Many Mexican workers lost their jobs when the U.S. program ended, and with the sweep of globalization moving throughout these neighboring countries, “maquiladoras were to provide an employment alternative in the manufacturing sector” for these unemployed agricultural workers (Gruben 12). Although the concept of the maquiladoras was centered on the positive idea of stimulating industrialization in Mexico and developing a mutually beneficial economic partnership with the United States, with the failures associated with NAFTA, maquiladoras are costing American manufacturing jobs while immensely decreasing the standard of living in a rapidly-polluted Mexico. Rather than creating binational economic prosperity, NAFTA has made it possible for many American manufacturers to conveniently cross the border lines into Mexico to take advantage of the plummeting labor costs, exploit defenseless workers who are unaware of their rights, and destroy Mexico’s seemingly disconnected environment, obliviously thinking that it will not be a detriment to their own as water and air pollution travels freely into the United States.
With the rise of industrialization, the question of free trade has arisen. Free trade is the elimination of taxes, tariffs and quotas over international borders. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), consisting of Mexico, the USA and Canada, creates the largest free-trading zone in the world (Stand 51 1). Does NAFTA help or harm an economy is one of the most poignant questions? The Mexican economy seems to benefit from NAFTA through increased trade of Mexican made products and the availability of more jobs to the Mexican people; however, along with benefits comes a downside. Many American companies have taken advantage of NAFTA and moved production plants to Mexican because there they can exploit the workers. Many companies pay less than 1 dollar an hour in unsafe and unsanitary conditions.
Globalization is the process by which different societies and cultures integrate through a worldwide network of political ideas through transportation, communication, and trade. Generally, globalization has affected many nations in various ways; economically, politically, and socially. It is a term that refers to the fast integration and interdependence of various nations, which shapes the world affairs on a global level. Simply put; globalization is the world coming together. In this essay I will discuss multiple perspectives on globalization through the analysis of these three sources.
‘Globalization: What’s new? What’s not? (And so what)’, portrays the speed in which globalism has increased through many different factors; economically, military, environmentally and socially. This is an idealist analytic approach, not set in stone. This leads on to
Globalisation highlights the dramatic alterations in the landscape of international relations due to the emergence of free market economies based on the right to start a business and trade without restrictions. In other words, it’s the processual approach of assisting financial and investment markets to function together worldwide. This has been largely made possible from the deregulation and improved communications, particularly the evolution of the internet. It can be said that globalisation is a transition of shifting to an integrated world; comprising of the long-term modifications in the aim to achieve a ‘greater international cooperation in economics, politics, ideas, cultural values, and the exchange of knowledge’ (Gibson
Globalization is one of the most discussed and controversial terms in modern history, while many people believe free trade drive global economic growth, create jobs, and lower prices for consumers. Contrary, others argue global cooperation mainly abuse, underpaid their employees lastly benefits from tax havens. Regardless of someone’s personal view, globalization is an ancient and profound system based on international strategies of which economic, political, and sociocultural relations are interconnected across long geographical boundaries. This Integration occurs as technological advances simplify and facilitated the trading of goods and services, the flow of capital, and migration of people across the globe. Lughod Provides a comparative
One of the goals of NAFTA is to a bring stronger economic growth to Mexico and limit illegal migration. As for each country, NAFTA would enhance competition for their companies (Sergie, 2016). Some positive aspects of NAFTA are that it gets rid of tariffs among the three countries. It promotes economic growth, increased profits, and jobs for all countries. It also lowers prices on imported goods (Amadeo, 2016). Promoters of NAFTA believe that it will, in some cases, improve conditions in Mexico both environmentally and economically. These promoters consist of some of the world’s largest corporations (Citizen, 2016). However, not all the effects of NAFTA are positive; many of Mexico’s farmers are now out of business, and much of Mexico’s environment has been destroyed (Amadeo, 2016). Opponents of NAFTA believe that it has destroyed thousands of good-paying jobs in the U.S., and this threatens the health, environmental, and food safety standards. These people include labor, environmental, consumer and religious groups (Citizens, 2016). As a result, NAFTA has impacted all three countries economies, both positively and
Kofi Annan, a UN diplomat, once said,“...that arguing against globalization is like arguing against the laws of gravity.” He is undoubtedly correct in this assessment. Indeed, globalization is no longer something to be skeptical of, it is very real and is changing our world exponentially. The affects of globalization, however, continue to be a heated topic for debate. Proponents praise the overall economic lift provided by free trade, the diffusion of cultures, and the spread of democracy and capitalism. Critics cry foul at the loss of national identity, the accelerated and uncontrolled use of natural resources, and the redistribution of wealth into the hands of a few very powerful people and corporations. Globalization is a
That this was also the decade in which globalization came into full swing is more than a minor inconvenience for its advocates” (Rodrick). If globalization is supposed to present an advantage to developing countries, why have there been so many setbacks? Indeed, both sides will have its winners and losers regardless of which side of the development coin they live on, but for the most part globalization has lifted millions out of poverty, improved the standard of living, and increased life expectancy rates all while keeping developed nations relatively competitive to their developing counterparts. Globalization’s value is that it seeks to create an economic equilibrium in the world, where parties are free from barriers and can benefit from one another through a more efficient allocation of resources. This allows all participating nations to contribute to an integrated economy and where all nations willing to embrace globalization have the potential to benefit. Regardless, the path to successful integration to the global economy has not always been easy. There is contention towards globalization as some argue that it is detrimental to developed nations, while many developing countries that were forced to hastily open up their markets and integrate failed. However, if implemented properly, globalization has proven that it can benefit all parties involved and that the potential gains outweigh the losses.
During the late 80s and early 90s Nike was faced with a series of labor strike back at home due to unethical labor practices by its independent countries in third world countries. It is well known for Nike to outsource almost all its production from third world countries at cheap prices and sell them in U.S. market at an abnormal profit. The company began outsourcing its products from Japan where labor was competent and wages were very low. The living standards were raised which prompted Nike to outsource its products from Thailand, Pakistan and Indonesia since wages in these countries were extremely low and labor for these products were competent due to rapid development of the Japanese economy. The outsourcing of footwear products from Asian countries enables Nike to earn high profits and enjoy a competitive advantage over its rivals in the footwear industry. The company invests the high profits realized in marketing its products through celebrities. For instance, Michael Jordan was used to advertise the positive image of Nike Company (Lipschutz and James, pp. 87-96).
Globalization is defined as a worldwide development, the process of spreading ideas. More recently, globalization has become more focused on economics, the spreading of capitalism and opening international trade. Globalization through the past 50 years has developed a bad reputation, one that does not benefit countries the way people thought it would. Joseph E. Stiglitz, in his book, Globalization and Its Discontents, stresses that modern globalization is a good thing, but has not been done correctly in the past few decades. The ideas behind globalization have the potential to benefit the world, specifically developing countries. Stiglitz goes into detail about how the problem falls with the misguided attempts of the international economic institutions to solve developing countries’ economic problems. Something has gone very wrong with globalization, and the purpose of this book is to shed some light on where it went wrong. Stiglitz presents the problems with the international economic institutions’ damaging policies and their effects using ethnographic field work and historically comparative methods.
The theory of globalization today is a field of intensive debate as the efforts towards defining globalization most often highlight its individual aspects. According to Held and McGrew (1999), “globalisation is an idea whose time has come, yet it lacks precise definition”. Despite the ambiguity of the term “globalisation,” the use of the term, according to Held and McGrew, reflects increased interconnectedness in political, economic and cultural matters across the world creating a shared social space. Given this inter-connectedness, globalisation may be defined as: “a process which embodies a transformation in the spatial organisation of social relations and
Globalization is said to have three different perspectives, according to Latif, which can be affirmed as the hyperglobalist perspective, the sceptical perspective and the transformationalist perspective (Latif, 2010). Both the hyperglobalist and transformationalist perspectives recognize globalization as apparent in the world, however, they differ in that the former believes globalization is growing fast and
Globalization is a social process independent of man’s will. It is also a dynamic development process with inner contradictions and a dual nature. Although it provides a rare historic opportunity for many countries to develop, it also creates differences, competition and conflicts of interest. Globalization’s contradictions and dual nature also exert a complicated influence on contemporary international relations.
Global stratification can be defined that globe countries and areas are not on an equal footing in the process of economic, political and cultural globalization (Andersen & Taylor, 2006). The economic globalization has exacerbated the imbalance of world economy and has widened the wealth gap. Globalization has brought unfair relationships between developing countries and developed countries. Gao (2000) noted that economic globalization has expanded the gap between South and North. And it has brought huge shocks to national economy of developing countries. The international economic organizations like the Word Bank, IMF and WTO are in the hand of developed countries (El-Ojeili, C. & Hayden, P., 2006.). All the principles, institutions and sequences for the world economic operation are made by them. (Sklair, 2002)What’s more, the economic, technical and management advantages that is owned by Western countries cannot be easily and fully surpassed by developing countries.