Sociology of Development and Globalization - Essay Example

Measures of poverty and/or inequality are measured in numerous ways on an international level, the measuring of poverty with income ratio’s as isfrequently used in the United States provides a narrow view of international poverty. Poverty can be described as a deprivation in well-being, with the narrower definition as a deprivation or lack of essential goods and services, not necessarily income. Using Sens’ capability approach to evaluate well-being in society we are able to measure poverty using an individual’s vulnerability to risk, lack of voice in society and powerlessness to indicate poverty and inequality. Further indicators of poverty would be maternal and child mortality, communicable diseases, and debt. The human development index is one way we are able to measure international poverty. Known as the HDI, this valuable tool measures not only income but other vital factors necessary for the well-being and health of an individual or a nation. It is composed of three factors; a health index, education index and standard of living index. The health index is a measure of life expectancy. It represents the extent to which life expectancy (LE) in the region analyzed is greater than minimum life expectancy (Min LE) as a proportion of the maximum difference between possible life expectancies. The second factor used in the HDI, education, uses the percentage of people over 16 in a specified region that are literate combined with the percent of people in the region going to school. Third, standard of living or SOL analyzes the regions income, the US exchange rate or comparable worth, and the price level index of that ratio as compared to the US. Advantages of the HDI include the ability to realize possibilities within a country due to the fact that certain percentages are able to meet certain goals, such as live to a specified age, and then in turn a decision or study can be made as to how to increase those numbers. Though the HDI is supposed to measure capabilities such as ‘can an individual in a certain area live to the average age that an individual in another country is able to live to’, it is flawed in some ways. Some countries may have very similar income and literacy, such as Islamic countries, yet living conditions are extremely different. This obviously will contribute to the complete equation giving an inaccurate representation. The International Poverty Line is an income threshold below which an individual is said to be living in poverty. It is calculated by taking the poverty threshold from each country - given the value of the goods needed to sustain one adult - and converting it to dollars. This method is weak in that it uses the goods consumed by a family but does not use or measure what was actually needed. An advantage of the International Poverty Line is that it does give an actual figure per day needed by most to survive. The Living Standards Measurement Study was created out of the need to improve the data generated from other poverty and living condition study’s in order to evaluate and improve economic and social policy. It is not used per se as a poverty measure in the traditional way of thinking. It attempts to determine the cause of outcomes and to view the impact of policy. This is to its benefit. It is advantageous to understand the factors, such as high unemployment or unfair wages that contribute to a country’s socioeconomic status in order to address them. A disadvantage to this method is that the survey uses questionnaires, questionnaires do not always reach the neediest of a population and therefore they may not be represented. 2. Segmented Labor Market Theory is the theory that the labor market is divided into segments or groups of workers that operate in different labor markets, under different conditions, wages, opportunities etc. The primary sector, capital-intensive, includes stable skilled jobs where employers continually invest in employees and treat them more like capital, having value. The secondary or labor-intensive sector has unstable, unskilled jobs; workers have little education and often face the risk of being laid off at any time. The third sector is a blend of the previous two, the ethnic enclave. This occurs or comes about when a group of immigrants possess financial, human, social, and/ or cultural capital and employ employees in both the labor and capital-intensive sectors. Immigration requires that native born workers now compete with international immigrants for the same positions. This is not due only to the amount of immigrant workers but also into which sector, labor, capital or ethnic enclave sector they fit into. If the job market is already a high level of workers considered substitutable than immigrant workers will drive down wages, yet if the immigrant workers are not skilled enough or able to get jobs in the native market the wages will remain the same. Also labor-intensive sectors being as they are means that native workers will attempt to avoid those jobs if possible leaving many available for the international immigrant. The labor-intensive market relies heavily on this population to work at offered wages and conditions. Because of this immigrants may be seen as a threat in the labor-intensive sector, causing lower wages and fewer jobs for natives but it may also increase employment in the other sectors. 3. Two changing patterns of international migration within and from the African Continent are illegal migration and the diversification of migration destinations. Diversification of destinations means that African individuals are migrating to new places and less towards major metropolitan areas due to the correct recession and its evidence in those areas and there is a greater trend towards migration away from the Continent entirely, rather than country. An example would be were an individual to migrate from Africa to North America, the United States, to a small rural area that is less populated. Existence of family and friends in these locations helps immigrants to settle and adapt to a given society quickly and with ease. Illegal immigration is best evidenced by those immigrants leaving South Africa, often immigrating to Europe due to poverty, persecution and war. Most of these immigrants will first pass through an intermediate country such as Tunisia, Algeria or Morocco. Economic decline and debt are further reasons. 4. The colonial powers that colonized Rwanda had a great part in laying the foundation for the Rwandan genocide. Initially in 1957 there was a divide in Belgians and French in power, agitating the Tutsi’s and Belgian refused to allow Rwandan independence. In 1959 came the social revolution which was an extremist Hutu movement, led by Kayibanda who later became President of the new republic that formed in 1962. The Tutsi’s then experienced reorganization and reentered Rwanda. The Belgians after colonizing Rwanda stirred up ethnic tensions and racism by installing the minority Tutsis as the rulers while ignoring the majority Hutus, the Hutus made up about 80% of the population with only about 15% being Tutsi though the Tutsi’s were preferred by colonization’s. They applied the principle of divide and rule and made the Hutus bitter since they were not offered equality in opportunities in all aspects of public and private life such as education and politics after they were given the administrative role in government. This discriminatory manner of colonial rule led to the bitterness that finally culminated in the violence and genocide against the Tutsis. By 1982 Amnesty International was reporting that the Tutsi minority were being persecuted. The Tutsis who were more educated and had more resources were deemed by the Hutus as a continuation of the colonial legacy of exploitation of the Hutus. Extreme violence and bloodshed took place with killings at close range, sometimes audiences with particular chants and rituals and sometimes done in groups. 5. The Gacaca courts are based on traditional dispute resolution mechanisms used by Rwandan communities. The Gacaca are effective in the fostering of national cohesion while promoting justice and truth. Conflict resolution focused on policies of recognition, minority rights, power sharing, and a multiparty system with cooperation on many levels to provide legal justice and trials. The court activities were organized into three steps; collection of information relating to genocide, categorization of persons prosecuted for having played a role in different genocidal crimes, and trial of cases falling under their competence only. They made regional efforts as well as grassroots’ neighborhood attempts at administering justice. Advantages of the court were an end to the culture of impunity that had been the case in Rwanda, an increased participation by women and the revival of a traditional form of justice. Gacaca courts speeded up the judicial process while also depending on the participation of the people, the involvement of religious and administrative authorities and civil society and the general satisfaction if the public, which may in some instances, not be forthcoming. Reconciliation was made possible with traditional forms of justice at the community level. The Gacaca courts however presented issues in that they may not adhere to strict international standards and sometimes upheld only minimal national human rights standards. They were also focused on revenge. The role of the Arusha Tribunal was to prosecute the principal participants in the genocide. The major weakness of the Arusha tribunal is that it only prosecutes the main suspects and ignores other actors such as the murderers on the ground that played a critical role, it did focus on the leaders’ of the genocide, ignoring thousands who were implicated. The process is also very lengthy and leads to more anguish for the victims. The Arusha tribunal is however advantageous in that it offers international standards of trial according to human rights standards. The purpose is to contribute to the process of national reconciliation in Rwanda and to the maintenance of peace in the region Read More