Globalisation

Key Concepts and

Definitions
 Definitions
 Americanisation
 Where American culture and values erodes traditional local cultures gradually replacing them. A term associated with global
pessimism, it isn’t usually regarded as something positive!
 Communism
 An economic system in which the means of production are owned in common and wealth distributed according to need.
 Cosmopolitanism
 where people or societies are tolerant of other people’s or societies’ ways of life and values; this is one of the positive
consequences of globalisation as people increasingly come into contact with other ways of life and make an effort to enter into
dialogue with diverse cultures and find ways to ‘live together’. Related concepts include reflexivity and detraditionalisation. The
opposite of cosmopolitanism is fundamentalism.
 Cultural Globalisation
 The movement of ideas, attitudes, meanings, values and cultural products across national borders.
 Cultural Hybridity
 The emergence of a new cultural form out of two or more existing ones, leaving both forms changed without erasing the old.
 Deregulation
 Removing restrictions on businesses, for example reducing health and safety regulations.
 De-traditionalisation
 Where people have increasing choice about whether to stick to traditional ways of life; traditions become less stable as people
increasingly question their traditional beliefs about religion, marriage, and gender roles and so on.
 Globalisation
 The increasing interconnectedness and inter-dependency of the world’s nations and their people into a single global, economic, political
and global system.
 Glocalisation
 Where people in developing countries select aspects of western culture and adapt them to their particular needs – associated with
Transformationalism and critical of the pessimist theory that globalisation results in Americanisation.
 Golden Straightjacket
 Thomas Friedman’s term for the neoliberal policies countries must adopt if they are to experience economic growth and prosperity.
 Ha-Joon Chang
 Global pessimist who believes neoliberal policies primarily benefits wealthy countries and harm developing countries; referred to the
WTO, World Bank and IMF as the ‘unholy trinity’.
 Homogenization
 Things becoming increasingly the same; in global terms, the erosion of local cultures and the emergence of one global mono-culture.
 Hybridized Global Identities
 Where identities are increasingly a result of picking and mixing from different cultural traditions around the globe; implies more
individual freedom to choose identity and greater diversity; associated with transformationalist theories of globalisation.
 Hyper-Globalism
 The belief that globalisation is happening and that local cultures are being eroded primarily because of the expansion of international
capitalism and the emergence of a homogenous global culture; believe that globalisation is a positive process characterised by economic
growth, increasing prosperity and the spread of democracy.
 Factors Contributing to Globalisation

 Globalisation refers to the fact that we all increasingly live in one world, so that
individuals, groups and nations become ever more interdependent.’
 Globalisation in this sense has been occurring over a very long period of
human history, but the sheer pace and intensity of it has increased in the last
40 years or so.
 types of globalization
 The rise of information and communications technology

• The move from telephonic communication to cable and satellite digital

communication have resulted in increasing information flows
• Time-space compression – people in faraway places feel closer together as
they can communicate instantaneously.
• Individuals and families are more directly plugged into news from the outside
world – some of the most gripping events of the past decade have unfolded in
real time in front of a global audience.
• Some individuals identify being more ‘cosmopolitanism’ as a result and
increasingly identify with a global audience; others perceive increasing
globalisation as a threat to their ways of life and retreat into Fundamentalism
and/ or Nationalism as a defensive response.
 Cultural Factors
• The emergence of global sporting events such as The Olympics , Formula 1 and
Football all bring people together across boarders.
• Music, film, and celebrity culture more generally often draw audiences from several
different countries.
• Global consumption patterns have become increasingly similar in recent decades,
with the rise of shopping malls and online shopping.
• International migration is a key aspect of cultural globalisation – the more people
move around the globe, the more global connections there tend to be.
• There is an emerging global risk consciousness – the sense that we are all at threat
from global problems such as the Environmental Crisis, Terrorism and more recently
Coronavirus, and that we all need to work together (even if that means staying apart?)
to combat such problems.
 Economic factors
• The global economy is Post Industrial – as a result it is increasingly ‘weightless’ (Quah 1999) – products
are much more likely to be information based/ electronic, such as computer software, films and music or
information services rather than actual tangible, physical goods such as food, clothing or cars.
• The role of Transnational Corporations (TNCs) is particularly important. These are companies that
produce goods in more than one country, and they are oriented to global markets and global products.
• Global Commodity chains – manufacturing is increasingly globalised as there are more worldwide
networks extending from the raw material to the final consumer. The least profitable aspects of production
– actually making physical products, tend to be done in poorer, peripheral countries, whereas the more
profitable aspects, related to branding and marketing, tend to be done in the richer, developed, core
countries.
• Production is much more flexible than in the past – companies are much more likely to hire people on
short term contracts and move around the globe seeking cheaper labour costs, as a response to increased
global economic competition.
• The electronic economy underpins globalisation – Banks, corporations, fund managers and individuals are
able to shift huge funds across boarders instantaneously at the click of a mouse. Transfers of vast amounts of capital
can trigger economic crises.
 Political changes
• The collapse of Communism in the 1990s meant the end of the divided ‘cold war’ world,
and now these ex-communist countries are themselves democracies and integrated into
the global economy.
• The growth of international and regional mechanisms of government such as the
United Nations and European Union – governments of Nation States are increasingly
restricted by international directives and laws stemming from these international bodies.
• International Non-Governmental organisations such as OXFAM or Greenpeace, operate
in dozens of countries, and members tend to have an international outlook.
 Theories of globalization
 theories of global stratification
 globalization theories
 McGrew (2000)says that there are 3 theoretical perspectives:

• Neo-Liberals (positive globalists)

• The global market is the result of a global spread of Free market Capitalism. Global
free markets lead to economic growth, the eradication of poverty and a spread of
democracy around the world. Countries which are embracing the free market are the
countries which are developing now; like India and China. The wealth produced by the
effects of a global free market; entrepreneurs; will trickle down to the rest of the
country. Cultural globalisation includes the spread of western values.
 The radicals
 The spread of capitalism in globalisation is bad. They see the spread of capitalism as
essentially based on money and the growth in economy will benefit some but impoverish
many but also it messes with the environment by being unsustainable. Globalisation widens
the gap between rich and poor, only benefiting the rich in society who have the tools to trade.
 Cultural globalisation is a form of cultural imperialism from the West and destroys local
cultures through homogenization. Capitalism has been globalising for centuries but now it’s
almost completely dominant.
 But now it’s different because TNC’s supported by IGO’s have replaced nations as the driving
force for changes. Such a view has been called ’McDonalisation’ or ’Coca-colonisation’
 The Transformationalists
 They see globalisation as important in development but not like the radicals of neo-
liberals think.
 Globalisation can end, it can slow and even go in reverse. Some countries can take
all of the positives of globalisation and not take the negatives. Globalisation doesn’t
destroy local culture, it creates a hybrid of cultures.
 Globalisation reinforces the old ways of the North/South and First world/Third
world.
 What is Cultural Globalisation?

 Cultural globalization refers to the rapid movement of ideas, attitudes, meanings, values
and cultural products across national borders.
 It refers specifically to idea that there is now a global and common mono-culture –
transmitted and reinforced by the internet, popular entertainment transnational
marketing of particular brands and international tourism – that transcends local cultural
traditions and lifestyles, and that shapes the perceptions, aspirations, tastes and everyday
activities of people wherever they may live in the world’
 How far has cultural globalization gone?
 Its hard to ignore the western culture nowadays and it is everywhere, but not
everything that is western has got around the world; American Football and baseball,
and baseball is only played in the big leagues between two Northern teams anyway.
 The east has also had an influence on the west, in the way of Bollywood and Hong
Kong film industries. Tourists going to other countries have actually promoted local
culture but appreciating it, although it may be a simplified version of very complex
cultures the tourists are promoting local cultures in the countries they go to as well
as western values.
 what is cultural globalization
 Cultural globalization
 Factors of Cultural Globalization
 Migration
 Migration is an important aspect of cultural globalisation, and in this sense, this process has been
going on for several centuries, with languages, religious beliefs, and values being spread by military
conquest, missionary work, and trade. However, in the last 30 years, the process of cultural
globalisation has dramatically intensified due technological advances in both transportation and
communications technology.
 Food
 The globalisation of food is one of the most obvious examples of cultural globalisation – food
consumption is an important aspect of culture and most societies around the world have diets that
are unique to them, however the cultural globalisation of food has been promoted by fast food giants
such as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Starbucks. The spread of these global food corporations has
arguably led to the decline of local diets and eating traditions.
 Sport
 The Globalisation of sport  is another fairly obvious example of
cultural globalization – think of all the international sporting
events that take place – most notably the World Cup and The
Olympics, and Formula 1, which bind millions together in a shared, truly
global, ‘leisure experience’.
 Converging Global Consumption Patterns

 Today you can go to pretty much any major city in the world and share in a
similar ‘consumption experience’. Also, more and more people in Asia and
South-America are coming to enjoy high-consumption lifestyles like in the
West – car ownership and tourism are both on the increase globally for
example. Central to this is the growth of similar styles of shopping malls,
and leisure parks which provide a homogeneous cultural experience in
different regions across the world.
 The Global Village/ Global
Consciousness
 Individuals and families are now more directly plugged into news from the outside world –
some of the most gripping events of the past decade have unfolded in real time in front of a
global audience.
 According to Giddens this means that more and more people have a more ‘global outlook’
and increasingly identify with a global audience – for example, television reporting of
natural disasters in developing countries result in people in wealthier countries donating
money to charities such as Oxfam to assist with relief efforts.
 Giddens developed the concept of ‘Cosmopolitanism’ to describe this process of an
emerging global identity.
 Detraditionalization
 In his classic 1999 text, Runaway World, Anthony Giddens argues that one consequence of
globalisation is detraditionalisation – where people question their traditional beliefs about
religion, marriage, and gender roles and so on.
 He uses the concept of ‘detraditionalisation’ rather than ‘decline of tradition’ to reflect the fact that in
many cases people continue with their traditional ways of life, rather than actually changing them,
but the very fact that they are now actively questioning aspects of their lives means cultures are
much less stable and less predictable than before globalisation, because more people are aware of
the fact that there are alternative ways of doing things and that they can change traditions if they
want to.
 The above processes are related to growth of urbanisation, especially the growth of global
cities which have highly educated, politically engaged middle classes.
 Global Risks/ Global Risk Consciousness

 Ulrich Beck (1992) argues that a fundamental feature of Globalisation is the development of a global
risk consciousness, which emerges due to shared global problems which threaten people in
multiple countries – examples include the threat of terrorism, international nuclear war, the threat of
global pandemics, the rise of organised crime funded primarily through international drug
trafficking, and the threat of planetary melt-down due to global warming.
 On the downside, the constant media focus on such global problems has led to a widespread culture
of fear and increasing anxiety across the globe, which has arguably contributed to things such as
Paranoid Parenting and Brexit, but on the plus side, new global international movements and
agencies have emerged through which people come together across borders to tackle such problems.
 What is Economic Globalisation?

 Economic Globalisation involves the global expansion of international

capitalism, free markets and the increase in international trade, a process
which has accelerated since the 1950s.
 Nearly every country on earth now imports and exports more from and to
other countries than it did immediately after World War Two, and even ex-
communist countries are now part of the global capitalist economy.
 economic globatization
 Britain for example imports around 60% of its food, with only 40% of the food supply
being grown in Britain, and if you take a look around any class room, or any living room,
and you will probably find that the majority of products were imported from somewhere
else.
 This post focuses on four key aspects of economic globalisation: global supply
chains, the growth of Transnational Corporations, and the increasing importance of
the post modern, weightless economy.
The emergence of global Commodity chains
 Manufacturing is increasingly globalised as there are more worldwide networks
extending from the raw material to the final consumer. The least profitable aspects
of production – actually making physical products, tend to be done in poorer,
peripheral countries, whereas the more profitable aspects, related to branding and
marketing, tend to be done in the richer, developed, core countries.
 Economic Trade
 The role of Transnational Corporations (TNCs) is particularly important

 TNCs are companies that produce goods in more than one country, and they are
oriented to global markets and global products, many are household names such as
McDonald’s, Coca Cola and Nike. The biggest TNCs have annual revenues which
are greater than the economic output of middle-income countries.
 Apple, for example, generates more income than Finland does every year, and
many oil companies such as Shell and Exxon-Mobile generate revenue several
times that of the poorer countries they extract from
 The global economy is Post Industrial
 The global economy is increasingly ‘weightless’ (Quah 1999) – products are much
more likely to be information based/ electronic, such as computer software, films
and music or information services rather than actual tangible, physical goods such
as food, clothing or cars.
 The Call Centre is a common ‘post industrial’ work setting, taking over from the ‘factory’ in
industrial society. The call centre is ‘instantaneously global – connecting workers immediately
to clients, via IT.
 What is Political Globalisation?
 Anthony Giddens (2009) notes the following features of Political Globalisation
 The collapse of Communism in the 1990s meant the end of the divided ‘cold war’ world, and
now these ex-communist countries are themselves democracies and integrated into the global
economy.
 The growth of international and regional mechanisms of government such as the United
Nations and European Union – governments of Nation States are increasingly restricted by
international directives and laws stemming from these international bodies.
 International Non-Governmental organizations such as OXFAM or Greenpeace operate in
dozens of countries, and members tend to have an international outlook.
 Political Globalization
 Case study:Barbie and the Development of Global Commodity
Chains

 One illustration of the global commodity chain can be found in the manufacture of the Barbie doll, the most
profitable toy in history. The 50-something teenage doll sells at a rate of 2 per second, bringing the Mattel
Corporation, based in Los Angeles, USA, well over a billion dollars in annual revenues. Although the doll sells
mainly in the United States, Europe and Japan, Barbie can also be found in 150 countries around the globe: she
is truly a global citizen.
 Barbie is global not only in sales, but in terms of her birthplace as well. Barbie was never made in the United
States. The first doll was made in Japan in 1959, when that country was still recovering from the Second World
War and wages were low. As wages in Japan rose, Barbie moved to other low-wage countries in Asia. Her
multiple origins today tell us a great deal about the operations of global supply chains.
 Barbie is designed in United States, where her marketing and advertising strategies are devised and where
most of the profits are made. But the only physical aspect of Barbie that is ‘made in the USA’ is her cardboard
packaging, along with some of the paints and oils that are used to decorate the doll.
 Barbie’s body parts and wardrobe span the
globe in their origins:
1. Barbie begins her life in Saudi Arabia, where oil is extracted and then refined into ethyne that is used to create her
plastic body
2. Taiwan’s state-owned oil importer, the Chinese Petroleum Corporation, buys the ethylene and sells it to Taiwan’s
largest producer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics, which are used in the toys. Formosa plastics coverts the
ethylene into the PVC pellets that will be shaped to make Barbie’s body.
3. The pellets are then shipped to one of the four Asian factories that make Barbie – two in southern China, and one
in Indonesia and one in Malaysia. The plastic mould injection machines that shape her body, which are most
expensive part of Barbie’s manufacture, are made in the United States and shipped to the factories.
4. Once Barbie’s body is moulded, she gets her nylon hair from Japan. Her cotton dresses are made in China, with
Chinese cotton – the only raw material in Barbie that actually comes from the country where Barbie is made.
5. Hong Kong plays a key role in the manufacturing process of Barbie – nearly all the material used in her
manufacture is shipped into Hong Kong, one of the world’s largest ports – and then trucked to the factories in
China. The finished Barbies leave by the same route. Some 23 000 trucks make the daily trip between Hong Kong
and southern China’s toy factories.
 The Hyper-Globalist/ Optimist View of
Globalization
 Hyper-globalists (sometimes referred to as global optimists) believe that
globalization is happening and that local cultures are being eroded primarily
because of the expansion of international capitalism and the emergence of a
homogeneous global culture; they (as the ‘optimist’ part of the label implies)
believe that globalization is a positive process characterised by economic growth,
increasing prosperity and the spread of democracy.
 Thomas Friedman (2000) argues that globalization has occurred because of the global
adoption of neoliberal economic policies. Neoliberalism insists that governments in
developing countries need to remove obstacles to free trade and free market capitalism
in order to generate development.
 Governments should limit their role to providing a business-friendly environment that
enables businesses (both inside and outside the country) to make a profit.
 The theory is that if governments allow businesses the freedom to ‘do business’, wealth
will be generated which will trickle down to everyone.
 Friedman identifies a neoliberal economic set of principles that he calls the ‘golden
straight jacket’ that countries need to fit into if they are to achieve success in the global
economy: deregulation, fewer protections for workers and the environment,
privatisation and cutting taxes.
 More international trade, = Increasing wealth, health, education for most countries.

• This Hans Rosling Video illustrates the relationship between increasing wealth (brought

about by trade) and health
• The case of China’s economic growth – Use this‘trading economics’ web site to check out
how China’s GDP growth over the last ten years (from 2001) appears to be directly
correlated with its growth in exports (use the links to the right to change between graphs –
you might need to change the years selection around too).
• China is not the only country benefiting from increasing trade (imports and exports) – China
is just one of four nations known as the BRIC Nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) – 4
up and coming economies that are predicted to be wealthier than Britain by 2050.
 Optimists argue that Transnational Corporations are a force for good. Companies such
as Apple, Sony, etc bring investment and jobs to developing countries.
  There are many benefits of cultural Globalisation

 More people around the world are consumers rather than living subsistence
lifestyles. Also people increasingly consume similar foods and brands (and shop for
them in similar ways). Increasing global tourism is another feature of this. Evidence
below…
• These photos of ‘what the world eats’ – Suggest similar consumption patterns.
• Coke’s advertising supports the optimist view of cultural globalisation – Advert 1 (I’d like t
teach the world to sing…) and advert 2 – The Happiness Bus
 Globalisation has lead to more democracy and freedom

 The spread of Democracy and respect for human rights since the end of WW2 – E.G. The
end of colonial rule in Africa, the collapse of communism and the Arab Spring. This is also
evidenced in the establishment of the United Nations and the growth of global social
movements such as green peace.
 The growth of social media (Facebook and Twitter) have lead more freedom around the
world.
 Finally, Globalisation increasingly means global cities
 Urban centres which have highly educated, politically engaged middle classes.
 The Optimist View of Globalisation 
 Optimists believe that increasing Globalisation is beneficial for the vase
majority of people in the vast majority of countries.
 The below slides outlines some of the evidence that supports this view,
such as the relationship between increasing global trade and rapid
economic development of many countries since the 1950s.
 Kenichi Ohmae, The Borderless World – Neoliberal Radical Globalism

 Radical globalization
 Harlambos (2013) describes Kenichi Ohmae as ‘one of the most
uncompromising and wholeheartedly enthusiastic advocates of Globalisation
from a right-wing neoliberal perspective who sees economic change as the
driving force of Globalisation’
 The interlinked economy 
 According to Ohmae (1994) political boarders are becoming less and less important, as countries
increasingly form a giant, interlinked economy – this is especially true of the most developing
countries, such as America, Europe and Japan, and these being joined by rapidly developing
countries such as Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong.
 Ohmae argues that in the Interlinked Economy, corporations and consumers are more closely
connected across boarders than ever, and politicians, bureaucrats and the military are declining in
importance.
 Governments are no longer able to control information coming into their country, and thus they
cannot control demand for foreign goods.
 If people see better standards of products being produced and consumed abroad they want them,
and governments are increasingly powerless to prevent international trade in goods. According to
Ohmae, this is not only good for the consumer, but good for the economy as well.
 Global Citizens and Regional Links

 Individuals have become global citizens through their consumption habits – they want to
buy the best and cheapest products where ever they are made, and any government who
tried to prevent this happening would risk upsetting millions of potential voters.
 On the supply side, regional economic links have become more important than national
ties – many Californian companies, for example, have more ties with Asian companies than
ones in other parts of the USA.
 Ohmae also believes that Transnational Corporations do not see themselves as being
rooted in one country – if they did, this would be to their disadvantage – in order to
maximize their profits, they have to think about global markets and adapt products to fit
different local demands.
 Governments and Consumers 
 Ohame argues that the global economy also makes the use of military force less likely – if you attack
your neighbour, the chances are you will be destroying some of the assets of your citizens, and their
destruction will only result in a downturn in economic growth for you, since we are all economically
interdependent.
 Ohame believes that role and function of the nation state today is limited to that of producing the
conditions in which consumers, worker and corporations can thrive in a global economy. They are
still necessary to provide an infrastructure such as roads and  legal system, for example.
 Above all, though, they need to provide a good standard of education for their citizens, as Ohmae
believes economic success results from having a highly educated, entrepeneurial and well informed
population.
 Evaluation
• Ohame ignores the role of nation states in controlling trade across their boarders – the three
biggest trading blocks of Japan, North America and the EU, for example continue to restrict
trade with nations outside.
• He understates the role of military power in geo-politics. States not only have a monopoly of
violence in their own territories, the USA and Russia have recently used military force
abroad.
• According to global pessimists, he overstates the power of consumers – global Corporations
and bankers have more power.
• Dani Rodrik - Is Hyper Globalization Feasible?
 The Pessimist View of Globalization
 Pessimist globalists argue that globalization is a form of Western, American
Imperialism. They see globalization as a process in which Western institutions and
ideas are imposed on the rest of the world.
 Transnational Corporations are the backbone of this new global order and these are
the institutions that benefit from especially economic globalization. Two examples
of pessimist globalists are Ha-Joon Chang and Jeremy Seabrook.
 Chang argues that neoliberals paint a false picture of the benefits of economic
globalization through the spread of neoliberal economic policy, suggesting that neo-liberal
policies actually benefit rich countries and corporations more than poor countries.
 Neoliberal policies simply make it easier for western companies to move into a poorer
country, take over local businesses, extract natural resources, pay local people low wages,
and leave behind a trail of pollution because there are fewer national regulations which
prevent them from doing so.
 Chang refers to the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO as the ‘Unholy Alliance’ and claims
they exist to force developing countries down the free-trade road. For example, the IMF
and the World Bank will only lend money to developing countries on the condition that
they adopt free-trade policies.
 Change points out that, as a result, the neoliberal world economy is dominated by the
developed-world – rich countries conduct 70% of world trade for example, while Sub-
Saharan Africa still (even in 2017) accounts for much less than 10% of global trade.
 Supporting Evidence for the pessimist view of globalization

 1. Increased trade has had unequal benefits. Mainly Europe and America, lately Asia have
benefited, but most of Sub Saharan Africa is largely left behind.
 2. TNCs pollute, extract resources from and exploit cheap labour in the developing world.
E.G.s include Shell in Nigeria, Coke in India and of course the Bhopal incident in India.
 A case study of sweat shops – Apple in China – from the Daily Mail.
 a list of examples of Corporations ac-cussed of doing environmental damages (just from
KT’s Blog – focusing on the case of Union Carbide in India and Shell in Nigeria – you have
probably looked at these as part of the Crime and Deviance Module)
 Mark Thomas’ documentary on Coca Cola illustrates how naughty this corporation is –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH0r84W3LgU
 3. Culture may be increasing global, but this mainly means Americanisation according to Pessimists. This
takes the form of Cocacolonisation, and Dysnification – where American forms of popular culture and the
shallow materialism this promotes erode local traditions. Another aspect of this is Mcdonaldisation
• this and this suggest possibly suggest one of the downsides of the spread of consumer culture…
• This illustrates the threat of Americanisation and Cocacolonisation very well – how some French people view Coca
Cola as undermining their national identity. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxjMqrZ6psw
• This site does a very good job of explaning what Mcdonaldisation is – http://www.mcdonaldization.com/
4. Sport may be increasingly globalised, but just as with trade there are winners and losers, especially where the
Olympics are concerned.
5. Rather than the spread of democracy, it is more accurate to talk of the spread of U.S Military power, as outline by
John Pilger in the War on Democracy, and the fact that the U.S. spends almost $700 billion on its military every year.
6. The spread of global media really means the spread of massive media firms such as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp,
with programmes such as Fox News presenting a pro-American view of the world. Also think of popular culture – X
factor, and Hollywood and global advertising. The pessimist view on such aspects of the global media is that they lead
to increasing cultural homogenization.
7. Zygmunt Bauman argues that global cities are best described as ‘fortress cities’ – especially in the developing world
cities are places of huge inequalities where the rich hide themselves away in exclusive gated communities and the poor
are left to the slums.
 The Transformationalist View of Globalization

 Transformationalists and postmodernists agree that the impact of globalization has been
exaggerated by globalists but argue that it is foolish to reject the concept out of hand.
 This theoretical position argues that globalization should be understood as a complex set
of interconnecting relationships through which power, for the most part, is exercised
indirectly.
 They suggest that the globalization process can be reversed, especially where it is negative
or, at the very least, that it can be controlled.
 Transformationalists argue that the flow of culture is not one way, from the west to the
developing world; it is a two-way exchange in which Western culture is also
influenced, changed and enriched by cultures in the developing world.
 Against Global Pessimists, Transformationalists argue that local cultures are not
simply swallowed up by western cultures – rather people in developing countries
select aspects of western culture and adapt them to their particular needs, a process
which he calls ‘glocalisation’. A good example of this is the Bollywood film industry
in India, or the various ‘glocal’ manifestations of McDonald’s burgers.
 Transformationalists and postmodernists also see the global media as beneficial
because it is primarily responsible for diffusing different cultural styles around the
world and creating new global hybrid styles in fashion, food, music, consumption and
lifestyle. It is argued that in the global, postmodern world, such cultural diversity and
pluralism will become the norm. Postmodernists thus see globalization as a positive
phenomenon because it has created a new class of global consumers, in both the
developed and the developing world, with a greater range of choice from which they
can construct a hybridised global identity.
 Supporting Evidence for The
Transformationalist View of Globalisation
 1. ‘Trade’ has many complex formations.
 So it is difficult to say that it is either good or bad. Besides Free Trade, Fair Trade is expanding, and there is
also illegal trade – in drugs for example
 2. TNCs – There are winners and losers
 TNCs operate in dozens of countries. Clearly there are going to be winners and losers in different cases. Also
governments the world over regulate international companies in different ways – Pollution laws, tax law,
minimum wages, health and safety.
 3. There are many examples of cultural hybridity
 Increasing consumerism isn’t just good or bad – cultural globalisation is characterised by hybridity – new
brands come into contact with local cultures and they are modified by those cultures, creating new products
– Bollywood, Chiken Tikha Massala. A related concept here is glocalism…
 5. Globalisaion is characterised by new political formations, not just the
spread of democracy or the spread of American dominance
 6. The spread of global media has lead to diverse uses – e.g. crowdsourcing,
microfinance, and mobile phone use in Africa.
 What is development?
 The term development is used in several ways, but most sociologists agree that development should mean, at the
very least, improvement or progress for people who desperately need positive change in their lives
 The main debates about development are underpinned by modernity, meaning that development agencies such
as the World Bank and the United Nations aim to replicate within developing societies the material and cultural
experience of modern Western societies such as the United Kingdom and the United States.
 Consequently, most sociologists believe that development is about achieving economic growth, and the positive
consequences which have generally stemmed from that, such as improvements in life expectancy, mass
education and social welfare.
 This generally means that most countries in Europe are defined as being ‘more developed’ while countries in
Sub-Saharan Africa tend to be defined as the ‘least developed’.
 what is development
 A Global Hierarchy of Development
 More economically developed countries MEDCs
 These are the wealthy industrial-capitalist countries which generally experience
economic growth year on year. Their populations enjoy a good standard of living,
which means high life expectancy of 80+ years, free primary and secondary
education and access to good quality housing and consumer goods are the norm.
 Western European countries The USA
 Newly industrialized countries NICs
 These are the so-called ‘Asian-Tiger’ economies of which have rapidly
industrialised in the past 40 years and which today have a large share of the global
market in computers, electronics, plastics and textiles.
 China South Korea
 Less economically developed countries
LEDCs
 Societies which have experienced extensive urbanization and therefor positive
economic growth. However, the economies of these societies are also heavily
dependent on agriculture, and extraction of raw materials. Poverty is still a big
problem in many of these countries.
 Brazil, India, Mexico Ghana
 Least economically developed countries
LLEDCs
 The poorest countries in the world, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa where absolute
poverty is the daily norm. These societies experience low life expectancy of around
60 years, and high child mortality rates, linked to preventable diseases such as
malaria. They also lack basic infrastructure such as roads, electricity and clean
water. Many of these countries also experience high levels of conflict, which is
both a cause and consequences of their underdevelopment
 Sierra-Leone Somalia DRCongo Afghanistan Bangladesh Haiti
 Prespectives
 Some development thinkers from the ‘post-development perspective’ have
criticised the above system of categorisation for being an ethnocentric, Western
perspective on development, because it implies that industrialised, wealthy nations
are superior, and less economically developed countries in other parts of the world
as inferior. The implication of this hierarchy is that all countries should aim to
become more like those Western countries at the top.
 Questions to consider:
 In general, do you think that it’s fair to make the generalisation that European
countries are more developed than Sub-Saharan African countries?
 Should less developed countries strive to become more like Western, Industrialised
countries?
 The Origins of Western Ideas of ‘International
Development’
 The concept of rich countries helping poor countries to develop emerged after World War II in the
context of the Cold War.

 By the end of the Second World War many of the countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America had
failed to develop and remained poor, and there was concern amongst the leaders of the western
developed countries, especially the United States, that communism might spread into many of these
countries, potentially harming American business interests abroad and diminishing U.S. Power.

 The conventional way of seeing the world was to split it into first, second and third worlds
 First World
 Described the industrialised capitalist world – the USA, Western Europe, Japan,
Australia and New Zealand.
 Second world: Described the industrialized communist world – The Soviet Union
and Eastern Europe.
 Third world: Described the rest of the world and covered a vast range of countries
in different circumstances and at different stages of development, but what most of
them shared in common was the fact that they lacked an industrial base, they had
not gone through industrialization.
From the perspective of the developed first world, it was essential to encourage the poorer countries of Asia, Africa
and Latin America to adopt a capitalist-industrialist model of development in order to prevent them from forming
alliances with the communist second world. In short, development was seen as essential to halt the spread of
communism.
The term ‘third world’ also made sense from the perspective of many of those in poorer countries: many countries
wanted to pursue their own paths to development, without the ‘assistance’ of either the United States or Communist
Russia.
It was immediately after World War Two that the main international institutions of development were established –
such as The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations, and for decades, aid money was
deliberately channeled to those countries most likely to ‘fall into the hands of the communists’.
Dependency Theorists and Post-Development Theorists (covered in a future lesson) have been critical of Western
attempts to help third world countries develop. They argue that aid money and aid programmes have really been
about maintaining western political and economic superiority, and less about helping poor countries actually
develop,
However, since the collapse of communism in the 1990s, and thanks to significant reforms in the way aid money is
distributed through international institutions, ‘development’ today seems to be more about actually helping poor
countries develop and less about the west maintaining its political and economic superiority.
But there are those who argue that even today the international development agenda really has a deeper, political
purpose, and ‘development’ is not necessarily about helping poor countries. For example a quarter of the UK aid
budget goes to the military, and much of this is spent fighting.  Islamic extremists in Iraq and Afghanistan, which
clearly has a political purpose, although you could just as easily argue that eradicating extremism is a necessary
perquisite for any positive change to take place.
 Questions to consider
 Q1: Why where the countries of the first world concerned to help the countries of
the first world develop after World War Two?

 Q2: What is the ‘main purpose’ of the three development institutions mentioned
above?

 Q3: Why were some theorists critical of western attempts to help poor countries
develop?
 Case Study: The Island of Anuta
 The island of Anuta, part of the Solomon Islands (population 300) seems pretty idyllic, but
would these people be better off if they followed an industrial-capitalist model of
development?
 Review Questions
 Outline some of the differences between the least and most developed countries on earth.
 Explain where the terms ‘first world’, ‘second world’ and ‘third world’ came from, and
some of the limitations of these concepts.
 Outline three criticisms of ‘Western’ ideas of development
 Three Economic Indicators of
Development
 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total economic value of goods and services (expressed in
US dollars) produced within the borders of a country in the course of a year and available for
consumption in the market place.
 Gross National Product (GNP) is the same but includes the value of all services produced at
home and abroad. A country such as Ghana will have a relatively similar GDP to GNP because it
doesn’t have many companies which produce things abroad: most production takes place within
Ghana.
 America, on the other hand, which is where many Transnational Corporations are based, has a
much higher GNP than GDP – Think about MacDonald’s for example –all of those Big Macs
sold outside of the USA won’t appear in the GDP of the USA but will appear in the GNP.
 Gross National Income (GNI) a hideous oversimplification of this is that it’s ‘Gross Domestic
Product + the additional income that self-employed people pay themselves +income received
from abroad’.
 This matters to a lot of developing countries who don’t produce much but have large
diasporas, or populations living permanently abroad. Take Gambia for example (the country
Paul Mendy takes your old toys to at Christmas) – 1/6th of its GNI is from money sent by
relatives who abroad, this would not be included in either GDP or GNP.
 economic indicators
 Economic indicators 1
 Per Capita’ and ‘Purchasing Power Parity’
 Gross National Product Per Capita – GDP/ GNP are often divided by the total
population of a country in order to provide a figure per head of population, known
as GDP/ GNP per capita.
 The cost of living varies in different countries – so one dollar will buy you a lot
more rice in India than it would in America. Purchasing Power Parity figures for
GNI per capita factor in the cost of living which is useful as it gives you more of an
idea of the actual standard of living in that country for the average person.
 THE WORLD BANK’S FOUR INCOME
CATEGORIES
 The World Bank categorises countries into one of four categories based Gross National
Income per capita (per head): high, upper middle, lower middle and low income countries.
 High income = $12, 536 or more – about 60 countries, including most of Europe
 Upper middle income = $4,046 – $12,535 – about 60 countries, includes South Africa and
China
 Lower middle income = $1,036 – $4, 045 – about 50 countries, mostly in Africa, includes
India
 Low income = $1,035 or less – about 30 countries, mostly in Sub-Saharan
Three Advantages of using GDP/ GNP/ GNI as
an indicator of development
 GNI figures provide a snap-shot indication of the huge difference between the more developed
and less developed countries. In 2016, the GNP per capita in the UK was $43000 while in India it
was only $1600. This means that there is 20 times as much money per person in the UK
compared to in India
 Gross National Income figures are also closely correlated with social development – generally
speaking the higher the GNI per capita, the better the education and health indicators are in a
country.
 Total GDP figures give us an indication of who the most powerful nations are on earth in terms of
military power. It’s not a perfect correlation, but the USA, China, Russia and the UK are all in the
top ten for GDP and they are the biggest arms producers and consumers in the world too.
 Four limitations of using GDP/ GNP/ GNI as
an indicators of development
 Quality of life (Social Development) may be higher or lower than suggested by GNP per
capita.
 They don’t tell us about inequalities within countries. The USA has one of the highest GNPs in
the world but some extreme poverty.
 A lot of production in developing countries may not be included. For example, subsistence
based production is consumed locally in the community, and not sold in the market place.
Similarly goods obtained illegally on the black market are not included in GNP measurement
 They are very western concepts, equating production and economic growth with development.
Some countries may not want economic growth and have different goals (Bhutan)
 Review Questions 

Define Gross National Income Per Capita and be able to identify some high income
and lower income countries.
Explain the difference between GNI, GDP, GNP, and understand the significance of
Purchasing Power Parity.
Outline three strengths of using economic indicators of development
Outline at least three reasons why GNP may not be valid measurements of
‘development’
 The Human Development Index
 HDI
 HD
 The Human Development Index measures Human Development using four indicators
 To measure health – Life expectancy at birth
 To measure education – the average (mean) number years of adult education adults over
25 have received and the number of expected years of education children attending
school can expect
 To measure standard of living – Gross National Income per capita (PPP)
Advantages of the Human Development Index
 It provides us with a much fuller picture of how well developed a country is,
allowing for fuller comparisons to be made.
 It shows us that while there is a general correlation between economic and social
development, two countries with the same level of economic development may
have different levels of social development. See below for examples.
 Some argue that this is a more human centred approach, concerned more with
actual human welfare than just mere economics. It gets more to ‘the point’ of
economic development.
 Two Limitations of the Human Development
Index
 Relying on the HDI score alone may disguise a lack of social development in a
country – for example a very high GNI can compensate for poor life-expectancy, as
is the case in the United States.
 It is still only provides a fairly limited indication of social development – only
health and education are covered – there are many other ways of measuring health
and education.
 The Millennium Development Goals – How Much Progress was Made?

 The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were adopted by 189 nations during
the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000. Eight MDGs were developed
which responded to the world’s main development challenges.
 The goals ranged from halving extreme poverty rates to halting the spread of
HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of
2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s
leading development institutions.
 The goals ranged from halving extreme poverty rates to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS
and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – form a blueprint
agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions.

 They have so far galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest.
The UN is also working with governments, civil society and other partners to build on the
momentum generated by the MDGs and carry on with an ambitious post-2015 development
agenda.

 The MDGs aimed to measure development in eight categories, using 60 separate indicators.
The final two goals were aimed more at developed countries, aiming to monitor things such
as carbon dioxide emissions, development aid donations and fair trade rules.
The Global Goals for Sustainable
Development
 And some further MDG achievements….
 The proportion of undernourished people in developed regions halved between
1990 and 2015.
 In 1990, nearly half of the population in the developing regions lived on less than
$1.25 a day. This rate dropped to 14 per cent in 2015.
 The average proportion of women in parliament has doubled
 The net loss of forests has reduced from an average of 8.3 million hectares annually
in the 1990s to an average of 5.2 million hectares annually between 2000 and 2010.
 Theories of development
 Modernization Theory
 By the end of the Second World War many of the countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America had
failed to develop and remained poor, despite exposure to capitalism. There was concern amongst the
leaders of the western developed countries, especially the United States, that communism might spread
into many of these countries, potentially harming American business interests abroad and diminishing
U.S. Power.

 In this context, in the late 1940s, modernisation theory was developed, which aimed to provide a
specifically non-communist solution to poverty in the developing world – Its aim was to spread a
specifically industrialised, capitalist model of development through the promotion of Western,
democratic values.
 There are two main aspects of modernisation theory – (1) its explanation of why poor countries are underdeveloped, and
(2) its proposed solution to underdevelopment.

 Modernisation theory explained the underdevelopment of countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America primarily in terms of
cultural ‘barriers’ to development’, basically arguing that developing countries were underdeveloped because their
traditional values held them back; other modernisation theorists focused more on economic barriers to development.

 In order to develop, less developed countries basically needed to adopt a similar path to development to the West. They
needed to adopt Western cultural values and industrialise in order to promote economic growth. In order to do this they
would need help from Western governments and companies, in the form of aid and investment.

 Modernisation theory favoured a capitalist- industrial model of development – they believed that capitalism (the free
market) encouraged efficient production through industrialisation, the process of moving towards factory based production.

 Industrial –refers to production taking place in factories rather than in the home or small workshops. This is large scale
production. (Think car plants and conveyer belts).

 Capitalism – a system where private money is invested in industry in order to make a profit and goods are produced are for
sale in the market place rather than for private consumption.
 Modernization theory favored a capitalist-
industrial model of development
 They believed that capitalism (the free market) encouraged efficient production
through industrialization, the process of moving towards factory based production.
 Industrial –refers to production taking place in factories rather than in the home or
small workshops. This is large scale production. (Think car plants and conveyer
belts).
 Capitalism – a system where private money is invested in industry in order to make
a profit and goods are produced are for sale in the market place rather than for
private consumption.
 Modernisation Theory: What Prevents
Development?
According to Modernisation Theorists, obstacles to development are internal to poorer
countries. In other words, undeveloped countries are undeveloped because they have the
wrong cultural and social systems and the wrong values and practices that prevent
development from taking place.
Talcott Parsons (1964) was especially critical of the traditional values of underdeveloped
countries – he believed that they were too attached to traditional customs, rituals, practices
and institutions, which Parsons argued were the ‘enemy of progress’. He was especially
critical of the extended kinship and tribal systems found in many traditional societies, which
he believed hindered the geographical and social mobility that were essential if a country
were to develop (as outlined in his Functional Fit theory).
The Caste System in
India is a good example
of an ascribed status
system based on
traditional values
 Parsons argued that traditional values in Africa, Asia and Latin
America acted as barriers to development which included
 Particularism – Where people are allocated into roles based on their affective or familial relationship to those
already in positions power. For example, where a politician or head of a company gives their brother or someone
from their village or ethnic group a job simply because they are close to them, rather than employing someone
based on their individual talent.
 Collectivism – This is where the individual is expected to put the group (the family or the village) before self-
interest – this might mean that children are expected to leave school at a younger age in order to care for elderly
parents or grandparents rather than staying in school and furthering their education.
 Patriarchy – Patriarchal structures are much more entrenched in less developed countries, and so women are much
less likely to gain positions of political or economic power, and remain in traditional, housewife roles. This means
that half of the population is blocked from contributing to the political and economic development of the country.
 Ascribed Status and Fatalism – Ascribed status is where your position in society is ascribed (or determined) at
birth based on your caste, ethnic group or gender. Examples include the cast system in India, many slave systems,
and this is also an aspect of extreme patriarchal societies. This can result in Fatalism – the feeling that there is
nothing you can do to change your situation.
 Modernization Theory (Development and
Underdevelopment)
 Why countries are underdeveloped: Cultural and economic barriers to development

 Modernization theorists argue that there are a number of cultural and economic
barriers that prevent traditional societies from developing.

 Cultural barriers are seen as internal to the country – it is essentially their fault for
being backward. Western culture, on the other hand, is seen as having a superior
culture that has allowed for it to develop.
Traditional Values –prevent economic growth and change Modern Values – inspire change and economic growth.

Simple division of labour, less specialised job roles, individuals rely on a Complex division of labour, individuals tend to have very specialised jobs
few dozen people in their local communities for basic needs to be met. and rely on thousands of others for basic needs to be met

Religious beliefs and tradition influence day to to day life (resistance to Rational decision making (cost benefit analysis and efficiency) are more
change) important.

Stronger community and family bonds and collectivism Weaker community and family bonds means more individual freedom.

Affective relationships Meritocracy –people are more motivated to innovate and change society for
the better.

Patriarchy Gender equality

 Economic barriers to development
These are barriers which may make developing countries unattractive to investors.

 Lack of infrastructure

 Lack of technology

 Lack of skills in the work force

 Political instability

 Lack of capital in the country

 Modernization Theory 2: How countries should develop
 Rostow believed that an initial injection of aid from the west in the form of training, education,
economic investment etc. would be enough to jolt a society into economic growth overcoming
these cultural barriers.
 Rostow suggested that development should be seen as an evolutionary process in which
countries progress up 5 stages of a development ladder
 Rostow’s five stage model of development
 Stage 1 – Traditional societies whose economies are dominated by subsistence farming. Such
societies have little wealth to invest and have limited access to modern industry and technology.
Rostow argued that at this stage there are cultural barriers to development (see sheet 6)
 Stage 2 – The preconditions for take off – the stage in which western aid packages brings
western values, practises and expertise into the society. This can take the form of:
• Science and technology – to improve agriculture
• Infrastructure – improving roads and cities communications
• Industry – western companies establishing factories
 These provide the conditions for investment, attracting more companies into the country.
 Stage 3 – Take off stage –The society experiences economic growth as new modern
practices become the norm. Profits are reinvested in infrastructure etc. and a new
entrepreneurial class emerges and urbanised that is willing to invest further and take
risks. The country now moves beyond subsistence economy and starts exporting goods
to other countries
 This generates more wealth which then trickles down to the population as a whole who
are then able to become consumers of new products produced by new industries there
and from abroad.
 Stage 4- the drive to maturity.
 More economic growth and investment in education, media and birth control. The
population start to realise new opportunities opening up and strive to make the most of
their lives.
 Stage 5 The age of high mass consumption. This is where economic growth and
production are at Western levels.
 Variations on Rostow’s 5 stage model
 Different theorists stress the importance of different types of assistance or interventions
that could jolt countries out their traditional ways and bring about change.
 Variations on Rostow’s 5 stage model
 Different theorists stress the importance of different types of assistance or
interventions that could jolt countries out their traditional ways and bring about
change.
• Hoselitz – education is most important as it should speed up the introduction of
Western values such as universalism, individualism, competition and achievement
measured by examinations. This was seen as a way of breaking the link between
family and children.
• Inkeles – media – Important to diffuse ideas non traditional such as family
planning and democracy
• Hoselitz – urbanisation. The theory here is that if populations are packed more
closely together new ideas are more likely to spread than amongst diffuse rural
populations
 Criticisms of Modernisation Theory
1. The Asian Tiger economies combined elements of traditional culture with Western Capitalism to experience some of
the most rapid economic growth of the past 2 decades.
2. Ignores the ‘crisis of modernism’ in both the developed and developing worlds. Many developed countries have huge
inequalities and the greater the level of inequality the greater the degree of other problems: High crime rates, suicide
rates, health problems, drug abuse.
3. Ethnocentric interpretations tend to exclude contributions from thinkers in the developing world. This is a one size
fits all model, and is not culture specific.
4. The model assumes that countries need the help of outside forces. The central role is on experts and money coming
in from the outside, parachuted in, and this downgrades the role of local knowledge and initiatives. This approach can
be seen as demeaning and dehumanising for local populations. Galeano (1992) argues that minds become colonised
with the idea that they are dependent on outside forces. They train you to be paralysed and then sell you crutches.
There are alternative models of development: See sheet no…
5. Corruption (Kleptocracy) prevents aid of any kind doing good, Much aid is siphoned off by corrupt elites and
government officials rather than getting to the projects it was earmarked for. This means that aid creates more
inequality and enables elites to maintain power
6. There are ecological limits to growth. Many modernisation projects such mining and forestry have lead to the
destruction of environment.
8. Social damage – Some development projects such as dams have lead to local populations being removed forcibly from
their home lands with little or no compensation being paid.
What prevents Development (dependency theory)
 Dependancy theory
 dependancy theory and colonisation