Economic Globalisation - Essay Example

Economic Globalisation The plight of workers in the Sweatshops and Export Processing Zone has been at stake. For manydecades, these workers have been paid peanuts, forcing them to live on shoestring budgets. They have been working under very poor conditions, for example, the chairs in their places of work are very uncomfortable such that their bodies ache in the evening when they go back home. These workers, majority of who are from the disadvantaged members of the society, have resolved to do these odd jobs to fend for their families since unemployment is one of the major problems facing them. This has led to the formation of many social groups for example; The Workers Right Union and the United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) have pushed for improvement in the global trade sector (McMichael’s, 2013). These social movements have been very vocal in the call to improve the working conditions as well as increase in the wages of these employees. There is an example of one worker; Upia, who used to be, paid less than $ 50 every week. Life proved difficult for her especially on how to provide for her family with this little amount of money. Under this budget, these families are not able to make any savings. It is for this reason that there are calls to form factories that are able to manufacture quality goods and still provide a safe working condition for all workers (The Nation, 2011). It is for these poor working conditions that this woman is also concerned about the plight of these marginalized people in the society. In my response to her question in this paper, I will discuss a number of issues to enable her understand factors leading to this condition. Economic globalization Economic globalization is the term that is used to refer to the manner in which the economies in the World are interconnected and dependent on each other (Mohr, 2013). It has been brought about by the development in technology, which has enhanced communication, transport, thereby, facilitating interaction, and trade to a greater length.it is also because of the availability of information over the internet that trade has been made easier. The use of fast transport facilities such as the airplanes and electric trains has increased the exchange process. In actuality, economic globalization consists of the globalization of industries, technological gadgets, markets, and production methods. Economic globalization has taken effect in the past three decades, when International trade Organizations such as the World Trade Organization was formed. This lady thought that it was necessary for developed countries to share their wealth and industrial jobs with the less developed countries because, the economic globalization has major advantages, for example, it has provided a platform where the more developed and stable world economies are able to interact and exchange a lot with the less developed economies in the world. It has also eliminated the barriers that were limiting trade activities among different countries and regions. This has positively impacted the financial status of many countries because of trade. However, economic globalization has had its own share of troubles. These are the major reasons why the developed countries could not just offer employment or even share their industries with the less developed countries as the woman suggested because this would cause the following problems. Firstly, it has caused economic power imbalance between third world and industrialized countries (Mohr, 2013). Despite the fact that it has helped in fighting of poverty, the economic globalization contributes towards the disparity between the literate and illiterate members of the society. Her major concern was how to eliminate poverty among the less developed countries as well as better payment for those working in sweatshops; however, she did not understand that developing countries have to go through these stages on their way to growth, the same way the industrialized states did. The New International Division of Labor For many years, marginalized workers have been fighting with the government so that they could receive their unpaid wages and salaries that they have worked for many years. An example of these incidents includes the riots that took place in the capital city, Buenos Aires of Argentina. Despite the cases being heard in the courts, these workers were not compensated. What happened in Argentina is just one of the many instances that take place in many of the world’s major economies such as USA, UK, Germany, Spain, and France. The financial systems of these countries have been affected negatively, for example, that of Argentina fell in the year 2001. This also led to a number of Latin American banks rebelling against western dominated banks like the IMF and World Bank (Engler, 2008). These events have forced many Companies to focus purely on their workers, thus running their premises as cooperatives. Therefore, this has become the core of the new international division of labor. In this new system, farmers and capital owners engage in the production of food, charcoal and other manufactured items, while on the other hand, those who do not have jobs engage in the manual works like apprenticeship (The Ecologist, 2003). Differences between the development era and the globalization era There are notable differences between these two eras. The first two among the four development theories describes the development era while the last two explains the situation as it is in the globalization era. In the development era, the conditions of workers are poor as they are paid peanuts and the rise many social movements fighting for the improved rights of workers (Reyes, 2013). The strategies of development are all dependent on internal factors, exploitation of local resources, as well as the control by the government. In the globalization era, development depends on international factors, of which the government has little influence on. Cultural exchanges are the major reasons for development. Trade, exchange of information and military links are the factors influencing development. Socialists drove the development era while globalization era is for the capitalists. Differences have been raised between socialists and capitalist, for example, the country of Bolivia and USA (Lynch, 2008). The development theories According to Reyes Giovanni, theories of development give a comprehensive account of the methods and the course of action that were taken by developed countries during their growth. These is still the same path that developing countries are expected to follow as they target industrialization. These theories are useful towards policy making in developing countries as they act as guidelines and growth frameworks. It is therefore necessary that this lady understood all these development theories, to help her understand the process of industrialization. Development is referred to as a social status within a country, whereby, the government is able to meet the needs of its citizens while at the same time ensuring sustainability of the natural resources of the country. Therefore, the population should have easy access to education, jobs, healthcare, and all sorts of basic needs. The modernization theory of development was brought about by three factors. Firstly, it emerged when the United States of America became the superpower after the World War II, while the industrialized countries became weaker (Reyes, 2013). Secondly, modernization came because of the communism all over the world, and lastly, spread of European powers in different regions of the world such as Africa. In this theory, the country is supposed to be very productive to its citizens. Therefore, every individual should access all the basic; for example, housing, food, and education are in this case basic and thus should be readily available to everybody. Politically, in a modernized society have three aspects. It has an enhanced political system, a differentiated political structure, and a culture of secularized political culture, which promotes equality among all members of the society. The theory of modernization states that development is a process and it takes place in stages. This is one very important idea that this woman needed to understand that, these Sweatshop workers and the less developed countries had to go through the development stages in order to become industrialized. This theory insists that development takes place in a systematic manner. This leads to the transformation of the general phase of the place where the process of modernization is taking place, and finally brings about change in the entire system of social life. Therefore, these workers had to start working in the sweatshops under very poor conditions with low wages, leading to their sufferings. These poor conditions would actually lead to the rise of modern social movements, with the aim of fighting for better treatment of these workers. A number of these movements rose, for example, the USAS, which saw the creation of perfect Companies like the Alter Gracious, which provided better wages as well as better working conditions for workers (The Nation, 2011, p. 2). Less developed countries have to go through five stages of development in order to become industrialized. These stages include the emergence from a traditional society, secondly are the precondition for takeoff, thirdly are the takeoff process, followed by the drive to maturity, and finally a high mass consumption society. This lady was right to suggest that the modernized countries should share there industrial jobs with the less developed countries so that they could be industrialized; however, they still had to go through the normal stages of development. The second theory of development is the Dependency theory (Reyes 2013). This theory describes the conditions that are necessary for the rise of development in any country. Firstly, there is need to control monetary exchange rate within the country. Secondly is the government needs to take an upper hand in the control of development activities in a country. Thirdly, the wages of workers should be improved at all level so that the moral of workers as well as their living conditions to be better. A closer analysis of this theory explains why this lady felt that it was necessary for the working condition of these workers to be improved as a means of facilitating development. The theory of dependency states that the kick off f development includes an instance when all the employees in a country are well paid and are in a safe working condition. This is the only time that they will become more productive, thus, the general output of the country will be high. However, this theory discourages the outsourcing of industrialized jobs while encouraging the exploitation of all available local resources in the course of development. That is why I told her that it was not necessary that the developed countries should share their wealth with less developed countries. The third theory of development is the Theory of World Systems. The proponents of this theory recognize the presence of universal conditions under which development of any nation relies on. Therefore, the industrialization of the less developed countries relies heavily on these factors. These factors include world financial systems, international trades systems, global military links, and the exchange of ideas and knowledge (Reyes, 2013). These international factors are greatly influencing the internal capacity of the development of all countries worldwide. However much this lady thought it was a just a matter of developed countries to take a simple step of sharing with in order to develop the third world countries, I made her understand that the development of a country depend a lot on the aforementioned factors. The fourth theory of development is the globalization theory. This theory bases its argument that development in any country is because of the cultural exchanges among countries in the world. The following are the important aspect of this theory of development that this lady needed to understand in order to comprehend why development in a country is not just a matter of sharing industrial jobs from the industrialized countries to the less developed countries. Globalization as an element of development starts from the first world countries and spreads to the third world countries through cultural exchanges. Therefore, more time was needed for these cultural exchanges to spread to the less developed countries and development to take its course. Technological advancement is also a major factor that influences development in any country. Therefore, the less developed countries required time to enhance their technology to facilitate their own process of development. These countries ought to have modern communication methods to facilitate communication and exchange of information. These are strides that the third world countries were yet to make and that is why it was not possible for the developed countries help them. However, since globalization contributes a lot to development, the current level of globalization which has made the world to be like a global village, has undoubtedly contributed a lot toward the development of third world countries. However, globalization has had several negative impacts on the world markets; for example, it caused the 2008 global financial meltdown (Creamer, 2009). In conclusion, a safe working condition for workers in any industry is a necessity for development. Workers should be compensated with wages that are enough to meet all their needs. Modernizations an irreversible process that cannot be stopped neither reversed as along as it has taken off. The stages of development will go on to the end until industrialization is achieved. All the theories of development show that development is dependent of international factors as well as the nation’s internal efforts. Globalization is therefore the major driver of development worldwide. Works Cited Creamer, Robert. “How Globalization Set the Stage for the 2008 Economic Collapse” 2009. Web 8 December 2013. Engler, Mark. “Latin American Banks on Independence” 2008. Web 8 December 2013. < http://www.inthesetimes.com/main/article/3497/> Engler, Mark. “How to Rule the World: Latin America in Revolt” 2010. Nation Books Publishers. New York, 2013. Lynch, David. “Anger over reforms fuels Latin America to move Left,” 2008. Web 8 December, 2013. McMichaels, Philip. “Development and Social Change: Global Counter movements” 2009. 5th Edition Mohr, Angie. “The Effects of Economic Globalization on Developing Countries” 2013.Web 8 December 2013. Reyes, Giovani. “Four Main theories of Development: Modernization, Dependency, Word-System and Globalization” 2013. Web 8 December 2013. The Ecologist. “Cooking Pot Revolution” 2003. Web 8 December 2013. The Nation. “Is the Perfect Industry Possible” 2011. Web 8 December 2013. Zinn, Ryan “FWP’s Statement on Fair Trade USA’s Resignation from Fair trade International (FLO)” 2013. Web 8 December 2013. Read More