Understanding the Complexity of Globalization - Essay Example

Understanding the Complexity of Globalization Globalization has been found to be among the most complex aspects of the modern world and this has been mainly through the ways in which the economy in one part of the planet comes to adversely affect another. In fact, it can be said that among the most interesting aspects of globalization is the way in which the development of various industries has originated in some countries yet have come to be adopted by others who end up becoming more advanced in the same industries than the countries of their origin. Globalization has not only had a huge impact on the political arena of the world but it has also had far reaching effects on the development of the economies of many countries all over the globe. The adoption industrial technologies have been found to be one of the most fundamental aspects of the modern world and for this reason; it has come to receive the attention of many people. The process of the adoption of new technology, as well as other aspects of development by countries from which it does not originate, which started out in the economic sphere where liberal economic policies were developed and adopted by many countries has come to weaken the once strong foundations upon which many of the world’s economies were built. The globalization of the world economy is among the most fundamental aspects of the twentieth and twenty first centuries, because it has enabled the growth of economies, which would previously have remained closed to the world.1 The ability of countries to adopt the technological developments that are alien to them and develop them to suit their own needs is an incredible part of how the world works today. The example of China, the fastest growing economy in the world, can be given in this case, since only some forty years ago, China was a poor developing state in the middle of the Cultural Revolution, with the prospects of its emerging as a major player in the global economy were indeed deem. But all this changed with the opening up of the Chinese economy by President Deng, who managed to bring China from an economic backwater to the path leading to what this country is today. The Chinese have managed to adopt those technologies which were only found in the West, such as the machinery for the large scale production of cotton, and male improvements on it to the extent that it has become the largest exporter of clothes in the world.2 In addition, the fact that the Chinese government has worked towards ensuring that most of the new technologies that get into the market are adopted swiftly and developed even further for export, and this, among other things, has ensured that the economy of this country is on a continuous path of growth. The globalised world developed mostly because of the industrial developments, which took place in Britain during the nineteenth century when there was the invention of mass production of goods for the purpose of satisfying both the domestic and international demand.3 Among the most influenced parts of the British, and later, global economy was the cotton industry, which, through the development of new technologies for the purpose of processing the cotton and spinning the yarn ensured that the price of cotton products became more affordable.4 In time, the cotton industry in Britain grew so fast that it began to need even more cotton from outside and this would eventually lead to its large scale efforts to import cotton for the purpose of keeping up with the demand for it in its markets. As this was going on, the United States managed to acquire the technology of the cotton industry from Britain and this led to the development of the American cotton industry that within a few decades had surpassed that of its country of origin. As a consequence, the United States became the new world leader in the production of cotton and its products, but this leadership did not last indefinitely as China later came to become and has remained a world leader in the export of cotton products. This has mainly been because of its ability to acquire these product cheaply as well as being a cheap source of labor; a necessary aspect of the globalized economy.5 It is a common belief in the west that China’s textile industry has been built on the back of sweatshops, which are establishments created for producing textile products although the people working within them work in deplorable conditions with little pay. These conditions have been widely criticized by both the western governments and the public because they do not consider the human rights of those individuals who work in the sweatshops. As a result, many of these governments have set up extremely stringent conditions concerning the importation of products from China, which are suspected of having been made in sweatshops. A consequence of this has been the Chinese government’s attempt to reassure the western governments that there are no sweatshops in the country through a diverse number of crackdowns. However, these attempts seem not to have regained the confidence of some in the west who believe that the sweatshops are still being operated, albeit secretly, to ensure that the Chinese textile products remain cheap on the market, hence more sales.6 The direct influence of the globalised economy can be seen in the way major corporations in the west are moving their production plants to countries, such as China, where cheap labor can be easily found, and this is done mainly for ensuring that they garner more profits than they are currently. Thus, while globalization has been beneficial in many ways, the fact that it also contributes to the violation of universal human rights is a negative aspect of this phenomenon which has to be firmly dealt with so that there can be fairness and equality on the economic scale.7 The fact that globalization has come to tie the entire world economy together is the most important aspects of this phenomenon because it has ensured that there develops a means through which all countries in the world are responsible for each other’s actions. In addition, it can be said that the ability of the various nations in the world to influence one another economically has become even greater and this has led to the dominance of the world economy by the most developed nations to the detriment of the less developed ones. The latter have come to be viewed as sources of raw materials for the industries of the developed countries, leading to their underdevelopment while others continue with their economic growth. Therefore, it has become imperative for the various negative issues concerning globalization to be addressed, especially at the moment when it is still at its early stages. If this is not done, then it is more likely than not that there will be the continued exploitation not only of poorer countries, but also the poor people of the world by the multinational corporations that currently dominate the globalised economy. The various governments in the world should come to the realization of the need of having rules and regulations that are able to promote cooperation in all matters concerning the global economy, including the implementation of universal human rights. The achievement of justice for those who are economically exploited should be considered the priority in all matters concerning global trade because this is the only way through which the economic security of the future generations of the planet will come to be realized. Works Cited Atkinson, Robert D., and Stephen J. Ezell. "Building the Global Innovation Economy." The Futurist 47.1 (2013): 14-20. Pies, Ingo, Markus Beckmann, and Stefan Hielscher. "Value Creation, Management Competencies, and Global Corporate Citizenship: An Ordonomic Approach to Business Ethics in the Age of Globalization." Journal of Business Ethics 94.2 (2010): 265-78. Rivoli, Pietra. The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy. Portland: Powell”s Books, 2005. Print. Sun, Laixiang. "Integrating China into the Global Economy." The China Quarterly.176 (2003): 1084-5. Taranenko, Irina. "STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF INNOVATION-BASED COMPETITIVENESS IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY." Montenegrin Journal of Economics 9.1 (2013): 127-33. Unay, Sadik. "Global Transformations and the MENA: A Comparative Political Economy Analysis." Insight Turkey 13.1 (2011): 175-98. Yaghmaian, Behzad. "Globalization and the State: The Political Economy of Global Accumulation and its Emerging Mode of Regulation." Science & Society 62.2 (1998): 241-65. Read More