Critically evaluate the perspective that the current phase of globalization is deepening the economic inequalities between developed and developing countries
Globalization is a term that relates to many different political, economical, cultural and ideological processes. In economic terms, it is roughly defined as the free movement of capital, services and goods across international borders. It has enabled western market economies to spread across the globe, which in turn has helped large corporations from those western countries to extend their reach of impact further across the globe than before.
It has seen these market economies and corporations increase revenue dramatically, but has the liberalisation of markets and economies benefitted everyone equally?
The short answer is no. The UN, in their 2010 Human Development Report, states that “over the past 20 years, the gap between developed and developing countries has continued to widen.” Their evidence to support this claim is as follows: “In 1970 the average income of a country in the top quarter of the world income distribution was 23 times that of a country in the bottom quarter. By 2010 it approached 29 times.” But how much of this is down to globalisation?
Pranab Bardhan, in his article “Does globalisation help or hurt the poor” states that “globalization can cause many hardships for the poor in these [developing] countries but it also opens up opportunities which some countries can utilize and others do not, largely depending on their domestic political and economic institutions”. Between 1981 and 2001, the percentage of people living below the international poverty line in sub-Saharan Africa rose from 42% to 46%, but of the 43 countries in that region, 29 experienced civil conflicts during that time. Civil conflicts such as the one in Sudan drive millions of people out of their homes and out of their jobs, forcing them to live in refugee camps and subsequently below the poverty line, and this is not as a result of globalisation. Bardhan suggests that if anything, this has had a negative effect on globalisation “as it scared off many foreign investors and traders”.
The Essay on Country’s economy
These are goods that cannot be provided by the private sector but are very essential to the development of a country’s economy. They are usually very expensive undertakings with fewer returns or take a long time for the investors to recoup their money back. This makes them to be less attractive to the private sector investors who are mainly driven by the profit motive and would thus be unwilling ...
When TNCs open up factories and manufacturing facilities in developing countries, the perception in the more developed countries is that these factories exploit cheap, local workforces and the working conditions in these “sweatshop” factories are poor. But this perception is only partly true. An Oxfam Report from 2002 contains an interview with Rahana Chaudhuri, a 23 year old mother of three from Bangladesh. She works in a factory producing clothing garments for export. She says “This job is hard– and we are not treated fairly. The managers do not respect us women. But life is much harder for those working outside. Back in my village, I would have less money. Outside of the factories, people selling things in the street or carrying bricks on building sites earn less than we do. There are few other options. Of course I want better conditions. But for me this job means that my children will have enough to eat, and that their lives can improve.” So she has benefitted from getting this work, and therefore globalisation has made her, a poor person, richer.
But what we see in our part of the world is the fact that she and her fellow workers are earning far less than their counterparts in developed countries, as the corporation and factory owners look to save massive amounts of money on wages. Media corporations in our part of the world show us only the negative side of globalisation. The International Forum on Globalisation only looked at the negative side too in their 2001 report: “The ideologies and rules of economic globalization – including free trade, deregulation, privatization, and structural adjustment – have destroyed the livelihoods of millions of people, often leaving them homeless, landless and hungry, while removing their access to even the most basic public services such as health and medical care, education, sanitation, fresh water, public transport, job training and the like. The record shows that economic globalization makes things worse for the poor, not better” (Baker, Korten, Mander, 2001).
The Term Paper on Critical analysis of Good Country People by Flannery O’ Connor
Good Country People is one of the most sought after works of Flannery O’ Connor. It is said to be the biography of O’Connor but she never claimed it to be such. The novel Good Country People seems to reflect the current situation and emotional status of O’ Connor while she was writing the novel, and if it is not in fact her biography, her emotion at that time has influenced the novel greatly. ...
They say this almost as if they were expecting all of the people living in the world’s poorest countries to suddenly become richer over night. Realistically, that was never going to happen.
There is truth however in that report. As a result of globalisation, some poor people do get poorer, but as noted above some of the poor get richer too – those people who get to work for large global companies end up earning more money than they would be earning otherwise. But of course the big winners are the owners of these companies. In Globalisation, A Very Short Introduction, Manfred Steger points out that “the average salary of a CEO employed in a large corporation in 2000 is 416 times higher than that of an average worker [in that corporation]”.
Steger cites more shocking statistics from the 2000 UN HDR: “The assets of the top three billionaires are more than the combined GNP of the least developed countries and their 600 million people.” But again, this is not necessarily due to globalisation. The man who was the second richest millionaire at the time, Warren Buffet, is not the CEO of a large corporation; his wealth is purely due to investment banking.
To say the cause of global inequalities increasing is due to globalisation is inaccurate, but conversely to say that it has no effect is also inaccurate. As a result of globalisation, some of the richest people in the world get richer, but the poorest people in the world have become poorer as a result of other factors. The 2010 UN HDR states that “The distance between the richest and poorest countries has widened to a gulf. The richest country today (Liechtenstein) is three times richer than the richest country in 1970. The poorest country today (Zimbabwe) is about 25 percent poorer than the poorest country in 1970 (also Zimbabwe),” but Zimbabwe is very poor due to internal issues, such as hyperinflation.
The Essay on Good Country People 2
This essay will delve into the life of Flannery O’Connor not only as it is told biographically but as her life relates and is reiterated in the stories she writes. By using O’Connor’s fiction as a backdrop to her life, the essay will focus on the bizarre characterization of the protagonists of O’Connor’s stories as much as O’Connor herself was a very unique person. Thus, O’Connor will be ...
The liberalisation of markets was supposed to help spread wealth equally across the globe. This has occurred on some levels, but as of yet this wealth has not reached everybody. With populations ever increasing, including in already impoverished areas, it may be a long time before everybody feels the positive effects of globalisation.
References
Baker, D., Korten, D., Mander, J. (2001) Does Globalisation Help the Poor? The International Forum on Globalisation Bulletin, Volume 1 Issue 3.
Bardhan, P., (2006) Does Globalisation Help or Hurt the World’s Poor? Scientific American, April 2006 Issue.
Sambanis, N., (2004) What is Civil War? Journal of Conflict Resolution, Volume 48.
Steger, M. B., (2009) Globalisation, A Very Short Introduction, Pages 108-109.
United Nations, (2010) Human Development Report, Pages 41- 42.
Heshmati, A., (2003) The Relationship between Income Inequality and Globalization, IZA Discussion Paper No. 1277. Available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=586066 [Accessed on November 23rd 2010].
