Globalization Some More Questions Is globalization inevitable Does

Globalization

Some More Questions Is globalization inevitable? Does globalization ultimately help or hurt people? Does globalization make the world more diverse or more the same? Does globalization lead to culture-sharing or cultural imperialism? Does globalization lead to an increase or decrease in violent conflicts? Is globalization ultimately good or bad for the environment? Does globalization increase or decrease instances of environmental injustice? Is globalization sustainable?

A Popular Literary Image of Globalization Samuel Huntington The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (1993, 1998)

The “Civilizations”

Another Popular Literary Image of Globalization Benjamin Barber Jihad vs. Mc. World: How Globalism and Tribalism are Reshaping the World (1995)

And Two Last Popular Literary Images of Globalization Thomas Friedman The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization (2000) Century The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first (2005)

Some Responses to Globalization in Terms of Nation-States and International Economic Integration Skeptics: Globalization has not significantly reduced the regulative and redistributive capacities of nation-states. Nation-states can adequately respond to globalization. Deregulators or Hyperglobalists: Globalization has reduced the regulative and redistributive capacities of nation-states. This is a beneficial, efficient, and overall good thing, and globalization should be encouraged.

Some More Responses to Globalization Reversers: Globalization is constraining the public policy making abilities of nation-states and other political actors, and this is undesirable. Globalization should be slowed down or reversed. Internationalists or Transformationalists: Globalization is constraining the public policy making abilities of nation-states and other political actors. To deal with the bad consequences of this, international systems of effective governance should be developed.

“Assessing Global Poverty and Inequality: Income, Resources, and Capabilities” Ingrid Robeyns

Scholars and Politicians on the Political Right, and Mainstream Economists: There are fewer people living in poverty today than there were in the past ten or twenty years! Inequality between the poor and the rich countries is decreasing! People in poor countries benefit from economic globalization! People in poor countries have become better off thanks to the policies of the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund!

Scholars, Politicians, and Social Activists on the Political Left: There are more people living in poverty today than there were in the past ten or twenty years! Inequality between the poor and the rich countries is increasing! People in poor countries are harmed by economic globalization! People in poor countries have become worse off thanks to the policies of the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund!

So what is the real story? Robeyns: Different evaluative approaches used to assess well-being, poverty, and inequality give different answers to these kinds of questions. 1. Income Measures 2. Classifying Resources 3. Functionings and Capabilities

Income Measures from the World Bank The World Bank says that poverty is decreasing in the world. http: //devdata. worldbank. org/wdi 2006/contents/cover. htm But how is poverty defined? The most often cited measure is someone who lives on $1 (U. S. ) or less a day. This is equivalent to the purchasing-power parity of $1. 08 in the U. S. in 1993.

Classifying Resources I: GDP and GNP Human development traditionally is based on economic growth in monetary outcome terms for nation-states: 1. Gross Domestic Product (GDP): A monetary measure of the value of goods and services, for final consumption or investment, produced by a national economy over the course of a year. http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal) 2. Gross National Product (GNP): Start with GDP. Then add income that accrues to domestic residents from investments abroad. Then deduct income earned in the domestic economy which is owned by people abroad.

Classifying Resources II: Rawlsian Social Primary Goods Recall John Rawls’ theory of distributive justice. People in the original position (POPs) behind a veil of ignorance know nothing about who they are. They do know, however, that regardless of who they turn out to be, they will want social primary goods, including income, wealth, liberties, opportunities, and the social basis of self-respect. To determine these goods, we could track and compare: 1. Individual disposable income within a given state. 2. Basic rights guaranteed by a given state. 3. What kinds of social, political, and economic opportunities are available to individual people within a given state. 4. Whether or not people feel there exists a social basis for self-respect within their given state.

Human Development Reports (HDRs) Developed by the United Nations Development Program in the 1990 s as an alternative to simple GDP and GNP to measure human well-being. Theoretically linked to capabilities approaches to justice. In addition to goods and services, an HDR is designed to capture peoples’ opportunities, choices, valued ways of living, and flourishing. Based on an aggregate of data: http: //hdr. undp. org/hdr 2006/statistics/indicators/

Capabilities Approaches These are theoretically linked to HDRs, but they might allow us to move beyond welfare comparisons and actually compare people’s lives. Central insight: Human development concerns not just what people have (such as resources and money) but, more importantly, what people actively can do with their lives. Amartya Sen’s approach is based on the idea that expanding peoples’ freedoms is both the principal means of development and the primary end of development. Martha Nussbaum’s approach is based on the idea that there are core human capabilities that are central in human lives and that distinctively make us human. These approaches support the creation of social, political, economic, legal, and moral conditions for people to develop and exercise their capabilities.

Amartya Sen: “Development as Freedom” What justice ought to “distribute”: 1. Elementary functions: “doings” and “beings” such as having access to adequate food and shelter that can be secured by personal liberty, income, and wealth. 2. Complex functions: “doings” and “beings” such as having self-respect and being able to take part in political communities that depend on factors independent of possessing resources.

Some Aspects of Sen’s Approach Rather than an exclusive focus on economic indicators, focuses also on the range and quality of valued options of people’s choices. To examine a person’s capabilities, normatively rank: 1. A set of life paths that person could follow. 2. How that person actually lives. 3. How satisfied that person feels 4. The goods/commodities that person uses.

Martha Nussbaum: “Capabilities Approach” Develops an open and revisable threshold list of central human capabilities that all people ought to be able to exercise. This list can be used for public planning purposes by governments and other political entities. The goal would be to develop legal, political, and social institutions and procedures that create conditions in which people can develop and exercise their capabilities.

List of Central Human Capabilities to be “distributed. ” 1. 2. 3. Life: being able to live a normal human life span. Bodily Health: being able to have good health. Bodily Integrity: being able to be physically secure, including rights over one’s own body. 4. Senses, Imagination, and Thought: being able to use these mental capacities in a truly human way through adequate education, informed consent, and freedom from repression. 5. Emotions: being able to have and freely express feelings and sentiments. 6. Practical Reason: being able “to form a conception of the good and to engage in critical reflection about the planning of one’s life. ” 7. Affiliation: (a) being able to interact well with other people, and (b) having the social bases for self-respect, dignity, and non-humiliation. 8. Other Species: being able to live with concern for the natural world. 9. Play: being able to play and laugh. 10. Control Over Environment: being able to effectively participate in political processes, to have possessions, and to seek employment.

Conclusion We might be able to reconcile conflicting answers to questions about poverty, inequality, and economic globalization by viewing these different evaluative approaches as complementary rather than as purely rival alternatives. This might open a door for bringing together globalization champions from the political right and anti-globalization champions from the political left.