Globalisation

Is Globalisation over? 

Internationalism and Globalisation

Globalisation is used to mean the world is becoming more closely entwined and more of a complex web. However, there are many questions surrounding globalisation. Is it a phenomenon, a process or a policy? Is it Westernisation? Is it Americanisation? Is it a new thing? Can it be stopped? Can it be reversed? Can it be controlled? Is it economic, political, cultural, technological? 

Linked to the cultural homogenisation (monoculture) brought about through economic globalisation, and the spread of consumerism and capitalism, is the spread of Western ideas such as democracy, respect for human rights and individualism. This transmission of values, ideas and meanings may be having an immense impact on global politics. Some see a certain inevitability about the spread of liberalism and its associated ideas around the world. For some this spread of ideas is a good thing, emphasising freedom, but for others cultural globalisation, consumerism and individualism are bad news for the environment, for local communities and traditions, and for individuals who are manipulated by the lure of consumer products. For these critics, the only winners in globalisation are the USA, the West and the TNCs that lead the cultural globalisation march. 

The Clash of Civilisations 

Socialist Internationalism

Socialism 

The dominance of national identities in global politics has been challenged by socialism. In the decades before World War I, when industrialization and urbanization in Europe dramatically increased the size of the working class, or proletariat, socialism, an ideology that emphasized class rather than national or religious identities, grew in importance. In this case, being a worker was the primary identity, and thus the socialist ideology typically demanded an end to private property and to the exploitation of workers. Socialism trumped religious identity, and Karl Marx referred to religion “as the opiate of the masses.” In their most famous political slogan, Marx and Friedrich Engels closed their Communist Manifesto (1848) by urging all those with proletarian identities to unite against the capitalists: “Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Working men of all countries, unite!” As World War I approached, some socialists argued that workers should refuse to fight for their countries because the coming conflict was really among capitalists seeking colonies and larger market shares for their products. Some like Russian Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin urged workers to remain loyal to their more fundamental identity, their class, “propagating the socialist revolution, and the necessity of using weapons not against one’s own brothers, the hired slaves of other countries, but against the reactionary and bourgeois governments and parties of all nations.” However, when the war finally erupted, workers across Europe forgot their class identity, put down their shovels, picked up their rifles, and eagerly marched off to the war, arm in arm with their fellow citizens. In recent decades, as states’ dominance of global politics ebbs, other identities – old and new – are coming to the fore. 

Globalised Identities

The declining importance of territory as a source of power and prosperity and the proliferation of globalized communication networks such as the internet allow people however remote geographically to communicate almost instantaneously. Today, global politics is witnessing a revival of ancient ethnic, tribal, and religious identities as well as the invention of powerful new identities based on race, gender, and profession. This revival of identities is a direct result of the increased interconnectedness of the world due to globalization. As nations become more interconnected, individuals are exposed to a wider range of cultures and beliefs, leading to a greater awareness of their own identity. This awareness has led to a resurgence of traditional identities, as well as the creation of new identities based on shared experiences. For example, the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement is a direct result of increased awareness of racial injustice in the United States. Similarly, the #MeToo movement has been fueled by increased awareness of gender inequality. In addition, the rise of professional networks has allowed individuals to identify with their profession and create a sense of community 

Today, some of the answers one might get to the question “what is your principal identity?” are “I am a woman,” “an African-American,” “a Christian,” “a Palestinian,” “a Tutsi,” “a poor person,” and so forth. And, as in the past, the question of conflicting identities can produce intense passions. 

In the 1970s, Iranians were encouraged to overthrow their Shah in 1979 through tapes of speeches by Ayatollah Khomeini. In 1989, Chinese democracy protesters used fax machines to share news about the events in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Today, microelectronic technologies decentralise information even more, with networking greatly empowering groups like Mexico’s Zapatistas and China’s Falun Gong. In short, technology creates new identities while weakening old ones. The Arab Spring, which brought government changes in Egypt and Morocco and sparked civil war in Syria, was spread and fueled by mobile phones and social media.

 China is trying to balance keeping the Communist Party’s tight grip on ideology with using new communication technologies to boost its economy. This creates a clear contradiction: the government wants to control what people think and see, yet also push technologies that can open the door to ideas outside its ideology. In the past, with TV, radio, and newspapers as the main news sources, controlling information was much easier. But the rise of the Internet — which had 26 million users in China by mid-2001, up 17 million from 1999 — has made things more complicated, leading the government to work hard at regulating it to avoid the spread of opposing viewpoints. In this sense, people in China live between two cultural spaces: an authoritarian space that emphasizes traditional values of respect and order, and a Western space centered on consumption. The latter fosters an identity shaped by personal expression through clothing, fashion, property, and foreign holidays.

The invisible hand of the market.

Neo Liberalism 

Classical Liberalism 

Laissez Faire 

From an economic liberal perspective, the market is the only reliable means of generating wealth, the surest guarantee of prosperity and economic opportunity. This is because the market, competition and the profit motive provide incentives for work and enterprise and also allocate resources to their most profitable use. From this perspective, economic globalization, based on the transborder expansion of market economics, ensures that people in all countries can benefit from the wider prosperity and expanded opportunities that only capitalism can bring. 

Promotes general prosperity

.The great advantage of economic globalization is that it is a game of winners and winners. Although it makes the rich richer, it also makes the poor less poor. This occurs because international trade allows countries to specialize in the production of goods or services in which they have a ‘comparative advantage’, with other benefits accruing from the economies of scale that specialization makes possible. Similarly, transnational production is a force for good. TNCs, for instance, spread wealth, widen employment opportunities, and improve access to modern technology in the developing world, helping to explain why developing world governments are usually so keen to attract inward investment. Economic globalization is thus the most reliable means of reducing poverty. 

Economic freedom promotes other freedoms

Economic peace theory 

The McDonaldization of Society 

.Economic globalization does not just make societies richer. Rather, an open,market-based economy also brings social and political benefits. Social mobility increases as people can take advantage of wider working, career, and educational opportunities, and the ‘despotism ’ of custom and tradition is weakened as individualism and self-expression are given wider rein. Economic globalization is thus linked to democratization, and the two processes coincided very clearly in the 1990s. This occurs because people who enjoy wider economic and social opportunities soon demand greater opportunities for political participation, particularly through the introduction of multi-party elections. 

There are several benefits of globalization, such as increased international trade and cooperation and less international aggression. Social globalization—the sharing of ideas and information between countries—has led to innovation in the medical, technological, and environmental preservation industries 

Deepening poverty and inequality.

Critics of globalization have drawn attention to the emergence of new and deeply entrenched patterns of inequality: globalization is thus a game of winners and losers. Critical theorists argue that the winners are TNCs and industrially advanced states generally, but particularly the USA, while the losers are in the developing world, where wages are low, regulation is weak or non-existent, and where production is increasingly oriented around global markets rather than domestic needs. Economic globalization is therefore a form of neo-colonialism: it forces poor countries to open up their markets and allow their resources to be plundered by rich states.

Loss of manufacturing jobs in developed countries

The deindustrialization of the UK and parts of the USA as a result of manufacturing being moved 'offshore' to Asia and Central America led to unemployment and the destruction of working-class communities. This led to the rise of populist politics and Trump's return to protectionism.   The manufacturing jobs created in developing countries may have substandard working conditions, low wages, and few employment rights. . 

Environmental damage

TNCs and the global exploitation of resources, led to the destruction of fragile ecosystems such as rainforests and marine life. The farther a product travels, the more fuel is consumed, and a greater level of greenhouse gas emissions is produced. According to a report by the International Transport Forum, CO2 emissions from transport will increase 16 percent by 2050. These emissions contribute to pollution, climate change, and ocean acidification around the world and have been shown to significantly impact biodiversity.

Transportation—especially when land-based—requires infrastructure like roads and bridges. The development of such infrastructure can lead to issues including habitat loss and pollution. The more ships that travel by sea, the greater the chances for major oil spills or leaks that damage the delicate marine environment.

Invasive species: Every shipping container and vessel presents an opportunity for a living organism—from plants to animals to fungus—to hitch a ride to a new location where it can become invasive and grow without checks and balances that might be present in its natural environment.

The ‘hollowing out ’ of politics and democracy.

Economic globalization diminishes the influence of national governments and therefore restricts public accountability. State policy is driven instead by the need to attract inward investment and the pressures generated by intensifying international competition. Integration into the global economy, therefore, usually means tax reform, deregulation, and the scaling back of welfare.

For example when the IMF makes a loan to a member country that is in need, it is often conditional. Specifically, the state must undergo economic reforms to overcome the problems that led it to request help in the first place.  This might include: ■ cutting wasteful public spending and raising taxes, to eliminate the budget deficit ■ selling government-owned assets to private ownership, known as privatisation ■ increasing the amount of taxes that the state collects to help it pay for its own public services ■ reducing public sector wages

 The link between global capitalism and democratization is also a myth.

 Many states that have introduced market reforms and sought to integrate into the global economy have remained authoritarian if not dictatorial, conforming to the principles of state capitalism.  China, for example, has become more repressive and authoritarian as its economy has developed and expanded into global markets. 

Consumerist materialism and cultural hegemony

Jihad vs McWorld 

Even when economic globalization has succeeded in making people richer, it is less clear that it has improved, still less enriched, the quality of their lives. This is because it promotes an ethic of consumerism and material self-interest. Cultural and social distinctiveness is lost as people the world over consume the same goods, buy from the same stores and enjoy similar working practices and living conditions. This is particularly evident in the development of a ‘brand culture’, which pollutes public and personal spaces to create a culture of unthinking consumerism, even managing to absorb radical challenges to its dominance by turning them into consumer products. 

Has political globalization undermined state sovereignty?

Globalisation has not made the nation-state obsolete but has fundamentally transformed and "pooled" state sovereignty. While traditional Westphalian sovereignty—the absolute, independent authority over a territory—has been undermined, states have adapted by shifting toward a model of "negotiated" or "adaptive" sovereignty.  

• Ceding Authority to Supranational Bodies: States voluntarily transfer decision-making power to international organizations like the UN, EU, WTO, and IMF to solve trans-border issues. For example, EU member states must comply with common legislation even when it contradicts national preferences. For example, regaining sovereignty was one of the principal arguments for Brexit.

• Economic Interdependence: Global market forces and multinational corporations (MNCs) limit the ability of states to control their own domestic economies. Governments often engage in a "race to the bottom" by lowering taxes and environmental regulations to attract mobile capital. The concept of international free trade has led to greater economic interdependence and created opportunities for multinational corporations to develop across nation-states, often becoming a state within a state. States then alter their tax laws to attract inward investment and not deter global corporations.

• Transnational Challenges: Issues such as climate change, terrorism, and pandemics cannot be resolved unilaterally, forcing states to coordinate policies and compromise individual autonomy. The UNFCCC and the Paris Accords have led to international agreements which bind nations to climate control limits.

• Technological Erasure of Borders: The digital revolution has made it difficult for states to monitor cross-border flows of information, ideas, and illicit finance, eroding the state's monopoly on territorial control. States are now subject to cyber terrorism and state sponsored digital attacks.

Resilience and Adaptation of the State

Despite these pressures, the state remains a central actor through several mechanisms:

• Sovereignty as a Choice: Most reductions in sovereignty are voluntary; states choose to participate in global institutions because the benefits of cooperation outweigh the loss of total independence. Pooled sovereignty enhances a state's Individual sovereignty for example, as a member of the EU the UK was able to negotiate far more effectively than as an individual nation.

• Regulatory Growth: Paradoxically, many states have expanded their domestic reach into new areas (e.g., house building, family relations, and environmental standards) to manage the local impacts of globalisation. So wild states have pulled their sovereignty and joined alliances both regional and global they have deepened as well. So the modern nation state is broader and deeper reaching more emphatically into the lives of its citizens.

• Identity and Legitimacy: The state continues to be the primary provider of security, law enforcement, and welfare services, maintaining its role as the defining element of political identity for citizens.

• Regional Variations: Powerful states like China and India are less inclined to reduce their sovereignty than European nations, often practicing "guided globalization" to reap economic benefits while maintaining strict political and cultural control.