12.2: Pressure From Above - Globalization

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:
Define globalization

• Distinguish between globalization and glocalization.
• Reflect on how globalization affects individuals and influences government policy.

Introduction

The collapse of the Soviet Union created interesting thoughts among the global community. Democracy defeated authoritarianism. Capitalism defeated communism. The West, led by the US and her NATO allies, had triumphed. Liberalism, where personal autonomy and freedoms are preferred in political, economic, and social decisions, would be adopted everywhere. Human rights, market activity, religious freedom, and people power were now the goals. Free-market, capitalist liberal democracies were the endgame. In other words, the world was witnessing the end of history. Of course, we know now that not all of these statements are true or accurate.

In simple terms, globalization is the process by which people and goods move easily across borders. However, political scientists disagree on how and what it is. Friedman (1999) described it as an “overarching international system shaping the domestic politics and foreign relations of virtually every country”. He claimed that the driving force behind globalization was free-market capitalism, where economic deregulation, market competition, and privatization were the global norms. Over time, the economies of the world would come together, pushing for a new global society based on capitalism, democracy, and liberalism.

In response, Steger (2020) suggested that globalization is more than just the advent of economic capitalism, or of Western values replacing local traditions. His ideas were based on the theory of glocalization, the practice of conducting business according to both local and global considerations. Worldwide interconnectivity is thickening the relationships between people, companies, and countries. Thus, it has become difficult to separate what happens within a country to what happens outside of it.

Globalization is about growing worldwide interconnectivity.

At some level, these interconnections have always existed. Some argue that globalization has its roots in the ancient trade routes on land and sea. Others claim the heyday of European empire-making, when Britain, France, the Netherlands, and other countries colonized large swaths of the world, was the first wave of globalization. Finally, some suggest that the end of World War II and the development of international economic institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund is when globalization took shape (Ritzer & Dean, 2015). Regardless of when globalization began, there is no doubt that globalization, as a process, has had an impact on how we consume, act, think, and even pray.

Economic Globalization

Free-market capitalism has been identified as the driving force in contemporary globalization. Neoliberalism is a newer form of (classical) liberalism, and is much more focused on economic freedoms. It takes the classical liberal arguments of private property, legal enforcement of contracts, the ‘invisible hand’ of the market, and principles of free market capitalism within a country, and applies them to the global community. Through identified policy proposals, including “deregulation (of the economy), liberalization (of trade and industry) and privatization (of state-owned enterprises)”, this D-L-P Formula was promoted worldwide by leading international economic institutions (Steger, 2021).

Neoliberalism has also been referred to as the Bretton Woods System, named after a conference held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire in 1944 to arrange and manage international economic relations after World War II. There are several organizations that evolved from this system.

• World Bank, an international institution that provides loans and financial assistance to developing countries, primarily by funding industrial projects
• International Monetary Fund (IMF), which manages the global monetary system and provides loans to countries that experience a currency crisis
• General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which later became the World Trade Organization (WTO) supervises the trade agreements between countries, with the aim of promoting free trade

The collective effort of the World Bank, the IMF, and the WTO in promoting neoliberalism is labeled the Washington Consensus. Scholars, policymakers, and politicians argued that D-L-P would lead to free trade between countries and foreign direct investment.

• Free trade is the unregulated trade of goods and services between countries, usually through the reduction of import and export controls
• Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a domestic investment by a foreign company, where the investment can be in the form of exports, the building of a production plant in the host country, an acquisition of a domestic company, or a joint venture

FDI would spur the creation of jobs within a country, leading to increased employment, and the advent of more wealth in that country. Agricultural workers would benefit the most. Higher-paying jobs would lead to more consumer spending, which would then encourage entrepreneurship. The importation of cheaper goods and services would help lower the cost of living, too. These changes would promote the development of a middle class, which for some political scientists and economists, is the foundational stone for a functioning democracy. If all countries adopted a neoliberal approach, then the triumph of free-market, capitalist liberal democracies would be complete.

Steger (2020) refers to market globalism, where a “self-regulating market…serves as the framework for a future global order.” For market globalists, capitalism is the end-game. They see a future where integrated markets create a global society where everyone benefits.

For many, this future has materialized. Research has shown that economic globalization has led to dramatic global economic growth, accompanied by a reduction in poverty and the creation of a sizable middle class, particularly in East Asian countries. However, growth in wealth has been uneven.

Political Globalization

Political globalization has called into question the future role of the state. Since the Cold War, international institutions, bodies of authority above the state that codify, maintain, and sometimes enforce, sets of rules that govern state behavior, have increased in importance. Examples include United Nations (UN), the World Bank, the IMF, and the World Bank. Initially, some political scientists believed that national governments would wither away and that some version of a world government would develop. Now, few, if any, believe this to be the case. Instead, global governance emerged, a collective effort of the world’s countries to find lasting solutions to global problems through the constellation of international institutions.

During the Covid-19, global governance has been called into question as countries sought to address the spread and containment of the virus on their own. The US, UK, EU, Russia, and China all developed their own vaccines. Some countries eschewed cooperation with international institutions, such as the World Health Organization (WHO). For example, former U.S. President Trump's administration accused the WHO of being insufficiently critical of China, where the Covid-19 virus originated, and went as far as to rescind the US’s annual contribution to WHO expenses. While the election of Biden in 2020 reversed this stance, multilateralism, or the formal cooperation between three or more states on a particular issue is still important.

In addition to international institutions, there are non-state actors. Non-state actors are “an individual or organization that has significant political influence but is not allied to any particular country or state” (Lexico, n.d). These individuals can include twitter users, documentary filmmakers, activists, consumer advocates, celebrities, ordinary citizens. Good examples include Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors and Greta Thunburg, a young Swedish environmentalist. Other non-state actors include multinational corporations (MNCs), such as Mcdonald's or Starbucks, transnational criminal organizations, transnational terrorist organizations, paramilitaries, and armed resistance groups. In some cases, it can involve decentralized networks, such as Reddit communities, where like-minded individuals come together online to affect politics or impact the market through their collective action.

The most prolific non-state actors are nongovernmental organizations, private, voluntary organizations that unite, usually for action on specific issues. NGOs lie outside the traditional structure of international politics, while having a significant impact on world affairs. Their power derives from a variety of sources, most notably that of moral authority, where members believe that the cause they are fighting for is righteous. Using media strengthens and promotes their cause.

Finally, political globalization has focused on the process of democratization. The diffusion of capitalist beliefs would be accompanied by the spread of democratic norms. Growing wealth would lead to an increase in the size of a country’s middle class, which would then lead citizens to demand greater representation in their government. Globalization would mean greater cooperation between countries to address global problems, such as climate change or terrorism.

Bureaucratic authoritarianism may develop as a viable alternative to democratic governance. Bureaucratic authoritarianism is the management of a country through a strong bureaucratic organization that excludes the popular will of the people, and where decisions are made by technocrats, or subject matter experts. Both Russia and China have veered towards this model and its effectiveness is being studied by other political leaders. Indeed, the general lockdown of many countries’ economies, the closing of borders, and the granting of emergency powers during the Covid-19 pandemic suggest the shift toward authoritarianism may accelerate.

For a full-screen image of this graphic, click here International Actors, Their Impact on Global Governance, Elites and Citizens

Cultural Globalization

Cultural globalization has been affected by the movement of people and the ever-growing flow of information brought on by newer technologies. Ideally, scholars thought that the peoples of the world would eventually coalesce into one global civil society. Steger (2020) called this idea a global imaginary, or people’s growing consciousness of global connectivity, where people think of themselves as global citizens first.

Cultural forms are re-used to fashion new identities in diverse contexts. Changes affect how we view ourselves and others, as well as our daily lives and those around us. For example, migration can have a nativist effect on the receiving country. Too much migration often leads to a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment among the public, which is sometimes accompanied by xenophobia and discriminatory action.

Migration

Since the Cold War, migrations have increased. These movements between countries are categorized in two ways.

• Intentional migration is when a person chooses to move from one place to another.
  • Immigrants are migrants who willingly and legally left their home countries to work and live in another country. They often have needed skill sets or investment capital.
  • Sojourners are migrants who temporarily live in a place and return to their home country. Examples include international and study abroad students, as well as temporary labor.
• Unintentional migration is when a person does not choose to move from one place to another.
  • A refugee is a person outside his/her country of nationality or habitual residence who has a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, or membership in a particular social group.
  • A temporary asylee is someone who intends to stay in a new place for a brief time, but is subsequently unable to return home. Temporary asylees are not refugees, as they do not possess equal status and are often treated differently by the general population.
  • Internally displaced people (IDPs) are unintentional migrants who have not crossed a border to find safety. Unlike refugees, they are on the run at home. At the end of 2017, some 40 million people were internally displaced due to armed conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violations. IDPs often move to areas where it is difficult for aid agencies to deliver humanitarian assistance. As a result, these people are among the most vulnerable in the world.

Each year, the UN's International Organization for Migration produces an annual report. Due to the time it takes to comply data, the results are often 1-2 years behind the calendar year. This image is a small snippet of a much larger infographic. For the complete graphic, view the World Migration Report 2022.

Internet

The Internet and the rise in social media are two of the key changes in how we receive our information. Instant access to websites, document repositories, blogs, discussion communities, and news resources vastly expands an individual’s ability to access greater social information. We live in a digital world where the Internet is ubiquitous. Millennials and members of Generation Z are digital natives, or people who were raised with technology. In contrast, Generation X and the Baby Boomers are considered digital immigrants, or people who did not grow up with today’s technology. An analog world, of vinyl records, turntables, printed books, live music, political rallies, and physical interactions, will never entirely disappear. However, our relationship with the Internet has fundamentally shifted our understanding of the world, going from a post-industrial society to an informational society.

The Internet has created sociopolitical venues for information to leave countries that attempt to severely restrict access to information. Anyone can blog, which democratizes access to information and allows people to act as public intellectuals. Knowledge exchange has become not a privilege, but an expectation, almost even a right.

States have a difficult time regulating the Internet. Even when a government attempts to crackdown, users and activists find ways around it. For example, even before the Arab Spring protests began, youth movements had been organized through Internet web pages and social media. Facebook and Twitter were instrumental in the lead-up to the “Day of Revolt” in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square. In fact, al-Jazeera reported that “the week before Hosni Mubarak’s resignation, the total rate of tweets about Egypt surged from 2,300 a day to 230,000 around the world”.

During the protests of early 2011, the Mubarak regime blocked Internet use. So, protesters began using proxy computers to get around censors. They connected to users in Sweden, using dial-up modems. Once they were no longer subject to Egyptian authorities, the protesters published an “Egypt Wiki page – a “how-to” list for activists to get online and stay connected, started using text messages to organize their marches” (al Jazeera, 2016). Protesters also went analog by creating handheld signs when demonstrating. Per al Jazeera, “If you could not look down at your phone for updates, you could look up and find signs that explained where and when to gather next”. One could argue that cutting internet access led to unintended consequences, e.g. more citizens taking to the streets, further fueling the revolution.