Dimensions of Globalization

Glocal Expresses how local and global “things” are related.

What are you wearing? Check out the tag/logo and google. Where was it made? Can you find any controversies regarding the manufacturer?

1 GLOBALIZATION The process by which the world’s citizens are becoming increasingly connected to and interdependent on one another

How is Identity Affected by Globalization? The Dimensions of Globalization *

ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION 2 ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION The process of expanding world trading networks

3 The process by which people’s lifestyles spread over global networks SOCIAL GLOBALIZATION The process by which people’s lifestyles spread over global networks

POLITICAL GLOBALIZATION 4 POLITICAL GLOBALIZATION The process by which government decisions and actions are becoming increasingly influenced by international events

ENVIRONMENTAL GLOBALIZATION 4 ENVIRONMENTAL GLOBALIZATION The process by which individual, organization, and government decisions and actions are becoming increasingly influenced by environmental issues

A Case Study -Dimensions of Globalization: Bananas Canadians eat 3 billion bananas a year-about 100 bananas a person. They are the most popular fruit in Canada after apples.

What are some factors which might make bananas and apples so popular?

Ecuador, bananas, and the economics of globalization Economic Dimension Ecuador, bananas, and the economics of globalization

Economics of Bananas Bananas do not grow in Canada. They are imported from developing countries in Central and South America, where they are a source of controversy for many reasons Banana production is one example of the forces of globalization at work.

Economics and Globalization For most people, price is an important factor in determining the popularity of an item. Bananas are the cheapest fruit sold in Canadian Supermarkets. Apples, grown in Canada, can cost more than $3/kilo and bananas, shipped 5000 km before they can be sold, can be purchased for less than $1.50.

Factors Keeping Banana Prices Low Bananas sold on huge plantations are owned or controlled by transnational corporations. They are thus able to take advantage of economies of scale - savings that come from producing, using and buying things in large quantities. Banana yields are high due to pesticides. This means that often the supply is greater than the demand. This leads to reduced prices.

Factors Cont’d Transnationals also reduce their costs by controlling many of the ships, containers and warehouses. Transnationals can give themselves a deal and keep the profits. Labour in Central and South America is cheap and there are few unions. This keeps wages low.

Containerization: The transporting of good in standard size shipping containers. Hidden costs?

Ecuador, Bananas and Economics Ecuador exports more bananas than any other country. Ecuadorian bananas are cheap because the cost of producing them is low.

One reason this is true is because Ecuadorian banana workers are the lowest paid in Latin America.

Cont’d In 2002, male banana plantation workers earned about $6.40 Cdn a day. Women were paid less, and children sometimes not at all. Calculate how much a male banana-plantation worker who spends six days a week on a job would make in a month (Multiply weekly earnings by 4.3). The government estimates that a Ecuadorian family of 4 needs at least $220 Cdn a month to meet basic needs. How did the worker’s monthly earnings compare with this minimum?

Consequences Laws to protect worker rights in Ecuador are often ignored. Workers who try to form unions are blacklisted and thus cannot work. Many families must put children to work to survive. Children work an average of 12 hours a day and most had started working when they were between 8 and 13. Less than 40% were still in school

Question Does education help people define who they are as individuals and collectives? Does education help define aspects of your identity? How might a lack of schooling create a cycle that affects the individual and the collective identity?

Political Dimension Continuing disputes over bananas illustrates how economic problems can become political, social, environmental and vice versa. In many Central and South American countries banana production is controlled by three American transnationals - Chiquita, Dole &Del Monte.

Political Dimension Cont’d Bananas are also grown in Caribbean countries, such as Jamaica and St. Lucia, on small, family owned farms, who cannot compete with the transnationals. To make money, they must sell their bananas at a higher cost. During the 1990s, European countries agreed to help Jamaica and St. Lucia (former colonies) by removing tariffs (taxes) on bananas imported from them. However, bananas from other countries were taxed and subject to other import rules.

The Banana Wars This situation sparked a conflict known as the Banana wars. The transnationals protested the European Policy saying it was unfair. The Chiquita transnational took the case to the World Trade Organization (WTO). WTO rules state that countries must treat one another equally.

WTO & Banana Wars In 1997, the WTO ruled that European countries must change some of the trade rules that helped banana farmers in former colonies. The American companies were not satisfied, and imposed tariffs on many European exports to the USA. In response, European countries changed their banana importing system again to make it easier to import bananas from all countries.

Environmental Dimension Deforestation: To create more plantations Result: Negative Impact to Biodiversity In Costa Rica, for example, about 60 per cent of the country’s rainforests have been cut down to clear land for banana plantations. Nearly 18 per cent of tree species in that country may disappear. 2. Monoculture: The Cavendish banana Result: Pest and disease Environmental impact: Pesticide and fertilizer use harming ecosystems

Social Dimension So far we have seen the economic, political and environmental dimensions of globalization through an exploration of Bananas. Let’s see how these are all connected now to the Social Dimension In order to satisfy the economic, political issues have arisen, as have environmental ones. Well, social issues are another result: Low wages Unsafe working conditions Displacement of Indigenous peoples Lack of Education Cycles of Poverty, Infant Mortality, Birth Rates, Death Rates, Etc

Interconnectedness It is important we recognize how the forces of globalization are interconnected across the various dimensions (economic, political, environmental and social).

DEVELOPED VS DEVELOPING 5 DEVELOPED VS DEVELOPING A developed country is a nation-state that has a highly industrialized economy and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less industrialized nations. A developing country is a nation-state with a less developed industrial base and a low Human Development Index (HDI)  people have lower life expectancy people have less education and literacy rate people have less money (income) women have higher fertility rate and pregnancy

6 THIRD WORLD Originated with the alignment during the Cold War As many countries not allied with the U.S. (First World) or the U.S.S. R. (Second World) were poor, this term became used as a reference for less developed nations

7 THE WEST Refers to countries in western Europe or those countries that were colonized by western European nations and adopted the same values and traditions

FACTORS THAT IMPACT DEVELOPMENT 8 Geography Access to resources, climate Access to markets (transportation, neighboring nation-states) Access to education and health care = more productive workforce Access to capital (money available to invest to generate wealth) Access to technology Stable political systems Values of society (progressive or traditional) History – former colony?