Transcript Globalisation - Cheung Chuk Shan College

Globalisation
Concepts and ideas
What is globalisation?
• An economic phenomenon?
• A social, cultural and technological
exchange?
Some definitions
• The sociologist, Anthony Giddens, defines
globalisation as a decoupling of space and
time, emphasising that with instantaneous
communications, knowledge and culture
can be shared around the world
simultaneously.
Some definitions
• A Dutch academic, Ruud Lubbers, defines
it as a process in which geographic
distance becomes a factor of diminishing
importance in the establishment and
maintenance of cross border economic,
political and socio-cultural relations
Some definitions
• Left critics of globalisation present it as
worldwide drive toward a globalised
economic system dominated by
supranational corporate trade and banking
institutions that are not accountable to
democratic processes or national
governments.
Some definitions
• Globalisation is the rapid increase in
cross-border economic, social,
technological exchange under conditions
of capitalism.
Some definitions
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Simon Reich defines globalisation as:
A historical epoch
A confluence of economic phenomena
The hegemony of American values
A technological and social revolution
Some definitions
• David Held and Anthony McGrew write in
their entry for Oxford Companion to
Politics that globalisation can be
conceived as a process (or set of
processes) which embodies a
transformation in the spatial organization
of social relations and transactions,
expressed in transcontinental or
interregional flows and networks of activity,
interaction and power.
Our concerns
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Globalisation of world economy
Globalisation in manufacturing industries
Globalisation in the Third World
Globalisation and sustainability
Globalisation in manufacturing ind.
refers to the processes whereby
• Capital is moved across the world
• Highly skilled labour, esp. those with
professional & IT skills are moving around
the globe to find employment where they
are in demand.
Who are the supporters?
• International organisations, e.g, WTO,
World Bank, OECD, etc
• Business sectors, e.g. International
Chamber of Commerce
• Developing country governments
• Internet and telecommunications industry
Who are the opposition?
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Environmentalists
Social development agencies, e.g Oxfam
Left critics of capitalism
Business organisations threatened by
international competitions
• Unions in rich countries
Look at the present situation.
Global Manufacturing
Global Manufacturing
• Is highly concentrated in the highly
industrialized countries – the MEDCs
(More Economically Developed Countries)
Highly industrialized countries
Found in the mid-latitude regions settled
by Europeans
• USA, Canada,
• UK & EU countries e.g. Germany, Belgium,
France
+
Japan
Highly industrialized countries
• Between 1953-1995, the older
industrialized economies’ share of world
manufacturing output declined from 95%
to 80%
• These core industrial nations still dominate
the world economy in terms of their output.
Newly Industrialized Countries
The Newly Industrializing Countries
have experienced very rapid growth in
manufacturing industries since the
1960s
NICs
• Asian ‘tigers’ e.g. Hong Kong, Singapore,
S. Korea, Taiwan
• Thailand, China
• Latin American NICs e.g. Brazil, Mexico,
Venezuela
• European NICs e.g. Portugal, Greece
NICs
• Today they are undergoing changes in
employment structure that MEDCs went
through some time ago
• The process is similar but the NICs are
experiencing it later and much, much
faster than MEDCs did in the 19th century.
Less industrialized countries
• Are the ELDCs (Economically less
Developed Countries)
• Slow growth of manufacturing
between 1938-50, 3.5% growth in
manufacturing.
between 1950-70, 6.6.% growth in
manufacturing.