuman conditions, which are generally sweatshops owned by capitalists that the smuggler has connections with as a supplier of laborers. The women, on the other hand, can be forced to work as exotic dancers or prostitutes for a living. The documentary goes to show that these migrant smugglers have sophisticated business strategies and plans, much like having an operation of an ordinary travel agent: offering insurances, guarantees of making it inside the country even if the migrant is caught, etc. Of course, they do it for a fee. They do not get caught because the people do not want to complain. They are not empowered, they are scared. They cannot even communicate well. The common strategy of these smugglers is to accompany the migrants to the “host” country, luring them away from their travel companions, and threaten the migrants with violence if they do not agree to pay for their debts by not working in the said sweatshop/employer. These traffickers rely on the migrants’ lack of legislative protection from the host country, as well as the migrants’ lack of communication skills to ask for help. This ensures captivity on the part of the victims. What is the United States doing to curb this illegal and unethical practice? That is another aspect the documentary is trying to address. Well, there are laws and the law enforcement agencies but apparently, they are not enough. While there are efforts to update the laws regarding human trafficking, the notion of it being totally quashed is quite difficult to imagine because source countries profit from the trafficking because of these migrants and traffickers, usually through corrupt officials. On the other hand, the destination countries make it more difficult for illegal aliens to enter their territory. This gives the smugglers an upper hand because they charge more for their services; they guarantee the migrants that they will enter the destination country even though it is difficult. This attracts the attention of organized crime lords, making it a more profitable business. Thus, even if the destination countries prove to be more stringent in their laws, the smugglers continue to devise plans to get away with it. It is ironic that with the advent of globalization, free trade and sophisticated technology, slavery is alive and well. The sociology readings reflect all of that as well, but it dissects the matter more. According to Lueck, it all starts as smuggling and ends up in trafficking. Furthermore, it explains the whole notion of migration through the Push-Pull theory. The Push-Pull theory states that the migrants are being either pushed or pulled from their mother country. They are pushed because of certain factors in their motherland like the war, political repression or poor living conditions. They are pulled too, by getting attracted to the other country: the idea of a better life, better job, political freedom and good education among others are reasons enough why they want to leave their mother country. The core concept of the theory is about “human capital”. Migrating is seen as an investment; like education, migration is seen as a positive trait, meaning they think they can attract potential employers because of their migratory experience. Human trafficking and smuggling are very difficult problems to solve. They are embedded in the capitalist culture, as there will always be people who are in need of jobs, even if they are too difficult and underpaid, because of the fact that the money does not go evenly distributed. These social problems will only be solved if poverty is quashed; if there are no wars and politics. However, that is impossible. The best way for everyone to do is to try to be better people and not exploit those who are in need. These social problems will be here for a long time and they will not be solved until the need for cheap labor is solved. Globalization is touted as a savior for these developing countries because of the free market and free trade systems but it is proving false for its citizens. References: Luek, Kerstin. Sociology of Development and Globalization: Lectures. University of California Berkeley. Powerpoint presentation. Massey, D. and Taylor, E. International Migration: Prospects and Policies in a Global Market. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Print. Woolf, Aaron Gwin. Dying to Leave. PBS. 2003. Video. Read More