Contemporary Society in Times of Globalisation - Essay Example

Contemporary Society Effects of globalization There are many resulting effects of globalization as stipulated by politicians, theorists as well as the general citizens. Among the individuals, believe that dramatic inequality exists between nations because of the process while others are convinced that globalization is essential in reducing poverty as well as promoting economic equality among individuals. Today the world is more of a global village. It was almost impossible that people from different regions to know what is happening on the other side of the world in the 18th and 19th century. Now individuals in different countries have the abilities to get in touch even with weak barriers due to poor geography as a result of the advancement of technology and communications (Schott 2000, 23). With no doubts, the era of globalization is processing. Globalization is defined as a concept referring to the development of consciousness in the world as a whole. The economic sector ought to be the most obvious sector indicating the effects of globalization. As a result of the growth of global activities in businesses like tourism, foreign trade and investment the world has strengthened and improved interdependency. Multinational organizations have grown widely to bring services and goods as well job opportunities to the individuals. In the recent period, the volume of world trade has gone on the rise tremendously. However, owing to the money market, the regional financial crises can influence the globe as in the 2008 financial crises (Mortensen 2012, 86). Economic domination is a danger influencing the rate of economic globalization. The gap existing between rich and poor countries has been on the rise in the recent period as a result of increased power controlled by the rich states. However, organizations such as the WTO (World Trade Organization) act to promote the good and fair trade to exist between different countries. Its beneficial that individuals can easily know the diverse cultures of others because of globalization but the foreign capital and company’s influx has reduces the overall rate of unemployment thus resulting to poverty and increased gap between the educated and non-educated (Bhagwati 2001, 17). 2. A dark side to nationalism Nationalism is a political ideology or belief that will involve an individual identifying with and becoming attached to the nation .It involves national identity as well as patriotism that involves social conditioning and personal behaviors that the nations decision and actions. It is a modern movement. Throughout history, individuals have been attached to their native soils, traditions of their ancestors and have established territorial authorizes. It was not until the 18th century when nationalism began to be established as a sentiment molding public life to determine factors of modern history. However, nationalism has its dark side that occurs when the individuals of a certain nation consider themselves superior over the non-nationalist. In a sense, nationalism can be exclusionary excluding the others who are perceived not worthy. Ethno-cultural nationalism is considered to be emotive, non-rational, eruptive and exclusionary. It differs to civic nationalism that, on the other hand, is considered to be inclusive democratic and rational (Schroff 2006, 408). The non-nationalist individuals resulting from ethno-cultural nationalism will consider themselves superior over their counterparts. It will consider its members to be native born into their nations and it is superiorly difficult for the members to transgress borders of national identity.it is conserved with blood loyalty this undermining the non-nationalist. Nationalism affects sentiments on the human way of thinking. It causes dishonesty to the people as every individual having chosen one side will persuade themselves that their side is strongest even regardless of the facts that are provided them. From this side of superiority, the individuals argue and defend their facts that they aligned with the slightest criticism from other factions causing them to act violently since they realize that they serve a larger entity providing them with security over the others. The individuals may end up becoming ignorant to the point of self-deception and become susceptible to bias acknowledging information that they judge themselves true where emotions influence addressing facts (Rushton 2005, 503). 3. Environmental threats effects Environmental threats may result to the end of the contemporary society if not addressed upon. The Sea Shepherd Conversation Society (SSCS) established in 1977 with a mission to end the destruction of habitat as well as wildlife in the oceans to protect and conserve the ecosystem. It is crucial to use innovatively as well as direct action measures in order to investigate, document and take action to expose and confront the illegal activities that are threatening the natural ecosystems. This ensures that the biodiversity of the environmental ecosystem is balanced. It is essential to develop a priority list of the emerging threats and issues alongside the options of actions. Environmental threats are presented by the persistent organic pollution and waste disposal, radiation, occupational risks and climate change. Over the past years, there have been outbreaks of emerging infections and diseases occurring endangering the natural ecosystem. Thus, dramatic measures need to be put to address the issues. It is important to keep the global environment under review (Knight 2005, 1569). This ought to be achieved through a participatory, consultative and a capacity building process to ensure environmental assessment as well as reporting the trends, states and outlook of the environment and facilitate the interaction between policy and science. Organizations and stakeholders from across the globe need to work in unison to deliver products that support environmental sustainability. The environmental health field is facing lots of emerging problems and threats demanding attention to protect the natural environment and enhance sustainability. However, it is impossible to devote clinical research and advocacy on all the issues all at once but clinicians, environmental scientist and public health professions have to choose the health concerns that need priority. Among the cross cutting issues includes governance, sustainable use of resources, sciences policies, production and consumption issues and social tipping points (Kennish 2002, 29). 4. Gender, sex and sexuality Gender can be referred as the social construction of roles, responsibilities and behavioral patterns that are assigned to men and women, the girls and boys in a given society. This is achieved through the process of socialization where the society provides gender identity to both females and males. It identifies the social relations between men and women and refers to the relationship between men and women, boys and girls how it is socially constructed. Gender roles ought to be dynamic and change with time. However, gender differs from time to time as well as from culture to culture. This differs from sex that is the biological difference between a man and a woman. It is usually permanent and natural. Thus, gender tries to analyses the ways in which muscularity and femininity are viewed, produced and reproduced in the society. Gender roles are learned behaviors in a given society that condition the activities, responsibilities and tasks that are perceived as male and female. They affect the division of labor in terms of femininity or masculinity.an example is that most cultures define child rearing solely as a female role excluding the males (Hundhammer & Mussweiler 2012, 183). Gender roles are inherited from one generation to another in the society. Masculinity and femininity in the culture refers to the value placed on traditionally female and males values. The masculine societies value assertiveness, ambition, competitiveness and accumulation of wealth and material possession as masculine values while femininity place value on relationship and quality of life. Sex is a biological difference existing between both genders. Sexuality is about sexual feeling, sexual identity as well as sexual behaviors. Gender refers to the feelings, behaviors and attitudes that a given society associates with an individual’s biological sex. Thus, sexuality, sex and gender are interrelated. Gender relationships are socially constructed roles and activities that a society will consider appropriate for either the men or women. Sex relationships are biologically based. Female and male are sex categories while feminine and masculine are gender categories (Bazzul & Sykes 2011, 269). References Bazzul, J. & Sykes, H., 2011. The secret identity of a biology textbook: straight and naturally sexed. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 6, pp.265–286. Bhagwati, J., 2001. After Seattle: free trade and the WTO. International Affairs, 77, pp.15–29. Hundhammer, T. & Mussweiler, T., 2012. How sex puts you in gendered shoes: Sexuality-priming leads to gender-based self-perception and behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103, pp.176–193. Kennish, M.J., 2002. Environmental threats and environmental future of estuaries. Environmental Conservation, 29. Knight, A., 2005. Global environmental threats: Can the Security Council protect our earth? New York University Law Review, 80, pp.1549–1585. Mortensen, J.L., 2012. Seeing Like the WTO: Numbers, Frames and Trade Law. New Political Economy, 17, pp.77–95. Rushton, J.P., 2005. Ethnic nationalism, evolutionary psychology and Genetic Similarity Theory*. Nations and Nationalism, 11, pp.489–507. Schott, J., 2000. The WTO after Seattle. In The WTO after Seattle. pp. 3–40. Schroff, F.M., 2006. Book Review: The Dark Side of the Nation: Essays on Multiculturalism, Nationalism and Gender. Violence Against Women, 12, pp.407–408.  Read More