TOP1-2 Globalisation

Jan Aart Scholte, Defining Globalisation, 2008

• Anthony Giddens: Ideas of globalisation tend to remain as elusive as they are pervasive

  • vocabulary means something, but we are far from sure what it is

  • using it frequently but its poorly conceptualised

• Base of definition is the term itself - geogrephical dimension

  • Contains a) globus (Latin) b) global (adjective), both refer to the geogrephical dimension that is affected by G

  • large-scale supraterritorial phenomen

  • involves/encompasses earth and space

• Globalisation made a significant change in our world as it enabeled a transplanetary and supraterritorial linkage and (reciprocal) influence between people and their culture (/cultural techniques), politics and way of economy

  • Affects beyound classical territorial borders like countries, provinces, regions

  • Has to be distinguished from internationalisation, liberalisation, universalisation and westernisation

• Actors of globalisation aren’t only states, also companies (most influential are called global players) and also groups of persons e.g. NGOs

• “G” has been driven by revolutions in technology, increased mobility and global market integration

  • That enabled GLOBAL change (whole planetary unit) not INTERNATIONAL change (country unit)

• Globalisation is familiar to those concepts and includes some of their attributes

  • Those can be kept in mind as constraints but for a deep understanding we have to include the key circumstances of our time, so have to go beyonf these concepts

• BUT treating globalisation as equivalent to one of those concepts

  • won’t generate new insights

  • supports doubters that there is no need for conceptualising globalisation because it’s not a new phenomen

  • supports misunderstanding of G and thus produces misguiding and unhelpful discussions

    
    

• When interpreted as internationalisation, the term refers to the country dimension and narrows the view to transactions and interdependence between countries

• It refers to a large-scale geogrephical dimension. Globalisation includes the earth and the space, so it refers to the whole planetary unit.

• Would understand globalisation as a replaying earlier history scenario

  • there always was cross-border trade, direct investment and permanent migration

• Underlaying the assumption that social relation can only be organised in country units, state governments and national communities while other forms of ogranisation and governance are ignored

• would treat globalisation as a process of removing officially imposed restrictions on movements of resources between countries in order to form an “open” and “borderless” world economy

• When stressing this we directly land at a neoliberal macroeconomics policies and the discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of a liberal organisation of the market.

  • No new insights and ignores socio-cultural as well as political implications

  • “G” is definetly not driven by neutral politics

• understanding of G as a phenomen that appears everywhere and affects every tiny unit on this planet to the same extent

• Leads directly to assuming that globalisation leads to homogenization of cultures, politics, economics and legal affairs - which is definetly true in some points but will produce no new insights and will support critics about globalisation

• It is rather diffusion and diversity than homogenity in societies across continents

  • “Loosers” and “Winners” of G

  • Rich often have more connections than the poor

  • Global player e.g. TTIP

• globalisation as a universalisation that follows Western modernity standards/norms (capitalism, industrialism, urbanism)

• Globalisation is a much younger concept than westernisation

  • first phase of globalisation started in the 15th century

• The linkage to colonialisation is not far and it’s not wrong but won’t bring new insights

Globalism, Reification, Global/Local binaries, cultural homogenisation, universality, political neutrality

• National borders aren’t abolished due to globalisation

  • “global" village” can be misleading

• Territorialism is still important

  • territorial production

  • territorial governance mechanisms

  • territorial ecology

  • territorial identities are still important

• Globalisation directly feels the territorialism e.g. when it comes to transportation and exchange of goods

  • airports, railways or shipping lanes are nationallay fixed and influences trade and especially financial assets (people still want a national bank account)

• Regionalisation is still a thing

  • Flandern in Belgium

  • Basque region in France

• The global is not seperate rom the regional, the national, the provincial, the local and the household

• Thus it’s misleading to understand the social sphere is not a collection of seperate areas, it rather is a interraltion of spheres in a whole

• states are involved in transworld law and regional arrangements as well as national regulation and relations with provincial and local authorities.

• Wrong to set oppostions between the global and local

• There is no here (as local) and no there (as foreign)

  • they are influencing each other through the social sphere

  • because of this you cant rate or generalize them

    • The global is not more manipulative or the local is not more natural

• Binaries have no hold beacause of the social sphere that is connected and influenced by both

  • Through the internet people can be connected to 1000 people but still don’t know their neighbours

• you can see an extinction of languages and certain consumer patterns or music stars have overflood the whole planet

• BUT observed that marginalised groups connect through the internet, feel empowert and hold on to their culture or even let them flourish again

  • Also more awareness for them “Black Lives Matter” movement

• Globalisation does not affect or connect people all around the world to the same extent

  • Loosers and winners of globalisation

  • Rich people have more connection than the poor

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• True that political character of globalisation is connected to unequal opportunities, herachy and causes conflicts (NO universality)

• BUT no these against those

  • Participants of G is a heterogen group and thus the political progress of G is a contest between different interests and values

• The state sets the limits and terms for the natural growth of the market

• The natural rights of individuals would dictate the principles of good governance and liberty

• Individuals need to enjoy a certain level of protection so that they can act as legitimate citizens of a liberal society

• Society is structured according to Mill’s Harm Principle

  • the freedom of one ends where it would unterfere negativelely with the freedom of another person

• Free markets do not develope by itself, must be actively built with the help of politics

• “The market”, in contrast to the state or people, ALWAYS leads to the most efficient outcomes and distribution

  • It’s a social institution

• Neoliberals seek to take controle of the state as well as redefine its structure and function to make it more market-friendly

• Every extent of inequality (resources, wealth income, political) is acceptable as it leads to productivity and competition

• Free markets, are the most efficient economic sytstem according to neoliberalists

• societal organization based on marketization, privatisation and financialization

  • The market is the central (social) institution and no agency= not a state government or people because the market always comes to the most efficient outcomes

  • freedom of individual (achieved by property rights)

  • evrything has to be market-like (Polanyi: Kommodifizierung)

  • Freedom and the market would be treated as identical

    • Instead of securing the individual from externalities from the market, neoliberalism tries to develope a society that fits and supports a free market

      • Not the market gives the society what it needs, the society gives the market what it needs

        • realized that there is a need of regulation to create a safe society and accountable society: privatisation

  • “Free” markets do not occur naturally. They must be actively constructed through political organizing

• a strong state

  • Strong state as “certain regime of government” acts against struggles that undermine free markets, NO intervention in market activities

  • deregulation over regulation

  • state as promotour of competition

    • privatisation, deregulation, tax cuts and free trade)

• Neoliberals seek to take control of the state as well as redefine its structure and function to establish and uphold the market-friendly culture

• Liberalism:

• “Markets were born, not made.”

• That also how they are organized, by itself, an invisible hand

• Liberalism:

  • the free market is a business modell that guarantees the freedom of the individual

    • Freedom in the form of liberated from despotism and an overpresented state

    • the freedom of one ends where it would unterfere negativelely with the freedom of another person (John Stuart Mill)

      • As aside note here begins the struggle, already early Vertragstheoretiker like Thomas Hobbes stated that freedom without rules will end up in a chaotic and dangerous environment homo homini lupus.

• Examples for neoliberal policies

  • Free Trade Agreements like TTIP

    • massive reduction of consumer protection - most popular example the chlor chicken + companies were able to take countries into justice if their turnover would be reduced by ecological standards

  • Christian Lindners suggestion to secure the pensions through shares so therefore through the market

  • Believe in the trickle-down-effect and thus the rejection of top taxation rates for the rich

  • (Classic) Economist who argue against a minimum wage

  • Economic growth at all cost and more important than ecological protection

• Suggests an option between a free market siciety (laissez-faire capitalism) and controlled economy

• State has the assignement to develope the framework for a working economy but it is not allowed to lead or intervent in economic activities

  • shaking hands between social thoughts and achievement principles, decentrialism and order

• 7 constitutional principles, like working price system absed on competition and 4 regulationg principles

• regulating principles are only allowed if the 7 constitutiing principles are not working

  • no monopoly building

  • advocates market failuse

• Recognizes that embeddness can have negative externalities for individuals which have to be corrected

• Still capitalistic as the the market is central and state interventions are only allowed when the market fails (and somehow if it would lead to a better outcome)

  • no process politics only order politics

• Neoliberal Globalisation

  • hegemonic role of “free markets” and “free trade” as a guideline to global economic policy since the 1980s

    • decreased governmental regulation

    • privatisation of government-owned enterprises

    • reduced government spending

    • lowering of barriers to international trade

• Mainstream critics state a last blink of hope or a good side of the neo-liberal globalisation. Their critics see the negative side but they also deliver alternative measures and solutions. Radical critics are also reform-critical and don’t believe in a neoliberal globalisation in a form of a compromise.

• Mainstream Critics (Reformist)

  • Jeffrey Sachs: economic growth can be a misguiding measure

    • “poverty traps” especially countries of the third world are excluded from the international market due to lacks of capital or environmental tracks

    • Alternative measures: debt relief, increased foreign, investment in the big 5 (healt, infrastructure, agriculture, education, clean drinking water/sanitation)

  • Joseph Stiglitz: Globalization is characterized by intrinsic flaws and the failure of neoliberal policies who lead to environmental damage, undemocratizatiion, human rightse abus and social injustive

    • Alternative measure: more active government role in the economy (regulation, investment)

• Radical Critics(Reform-Critical)

  • Neoliberal globalisation means to favour for capital and weakens labour power

  • Neoliberal reforms are a major factor in growing inequality, resulting in social conflicts and environmental damage

  • Emphasises with mainstream critics on redistributive measures, but emphasises the need for a long-term transistion of the economic system

• After Latin-American debt crisis (80er) as Washington-Consensus

• Measures have been required from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank as a response to the high external debt of countries in the third world

• SAP’s have been implemented in almost every country of the 3rd world

• Latin-American debt crisis in the 1980s motivated the 1st Worlds countries to transform the economies of the 3rd World according to neoliberal standards

  • Sidenote: 1st world countries are to a great extent responsible that the 3rd world is in debt.

  • Intrinsic motivation to get their money back and to make the countries more attractive (e.g. safe) for investments

• Common features of SAPs is the focus on the production for export, decreased governmental spending, privatization of governmental enterprises, reduced regulations on the activities of multinational corporations

  • Where set on consensus and are close to neoliberalism

• Measures are not fulfilling the real needs and often make the situation worse. UNICEF reported an increase in rates of child poverty, malnutrition, and disease

  • So paying back debts costs hundreds of thousand children their live

  • redistribute the land and cancel the debts

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