, which would form one of the world's largest
free trade areas, has been denounced by environmental activists and indigenous rights campaigners. Reactions to processes contributing to globalization have varied widely with a history as long as extraterritorial contact and trade.
Philosophical differences regarding the costs and benefits of such processes give rise to a broad-range of
ideologies and
social movements. Proponents of
economic growth,
expansion, and
development, in general, view globalizing processes as desirable or necessary to the well-being of human
society. Antagonists view one or more globalizing processes as detrimental to social well-being on a global or local scale; Xenophobia can manifest itself in many ways involving the relations and
perceptions of an
ingroup towards an
outgroup, including a fear of losing identity, suspicion of its activities, aggression, and desire to eliminate its presence to secure a presumed purity. Critiques of globalization generally stem from discussions surrounding the impact of such processes on the planet as well as the human costs. They challenge directly traditional metrics, such as GDP, and look to other measures, such as the
Gini coefficient or the
Happy Planet Index, and point to a "multitude of interconnected fatal consequences–social disintegration, a breakdown of democracy, more rapid and extensive deterioration of the environment, the spread of new diseases, increasing poverty and alienation" which they claim are the
unintended consequences of globalization. Others point out that, while the forces of globalization have led to the spread of western-style democracy, this has been accompanied by an increase in inter-ethnic tension and violence as free market economic policies combine with democratic processes of universal suffrage as well as an escalation in militarization to impose democratic principles and as a means to conflict resolution. On 9 August 2019, Pope Francis denounced
isolationism and hinted that the Catholic Church will embrace globalization at the
October 2019 Amazonia Synod, stating "the whole is greater than the parts. Globalization and unity should not be conceived as a sphere, but as a polyhedron: each people retains its identity in unity with others"
Public opinion As a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, globalization is considered by some as a form of capitalist expansion which entails the integration of local and national economies into a global, underregulated market economy. A 2005 study found a large increase in articles negative towards globalization in the years prior. In 1998, negative articles outpaced positive by two to one. The number of newspaper articles showing negative framing rose from about 10% in 1991 to 55% in 1999. This increase occurred during a period when the number of articles concerning globalization nearly doubled. The BBC found that 50% of people believed that economic globalization was proceeding too rapidly, while 35% believed it was too slow. In 2004, Philip Gordon stated that "a clear majority of Europeans believe that globalization can enrich their lives, while believing the European Union can help them take advantage of globalization's benefits while shielding them from its negative effects". The main opposition consisted of socialists, environmental groups, and nationalists. Residents of the EU did not appear to feel threatened by globalization in 2004. The EU job market was more stable and workers were less likely to accept wage/benefit cuts. Social spending was much higher than in the US. In a Danish poll in 2007, 76% responded that globalization is a good thing. A 1993 US survey showed more than 40% of respondents were unfamiliar with the concept of globalization. When the survey was repeated in 1998, 89% had a polarized view of globalization as being either good or bad. Discourse on globalization, which began in the financial community, shifted to a heated debate between proponents and disenchanted students and workers. Polarization increased dramatically after the establishment of the WTO in 1995; this event and subsequent protests led to a large-scale anti-globalization movement. According to Takenaka Heizo and Chida Ryokichi, there was a perception in Japan that the economy was "Small and Frail". However, Japan was resource-poor and used exports to pay for its raw materials. Anxiety over their position caused terms such as
internationalization and
globalization to enter everyday language. However, Japanese tradition was to be as self-sufficient as possible, particularly in agriculture. Many in developing countries see globalization as a positive force that lifts them out of poverty. Much of this criticism comes from the middle class; the
Brookings Institution suggested this was because the middle class perceived upwardly mobile low-income groups as threatening to their economic security.
Economics of China and
George W. Bush meet while attending an
APEC summit in Santiago de Chile, 2004. The literature analyzing the economics of free trade is extremely rich with extensive work having been done on the theoretical and empirical effects. Though it creates winners and losers, the broad consensus among economists is that free trade is a large and unambiguous net gain for society. In a 2006 survey of 83 American economists, "87.5% agree that the U.S. should eliminate remaining tariffs and other barriers to trade" and "90.1% disagree with the suggestion that the U.S. should restrict employers from outsourcing work to foreign countries." Quoting Harvard economics professor
N. Gregory Mankiw, "Few propositions command as much consensus among professional economists as that open world trade increases economic growth and raises living standards." In a survey of leading economists, none disagreed with the notion that "freer trade improves productive efficiency and offers consumers better choices, and in the long run these gains are much larger than any effects on employment." Most economists would agree that although increasing returns to scale might mean that certain industry could settle in a geographical area without any strong economic reason derived from comparative advantage, this is not a reason to argue against free trade because the absolute level of output enjoyed by both "winner" and "loser" will increase with the "winner" gaining more than the "loser" but both gaining more than before in an absolute level. In the book
The End of Poverty, Jeffrey Sachs discusses how many factors can affect a country's ability to enter the world market, including government
corruption; legal and social disparities based on gender, ethnicity, or caste; diseases such as
AIDS and
malaria; lack of infrastructure (including transportation, communications, health, and trade); unstable political landscapes;
protectionism; and geographic barriers.
Jagdish Bhagwati, a former adviser to the U.N. on globalization, holds that, although there are obvious problems with overly rapid development, globalization is a very positive force that lifts countries out of poverty by causing a virtuous economic cycle associated with faster economic growth. However, economic growth does not necessarily mean a reduction in poverty; in fact, the two can coexist. Economic growth is conventionally measured using indicators such as
gross domestic product (GDP) and
GNI that do not accurately reflect the growing disparities in wealth. Additionally,
Oxfam International argues that poor people are often excluded from globalization-induced opportunities "by a lack of productive assets, weak infrastructure, poor education and ill-health;" effectively leaving these marginalized groups in a
poverty trap. Economist
Paul Krugman is another staunch supporter of globalization and free trade with a record of disagreeing with many critics of globalization. He argues that many of them lack a basic understanding of
comparative advantage and its importance in today's world. The flow of migrants to advanced economies has been claimed to provide a means through which global wages converge. An IMF study noted a potential for skills to be transferred back to developing countries as wages in those a countries rise. Lastly, the dissemination of knowledge has been an integral aspect of globalization. Technological innovations (or technological transfer) are conjectured to benefit most developing and least developing countries (LDCs), as for example in the adoption of
mobile phones. of UNDP). Like this, the British economic journalist
Martin Wolf says that incomes of poor developing countries, with more than half the world's population, grew substantially faster than those of the world's richest countries that remained relatively stable in its growth, leading to reduced international inequality and the incidence of poverty. in both developed and developing countries,
income equality has a more beneficial impact than trade openness, sound political institutions, and foreign investment. Certain demographic changes in the developing world after active
economic liberalization and international integration resulted in rising general welfare and, hence, reduced inequality. According to Wolf, in the developing world as a whole, life expectancy rose by four months each year after 1970 and infant mortality rate declined from 107 per thousand in 1970 to 58 in 2000 due to improvements in
standards of living and health conditions. Also, adult literacy in developing countries rose from 53% in 1970 to 74% in 1998 and much lower illiteracy rate among the young guarantees that rates will continue to fall as time passes. Furthermore, the reduction in
fertility rate in the developing world as a whole from 4.1 births per woman in 1980 to 2.8 in 2000 indicates improved education level of women on fertility, and control of fewer children with more parental attention and investment. Consequently, more prosperous and educated parents with fewer children have chosen to withdraw their children from the labor force to give them opportunities to be educated at school improving the issue of
child labor. Thus, despite seemingly unequal
distribution of income within these developing countries, their economic growth and development have brought about improved standards of living and welfare for the population as a whole. Per capita GDP growth among post-1980 globalizing countries accelerated from 1.4 percent a year in the 1960s and 2.9 percent a year in the 1970s to 3.5 percent in the 1980s and 5.0 percent in the 1990s. This acceleration in growth seems even more remarkable given that the rich countries saw steady declines in growth from a high of 4.7 percent in the 1960s to 2.2 percent in the 1990s. Also, the non-globalizing developing countries seem to fare worse than the globalizers, with the former's annual growth rates falling from highs of 3.3 percent during the 1970s to only 1.4 percent during the 1990s. This rapid growth among the globalizers is not simply due to the strong performances of China and India in the 1980s and 1990s—18 out of the 24 globalizers experienced increases in growth, many of them quite substantial. The globalization of the late 20th and early 21st centuries has led to the resurfacing of the idea that the growth of economic
interdependence promotes peace. This idea had been very powerful during the globalization of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was a central doctrine of
classical liberals of that era, such as the young
John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946). Some opponents of globalization see the phenomenon as a promotion of corporate interests. They also claim that the increasing autonomy and strength of
corporate entities shapes the political policy of countries. They advocate global institutions and policies that they believe better address the moral claims of poor and working classes as well as environmental concerns. Economic arguments by
fair trade theorists claim that unrestricted free trade benefits those with more
financial leverage (i.e. the rich) at the expense of the poor. Globalization allows corporations to
outsource manufacturing and service jobs from high-cost locations, creating economic opportunities with the most competitive wages and worker benefits.
Global democracy Democratic globalization is a movement towards an institutional system of global
democracy that would give world citizens a say in political organizations. This would, in their view, bypass nation-states, corporate oligopolies, ideological
non-governmental organizations (NGO), political cults and mafias. One of its most prolific proponents is the British political thinker
David Held. Advocates of
democratic globalization argue that economic expansion and development should be the first phase of democratic globalization, which is to be followed by a phase of building
global political institutions.
Francesco Stipo, Director of the United States Association of the
Club of Rome, advocates unifying nations under a
world government, suggesting that it "should reflect the political and economic balances of world nations. A world confederation would not supersede the authority of the State governments but rather complement it, as both the States and the world authority would have power within their sphere of competence". Former
Canadian Senator Douglas Roche,
O.C., viewed globalization as inevitable and advocated creating institutions such as a
directly elected United Nations Parliamentary Assembly to exercise oversight over unelected international bodies.
Global civics Global civics suggests that
civics can be understood, in a global sense, as a
social contract between
global citizens in the age of interdependence and interaction. The disseminators of the concept define it as the notion that we have certain rights and responsibilities towards each other by the mere fact of being human on Earth.
World citizen has a variety of similar meanings, often referring to a person who disapproves of traditional
geopolitical divisions derived from national
citizenship. An early incarnation of this sentiment can be found in
Socrates, whom
Plutarch quoted as saying: "I am not an Athenian, or a Greek, but a citizen of the world." In an increasingly interdependent world, world citizens need a compass to frame their mindsets and create a shared consciousness and sense of global responsibility in world issues such as environmental problems and
nuclear proliferation. Baha'i-inspired author Meyjes, while favoring the single world community and emergent global consciousness, warns of globalization as a cloak for an expeditious economic, social, and cultural Anglo-dominance that is insufficiently inclusive to inform the emergence of an optimal world civilization. He proposes a process of "
universalization" as an alternative.
Cosmopolitanism is the proposal that all human ethnic groups belong to a single
community based on a shared
morality. A person who adheres to the idea of cosmopolitanism in any of its forms is called a cosmopolitan or cosmopolite. A cosmopolitan community might be based on an inclusive morality, a shared economic relationship, or a political structure that encompasses different nations. The cosmopolitan community is one in which individuals from different places (e.g. nation-states) form relationships based on mutual respect. For instance,
Kwame Anthony Appiah suggests the possibility of a cosmopolitan community in which individuals from varying locations (physical, economic, etc.) enter relationships of mutual respect despite their differing beliefs (religious, political, etc.). Canadian philosopher
Marshall McLuhan popularized the term
Global Village beginning in 1962. His view suggested that globalization would lead to a world where people from all countries will become more integrated and aware of common interests and shared humanity.
International cooperation and
Dmitry Medvedev after signing the
New START treaty in Prague, 2010
Military cooperation – Past examples of international cooperation exist. One example is the security cooperation between the United States and the former Soviet Union after the end of the Cold War, which astonished international society. Arms control and disarmament agreements, including the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (see
START I,
START II,
START III, and
New START) and the establishment of
NATO's Partnership for Peace, the Russia NATO Council, and the
G8 Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction, constitute concrete initiatives of arms control and de-nuclearization. The US–Russian cooperation was further strengthened by anti-terrorism agreements enacted in the wake of 9/11.
Environmental cooperation – One of the biggest successes of environmental cooperation has been the agreement to reduce
chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) emissions, as specified in the
Montreal Protocol, in order to stop ozone depletion. The most recent debate around nuclear energy and the non-alternative coal-burning power plants constitutes one more consensus on what not to do. Thirdly, significant achievements in IC can be observed through development studies.
Anti-globalization movement demonstration in
Hannover, Germany, 2016 Anti-globalization, or counter-globalization, consists of a number of criticisms of globalization but, in general, is critical of the globalization of
corporate capitalism. The movement is also commonly referred to as the
alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist movement,
anti-corporate globalization movement, or movement against
neoliberal globalization. Opponents of globalization argue that power and respect in terms of international trade between the developed and underdeveloped countries of the world are unequally distributed. The diverse subgroups that make up this movement include some of the following: trade unionists, environmentalists, anarchists, land rights and indigenous rights activists, organizations promoting human rights and sustainable development, opponents of privatization, and
anti-sweatshop campaigners. In
The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy,
Christopher Lasch analyzed the widening gap between the top and bottom of the social composition in the United States. For him, our epoch is determined by a social phenomenon: the revolt of the elites, in reference to
The Revolt of the Masses (1929) by the Spanish philosopher
José Ortega y Gasset. According to Lasch, the new elites, i.e. those who are in the top 20% in terms of income, through globalization which allows total mobility of capital, no longer live in the same world as their fellow-citizens. In this, they oppose the old bourgeoisie of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which was constrained by its spatial stability to a minimum of rooting and civic obligations. Globalization, according to the sociologist, has turned elites into tourists in their own countries. The denationalization of business enterprise tends to produce a class who see themselves as "world citizens, but without accepting ... any of the obligations that citizenship in a polity normally implies". Their ties to an international culture of work, leisure, information – make many of them deeply indifferent to the prospect of national decline. Instead of financing public services and the public treasury, new elites are investing their money in improving their voluntary ghettos: private schools in their residential neighborhoods, private police, garbage collection systems. They have "withdrawn from common life". Composed of those who control the international flows of capital and information, who preside over philanthropic foundations and institutions of higher education, manage the instruments of cultural production and thus fix the terms of public debate. So, the political debate is limited mainly to the dominant classes and political ideologies lose all contact with the concerns of the ordinary citizen. The result of this is that no one has a likely solution to these problems and that there are furious ideological battles on related issues. However, they remain protected from the problems affecting the working classes: the decline of industrial activity, the resulting loss of employment, the decline of the middle class, increasing the number of the poor, the rising crime rate, growing drug trafficking, the urban crisis. D.A. Snow et al. contend that the
anti-globalization movement is an example of a
new social movement, which uses tactics that are unique and use different resources than previously used before in other social movements. One of the most infamous tactics of the movement is the
Battle of Seattle in 1999, where there were protests against the World Trade Organization's Third Ministerial Meeting. All over the world, the movement has held protests outside meetings of institutions such as the WTO, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, and the Group of Eight (G8). Those opposed to capital market integration on the basis of
human rights issues are especially disturbed by the various abuses which they think are perpetuated by global and international institutions that, they say, promote
neoliberalism without regard to ethical standards. Common targets include the
World Bank (WB),
International Monetary Fund (IMF), the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the
World Trade Organization (WTO) and
free trade treaties like the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),
Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), the
Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) and the
General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). In light of the economic gap between rich and poor countries, movement adherents claim free trade without measures in place to protect the under-capitalized will contribute only to the strengthening the power of industrialized nations (often termed the "North" in opposition to the developing world's "South").
Anti-corporatism and anti-consumerism Corporatist ideology, which privileges the rights of corporations (
artificial or juridical persons) over those of
natural persons, is an underlying factor in the recent rapid expansion of global commerce. In recent years, there have been an increasing number of books (
Naomi Klein's 2000
No Logo, for example) and films (
e.g. The Corporation and
Surplus) popularizing an
anti-corporate ideology to the public. A related contemporary ideology,
consumerism, which encourages the personal acquisition of goods and services, also drives globalization. Anti-consumerism is a social movement against equating personal happiness with consumption and the purchase of material possessions. Concern over the treatment of consumers by large corporations has spawned substantial activism, and the incorporation of
consumer education into school
curricula. Social activists hold materialism is connected to
global retail merchandizing and
supplier convergence,
war, greed,
anomie,
crime,
environmental degradation, and general social
malaise and discontent. One variation on this topic is activism by
postconsumers, with the strategic emphasis on moving
beyond addictive consumerism.
Global justice and inequality Global justice , as of 2018 The global justice movement is the loose collection of individuals and groups—often referred to as a "
movement of movements"—who advocate
fair trade rules and perceive current institutions of global economic integration as problems. The movement is often labeled an anti-globalization movement by the mainstream media. Those involved, however, frequently deny that they are
anti-globalization, insisting that they support the globalization of communication and people and oppose only the global expansion of corporate power. The movement is based in the idea of
social justice, desiring the creation of a society or institution based on the principles of
equality and
solidarity, the values of human rights, and the dignity of every human being.
Social inequality within and between nations, including a growing
global digital divide, is a focal point of the movement. Many nongovernmental organizations have now arisen to fight these inequalities that many in Latin America, Africa and Asia face. A few very popular and well known
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) include:
War Child,
Red Cross,
Free The Children and
CARE International. They often create partnerships where they work towards improving the lives of those who live in developing countries by building schools, fixing infrastructure, cleaning water supplies, purchasing equipment and supplies for hospitals, and other aid efforts. (trillions USD),
Credit Suisse Social inequality The economies of the world have
developed unevenly, historically, such that entire geographical regions were left mired in poverty and disease while others began to reduce poverty and disease on a wholesale basis. From around 1980 through at least 2011, the GDP gap, while still wide, appeared to be closing and, in some more rapidly
developing countries,
life expectancies began to rise. If we look at the Gini coefficient for world income, since the late 1980s, the gap between some regions has markedly narrowed—between Asia and the advanced economies of the West, for example—but huge gaps remain globally. Overall equality across humanity, considered as individuals, has improved very little. Within the decade between 2003 and 2013, income inequality grew even in traditionally egalitarian countries like Germany, Sweden and Denmark. With a few exceptions—France, Japan, Spain—the top 10 percent of earners in most advanced economies raced ahead, while the bottom 10 percent fell further behind. By 2013, 85 multibillionaires had amassed wealth equivalent to all the wealth owned by the poorest half (3.5 billion) of the world's total population of 7 billion. Critics of globalization argue that globalization results in weak
labor unions: the surplus in cheap labor coupled with an ever-growing number of companies in transition weakened labor unions in high-cost areas. Unions become less effective and workers their enthusiasm for unions when membership begins to decline. , on
May Day, 2006 Women often participate in the workforce in
precarious work, including
export-oriented employment. Evidence suggests that while globalization has expanded women's access to employment, the long-term goal of transforming
gender inequalities remains unmet and appears unattainable without regulation of capital and a reorientation and expansion of the state's role in funding public goods and providing a social safety net. Furthermore, the intersectionality of gender, race, class, can be overlooked by scholars and commentators when assessing the impact of globalization. In 2016, a study published by the IMF posited that
neoliberalism, the ideological backbone of contemporary globalized capitalism, has been "oversold", with the benefits of neoliberal policies being "fairly difficult to establish when looking at a broad group of countries" and the costs, most significantly higher income inequality within nations, "hurt the level and sustainability of growth."
Anti-global governance Beginning in the 1930s, opposition arose to the idea of a world government, as advocated by organizations such as the
World Federalist Movement (WFM). Those who oppose global governance typically do so on objections that the idea is unfeasible, inevitably oppressive, or simply unnecessary. In general, these opponents are wary of the concentration of power or wealth that such governance might represent. Such reasoning dates back to the founding of the
League of Nations and, later, the
United Nations.
Environmentalist opposition of the
Madagascar Highland Plateau has led to extensive
siltation and unstable flows of western
rivers.
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental
conservation and improvement of the health of the
environment. Environmentalist concerns with globalization include issues such as
global warming, global
water supply and
water crises, inequity in
energy consumption and
energy conservation, transnational
air pollution and pollution of the
world ocean,
overpopulation, world
habitat sustainability,
deforestation,
biodiversity loss and
species extinction. One critique of globalization is that natural resources of the poor have been systematically taken over by the rich and the pollution promulgated by the rich is systematically dumped on the poor. Some argue that Northern corporations are increasingly exploiting resources of less wealthy countries for their global activities while it is the South that is disproportionately bearing the environmental burden of the globalized economy. Globalization is thus leading to a type of" environmental
apartheid".
Helena Norberg-Hodge, the director and founder of Local Futures/
International Society for Ecology and Culture, criticizes globalization in many ways. In her book
Ancient Futures, Norberg-Hodge claims that "centuries of ecological balance and social harmony are under threat from the pressures of development and globalization." She also criticizes the standardization and rationalization of globalization, as it does not always yield the expected growth outcomes. Although globalization takes similar steps in most countries, scholars such as Hodge claim that it might not be effective to certain countries and that globalization has actually moved some countries backward instead of developing them. A related area of concern is the
pollution haven hypothesis, which posits that, when large industrialized nations seek to set up factories or offices abroad, they will often look for the cheapest option in terms of resources and labor that offers the land and material access they require (see
Race to the bottom). This often comes at the cost of environmentally sound practices. Developing countries with cheap resources and labor tend to have less stringent
environmental regulations, and conversely, nations with stricter environmental regulations become more expensive for companies as a result of the costs associated with meeting these standards. Thus, companies that choose to physically invest in foreign countries tend to (re)locate to the countries with the lowest
environmental standards or weakest enforcement. The
European Union–Mercosur Free Trade Agreement, which would form one of the world's largest free trade areas, has been denounced by
environmental activists and
indigenous rights campaigners. The fear is that the deal could lead to more
deforestation of the Amazon rainforest as it expands market access to Brazilian beef. ==See also==