GEC 3: The Contemporary World

GEC 3
The Contemporary World
Final Coverage

Prepared by:

Richard Garcia

College of Arts and Sciences

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Chapter 6 – A World of Region

Lesson 1 – Global Divides: The North and the South

In This Lesson

Define the Global North-South divide.

•
Discuss the history of the Global North-South dynamic.
•
Critically challenge the accuracy of the Global North–South divide.
•
.
What is the North-South Divide?
by Benjamin Elisha Sawe

The North-South Divide is a socio-economic and political categorization of countries. The

Cold-War-era generalization places countries in two distinct groups; The North and the
South.
The North is comprised of all First World countries and most Second World
countries while the South is comprised of Third World countries. This categorization
ignores the geographic position of countries with some countries in the southern
hemisphere such as Australia and New Zealand being labeled as part of the North.

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History
The origin of dividing countries into the North-South Divide arose during the Cold War of
the mid-20th century. During this time, countries were primarily categorized according to their
alignment between the Russian East and the American West. Countries in the East like the
Soviet Union and China which became classified as Second World countries. In the west, the
United States and its allies were labelled as First World countries. This division left out many
countries which were poorer than the First World and Second World countries. The poor
countries were eventually labelled as Third World countries. This categorization was later
abandoned after the Second World countries joined the First World countries. New criteria
were established to categorize countries which were named the North-South Divide where
First World countries were known as the North while Third World countries comprised the
South.

The Brandt line - a definition from the 1980s dividing the world into the wealthy north and the poor south.

The North (First World Countries)

The North of the Divide is comprised of countries which have developed economies and
account for over 90% of all manufacturing industries in the world. Although these countries
account for only one-quarter of the total global population, they control 80% of the total
income earned around the world. All the members of the G8 (The Group of Eight (G8) refers

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to the group of eight highly industrialized nations—France, Germany, Italy, the United
Kingdom, Japan, the United States, Canada, and Russia—that hold an annual meeting to
foster consensus on global issues like economic growth and crisis management, global
security, energy, and terrorism.) come from the North as well as four permanent members of
the UN Security Council. About 95% of the population in countries in the North have enough
basic needs and have access to functioning education systems. Countries comprising the North
include The United States, Canada, all countries in Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand as
well as the developed countries in Asia such as Japan and South Korea.

The South (Third World Countries)

The South is comprised of countries with developing economies which were initially
referred to as Third World countries during the Cold War. An important characteristic of
countries in the South is the relatively low GDP and the high population. The Third World
accounts for only a fifth of the globally earned income but accounts for over three-quarters of
the global population. Another common characteristic of the countries in the South is the lack
of basic amenities. As little as 5% of the population is able to access basic needs such as food
and shelter. The economies of most countries in the South rely on imports from the North and
have low technological penetration. The countries making up the South are mainly drawn from
Africa, South America, and Asia with all African and South American countries being from the
South. The only Asian countries not from the South are Japan and South Korea.

CHARACTERISTICS OF NORTH AND SOUTH

GLOBAL NORTH GLOBAL SOUTH

North America, Western Europe, Australia, Africa, Latin America, and Asia
Japan Poor and less developed region
Known as First world 5% of the population has enough food and
Home to four of the five permanent members shelter
of the UN Security Council

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Richer and develop countries It serves as the source of raw materials of the
north
95% has enough food and shelter and
functioning education system as well.
Some of the major differences in North and South countries are as follows:

North South
Less population Large population
High Wealth Low Wealth
High Standard of living Low Standard of living
High Industrial development Low Industrial development
Industry Agriculture

Criticism
The North-South Divide is criticized for being a way of segregating people along
economic lines and is seen as a factor of the widening gap between developed and developing
economies. However, several measures have been put in place to contract the North-South
Divide including the lobbying for international free trade and globalization. The United Nations
has been at the forefront in diminishing the North-South Divide through policies highlighted in
its Millennium Development Goals. (Sawe 2017)

Challenges
The accuracy of the North–South divide has been challenged on a number of grounds.
Firstly, differences in the political, economic and demographic make-up of countries tend to
complicate the idea of a monolithic South. Globalization has also challenged the notion of two
distinct economic spheres. Following the liberalization of post-Mao China initiated in 1978,
growing regional cooperation between the national economies of Asia has led to the growing
decentralization of the North as the main economic power. The economic status of the South
has also been fractured. As of 2015, all but roughly the bottom 60 nations of the Global South
were thought to be gaining on the North in terms of income, diversification, and participation
in the world market. Globalization has largely displaced the North–South divide as the

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theoretical underpinning of the development efforts of international institutions such as the

IMF, World Bank, WTO, and various United Nations affiliated agencies, though these groups
differ in their perceptions of the relationship between globalization and inequality. Yet some
remain critical of the accuracy of globalization as a model of the world economy, emphasizing
the enduring centrality of nation-states in world politics and the prominence of regional trade
relations.

Lesson 2 – Regionalization
L. Claudio/P. Abinales

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

1. Differentiate between regionalization and globalization

2. Explain how regions are formed and kept together
3. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of regionalism, and 4. Identify factors
leading to a greater integration of the Asian region.

Governments, associations, societies, and groups form regional organizations and/or

networks as a way of coping the challenges of globalization.

Globalization has made people aware of the world in general, but it has also made
Filipinos more cognizant of specific areas such as Southeast Asia.

Because of globalization, Filipinos are aware that Philippines is part of the Southeast Asia
and is part of the regional grouping known as Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

REGIONALISM

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 Regionalism is often seen as political and economic phenomenon.

 Regionalism is a political process characterized by economic policy cooperation and
coordination among countries.
 Regionalism is a PROCESS and must be treated as an emergent, socially constituted
phenomenon. It means that regions are not natural or given. They are constructed
and defined by policymakers, economic actors, and even social movements.
 Regionalism is a political ideology that favors a specific region over the greater area.

Countries, Regions and Globalization

Edward D. Mansfield and Helen V. Milner state that economic and political definitions of
REGIONS vary.

First, regions are “a group of countries located in the same geographically specified area” or
are “an amalgamation of two regions [or] a combination of more than two regions organized
to regulate and oversee flows and policy choices.

Second, the words “regionalization” and “regionalism” should not be interchanged.

Regionalization is the regional concentration of economic flows while regionalism is a
political process characterized by economic policy cooperation and coordination among
countries.

Countries respond economically and politically to globalization in various ways.

Examples:

 Some are large enough and have a lot of resources to dictate how they participate in
processes of global integration.

China – offers cheap and huge workforce to attract foreign businesses and expand trade
with countries it once considered its enemies but now see markets for its goods. (e.g.
Japan and United States)

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 Other countries make up for their small size by making advantage of their strategic
location.

Singapore and Switzerland – compensate for their lack of resources by turning

themselves into financial and banking hubs. Singapore developed its harbor facilities and
made them a first-class transit port for ships carrying different commodities from Africa,
Europe, the Middle East, and mainland Southeast Asia to countries in the Asia-Pacific.

 In most cases, however, countries form a regional alliance for – as the saying goes – there
is strength in numbers.
Countries form regional associations for several reasons.

1. Military defense – North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed during the
Cold War when Western European countries plus the United States agreed to protect
Europe against the threat of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union responded by
creating its regional alliance, the Warsaw Pact, consisting of the Eastern European
countries under the Soviet domination. The Soviet Union collapsed in December 1991,
but NATO remains in place.

2. To pool their resources, get better returns for their exports, as well as expand their
leverage (influence) against trading partners. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) was established in 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and
Venezuela to regulate the production of oil.

3. To protect independence from the pressures of superpower politics. The presidents of

Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, and Yugoslavia created the Non-Aligned Movement
(NAM) in 1961 to pursue world peace and international cooperation, human rights,
national sovereignty, racial and national equality, non-intervention and peaceful conflict
resolution. The NAM refused to side with either the First World capitalist democracies in
Western Europe and North America or the communist states in Eastern Europe.

4. Economic crisis compels countries to come together. The Thai economy collapsed in
1996 after foreign currency speculators and troubled international banks demanded
that Thai government pay back its loans. A rapid withdrawal of foreign investments
bankrupted the economy. The IMF tried to reverse the crisis, but it was only after the
ASEAN countries along with China, Japan and South Korea agreed to establish an
emergency fund to anticipate a crisis that the Asian economies stabilized. The crisis
made ASEAN more “unified and coordinated.”

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Non-State Regionalism

It is not only states that agree to work together in the name of a single cause (or
causes). Communities also engage in regional organizing.

New Regionalism varies in form; they can be “tiny associations that include no more
than a few actors and focus on a single issue, or huge continental unions that address a
multitude of common problems from territorial defense to food security.” Organizations
representing this likewise rely on the power of individuals, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) and associations to link up with one another in pursuit of a particular goal or goals.
Finally, new regionalism is identified with reformists who share the same values, norms,
institutions, and system that exist outside of the traditional, established mainstream institutions
and systems.

Their strategies and tactics likewise vary. Some organizations partner with governments
to initiate social change. Those who work with governments (“legitimizers") participate in
institutional mechanisms that afford some civil society groups voice and influence (in)
technocratic policy-making processes.

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What is ASEAN?

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a regional organization that brings together disparate neighbors
to address economic, security, and political issues, but the group’s impact remains limited.
 It is an intergovernmental organization of ten Southeast Asian countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
 The bloc’s biggest success has been promoting economic integration among members. It also helped
negotiate the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement to create one of the world’s
largest free trade blocs.
 ASEAN has struggled to form a cohesive response to China’s claims in the South China Sea, which conflict
with those of several members.

How ASEAN Works

ASEAN is headed by a chair—a position that rotates annually among member states—and is assisted by a
secretariat based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Important decisions are usually reached through consultation and
consensus guided by the principles of non-interference in internal affairs and peaceful resolution of

conflicts.

For example, the ASEAN issued its Human Rights Declaration in 2009, but the regional
body left it to member countries to apply the declaration's principles as they see fit. Aware
that democratic rights are limited in many ASEAN countries, "new regionalism” organizations

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used this official declaration to pressure these governments to pass laws and regulations that
protect and promote human rights.

In South America, left-wing governments support the Hemispheric Social Alliance's opposition
to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), while members of the Mesa
de Articulación de Asociaciones Nacionales y Redes de ONGS de América Latina y El Caribe
(Roundtable of National Associations and Networks and NGOs in Latin America and the
Caribbean) participate in "forums, summits, and dialogues with presidents and ministers."
Likewise, a group called the Citizen Diplomacy Forum tries to influence the policies and
programs of the Organization of American States. In Southeast Asia, the organization of an
ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights was in part the result of non-government
organizations and civil society groups pushing to "prevent discrimination, uphold political
freedom, and promote democracy and human rights throughout the region.

Other regional organizations dedicate themselves to specialized causes. Activists across

Central and South America established the Rainforest Foundation to protect indigenous
peoples and the rainforests in Brazil, Guyana, Panama, and Peru," Young Christians across
Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, and the Caribbean formed Regional Interfaith
Youth Networks to promote "conflict prevention, resolution, peace education, and sustainable
development. The Migrant Forum in Asia is another regional network of NGOs and trade
unions committed to protecting and promoting the rights and welfare of migrant workers.

These organizations' primary power lies in their moral standing and their ability to
combine lobbying with pressure politics. Unfortunately, most of them are poorly financed,
which places them at a disadvantage when dealing with their official counterparts who have
large state funds. Their impact in global politics is, therefore, limited.

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New regionalism differs significantly from traditional state to state regionalism when it
comes to identifying problems. For example, states treat poverty or environmental degradation
as technical or economic issues that can be resolved by refining existing programs of state
agencies, making minor changes in economic policies, and creating new offices that address
these issues. However, new regionalism advocates such as the NGO Global Forum see these
issues as reflections of flawed economic development and environmental models. By "flawed,"
they mean economic development plans that are market-based, profit-driven, and hardly
concerned with social welfare, especially among the poor.

Another challenge for new regionalists is the discord that may emerge among them. For
example, disagreements surface over issues like gender and religion, with pro-choice NGOS
breaking from religious civil society groups that side with the Church, Muslim imams, or
governments opposed to reproductive rights and other pro-women policies." Moreover, while
civil 46 society groups are able to dialogue with governments, the latter may not be welcoming
to this new trend and set up one obstacle after another. Migrant Forum Asia and its ally, the
Coordination of Action Research on AIDS (CARAM), lobbied ASEAN governments to defend
migrant labor rights. Their program of action, however, slowed down once countries like
Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand refused to recognize the rights of undocumented migrant
workers and the rights of the families of migrants.

Contemporary Challenges to Regionalism

Today, regionalism faces multiple challenges, the most serious of which is the
resurgence of militant nationalism and populism. The refusal to dismantle NATO after the
collapse of the Soviet Union, for example, has become the basis of the anti-NATO rhetoric of
Vladimir Putin in Russia. Now, even the relationship of the United States-the alliance's core
member-with NATO has become problematic after Donald Trump demonized the organization
as simply leeching off American military power without giving anything in return.

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Perhaps the most crisis-ridden regional organization of today is the European Union.
The continuing financial crisis of the region is forcing countries like Greece to consider leaving
the Union to gain more flexibility in their economic policy. Anti-immigrant sentiment and a
populist campaign against Europe have already led to the United Kingdom voting to leave the
European Union in a move the media has termed the "Brexit."

ASEAN members continue to disagree over the extent to which member countries
should sacrifice their sovereignty for the sake of regional stability. The Association's link with
East Asia has also been problematic. Recently, ASEAN countries also disagreed over how to
relate to China, with the Philippines unable to get the other countries to support its
condemnation of China's occupation of the West Philippine Sea." Cambodia and Laos led the
opposition favoring diplomacy over confrontation, but the real reason was the dramatic
increase of Chinese investments and economic aid to these countries. Moreover, when some
formerly authoritarian countries democratized, this participatory regionalism" clashed with
ASEAN's policy of non-interference, as civil society groups in Indonesia, the Philippines, and
Thailand demanded that the other countries democratized adopt a more open attitude towards
foreign criticism.

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A final challenge pertains to differing visions of what regionalism should be for Western
governments may see regional organizations not simply as economic formations but also as
instruments of political democratization. Non-Western and developing societies, however, may
have a different view regarding globalization, development, and democracy. Singapore, China,
and Russia see democracy as an obstacle to the implementation and deepening of economic
globalization because constant public inquiry about economic projects and lengthy debate slow
down implementation or lead to unclear outcomes. Democracy's tedious procedures must,
therefore, give way to efficiency.

Conclusion

Official regional associations now cover vast swaths of the world. The population of the
countries that joined the Asia: Pacific Economic Council (APEC) alone comprised 37 percent of
the world's population in 2007. These countries are also part of "smaller" organizations that
include the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,
the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, and the
Union of South American Nations. Even "isolationist" North Korea is part of the Regional
Forum, which discusses security issues in the region. In the same way the countries will find it
difficult to reject all forms of global economic integration, it will also be hard for them to turn
their backs on their regions. Even if the UK leaves the EU, it must continue to trade with its
immediate neighbors and will, therefore, be forced to implement many EU rules. None of this
is to say that regional organizations will remain unaltered. The history of regionalism shows
that regional associations emerge as new global concerns arise. The future of regionalism will
be contingent on the immense changes in global politics that will emerge in the 21st century.

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Enrichment Videos
Bjorn Hettne’s “Globalization, The New Regionalism and East Asia”
https://archive.unu.edu/unupress/globalism.html

ASEAN Explained: Understanding ASEAN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdyI8BOw9c0

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/understanding-aseanseven-
things-you-need-to-know

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Chapter 7 – A World of Ideas

Lesson 1 – The Global Media Culture

Intended Outcome/Learning Objectives:
At the end of the lesson the students will be able to:
1. analyze how various media drives various forms of global integration;
2. explain the dynamic between local and global cultural production.

Globalization entails the spread of various cultures. Examples are Hollywood movies that are
shown not only in the United States but also other parts of the world. Similarly, South Korean
rapper Psy’s song “Gangnam Style” may have been about a wealthy suburb in Seoul but its
listeners involved millions have never been in Gangnam or not even know what Gangnam is.
Hence, globalization involves the spread of ideas around the world such as the rights of LGBT
as well as other beliefs, i.e., religious beliefs and other aspects of culture even they are not

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travelling around the world through the use of

Mass media as the main conduit for spreading
global culture and ideas.

Globalization is `best considered a complex set

of interacting and often countervailing human,
material and symbolic flows that lead to diverse,
heterogeneous cultural positionings and practices
which persistently and variously modify established
vectors of social, political and cultural power' (Lull,
1995: 150).

Globalization `refers to the rapidly developing

process of complex interconnections between
societies, cultures, institutions and individuals
world-wide. It is a social process which involves a
compression of time and space, shrinking distances
through a dramatic reduction in the time taken - either
physically or representationally - to cross them, so making
the world seem smaller and in
a certain sense bringing them ``closer'' to one another' (Tomlinson, 1999: 165) What

is MEDIA?

 It is the plural for medium – a means of conveying something such as a channel of

communication
 The plural form—media—came into general circulation in the 1920s o (came into popular
usage to talk about a new social issues)

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 Media is the main means of mass communication (broadcasting, publishing, and the
Internet), regarded collectively.

THE GLOBAL VILLAGE: The world seems smaller, more accessible

Marshall Mcluhan

“The Medium is the Message”

McLuhan believed that it was not what we said, but the way we said it that mattered most.
This theory helps to explain why we communicate through more than one medium
 Media messages carry meanings and representations of the nation, allowing for
conversations that make it sensible to its citizens, articulate its characteristics, and discuss
the prospects
 Consider the role of media in the imagination and promotion of nation

WHAT DO MEDIA PROMOTE?

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Stereotype “is a fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people.”
Masculinity and femininity is defined and restricted by boundaries that are created by images
found in the media.

WHY DO MEDIA STEREOTYPE?

Stereotype
Targets a specific audience – it is what the majority of society wants to see – media shows us
what we want to see
Media also breaks the stereotype … sometimes, it is the most effective tool to do so!
When considering media and globalization, we should consider whether or not the developments
have promoted social justice and equality or have replicated or intensified between have’s and
have-not’s.

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GUY DEBORD
 Society of the Spectacle - Social values become equated or blurred
with the values of capitalism: commodification and consumption  Example:
 Love becomes equivalent to the purchase of goods and services 
Public interest becomes blurred with profit

BENEDICT ANDERSON
 The impact of print capitalism in facilitating the ‘imagination’ of nation.
 As local markets for publications emerged during the age of empire, novels and
newspapers were written not in the language of the colonial master but in the language
of the colonized
 Allowed the emergence of national rather than colonial consciousness

MICHAEL BILLIG
 Banal nationalism = maintenance of nation rather than its conception
 The national community is reproduced in the routine practices of daily life (reading the
newspaper, listening to the radio)
 Media carry discourses that demarcate the boundaries of the nation, defining its
characteristics and indicating who is included and excluded within the national space.

JURGEN HABERMAS
 The major focus of Habermas’s work is the survival of democracy in a world that is
increasingly transformed by science and technology

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GLOBAL IMAGINARY & GLOBAL VILLAGE

The most important consequence of communication media for globalization has been—through
MEDIA, the people of the world came to know of the world. For globalization to proceed, people
needed to be able to truly:
1. Imagine the world and
2. Imagine themselves acting in the world

GLOBAL IMAGINARY
• Media bring about a fundamentally new imaginary—Global Imaginary—the globe itself as
imagined community (Steger, 2008)
• Cosmopolitanism is now a feature of modern life; people imagine themselves as part of
the world
• Nations are the result of ‘imagined communities’; people will never meet face to face with
others but they can imagine themselves as one--in the minds of each lives the image of
their communion (Anderson, 1991)
• The imagination is not a trifling fantasy but a ‘social fact’ & a staging ground for action
(Appadurai, 1996)

EVIDENCES OF IMAGINATION IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBAL IMAGINATION

1. The Potato Famine in the 1800s made the Irish people imagine a better life in America &
millions emigrated
2. The Filipino people, suffering under conjugal dictatorship, filled EDSA, overthrew a dictator
& realized their imagination to be free again

MEDIA & ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION

 Media have been essential to the growth of economic globalization in the world

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 Economic Globalization is about story & myth—narratives that make natural the buying &
selling of products across borders & boundaries & mythic celebrations of products &
consumption
 Media have made economic globalization possible by creating the conditions for global
capitalism & by promoting the conceptual foundation of the world’s market economy
 The media foster the conditions for global capitalism (they invite us to buy & consume,
from ceaseless commercials on radio & TV, to product placement in films, to digital
billboards, etc.)
 Economic and cultural globalization arguably would be impossible without a global
commercial media system to promote global markets & to encourage consumer values
(McChesney, 2001)
 McChesney and co-author Edward Herman (1997) called global media as ‘the new
missionaries of global capitalism’

MEDIA & POLITICAL GLOBALIZATION

 Globalization has transformed world politics in profound ways; overthrow of kingdoms &
empires—creation of nation-state; now some argue that the nation-state deteriorates as
people & borders become more fluid
 Though media corporations are powerful political actors, individual journalists are subject
to brutal & intense intimidation as more actors contend for power (journalists die in the
line of duty & without justice=ultimate form of censorship)
 All these groups threatened by the work of a crusading reporter; all have targeted
reporters, thus globalization has made the world a harrowing place for journalists
 Media are subject to other pressures in this age of high-tech persuasion, manipulation, &
propaganda; economic, political & personal pressures shape the news around the globe

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 ‘The CNN Effect’, foreign policy—particularly the actions of the US gov’t. seemed to be
driven by dominant stories appearing on CNN & other 24-hour news networks (Bahador,
2007)
 Media appeared to be driving foreign policy; the concept seemed logical & attracted some
interest but other scholars pursued the CNN effect in earnest, testing & retesting its
hypothesis
 These forces can lead to the routine publishing & promoting of news shaped by
governments & corporations
 Herman & Chomsky’s propaganda model shows ‘the routes by which money & power are
able to filter out the news to fit to print, marginalize dissent & allow the government
& dominant private interests to get their messages across the public

WHAT THE NEW MEDIA CAN DO?

 New media do indeed complicate politics; being mobile, interactive, discursive, &
participatory—with dramatic political implications
 Low cost & ease of posting text, photos, video & music etc., digital media allow for
possibility of multiple, varied voices & views that can challenge & question those in power
(Shirky, 2008)

SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter o The logistics of twitter are
unique

o Users have a limit of 140 characters and the medium requires captivating messages in
order to draw attention to readers
o As a medium of communication, Twitter’s intent is to captivate and tap into our shortterm
attention spans

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o Messages target individuals who are too busy to read a full article, blog or the newspaper.
o Readers generally get small bits of information with the option to click on a link to read
further;
o Many of us are constantly on the move and need our information quick and simple; o
The medium is the message of efficiency and urgency.

LINKEDIN
Marketing to your audience through LinkedIn connotes professionalism o LinkedIn
as a medium is used for primarily business related purposes

o For example, promoting a cocktail party would certainly not be marketed using LinkedIn
as a medium to reach your audience
o Alternatively, using LinkedIn to post more professional messages can be more effective
than posting the same message on a more casual platform
o The medium is the message of professionalism.

FACEBOOK
o As a contrast to LinkedIn is Facebook which is intended to foster a more casual social
media experience
o We do not necessarily log into Facebook to find business information, however, it’s a
great platform to employ the word of mouth theory on the web
o Facebook gives you the opportunity to share and link a business on an online platform;
much like interactions between a group of friends offline
o Not to mention, Facebook is the most active social media platform in the world, with
1.19 billion monthly active users
o The medium is the message of connections

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INSTAGRAM
o Instagram is great to create more visual content, build awareness, and foster
engagement
o The medium is the message of visual interest

WEBSITES
o Websites are your 24/7 hours sales rep

o Your company’s website should promote products/services and provide solutions and
answers to potential customers
o As important as your website content is, the medium of the website itself has a huge
influence on your success
o Unlike Twitter and LinkedIn, there are no restrictions on the length of content o Websites
can also represent any level of professionalism

o A website and your blog present your business is an easily digestible view o The medium

is the message of presenting the details of your company to your audience

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Lesson 2 – The Globalization of Religion

globalization can be defined as a process of an “ever more interdependent world” where “political,
economic, social, and cultural relationships are not restricted to territorial boundaries or to state
actors,” globalization has much do with its impact on cultures. As goods and finance crisscross across
the globe, globalization shifts the cultural makeup of the globe and creates a homogenized “global
culture.”

In This Lesson
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. explain how globalization affects religious practices and beliefs,

2 identify the various religious responses to globalization, and

3. discuss the future of religion in a globalized world.

As a contested term, globalization has many definitions, each worthy of merit.

Generally, globalization is first thought of “in economic and political terms, as a movement of
capitalism spreading across the globe. It calls to mind “homogenizing exports of the US” such
as Nike, McDonald’s, and MTV. However, since globalization can be defined as a process of an
“ever more interdependent world” where “political, economic, social, and cultural relationships
are not restricted to territorial boundaries or to state actors,” globalization has much do with
its impact on cultures. As goods and finance crisscross across the globe, globalization shifts the

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cultural makeup of the globe and creates a homogenized “global culture.” Although not a new
phenomenon, the process of globalization has truly made the world a smaller place in which
political, social, and economic events elsewhere affect individuals anywhere. As a result
individuals “search for constant time and space bounded identities” in a world ever changing
by the day. One such identity is religion. Generally, religion is a “system of beliefs and
practices.”
More specifically, the word comes from the Latin “religare” which means “to bind
together again that which was once bound but has since been torn apart or broken.” Indeed,
with the globalization of economics and politics, individuals feel insecure “as the life they once
led is being contested and changed at the same time.” Hence, “in order for a person to
maintain a sense of psychological wellbeing and avoid existential anxiety,” individuals turn to
scripture stories and teachings that provide a vision about how they can be bound to a
“meaningful world,” a world that is quickly changing day by day.
Religion, much more than culture, has the most difficult relationship with globalism
(remember the distinction between "globalization" and "globalism"). First, the two are entirely
contrasting belief systems. Religion is concerned with the sacred, while globalism places value
on material wealth. Religion follows divine commandments, while globalism abides by
humanmade laws. Religion assumes that there is "the possibility of communication between
humans and the transcendent." This link between the human and the divine confers some
social power on the latter. Furthermore, "God," "Allah," or "Yahweh" defines and judges
human action in moral terms (good vs. bad). Globalism's yardstick, however, is how much of
human action can lead to the highest material satisfaction and subsequent wisdom that this
new status produces.
Religious people are less concerned with wealth and all that comes along with it (higher
social status, a standard of living similar with that of the rest of the community. exposure to
"culture," top-of-the-line education for the children). They are ascetics precisely because they
shun anything material for complete simplicity-from their domain to the clothes they wear, to
the food they eat, an even to the manner in which they talk (lots of parables an allegories that

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are supposedly the language of the divine A religious person's main duty is to live a virtuous,
sin-less life such that when he/she dies, he/she is assured of a place in the other world (i.e.,
heaven)."
On the other hand, globalists are less worried about whether they will end up in heaven
or hell. Their skills are more pedestrian as they aim to seal trade deals, raise the profits of
private enterprises, improve government revenue collections, protect the elites from being
excessively taxed by the state, and, naturally, enrich themselves. If he/she has a strong social
conscience, the globalist sees his/her work as contributing to the general progress of the
community, the nation, and the global economic system. Put another way, the religious aspires
to become a saint; the globalist trains to be a shrewd businessperson. The religious detests
politics and the quest for power for they are evidence of humanity's weakness; the globalist
values them as both means and ends to open up further the economies of the world.
Finally, religion and globalism clash over the fact that religious evangelization is in itself
a form of globalization. The globalist ideal, on the other hand, is largely focused on the realm
of markets. The religious is concerned with spreading holy ideas globally, while the globalist
wishes to spread goods and services.
The "missions" being sent by American Born-Again Christian churches, Sufi and Shiite
Muslim orders, as well as institutions like Buddhist monasteries and Catholic, Protestant, and
Mormon churches are efforts at "spreading the word of God" and gaining adherents abroad.
Religions regard identities associated with globalism (citizenship, language, and race) as
inferior and narrow because they are earthly categories. In contrast, membership to a religious
group, organization, or cult represents a superior affiliation that connects humans directly to
the divine and the supernatural. Being a Christian, a Muslim, or a Buddhist places one in a
higher plane than just being a Filipino, a Spanish speaker or an Anglo-Saxon.
These philosophical differences explain why certain groups "flee their communities and
create impenetrable sanctuaries where they can practice their religions without the meddling
and control of state authorities. The followers of the Dalai Lama established Tibet for this
purpose, and certain Buddhist monasteries are located away from civilization so that hermits

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can devote themselves to prayer and contemplation. These isolationist justifications are also
used by the Rizalistas of Mount Banahaw, the Essenes during Roman-controlled Judea (now
Israel), and for a certain period, the Mormons of Utah. These groups believe that living among
"non-believers" will distract them from their mission or tempt them to abandon their faith and
become sinners like everyone else.
Communities justify their opposition to government authority on religious grounds.
Priestesses and monks led the first revolts against colonialism in Asia and Africa, warning that
these outsiders were out to destroy their people's gods and ways of life. Similar arguments are
being invoked by contemporary versions ways of these millenarian movements that wish to
break away from the hold of the state or vow to overthrow the latter in the name of God. To
their prophets," the state seeks to either destroy their people's sacred beliefs or distort religion
to serve non-religious goals.

Realities
In actuality, the relationship between religion and globalism is much more complicated.
Peter Berger argues that far from being secularized, “the contemporary world is...furiously
religious. In most of the world, there are veritable explosions of religious fervor, occurring in
one form of another in all the major religious traditions-Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism,
Buddhism, and even Confucianism (if one wants to call it a religion)-and in many places in
imaginative syntheses of one or more world religions with indigenous faiths."
Religions are the foundations of modern republics. The Malaysian government places
religion at the center of the political system. Its constitution explicitly states that "Islam is the
religion of the Federation," and the rulers of each state was also the "Head of the religion of
Islam." The late Iranian religious leader, Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, bragged about the
superiority of Islamic rule over its secular counterparts and pointed out that "there is no
fundamental distinction among constitutional, despotic, dictatorial, democratic, and
communistic regimes." To Khomeini, all secular ideologies were the same - they were flawed

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and Islamic rule was the superior form of government because it was spiritual. Yet, Iran calls
itself a republic, a term that is associated with the secular.
Moreover, religious movements do not hesitate to appropriate secular themes and
practices. The moderate Muslim association Nahdlatul Ulama in Indonesia has Islamic schools
(pesantren) where students are taught not only about Islam but also about modern science,
the social sciences, modern banking, civic education, rights of women, pluralism, and
democracy. In other cases, religion was the result of a shift in state policy. The Church of
England, for example, was "shaped by the rationality of modern democratic (and bureaucratic)
culture." King Henry VIII broke away from Roman Catholicism and established his own Church
to bolster his own power. In the United States, religion and law were fused together to help
build this "modern secular society." It was observed in the early 1800s by French historian and
diplomat Alexis de Tocqueville who wrote, "not only do the Americans practice their religion
out of self-interest but they often even place in this world the interest which they have in
practicing it." Jose Casanova confirms this statement by noting that "historically, religion has
always been at the very center of all great political conflicts and movements of social reform.
From independence to abolition, from nativism to women's suffrage, from prohibition to the
civil rights movement, religion had always been at the center of these conflicts, but also on
both sides of the political barricades." It remains the case until today with the power the
Christian Right has on the Republican Party.

Religion for and against Globalization

There is hardly a religious movement today that does not use religion to oppose
"profane" globalization. Yet, two of the so-called "old world religions"- Christianity and Islam
see globalization less as an obstacle and more as an opportunity expand their reach all over
the world. Globalization has "freed" communities from the "constraints of the nation-state," but
in the process, also threatened to destroy the cultural system that binds them together."
Religion seeks to take the place of these broken "traditional ties" to either help communities
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cope with their new situation or organize them to oppose this major transformation of their
lives. It can provide the groups "moral codes" that answer problems ranging from people's
health to social conflict to even personal happiness. Religion is thus not the "regressive force"
that stops or slows down globalization; it is a "pro-active force" that gives communities a new
and powerful basis of identity. It is an instrument with which religious people can put their
mark in the reshaping of this globalizing world, although in its own terms.
Religious fundamentalism may dislike globalization's materialism, but it continues to use
"the full range of modern means of communication and organization that is associated with
this economic transformation. It has tapped "fast long distance transport and communications,
the availability of English as a global vernacular of unparalleled power, the know-how of
modern management and marketing" which enabled the spread of "almost promiscuous
propagation of religious forms across the globe in all sorts of directions." It is, therefore, not
entirely correct to assume that the proliferation of "Born-Again" groups, or in the case of
Islam, the rise of movements like Daesh (more popularly known as ISIS, or Islamic State in
Iraq and Syria) signals religion's defense against the materialism of globalization. It is, in fact,
the opposite. These fundamentalist organizations are the result of the spread of globalization
and both find ways to benefit or take advantage of each other.
While religions may benefit from the processes of globalization, this does not mean that
its tensions with globalist ideology will subside. Some Muslims view "globalization" as a Trojan
horse hiding supporters of Western values like secularism, liberalism, or even communism
ready to spread these ideas in their areas to eventually displace Islam." The World Council of
Churches an association of different Protestant congregations has criticized economic
globalization's negative effects. It vowed that "we as churches make ourselves accountable to
the victims of the project of economic globalization," by becoming the latter's advocates inside
and outside "the centers of power.” The Catholic Church and its dynamic leader, Pope Francis,
likewise condemned globalization's "throw-away culture that is "fatally destined to suffocate
hope and increase risks and threats." The Lutheran World Federation 10th Assembly's 292page
declaration message included economic and feminist critiques of globalization, sharing the

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voices of members of the Church who were affected by globalization, and contemplations on
the different "pastoral and ethical reflections" that members could use to guide their
opposition." It warns that as a result of globalization: "Our world is split asunder by forces we
often do not understand, but that result in stark contrasts between those who benefit and
those who are harmed, especially under forces of globalization. Today, there is also a
desperate need for healing from 'terrorism, its causes, and fearful reactions to it. Relationships
in this world continue to be ruptured due to greed, injustices, and various forms of violence."
These advocacies to reverse or mitigate economic globalization eventually gained the
attention of globalist institutions. In 1998, the World Bank brought in religious leaders in its
discussions about global poverty, leading eventually to a "cautious, muted, and qualified
collaboration in 2000. Although it only yielded insignificant results (the World Bank agreed to
support some faith-based anti-poverty projects in Kenya and Ethiopia), it was evident enough
that institutional advocates of globalization could be responsive to the "liberationist, moral
critiques of economic globalization (including many writings on "social justice") coming from
the religious.
With the exception of militant Islam, religious forces are well aware that they are in no
position to fight for a comprehensive alternative to the globalizing status quo. What Catholics
call "the preferential option for the poor" is a powerful message of mobilization but lacks
substance when it comes to working out a replacement system that can change the poor's
condition in concrete ways. And, of course, the traditionalism of fundamentalist political Islam
is no alternative either. The terrorism of ISIS is unlikely to create a "Caliphate" governed by
justice and stability. In Iran, the unchallenged superiority of a religious autocracy has stifled all
freedom of expressions, distorted democratic rituals like elections, and tainted the opposition.

Conclusion
For a phenomenon that "is about everything," it is odd that globalization is seen to have
very little to do with religion. As Peter Bayer and Lori Beaman observed, "Religion, it seems, is
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somehow outside looking at globalization as problem or potential. One reason for this
perspective is the association of globalization with modernization, which is a concept of
progress that is based on science, technology, reason, and the law. With reason, one will have
to look elsewhere than to moral discourse for fruitful thinking about economic globalization
and religion." Religion, being a belief system that cannot be empirically proven is, therefore,
anathema to modernization. The thesis that modernization will erode religious practice is often
called secularization theory.
Historians, political scientists, and philosophers have now debunked much of
secularization theory. Samuel Huntington, one of the strongest defenders of globalization,
admits in his book. The Clash of Civilizations, that civilizations can be held together by religious
worldviews." This belief is hardly new. As far back as the 15th century, Jesuits and Dominicans
used religion as an "ideological armature" to legitimize the Spanish empire." Finally, one of the
greatest sociologists of all time, Max Weber, also observed the correlation between religion
and capitalism as an economic system. Calvinism, a branch of Protestantism, believed that God
had already decided who would and would not be saved. Calvinists, therefore, made it their
mission to search for clues as to their fate, and in their pursuit, they redefined the meaning of
profit and its acquisition. This "inner-worldly asceticism"-as Weber referred to this Protestant
ethic-contributed to the rise of modern capitalism.
It was because of "moral" arguments that religious people were able to justify their
political involvement. When the Spaniards occupied lands in the Americas and the Philippines,
it was done in the name of the Spanish King and of God, "for empire comes from God alone."
Then over 300 years later, American President William McKinley claimed "that after a night of
prayer and soul-searching, he had concluded that it was the duty of the United States 'to
educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by God's grace do the
very best we could by them. Finally, as explained earlier, religious leaders have used religion
to wield influence in the political arena, either as outsiders criticizing the pitfalls of
proglobalization regimes, or as integral members of coalitions who play key roles in policy
decision makings and the implementation of government projects.

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In short, despite their inflexible features-the warnings of perdition ("Hell is a real place
prepared by Allah for those who do not believe in Him, rebel against His laws, and reject His
messengers"), the promises of salvation ("But our citizenship is in Heaven"), and their
obligatory pilgrimages (the visits to Bethlehem or Mecca)-religions are actually quite malleable.
Their resilience has been extraordinary that they have outlasted secular ideologies (e.g.,
communism). Globalists, therefore, have no choice but to accept this reality that religion is
here to stay.

Enrichment video
Film: PBS Frontline: “The Rise of ISIS” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/rise-of-isis/

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Lesson 3 – Globalization and the IPs

Introduction
Globalization is a hot topic in the world today, from political
discourse to issues of medicine. Definitely, many facets and ways
of globalization can affect people around the world. In general,
globalization, refers to the increasing interaction of people around the world that involves greater
mobility of travelers, increased interdependence of national economies through the exchange of
goods and new markets, and influence and exchange of ideas across national and cultural
boundaries. Although some historians and archaeologists argue that globalization began as far
back as 60,000 years ago and its rapid increase began in the 20 th century and continues to
accelerate,
Cultural globalization is broader field of globalization referring to the rapid exchange of ideas,
languages, values, traditions, and material culture across national and cultural boundaries,
moving towards a shared culture common to all people, that others called it monoculture.
Moreover, this also affects the food people choose to eat, consumption patterns, family
structures, religion, and customs. Nevertheless, cultural globalization can have beneficial and
harmful effects leading to significant conflict over how to interpret globalization in general
(https://study.com>academy>lesson).

INDIGENOUS CULTURES AND GLOBALIZATION

Globalization can be described as the increasing interplay of cultures as the world is brought

closer both physically (ease of travel, for example) and virtually (through development of the

internet). The impact of globalization on indigenous cultures can be viewed as both positive and

negative with varying consequence between the two extremes. While the growth of globalization

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has brought new opportunities to indigenous people of the world, it has also impeded their ability

to retain their cultural practices and indigenous knowledge.

Indigenous culture, in many cases, has been supplanted by the overriding western view of the

world through increasing access to digital media, satellite communication, and increased

interaction with peoples of different cultures through tourism and trade. The exploitation of large

parts of the world previously untouched by western culture has resulted in indigenous groups

being exploited for the benefit of global entities. Globalization brings unavoidable change and

"indigenous groups, perhaps more than anyone, have realized there is no going back" (Marker,

2010).

Hence, finally, Indigenous cultures are the highest risk of cultural loss through cultural

globalization because indigenous people often lack the power and influence required to protect

their ways and lands against the interests of more powerful outsiders.

GLOBALIZATION AND ITS IMPACT ON INDIGENOUS CULTURES

Globalization has many physical manifestations as evidenced by the constant movement of

products, goods and services that cross international borders every day. The Global South which

sends its commodities into a volatile market, and provides cheap labor for the world’s major

corporations, has long voiced its disappointment at the injustice of unequal trade relations and

international regulatory organizations. The invasive development in the South to service the

growth-based economies in the North has a negative correlation with a sustainable environment

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(Iqbal). Thus, they see firsthand the social and environmental repercussions that a culture of

consumption creates in the world.

1. MOST VULNERABLE

Yet the greatest social and environmental effects remain out of view of most of the world, in the

heart of our indigenous societies. According to Dr. Erica-Irene Daes, who was also the driving

force behind the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, ninety five

percent (95%) of the world's Indigenous peoples live in developing countries (Daes). In a guest

lecture in Sydney, she articulates the following:

“Indigenous peoples today stand at the crossroads of globalization. In many ways, indigenous

peoples challenge the fundamental assumptions of globalization. They do not accept the

assumption that humanity will benefit from the construction of a world culture of consumerism.

Indigenous peoples are acutely aware, from their own tragic experience over the past 500 years,

that consumer societies grow and prosper at the expense of other peoples and the environment”

(Daes).

Globalization has certainly had an impact on the world’s indigenous communities and sustainable

ways of life, and the surrounding ecosystems in which they live (Iqbal).

The vast majority of indigenous cultures are also the Mother Earth’s greatest stewards and

defenders, yet many are at risk of losing their livelihoods, health and security, due to

governments and corporations disrespecting their property rights and exploiting natural

resources. This is especially important in the Amazon. There live an estimated 1.7 million people

belonging to some 375 indigenous groups that live within roughly 3,344 indigenous territories
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(ITs) and approximately 522 protected natural areas (PNAs). While the protected natural areas

serve as biodiversity conservation, the indigenous territories are intended to “safeguard the rights

of indigenous peoples to their land and livelihoods for social, cultural, and equity reasons”

(Walker).

2. THE LUNGS OF THE EARTH

Moreover, what happens to these tribes in the Amazon, determines the fate for everyone and

our chances of easing climate change. The Amazon is considered to be the largest carbon sink,

“the lungs of the planet,” and climate scientists argue that its ability to store carbon is “central

to any comprehensive climate stabilization strategy” (Walker). Increasingly, scientists are also

recognizing the importance of indigenous people and local communities (IPLCs)

as critical protectors of the forests, and whose communities serve as “buffers”

against large-scale carbon emissions in the Amazonian region. “With deforestation

increasing, IPLCs provide a global environmental service that merits increased political protection

and financial support” (Walker).

ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

When political and financial support falter, we can consider judicial support. But what is the role

of international law in protecting indigenous peoples or vulnerable populations? What institutions

exist with enough authority to serve states or corporations for “crimes against humanity”? The

United Nations often cannot get involved in issues that do not fall under federal jurisdictions, and

increasingly the human rights abuses are caused by stateless global corporations.

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Other times, the corporations act within a state that looks the other way. For example, the

Brazilian mining company Vale S.A. paid a one-time fine of $45M to the Brazilian environmental

agency, after a tailing dam collapsed and killed an estimated 250 people and nearly destroyed

the village of Brumadinho. Since then, government pressure on Vale S.A. has receded under the

watch of conservative President Bolsonaro. When their own state failed, what international

governing body can ensure that the workers’ families and residents of the now uninhabitable

parts of the village are at all compensated for their tragic losses?

While the WTO is concerned with the regulation of international trade (albeit with questionable

bias in favor of developing nations), there exists no international justice system with

enough authority to defend the world’s most vulnerable populations . Dr. Daes

questions why the definition of ‘crimes against humanity’ does not include “the physical

destruction of the ecosystems on which they depend for their livelihoods, or forced assimilation”

in the International Criminal Court Statute (Daes). Indeed it is similar to the ancient Sanskrit

philosophy that when one takes more than she needs, or imposes upon another, it

is the same as stealing.

THE GREAT COST OF DOING NOTHING

In closing, it is undeniable that globalization has negatively affected the livelihoods of

developing nations and particularly the vulnerable indigenous populations. These inequalities

will persist without a strengthening of the enforcement of international norms like the UN Global

Compact, which identifies corporations in violation of human rights, labor rights, the environment,

and business ethics. The world needs thoughtful leadership and careful execution of the
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enforcement of international norms in order to not reinforce existing inequalities and overlay

more punitive measures on developing countries than already exist. However, the most

controversial companies are also the world’s most powerful nations so the challenge is great.

The alternative of upholding the status quo, means that not only do we risk more injustice that

may lead to increased loss of biodiversity on earth, but more importantly we risk losing

cultural diversity and the valuable ancestral knowledge of our indigenous peoples .

The Iqbal International Institute for Research & Dialogue (IRD) describes the danger to all of us

if we do nothing to protect our indigenous populations from the threat of globalization:

“This environmental threat owing to overdevelopment is to all creatures on the

surface of this earth including the humans. Just like there are endangered species,

there were endangered languages, cultures and ways of life that risked extinction

because of the imposition or voluntary subscription to the modern ways of life”

(Iqbal).
(https://leadthechange.bard.edu/blog/globalization-and-its-impact-on-indigenous-cultures)

GLIMPSES ON THE IRAYNUN (Alicia Magos)

In the Province of Antique there were a lot of Indigenous People that are still existing like, the

Iraynun, an Indigenous Group of Antique that lived in Barangays Busog and Kuliat, as well as in

other mountainous barangays like Cansilayan, Lublub, and San Agustin which are interior

barangays of Valderrama near the borders of Lambunao and Calinog, also an interior towns of

Iloilo. Other lives in the interior barangays of Laua-an and Bugasong like their mountain kin in

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Calinog, Iloilo and Tapaz, Capiz. These groups of people have their own epic and ambahan

tradition and have used to have the “binukot” or Kept-maiden tradition.

The Iraynun means of livelihood for which they are known for today, is rattan weaving (e.g.

clothes trunk and utility baskets). Traditionally, the Iraynuns and their kadugo (blood kin) in

the mountainside of Calinog, Iloilo; Tapaz, Capiz; and Liabacao, Aklan lived on pangayam or

hunting wild animals, kaingin or shifting agriculture, trapping fishes and gathering shells in the

river. They have dances like dapay-dapay which imitates the movement of a bird, likewise

had an ambahan, a folk chant to welcome blood and ritual relative, and the sugidanon (epic)

referred to as hinalawod.

Iraynuns are generous and cordial. Gift-giving has been practiced by folk people in the

mountains of Kuliat and Busog with kinsmen from the barangays of Marandig and Caratagan in

Calinog (Iloilo). They get close with one another through higara, an act of gift giving regarded

as a form of ritual brother and eventually their children are paired ending in hungaw, a

traditional wedding. A traditional way of performing marriage rite where the couple get advice

from their parents while the elders drink pangasi (rice wine). Also, a Bukidnon from Tapaz or

Calinog may go to the other side of the mountains of Valderrama and Bugasong in quest for

cows to be purchased at a low price. Such familiarity of trading often leads to harig-on (from

the root word “rig-un”, to make strong as in an agreement). Before the 1960’s, on the harig-

on was performed as a traditional wedding but this traditional form of marriage has been

gradually supplanted or modified starting the late 1960s with the lowland wedding performed

before a judge or a priest. This shift of practice, was due to the need of getting marriage

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documents for work or birth certificates for the schooling of the children which indeed, the young

Iraynun are getting assimilated to town ways but the remnants of a few old people who hold on

to Iraynun indigenous ways are still prevalent. Nevertheless, the revival of their distinct culture

and arts is inevitable due to the changes brought about by modernization, or in general, affected

by “globalization.”

Finally, the National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCCA), a government agency assisted

for the formation of a School for Living Tradition (SLT), wherein the elders teach or pass on to

the younger generation the indigenous skills or talents such as dance, story-telling, weaving

repartees and ambahan are taught in preserving their indigenous culture which is a

paranubliun or legacy they wanted to leave behind. (Alicia Magos. Antique Manggad kag

Paranubliun. Antique Provincial Historical Council, 2009).

CONCLUSION

Globalization certainly has had an impact on indigenous cultures around

the world. In some cases, it has compromised their traditional lifestyles and

cultures. In others, it has afforded them a venue to express their culture

or promote their interests to a wider audience with the capability to

institute change. Ultimately, it will be difficult for indigenous cultures to

exist in a vacuum without being affected by globalization.

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Indigenous cultures will need to adapt and evolve to incorporate these new influences into their

individual realities. Those indigenous groups that will be able to successfully survive

globalization's influence will ultimately take ownership of their cultural evolution.

Suggested Readings:

Threats and Challenges of Globalization to the Lumad People of Mindanao By: Alim M.
Bandara Supreme Chief – Timuay Justice and Governance

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2018/11/19/globalization-eroding-phl-indigenous-
peopleswatch-over-the-environment/

‘PARADIGM WARS’† REVISITED: New Eyes On Indigenous Peoples’ Resistance To

Globalization Robert Alan Hershey https://escholarship.org/uc/item/29c093sx

Chapter 8: Global City, Population and Mobility

Migration; and Demography Lesson 1 – Global City
Intended Outcome/Learning Objectives:
At the end of the lesson the students will be able to:
1. explain why globalization is a spatial phenomenon;
2. identify the attributes of global city;
3. analyze how cities serve as an engine of globalization

The Globalization of economic activity entails a new type of organizational structure such as
global city. A Global City is also called a “power city” which is the primary node in the global
economic network.

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Nowadays, globalization occurs in places where a mass people work and live in cities.
However, for a city to achieve the title of being global, it must have values and ideas that will
have an impact in the rest of the world.
Furthermore, global city is a city that is well thought out to be an important node in in the
world’s economic system. Sassen's key concept of the global city is an emphasis on the flow of
information and capital. Cities are major nodes in the interconnected systems of information and
money, and the wealth that they capture is intimately related to the specialized businesses that
facilitate those flows -- financial institutions, consulting firms, accounting firms, law firms, and
media organizations.
Moreover, Sassen points out that these flows are no longer tightly bound to national
boundaries and systems of regulation; so the dynamics of the global city are dramatically
different than those of the great cities of the nineteenth century.
This lesson focuses on what sociologist Saskia Sassen popularized term, Global city which is
primarily economic. And initially identified three global cities: New York, London, and Tokyo, all
of which are hub of global finance and capitalism.

Saskia Sassen (1991) identified only three global cities: New York, London, and Tokyo
(hubs of global capitalism). This choice indicated that the criteria for the status of the global city
were primarily economic. GLOBAL CITIES are the ‘command centers’, the main
nodes of triumphant global capitalism.

GLOBAL CITY VS. WORLD CITY

WORLD CITY
It referred to a type of city which we have seen over the centuries in earlier periods in Asia and
in European colonial centers. In this regard, it can be said that most of today's major global

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cities are also world cities, but that there may well be some global cities today that are not world
cities in the full, rich sense of that term.

GLOBAL CITY

It is a city generally considered to be an important node in the global economic system;

it is a significant production point of specialized financial and producer services that make the
globalized economy run.

• Shanghai World Financial Center

• World Financial Center (now officially known as Brookfield Place) New York
• San Francisco is the home of the most powerful internet companies – Facebook, Twitter,
and Google.

Global City - The idea of “global city” emerged in the social science literature in the 1980s.
The concept was preceded by the idea of ‘world city’.
Through the global cities the nation-states project their significance onto the global stage.

Global cities are the main financial centers i.e. stock exchanges and indices
• New York’s Wall Street
• London’s ‘Footsie’ (the informal name for
• FTSE 100 Index of the largest listed
• companies)
• Tokyo’s Nikkei
• Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index (FTSE)

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Global cities are also at the top of the ‘urban cultural hierarchy’ in terms of cultural innovation
and ability to attract visitors.

Global cities are residents to ‘knowledge workers’, a highly mobile, careerminded

middle class. KNOWLEDGE WORKERS are those "high level employees who apply
theoretical and analytical knowledge, acquired through formal education, to
develop new products or services". (PETER DRUCKER)

Knowledge workers are those who acquire, manipulate, interpret, and apply information
in order to perform multidisciplinary, complex and unpredictable work. They analyze information
and apply expertise in a variety of areas to solve problems, generate ideas, or create new
products and services.

The burgeoning presence of the ‘knowledge workers’ lead to gentrification.

Gentrification is a general term for the arrival of wealthier people in an existing urban district,
a related increase in rents and property values, and changes in the district’s character and
culture. This refers also to the displacement of poor communities by rich outsiders. Social class
polarization and residential segregation of the affluent from the poor.

According to Sassen (1991), global cities are characterized by occupational and

income polarization, with the highly paid professional class on the one end and providers of
low-paid services on the other. Instead of being egg-shaped, with those in the middle being a
majority, the labor market of global cities is increasingly ‘hourglass-shaped’ with a hollow
middle (Autor et al., 2006; Baum, 1999)

INDICATORS FOR GLOBALITY

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A. Economic power - Sassen remains correct in saying that economic power largely
determines which cities are global. New York may have the largest stock market in the world
but Tokyo houses the most number of corporate headquarters (613 company headquarters
as against 217 in New York)

B. Global cities are also centers of authority - Washington D.C. may not be as wealthy
as New York, but it is the seat of American state power. People around the world know its
major landmarks: the White House, the Capitol Building (Congress), the Supreme Court, the
Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument.
It houses major international organizations; centers of political influence
New York - United Nations
Brussels - European Union Jakarta -
ASEAN
Centers of higher learning and culture
New York Times - New York City
Harvard University - Boston

The Challenges of Globalization

Global cities conjure up images of fast-paced, exciting, cosmopolitan lifestyles. But such
descriptions are lacking. Global cities also have their undersides. They can be sites of:
 Great inequality and poverty as well as tremendous violence.
 “Pathologies” of Global Cities
 Congested
 Polluted
 Major terror attack
The phenomenon of driving out the poor in favor of newer, wealthier residents is called
gentrification. Global cities are sites of globalization. They are, therefore, material

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representations of the phenomenon. Through them, we see the best of globalization; they are
places that create exciting fusions of culture and ideas. They are also places that generate
tremendous wealth. However, they remain sites of great inequality, where global servants serve
global entrepreneurs.

SALIENT FEATURES OF GLOBAL CITY

• International and national connectivity
• Diversified international population base
• International cuisine International culture
• International infrastructure
• International business presence
• Support for a recognized language of international business
• Global economic and political importance

Global City: Key Indicators

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Enrichment materials:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhyatt/2021/04/06/worlds-richest-cities-the-top-10-cities-
billionaires-callhome/?sh=10f10a8643e3 https://blog.batchgeo.com/where-do-rich-people-live/

Lesson 2 – The Global Migration

Intended Outcome/Learning Objectives:
At the end of the lesson the students will be able to:
1. identify the reasons for the migration of people
2. analyze the political, economic, cultural, and social factors underlying the global
movements of people;
3. identify the different types of migration
4. display first-hand knowledge of the experiences of OFWs

Migration is a key feature of our increasingly interconnected world. It has also become a
flashpoint for debate in many countries, which underscores the importance of understanding the
patterns of global migration and the economic impact that is created when people move across
the world’s borders.
Moreover, it has been a part of the human history since its very beginning. People have
migrated from one continent to the other, from country to country or inside the same
country. Even though the twenty-first century has been called "The age of migration" Castles &
Miller, 2009), migration is certainly not a recent phenomenon. But this phrase is widely accepted,

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essentially because there are more migrants in the world today than ever before — about 244
million international migrants in 2015 and in fact it is increasing.

This lesson focuses on the concept of global migration and its impacts in both sending and
receiving countries. In fact, migration should not be considered a problem because human
beings have always been migratory resulting to an increase in population, experience diversity
and economic prosperity.
However, most reason for massive movement of people across borders were in search of
education, employment and to flee from war, persecution or natural disasters in their home
country has triggered global migration. Moreover, it has contributed to our increasingly diverse
and interconnected world.
Thus, cross-border migration has risen steadily over the last three decades (Lagarde 2016),
which contends inevitable effects on labor markets as well as on political, social and cultural
dynamics creating potential negative consequences of on the sending and receiving countries.
Hence, we should treat migration is a complex phenomenon that predates the
contemporary globalization.

WHAT IS GLOBAL MIGRATION?

Most global migration is from developing countries to developed ones. Global migration can
be understood as a cause and effect relationship, though the causes are just as numerous as
their effects. People move across international borders for a variety of reasons.
The movement of people from one place to another for the purpose of taking up residence
for a certain minimum period, usually across a political or administrative boundary, means
crossing the boundary of a political or administrative unit for a certain minimum period (Boyle
et al. 1998, chapter 2).

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GLOBALIZATION AND MIGRATION

International migration at the beginning of the twenty-first century: global trends and issues

STEPHEN CASTLES
 In the second half of the twentieth century, international migration emerged as one of
the main factors in social transformation and development in all regions of the world.
 Its significance looks set to increase further in the twenty- first century, as population
mobility grows in volume and takes on new forms. Migration is a result of the integration
of local communities and national economies into global relationships.
 Today migration, is becoming increasingly common as people move in search of security
and better livelihood: from villages to towns, from one region to another in their home
country, or between countries and continents.
 Often a result of economic and social development that may either contribute to further
development and improved economic and social condition, or alternatively help to
perpetuate stagnation and inequality.
 Helps to erode traditional boundaries between languages, cultures, ethnic groups and
nation-states;
 It therefore, challenges cultural traditions, national identity and political institutions, and
contributes to a decline in autonomy of nation-state.

CATEGORIES OF INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS

1. Temporary labor migrants (also known as guest-workers or overseas contract
workers):

Men and women who migrate for a limited period (from a few months to several
years) in order to take up employment and send money home (remittances).

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2. Highly skilled and business migrants

People with qualifications as managers, executives, professionals, technicians or similar,

who move within the internal labor markets of transnational corporations and
international organizations, or who seek employment through international labor
markets for scarce skills. Many countries welcome such migrants and have special ‘skilled
and business migration’ programmes to encourage them to come.
3. Irregular migrants (also known as undocumented or illegal migrants):
o People who enter a country, usually in search of employment, without the necessary
documents and permits. Many labor migration flows consist predominantly of
undocumented migrants. In some cases immigration countries tacitly permit such
migration since it allows mobilization of labor in response to employer demands without
social costs or measures for protection of migrants.
4. Refugees o According to the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status
of Refugees, a refugee is a person residing outside his or her country of nationality, who
is unable or unwilling to return because of a ‘well-founded fear of persecution on
account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political
opinion’.
o Signatories to the Convention undertake to protect refugees by allowing them to
enter and granting temporary or permanent residence status. Refugee organizations,
especially the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), seek to
distinguish clearly between refugees and migrants, but they do share many common
characteristics with regard to social needs and cultural impacts in their place of
settlement (UNHCR 1997).
5. Asylum-seekers o People who move across borders in search of protection, but who
may not fulfill the strict criteria laid down by the 1951 Convention. In many contemporary
conflict situations in less developed countries it is difficult to distinguish between flight

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because of personal persecution and departure caused by the destruction of the economic
and social infrastructure needed for survival.
o Both political and economic motivations for migration are linked to the generalized and
persistent violence that has resulted from rapid processes of de-colonization and
globalization under conditions determined by the developed countries (Zolberg
et al. 1989).

6. Forced migration

o In a broader sense, this includes not only refugees and asylum- seekers but also
people forced to move by environmental catastrophes or development projects (such
as new factories, roads or dams).
7. Family members (also known as family reunion or family reunification migrants):
o Migration to join people who have already entered an immigration country under one of
the above categories. Many countries, including the USA, Canada, Australia and most
European Union (EU) member states recognize in principle the right to family reunion
for legal immigrants. Other countries, especially those with contract labor systems, deny
the right to family reunion. In such cases, family members may enter illegally.
8. Return migrants o People who return to their countries of origin after a period in
another country. Return migrants are often looked on favorably as they may bring with them
capital, skills and experience useful for economic development. Many countries have special
schemes to make use of this ‘development potential’. However, some governments view
returnees with suspicion since they may act as agents of cultural or political change.

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TYPES OF MIGRATION
1. Forced or involuntary Migration. This is when the government or authorities of a
place force people to migrate for a reason.
Jews forced to move from Germany, Poland and other European countries by Hitler's
Nazi's before and during World War 2. (Genocide).
• Africans forced to travel in cramped conditions on boats across the Atlantic to the
United States in the 18th and early 19th century. (The slave trade).

• The original population of Australia were prisoners from the United Kingdom, who were
forced to go there, and usually stayed.
• Asians forced to move out of Uganda by Idi Amin in the 1970's. (Threats of genocide).
2. Impelled Migration (also called reluctant or imposed migration)
3. Return Migration. This involves the voluntary return of migrants to their original place
after they outlive the reasons for which they left. Often times, young people who move
into the cities to work return home when they retire to spend the rest of their lives in the
quiet of their towns and with old friends and family.
4. Internal migration o This refers to population movement within a country, say for
example, within the borders of Germany.
5. International Migration o This describes the movement of people between countries
which involves greater distances than is the case with internal migration.
o Economic migration is defined as a choice to move to improve the standard of living by
gaining a better paid job.
6. Family Migration o Family reunification is a recognized reason for immigration in many
countries because of the presence of one or more family members in a certain country,
therefore, enables the rest of the family to immigrate to that country as well.

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MIGRANT TRANSNATIONALISM
Migrant Transnationalism refers to a social process characterized by substantively
bifocal consciousness and orientation, as well as regular practices of conducting migrants’ lives
across state borders, of living out significant domains of social life both “here” and “there.”

Transnational Migrants: When "Home" Means More Than One Country

 The assumption that people will live their lives in one place, according to one set of
national and cultural norms, in countries with impermeable national borders, no longer
holds. Rather, in the 21st century, more and more people will belong to two or more
societies at the same time. This is what many researchers refer to as transnational
migration.
 Transnationalism challenges traditional theories of assimilation, which assume that
immigrants who are more fully integrated into their host societies are less likely to
continue to involve themselves in the economic, social, and political spheres of their
countries of origin.

Drivers of Transnationalism
 The foremost driver of transnationalism has been the development of technologies that
have made transportation and communication infinitely more accessible and
affordable.
 International migrations have become integral to the demographic future of many
developed countries.
 Fills the demographic gaps created by declining natural populations in most
industrialized countries.
Today, migration accounts for 3/5 of population growth in western countries as a whole.

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 Global political transformations and new international legal regimes have weakened
the state as the only legitimate source of rights.

Traditional and Transnational Lenses of Migration

Understanding Migration o It would be a mistake to see migration apart from broader

social relationships and processes of change
o At the global level there are multiple levels of mediation that link individual migrants to
global interstate systems of migration
Causes of Migration o Disparity in the levels of income, employment and social well-being
between differing areas.
o Individual efforts to maximize their income by moving from lower wage to high wage
economies (Borjas 1998).
o Development leads to migration because economic and educational improvements make
people capable of seeking better opportunities elsewhere.

MIGRATION IMPACT ON RECEIVING COUNTRY

Positive aspects
+ Increasing domestic demand
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+ More opportunities for consumers: increasing variety of goods and services

+ Job creation, new talents
+ 3D (dirty, dangerous, difficult) jobs
+ More flexible labor force
+/- Low skill versus high skill workers: effects on employment and wages

Negative aspects
- Cheap and flexible labor: gain in short run, loss in long run, competitiveness issues
– Social dumping and hidden labor market
– Social problems, high unemployment among immigrants, slums in big cities – No
incentives to improve working conditions – Negative effect on native wages??
IMPACT OF MIGRATION TO COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

+ Increasing internal mobility

+ Increasing human capital (commuting, temporary migration)
+ Remittances
+ Brain circulation
+ Diaspora (FDI, aid, political influence, etc.)
Diasporas often maintain ties to the country of their historical affiliation and influence the
policies of the country where they are located.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) is an investment made by a firm or individual in one country
into business interests located in another country.
+ Opportunity to reduce unemployment and alleviate the negative effects of sharply
restructuring economic process

+/- labor shortage can cause the wage increase

– *Brain drain, declining productivity

*Brain drain is the movement of skilled individuals from a less developed area to a more developed area.
Brain drain is the process in a which a country or area loses it most talented and educated workers to other
countries or areas.
– Negative net migration will accelerate demographic problems, like ageing, low birth rate
etc.

– Depopulated areas, deepening of regional discrepancies;

– Social problems with dependents remained at home (especially children); – Inflationary

pressure (due to remittances).

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The Problems of Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking is a crime against humanity. It involves an act of recruiting,

transporting, transferring, harboring or receiving a person through a use of force,
coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them. Every year, thousands of
men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and
abroad. Every country in the world is affected by trafficking, whether as a country of
origin, transit or destination for victims. The purpose from the beginning of the trafficking
enterprise is to profit from the exploitation of the victim. It follows that fraud, force or
coercion all plays a major role in trafficking. Trafficking often includes an element of
smuggling, specifically, the illegal crossing of a border. In some cases the victim may
believe they are being smuggled, but are really being trafficked, as they are unaware of
their fate. For example, there have been cases where women trafficked for sexual
exploitation may have knowingly agreed to work in the sex industry and believed that
they would have decent conditions and be paid a decent wage. What they did not realize
is that the traffickers would take most or all of their income keep them in bondage and
subject them to physical force or sexual violence.

The wide-scale movement of people is as much a defining feature of globalization as the

movement of goods, services, and capital. And countries are often just as reluctant—if not
more so—to open their borders to people as they are to those items. As with trade of goods
and capital, citizens may fear that their culture and jobs are susceptible to being eliminated by
uncontrolled immigration. At the same time—again, similarly to free trade and investment—
economies and societies need migration in order to sustain economic growth.

Global migration entails the globalization of people. Many richer states know that migrant labor
will be beneficial for their economies. With the aging populations, Japan and Germany will
need workers from demographically young countries like the Philippines.

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Remittances
According to the World Bank (2011), remittances worldwide were estimated at $483
billion in 2011. This figure takes into account funds sent by formal channels, so the number is
much larger. The World Bank notes that remittances sent through informal channels could add
at least 50 percent to the globally recorded flows (UNCTAD, 2011).
• World Bank study has concluded that a one per cent increase in the share of
remittances in a country’s GDP leads to a 0.4 per cent decline in poverty (UNFPA
State of the World, 2008

Lesson 3 – The Global Demography

The globalization of world’s economy is impacting all aspects of human lives. Many of
these impacts are positive (i.e. poverty reduction), but there are also negative particularly the
increasing demand for natural resources due to the growing demand of more affluent population.
The importance of demography lies in its contribution to helping government and society better
prepare to deal for the issues and demands of population growth, aging and migration.

Demography is a complex discipline that requires the integration of various social scientific data.
This chapter focuses on the movement of people locally or internationally with significant to
economic growth and development.

Intended Outcome/Learning Objectives:

At the end of the lesson the students will be able to:
1. Discuss the relationship between population and economic welfare;
2. Identify the effects of aging and overpopulation;
3. Identify different types of migration

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DEFINITION/ CONCEPT OF DEMOGRAPHY:

• Demography is the “scientific study of human population in which includes study of
changes in population size, composition and its distribution.”
• It comes from the words “Demo” means “the people” and “graphy” means
“measurement”.
• Thus demography is the science of people. In the middle of the nineteenth century in
1855, the word ‘Demography’ was first used by a French writer Achille Guillard.
• The Oxford Dictionary of Economics defines demography as “The study of the
characteristics of human populations.” According to the UN Multilingual
Demographic Dictionary, “Demography is the scientific study of human populations,
primarily with respect to their size, their structure and their development.”

Births, deaths and migration are the ‘big three’ of demography, jointly producing
population stability or change.
Why is demography important?
Nearly everything is connected to demography.
The greatest threat to mankind's existence is from the unchecked multiplication of his own
species, especially in the developing countries of Asia and Africa. The uneven distribution of
population in the world has severely affected the fragile ecological balance in many countries.
The unbridled growth of human population has also brought in its wake problems like
unemployment, urbanization, pollution etc.
Environmental pollution is no doubt the result of rapid population growth and man's mad
pursuit to exploit nature ruthlessly to meet the ever growing human necessities and comforts.
The unprecedented growth of population has adversely affected the per capita income and
standard of living of the people. Population growth has aggravated the condition of poverty
and hunger in many countries.

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Population explosion is the biggest problem which has drawn attention of the all concerned. As
the most urgent need of the time there are several national and international policies and
programmes developed to tackle the situation.

Readings: Global Demography: Fact, Force and Future by David E Bloom and David
Canning https://cdn1.sph.harvard.edu/wp-
content/uploads/sites/1288/2013/10/PGDA_WP_14.pdf A World With Fewer Babies Spells
Economic Trouble by Scott Lanman
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-14/humans-having-fewer-babies-is-a-big-economic-
problemquicktake
World Population Growth (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/world-population-to-hit-milestone-with-
birthof-7-billionth-person)

First Billion: 1804

Second Billion : 1927 (123 years)
Third Billion : 1960 ( 33 years )
Fourth Billion : 1974 ( 14 years )
Fifth Billion : 1987 ( 13 years )
Sixth Billion : 1999 ( 11 years )

IMPORTANCE OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA

1. Economy - Population studies help us to know how far the growth rate of the economy
is keeping pace with the growth rate of population. If population is increasing at a faster
rate, the pace of development of the economy will be slow. The government can
undertake appropriate measures to control the growth of population and to accelerate
the development of the economy.
2. Society - Population studies have much importance for the society. When population is
increasing rapidly, the society is faced with innumerable problems. Shortages of basic
services like water, electricity, transport and communications, public health, education,
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etc. arise. Along with these, problems of migration and urbanization are associated with
the growing population which further led to the law and order problem. Faced with such
problems which are the concomitant result of population growth, the state and
nongovernment social organizations can adopt appropriate measures to solve them.
3. Economic and Health Planning - Data relating to the present trend in population growth
help the planners in formulating policies for the economic plan of the country. They are
kept in view while fixing targets of agricultural and industrial products, of social and basic
services like schools and other educational institutions, hospitals, houses, electricity,
transport, etc. Population data are also used by the planners to project future trends in
fertility and to formulate policy measures to control the birth rate.
Based on population data, projections are made about the increase in labor force, and
the number of people in the age-groups 1-15 years, 15-50 years and above in order to
estimate the labor force available for productive employment. This, in turn, helps in
making estimates regarding employment to be generated during the plan period.
4. Administrators - Population studies are also useful for administrators who run the
government. In under-developed countries, almost all social and economic problems are
associated with the growth of population. The administrator has to tackle and find
solutions to the problems arising from the growth of population.
5. Political system- The knowledge of demography is of immense importance for a
democratic political system. It is on the basis of the census figures pertaining to different
areas that the demarcation of constituencies is done by the election commission of a
country. The addition to the number of voters after each election helps to find out how
many have migrated from other places and regions of the country.

THE ELEMENTS OF DEMOGRAPHY

a) Size: increase or decrease
b) Composition: sex and age group

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c) Distribution: territory

SOURCES OF DEMOGRAPHY
a) population censuses
b) national sample
c) surveys registration
d) vital events

DEMOGRAPHIC PROCESSES - It deals with the five demographic processes • a)

fertility
b) mortality
c) marriage
d) migration
e) social morbidity
Since global agricultural population declined, the total population between 1980 to 2011, it
grew numerically from 2.2 billion to 2.6 billion during this period. Urban populations have grown
not necessarily because families have more children, it is rather a combination of the natural
outcome of significant migration to the cities by people seeking work in the “more modern
sectors” of society. This was manifested in the developing countries where industries and
business in the cities are attracting people from rural areas.
Today, international migration plays an important part in which 191 million people live in
countries other than their own as projected by UN that over 2.2 million will move from the
developing world to the First World countries. Countries welcome immigrants to offset the
debilitating effects of their aging population, however, perceived as threats to the job market
because they compete against with citizens for jobs and often have the edge because they are
open to receive lower wages (Claudio and Abinales, 2018).

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IS THERE A PERIL OF OVERPOPULATION?

Development planners see urbanization and industrialization as indicators of developing society,
but disagree on the role of population growth or decline in modernization which was popularized
by a British scholar Thomas Malthus in 1789 in his book “An Essay on The Principle of Population”
that population growth will inevitably exhaust world food supply by the middle of the 19 th
century. However, Malthus prediction was revived in the late 1960s when American biologist
Paul R. Ehrlich and his wife Anne, wrote The Population Bomb which argued that overpopulation
in the 70s and 80s will bring global environmental disasters that would in turn lead to food
shortage and mass starvation. They proposed that countries like US take the lead in the
promotion of global population control in order to reduce the growth rate to zero.

In fact, by “limiting population, vital resources could be used for economic progress and
not be diverted and wasted to feeding more mouths”, in which this argument was the basis for
the government “population control” program worldwide. In 1958, it was advocated in American
policy journal to utilized contraception and sterilization as a practical solution in the global
economic, social, and political problems. The promotion of reproductive health contend for
universal access to reproductive technologies such as condoms, pills, abortions, and vasectomy,
and more importantly giving right to women to choose whether to have children or not. Finally
government has determined these birth control programs.

IT’S THE ECONOMY, NOT THE BABIES

Population control program advocates has its critics, like Betsy Hartmann who disagree the Neo-
Malthusian theory and accused governments of using population control as substitute to social
justice and much needed reforms – such as land distribution, employment creation, provision of
mass education and health care, and emancipation.
It is important to note that baby boom generation between 1965 t0 1990, the region of east
Asia’s working-age population grew nearly four times faster than the dependent population in

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which several studies have estimated that demographic shift was responsible for one-third of
East Asia’s economic growth during the period.
Indeed, population growth in fact spurred technological and institutional innovation and
increased the supply of human ingenuity in which advances in agricultural production have made
the Malthusian theory a nightmare and can be prevented. The implementation of Green
Revolution created the High-Yielding varieties of rice and cereals, along with the development
of new methods of cultivation has increased yield globally. Hence, global famine as predicted by
the neo-Malthusian did not happen thereby, keeping it under control.
Lately, scholars and policy makers agree with the neo-Malthusians but suggest that if
governments pursue population control programs, they must include “more inclusive growth”
and “greener economic growth” (Claudio and Abinales, 2018).

WOMEN REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

Women have been the center subject of debates of these population measures. Reproductive
rights supporters argue that if population control and economic development were to reach their
goals, women must have control over whether they will have children or not. By giving women
this power, they will be able to pursue their vocations- be economic, social, or political- and
contribute to economic growth.
This serial correlation between fertility, family, and fortune has motivated countries with
growing economies to introduce or strengthen their reproductive health laws, including abortion.
Moreover, fast developing countries were able to sustain growth in part because women were
given power of choice and easy access to reproductive technologies. In addition, more educated
women has the better prospects of improving her economic position and can spend more time
in pursuing higher education of their careers, instead of forcibly reducing this time to take care
of their children.
Hence, critics regard reproductive rights as nothing but a false front for abortion. They contend
that this method of preventing contraception endangers the life of the mother and must be

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banned. As argued by the religious wing, “abortion as a debauchery that sullies the name of
God; it will send the mother to hell and prevents a new soul, the baby, to become human.”

FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE
Feminist approach on the issue of reproductive rights, they are foremost against any form of
population control because it does not really empower women. They believe that government
assumptions that poverty and environmental degradation are caused by overpopulation are
wrong. Feminist also point out that there is a very little evidence that point to overpopulation as
the culprit behind poverty and ecological devastation.
Hence, globally, women’s and feminist arguments on reproductive rights and overpopulation
are acknowledged, but the struggle to turn them into policy is still fought at the national level.
It is the dilemma that women and feminist movements are facing today (ibid, p. 105).

Enrichment videos

Global Cities: The Rise of Urban Networks (Six-part documentary)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfUH2DKUoeI

Demographic transition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P2bsPWCRvM

Migration | Global Demography Forum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxujHVuOzys

How Will COVID-19 Impact Global Migration?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkh5hGTJsaQ

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Chapter 9: Towards a Sustainable World

Intended Outcome/Learning Objectives:
At the end of the lesson the students will be able to:
1. differentiated stability from sustainability;
2. articulated models of global sustainable development

To study the roots of issues related to the interaction between development and
sustainability it would be a good starting point to briefly sketch the evolution of the idea of
progress, not only because it was the antecedent to notions of development, but also because
it would in due course as its own antipode elicit calls for sustainability. In the literature progress,
the idea ‘that civilization has moved, is moving, and will move in a desirable direction’ (Bury
1932: 2), has been investigated in terms of scientific (and technological), material and moral
advancement which was the main concern for the emergence of the concept of Sustainable
Development.
The terms ‘sustainability’ and ‘sustainable’ appeared for the first time in the Oxford
English Dictionary during the second half of the 20th century the equivalent terms in French
(durabilite ´ and durable), German (Nachhaltigkeit, literally meaning ‘lastingness’, and
nachhaltig) and Dutch (duurzaamheid and duurzaam) have been used for centuries (Van Zon
2002: 20, 21, 22).
The origin of the concept of sustainable development by going far back its history, the
idea of sustainability evolved through the centuries as a counter to notions of progress. The
historical context in the latter half of the 20th century is outlined, in which a paradigm shift in
thinking about development caused sustainable development to occupy the center stage in
development discourses.
The landmark event in the evolution of the concept of sustainable development had been the
1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment convened by the United Nations, the
report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED).

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Globalization comprises unlimited transport of goods, services, ideas and people. It is a

process of increasing international integration in all fields (economy, politics, culture,
environment, communication, etc.). This network of intensified global relations is growing at the
level of individuals, societies, institutions and states.

Lesson 1 Environment Crisis

An unprecedented crisis

One of the most compelling reasons for studying environmental science and management
is the fact that, in the view of many leading authorities, we are now experiencing an
environmental crisis; indeed, many authors have claimed that the present environmental crisis
is unprecedented in its magnitude, pace and severity (Park 2001). Awareness of this
environmental crisis has grown since the 1970s, partly as a result of the prominence given to
major so-called 'environmental' disasters such as the Sahelian droughts of the 1970s and
1980s and the nuclear accident at Chernobyl in 1986. A major assessment of the global
environment published in 1999, the UNEP Global Environment Outlook 2000 report (UNEP
1999), drew attention to two critical, recurring themes:

• the fact that the global human ecosystem is threatened by grave imbalances in
productivity and in the distribution of goods and services - as evidenced by the fact that
a large proportion of the human population lives in poverty, and that a widening gap
exists between those who benefit from economic and technological development and
those who do not
• the fact that accelerating changes are occurring at the global scale, with rates of
economic and social development outstripping progress in achieving internationally
coordinated environmental stewardship - with the result that improvements in
environmental protection due to new technologies are being 'cancelled out' by the
magnitude and pace of human population growth and economic development

Consequently, a wide range of environmental problems has emerged; those problems include
anthropogenic climate change ('global warming'), the depletion of stratospheric ozone (the

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'ozone hole'), the acidification of surface waters ('acid rain'), the destruction of tropical forests,
the depletion and extinction of species, and the precipitous decline of biodiversity. Yet, while
all of these problems have physical (environmental) manifestations, their causes - and their
potential solutions - are invariably bound up with human attitudes, beliefs, values, needs,
desires, expectations, and behaviours. Thus the symptoms of the environmental crisis cannot
be regarded purely as physical problems requiring solutions by environmental 'specialists';
instead, they are intrinsically human problems and they are intimately related to the question
of what it means to be human.

Main features of the environmental crisis

At this point, a very brief overview of the environmental crisis may be helpful. It is important
to emphasise that a wide range of views about the nature and severity of the current
environmental crisis exists, and some of the issues are highly controversial. Nevertheless,
there is broad agreement that the environmental crisis encompasses the following main issues.

 Climate change: anthropogenic climate change due to pollution of the atmosphere by

greenhouse gases (and other contaminants) is now regarded as one of the major global
environmental issues. It occurs largely as a result of the combustion of fossil fuels,
emissions from agriculture and pastoralism, and land-use changes that accompany the
destruction, clearance and burning of forests. Climate change already has observable
ecological and social effects, and its projected impacts could potentially result in
profound changes in global mean surface temperature, sea level, ocean circulation,
precipitation patterns, climatic zones, species distributions and ecosystem function.
 Stratospheric ozone depletion: the depletion of stratospheric ozone due to the
pollution of the atmosphere by halocarbons (such as chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs) is
another serious environmental issue. It is a significant concern because the lack of
protective ozone at high altitudes results in increased levels of harmful solar ultraviolet
(UV-B) radiation reaching the earth's surface, causing a range of health-related and
ecological impacts.
 Degraded air quality: other forms of air pollution are also significant, particularly at
regional and local scales, as they may seriously degrade air quality; worldwide,
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approximately one billion people inhabit areas - mainly industrial cities - where
unhealthy levels of air pollution occur. Many air pollutants are responsible for the
degradation of air quality, but some key pollutants include particulate matter (such as
soot), tropospheric ozone, oxides of nitrogen, oxides of sulphur, lead and various
aromatic compounds (such as benzene). Many air pollutants may cause or aggravate
respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses; some are known carcinogens; and some can
cause damage to vegetation and, in turn, produce a range of ecological effects.
 Degraded water quality: similarly, water quality can be seriously degraded by
contamination with pollutants, giving rise to a range of health-related and ecological
effects (such as the degradation of coral reefs). A major source of water pollution is the
terrestrial run-off to inshore waters that occurs in many coastal locations; such run-off
may contain significantly elevated levels of nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural
land and from human settlements. Many other human activities lead to water pollution,
including mining and industrial processes, which may create toxic effluent. Oil spills,
accumulation of plastics and the bioaccumulation of persistent organic chemicals are
some of the other causes of serious degradation of the marine environment.
 Scarcity of fresh water: besides the pollution of freshwater sources, there are a
variety of other reasons for the scarcity of fresh water for drinking in many parts of the
world - many of which are related to poor water resource management practices. For
instance, the over-abstraction of water from rivers results in water shortages and
problems of salinisation downstream. Irrigation practices may also be responsible for
the depletion of local water sources and the salinisation of irrigated land. Vast
differences in water security exist at the global scale, reflecting both demand for fresh
water and the scale of public and private investment in water supplies, treatment and
distribution.
 Land contamination: land contamination occurs as a result of chemical or radioactive
pollution, especially by long-lived (persistent) chemical species that enter the soil. Land
contamination may cause profound ecological effects and it presents severe constraints
to development, since contaminated land must typically be rehabilitated before it is safe
to use for agriculture, construction or recreation.
 Deforestation: it has been estimated that around half of the world's mature forests
have been cleared by humans. Deforestation occurs for a variety of reasons, but the
majority of deforestation now occurs when tropical forests are cleared for agriculture
and pastoralism; other reasons include the destruction of trees for charcoal production
and the selective logging of forests for timber. Whilst tropical forests cover only around

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6% of the earth's surface, they are an essential part of the global ecosystem and of the
biosphere: they help to regulate climate; they protect soils from erosion; and they
provide habitats for a vast number of plant and animal species. One estimate suggests
that around 90% of the world's species are found in tropical forests (Park 2001).
 Soil erosion and degradation: concerns about soil erosion, soil degradation and the
problem of desertification have become acute. In part, these concerns are based on the
historical experiences of dramatic soil erosion and transport in New World countries
including the USA (during the 'Dust Bowl' of the 1930s) and Australia. Whilst analyses of
the problems of soil erosion and degradation have become more sophisticated, recently,
it is clear that these problems continue to have important consequences for agricultural
and pastoral productivity as well as for the functioning of natural ecosystems.
 Land use change and habitat loss: these issues overlap with others, such as
deforestation, but they are broader and include the clearance of forest for agriculture
and pastoralism, the transformation of land during urban growth, the development of
new infrastructure (such as roads), the drainage of wetlands, and the destruction and
removal of coastal mangrove forests. The impact of land use change on forest and
grassland environments is depicted in 1.4.1.
 Biodiversity loss: many plant and animal species are threatened with extinction, due
to the spread of disease, the destruction and degradation of their habitats, and direct
exploitation. In 1999, UNEP (1999) estimated that one-quarter of the world's mammal
species and around one-tenth of the world's bird species faced a significant risk of total
extinction. Threats to biodiversity are not confined to terrestrial ecosystems; serious
concerns have been raised about the future of marine and coastal wildlife species as a
result of the pollution, over-exploitation and acidification of ocean and seas.

CONCLUSION:
Indeed, there is no issue that forces a person to think about their role as a citizen of the world
than environmental degradation. Every person regardless of race, nation and beliefs belong to
the same world that is increasingly vulnerable. Thus, in the fight against climate change one
cannot afford to simply care about his/her own backyard. The Carbon Dioxide that we emitted in
the atmosphere has severe effects on our climate. There is no choice but to find solutions to this
problem. If not now, when

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Lesson 2: Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to satisfy their own needs.” (Gro Harlem
Brundtland Prime Minister of Norway (1987)

Sustainable development is a concept that appeared for the first time in 1987 with the
publication of the Brundtland Report, warning of the negative environmental consequences
of economic growth and globalization, which tried to find possible solutions to the problems
caused by industrialization and population growth.

Sustainable development calls for concerted efforts towards building an inclusive, sustainable
and resilient future for people and planet.

For sustainable development to be achieved, it is crucial to harmonize three core elements:

1. economic growth
2. social inclusion and
3. environmental protection

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

At the environmental level, sustainability prevents nature from being used as an inexhaustible
source of resources and ensures its protection and rational use.

Aspects such as environmental conservation, investment in renewable

energies, saving water, supporting sustainable mobility, and innovation in sustainable
construction and architecture, contribute to achieving this environmental sustainability on
several fronts.

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SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

At the social level, sustainability can foster the development of people, communities and
cultures to help achieve reasonable and fairly-distributed quality of life, healthcare and
education across the globe.

The fight for gender equality, especially in developing countries, is another aspect which in
coming years will form the basis of social sustainability.

ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability focuses on equal economic growth that generates wealth for all,
without harming the environment.

Investment and an equal distribution of the economic resources will strengthen

the other pillars of sustainability for a complete development.

WHAT ARE THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS?

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As a part of a new sustainable

development roadmap, the United
Nations approved the 2030 Agenda,
which contains the Sustainable
Development Goals, a call to action to
end poverty, protect the planet and
guarantee the global well-being of
people.

Ratified by all member states, this roadmap seeks to:

 Eradicate poverty and hunger, guaranteeing a healthy life
 Universalize access to basic services such as water, sanitation and sustainable energy
 Support the generation of development opportunities through inclusive education and
decent work
 Foster innovation and resilient infrastructure, creating communities and cities able
to produce and consume sustainably
 Reduce inequality in the world, especially that concerning gender
 Care for the environment combating climate change and protecting the oceans and
land ecosystems
 Promote collaboration between different social agents to create an environment of
peace and sustainable development.

Enrichment videos:

What is sustainable development?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V8oFI4GYMY
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How We Can Make the World a Better Place by 2030 | Michael Green
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o08ykAqLOxk

The global goals we've made progress on -- and the ones we haven't | Michael Green
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3SQlrmV1cE

Lesson 3 – Food Security

Intended Outcome/Learning Objectives:
At the end of the lesson the students will be able to:
1. defined global food security;
2. determine the importance of food security; its dimensions; and factors affecting food
insecurity.

Food security is becoming increasingly important to our world.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines food security as
consisting of three pillars: food availability, food access, and food
use. Issues which have always existed to threaten the availability
of food to certain populations, such as corruption in politics and
natural disaster are experiencing much newer pressures, such as
the rural/urban imbalance; rapid population growth and climate
change.

FOOD SECURITY AND GLOBALIZATION

WHAT IS FOOD SECURITY?

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• Food security is the ability to obtain consistent access to the food needed for a
healthy life, acquired by culturally accepted methods.
• Food security and food access are concepts that deeply affect the standard of living for
countries, households, and individuals.

OTHER DEFINITIONS:

1996 World Food Summit: "Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical
and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and
food preferences for an active and healthy life."

World Health Organization (WHO): "Food security means that:

• all people at all times have both physical and economic access to enough food for an
active, healthy life;
• the ways in which food is produced and distributed are respectful of the natural processes
of the earth and thus sustainable;
• both the consumption and production of food are governed by social values that are just
and equitable as well as moral and ethical;
• the ability to acquire food is ensured;
• the food itself is nutritionally adequate and personally and culturally acceptable; and
• the food is obtained in a manner that upholds human dignity."

Why is Food Security Relevant?

Summits such as the World Summit on Food Security, which last took place in Rome in
2009, and the G8 Summit have discussed the steps needed to be taken to alleviate the pressures
of global food imbalances. Solutions such as biotechnology, agricultural revolutions, improved
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transportation and communication infrastructure and gender equality have all been brought up.
Yet despite such gatherings it was announced in 2009 by the United Nations that the number of
people on the brink of starvation had topped one billion and this number continues to grow. The
reasons for this are of economic, political, and social origin; but they all lead to the overall issue:
the imbalance of food distribution.

FOUR (4) DIMENSIONS OF FOOD

SECURITY

1. PHYSICAL AVAILABILITY OF FOOD

- Food availability addresses the “supply
side” of food security and is determined
by the level of food production, stock
levels and net trade.
2. ECONOMIC AND PHYSICAL ACCESS TO FOOD - An adequate supply of food at the
national or international level does not in itself guarantee household level food security.
Concerns about insufficient food access have resulted in a greater policy focus on
incomes, expenditure, markets and prices in achieving food security objectives.
3. FOOD UTILIZATION - Utilization is commonly understood as the way the body makes
the most of various nutrients in the food. Sufficient energy and nutrient intake by
individuals is the result of good care and feeding practices, food preparation, diversity
of the diet and intra-household distribution of food. Combined with good biological
utilization of food consumed, this determines the nutritional status of individuals.
4. STABILITY OF THE OTHER THREE DIMENSIONS OVER TIME - Even if your food
intake is adequate today, you are still considered to be food insecure if you have
inadequate access to food on a periodic basis, risking a deterioration of your nutritional
status. Adverse weather conditions, political instability, or economic factors
(unemployment, rising food prices) may have an impact on your food security status.

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For food security objectives to be realized, all four dimensions must be fulfilled simultaneously.
 POLITICAL DIMENSION

The political dimension of food security encompasses not only food policy and legislation,
but all aspects of the production, control, regulation, inspection, distribution and consumption
of commercially grown, and even sometimes home grown, food. The commercial aspects of food
production are affected by ethical, cultural, and health concerns, as well as environmental
concerns about farming and agricultural practices and retailing methods. The term also
encompasses biofuels, GMO crops and pesticide use, the international food market, food aid,
food security and food sovereignty, obesity, labor practices and immigrant workers, issues of
water usage, animal cruelty, and climate change.

 ECONOMIC DIMENSION
Food security is largely an issue of the ability for a community, a household, or an
individual to afford the prices of food items available to them in the market. Political
Dimension

How does food security/access differ from the developed world to the developing
world?

Food Security between the Developed and Developing World

 In the developed world there is an increasing gap between the rich and poor that some
have called a Third World inside the First World;
 Food security in the developing world is closely linked with issues of women's rights,
globalization, famine and climatological catastrophes (monsoons, floods, and droughts),
conditions of agriculture, the diversification of a countries economy, and household
incomes.
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 Globalization has enabled capital to flow with less restriction over the world's borders. It
has enabled corporations to expand into multi-national corporations and trans-national
corporations.

CONSEQUENCES OF CORPORATE GLOBALIZATION

 A result of the corporate globalization is the elimination of previous (if informal)
barriers to trade and protectionist policies. For instance, in the developed world laws
pertaining to worker's rights, environmental protection, consumer rights, and so forth
have been made irrelevant where they have not been made illegal (via the WTO).
 In the developing world, it has created a "race to the bottom" where all workers are
suddenly competing against every other worker in the world for jobs, the end result being
a move towards lower wages, worse working conditions and benefits, and more job
insecurity (PAN, 1999; Griffin, 1998
 In many developing countries, the once subsistence-based economy has been changed
into one that is export-based, often due to cheap, subsidized food from the developed
world flooding their markets. With this change, farmers are producing more food for
export than for their country's own consumption. The standardization of agricultural
production is also driving rural dwellers off their ancestral lands into cities.
 Lang (1996) sees the goal of "food security" being in "danger of being rendered
meaningless by the economic forces of globalization and by the belief that all human
needs are best met by market mechanisms". World Food Summit, 1996

One billion people in the world are chronically hungry. One billion people are overweight.
Bittman (2009)
In 2015
5.9 million children die before the age of 5
50 % attributable to undernourishment

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(UNICEF 2015)
830 million people live below the International Extreme
Poverty Line of US $1.90 a day.
(UN 2015)
1.8 billion live below a moderate poverty threshold of US $2.50 a day.
AVERAGE INCOME
Top 1% of the population US $290 a day
Bottom 50% of the population US $7 a day

“Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and can be
overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.” [Nelson Mandela (2005)]

IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND HOW THESE THREE CONCEPTS ARE RELATED

TO FOOD INSECURITY.

1. HUNGER is usually understood as an uncomfortable or painful sensation caused by

insufficient food energy consumption. Scientifically, hunger is referred to as food
deprivation. Simply put, all hungry people are food insecure, but not all food insecure
people are hungry, as there are other causes of food insecurity, including those due to
poor intake of micro-nutrients.
2. MALNUTRITION results from deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in the
consumption of macro- and/or micronutrients. Malnutrition may be an outcome of food
insecurity, or it may relate to non-food factors, such as: - inadequate care practices for
children, - insufficient health services; and - an unhealthy environment. While poverty is
undoubtedly a cause of hunger, lack of adequate and proper nutrition itself is an
underlying cause of poverty. A current and widely used definition of poverty is:

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“Poverty encompasses different dimensions of deprivation that relate to human

capabilities including consumption and food security, health, education, rights, voice,
security, dignity and decent work.” - Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD)

SOME CHALLENGES TO CONSIDER IN GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY:

1. Rising population
2. Rising incomes, changing diets
3. Falling water tables
4. More foodless days
5. Slowing irrigation
6. Increasing soil erosion
7. Climate change
8. Melting water reserves
9. Flattening yields
10. Little time to prepare

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In the light of population growth and the constant risk of natural catastrophes, food
security becomes an unavoidable political issue.

TYPES OF FOOD INSECURITY

1. Chronic Food Insecurity
Lack of minimum requirement of food to the people for a sustained period of time due to
extended periods of poverty, lack of assets and inadequate access to productive or
financial resources can be called as Chronic Food Insecurity.
2. Acute or Transitory Food Insecurity
Sudden lack of food or reduction in the ability to produce or access minimum requirement
of food due to short-term shocks and fluctuations in food availability and food access,
including year-to-year variations in domestic food production, food prices and household
incomes can be defied as Acute or Transitory Food Insecurity.

The concept of seasonal food security falls between chronic and transitory food
insecurity. It is similar to chronic food insecurity as it is usually predictable and follows a
sequence of known events. However, as seasonal food insecurity is of limited duration it can
also be seen as recurrent, transitory food insecurity. It occurs when there is a cyclical pattern of
inadequate availability and access to food. This is associated with seasonal fluctuations in the
climate, cropping patterns, work opportunities (labour demand) and disease.

FACTORS AFFECTING FOOD SECURITY

Global food supply is not even. Some places produce more food than others.
Physical factors (such as climate, soil quality and gradient) and human factors (such as
technology) have historically controlled the quantity and type of food produced in any location.

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Today, there are many other factors that explain why some countries produce more food than
others:
Climate - global warming is increasing temperatures by around 0.2°C every 10 years. Rainfall
is increasing in some places, but decreasing in others. Higher temperatures and unreliable
rainfall make farming difficult, especially for those farming marginal lands, who already struggle
to survive. Even advanced countries (ACs) can be affected by drought. Countries such as Russia
and Australia are huge exporters of wheat and barley respectively. When they suffer drought
there is less food available globally and global food prices increase, leaving the poor most
vulnerable.

Technology - improvements in technology have increased the amount of food available.

Technology can overcome temperature, water and nutrient deficiencies in the form of
greenhouses, irrigation and fertilizers. This can incur an economic or environmental cost. ACs
import food from across the globe, all year round.

Loss of farmland - the growth of the biofuel market is taking up valuable farmland which is
then not used for food.

Pests and diseases - pesticides have increased crop yields. Farmers in ACs can afford
pesticides, whereas most farmers in low income developing countries (LIDCs) cannot afford
them.

Water stress - irrigation systems provide water for countries with unreliable or low rainfall.
Irrigation can double crop yields, but it is expensive to put these systems in place. Water can
be taken either from underground aquifers or directly from rivers. Both have environmental
consequences.

Conflict - war forces farmers to flee their land or to fight in conflict. Food can be used as a
weapon, with enemies cutting off food supplies in order to gain ground. Crops can also be
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destroyed during fighting. Food shortages have caused riots and conflict. The South Sudan
region has faced conflict for years, with 4 million people facing food insecurity. In the Darfur
area conflict has lasted years because of disagreement over land and grazing rights.
Poverty - when people have less money, they cannot afford food and they become unable
to work. Families in developing countries spend much of their income on food.

IMPACT OF FOOD INSECURITY

Food security is when the entire population of a country has access to enough safe and
nutritious food to maintain an active life. The opposite is food insecurity, which is a problem for
lots of different countries. Countries that do not have enough food to feed everyone usually have
other associated issues to overcome. Some impacts of food insecurity include:

 Famine - the World Food Programme classifies three hunger conditions:

1. Undernourishment is when people do not consume enough calories. Over 800 million
people in the world are undernourished.

2. Malnutrition is when people do not eat enough of the right kind of foods to keep them
healthy.

3. Wasting is the most serious type of hunger. It is severe weight loss due to acute
malnutrition resulting from starvation.

 Soil erosion - the removal of soil occurs more rapidly in areas that are very dry. Food
insecurity can lead to soil erosion as farmers try to get more out of their land.

 Deforestation, overgrazing and over-cultivation expose the soil and make it vulnerable to
wind and water erosion.

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 Rising prices - when there is less food available, the prices of food increase - since the year
2000 prices have risen. Poorer countries are more vulnerable to increasing food prices.

 Debt - food prices can be set by speculators in ACs. This can cause great swings in the prices
offered to farmers for their crops from year to year. Farmers may incur debts by borrowing
to buy seeds and equipment and then find they cannot sell their crops at a high enough price
to repay the loan.

 Social unrest - everyone needs to eat and so when food supplies are low people have to
fight for their survival. Riots in Algeria in 2011 were caused by high food costs. The prices of
cooking oil, sugar and flour doubled within the space of a few months.

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Chapter 10 – Global Citizenship

Intended Outcome/Learning Objectives:
At the end of the lesson the students will be able to:
1. Articulate a personal definition of global citizenship;
2. Appreciate the ethical obligations of global citizenship.

The term ‘citizenship’ illustrated that the focus was being shifted from the state towards
individual contributions by citizens. It was claimed that solutions to issues in the area of poverty,
the environment, lack of access to health care, education, water, and security were increasingly
to be found on a global level. International cooperation was considered indispensable in solving
these issues (DGIS, 2009.)
The transition from ‘public support for development cooperation’ to ‘global citizenship’ therefore
entails the abandonment of the North-South dichotomy, introducing a reciprocity in the form of
awareness of mutual dependency and allowing individual citizens take a center stage.
Global citizenship underlines equality and shared responsibility for each other, as well as
responsibility for the well-being of future generations. This mutual dependency ensues from the
understanding that matters such as sustainability, a stable climate, security and proper and fair
management of scarce resources (water, raw materials, and agricultural land) can only be
governed well on a global scale.

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP
Global citizenship is nothing new….
As far back as the year 450, Socrates already proclaimed his land of origin to be ‘the world’.
A century later, Diogenes declared himself a ‘citizen of the world’.
Even though the global dimension of citizenship has been around for many centuries, there is
no clear definition of this form of citizenship (Morais & Ogden, 2010).
Global Citizenship an amorphous concept.

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Citizenship, by itself has legal and democratic undertones; as a concept – wrapped up in rights
and obligations (owing allegiance to a sovereign state); came to us through the (Greeks &
Romans) membership in a polity with rights and privileges

In global arena – citizen is not a member of a sovereign country nor given recognizable
privileges and rights associated with national citizenship; hence cannot be expressed in legal
sense.

WHAT IS GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP?

Global citizenship is the idea that one's identity transcends geography or political borders
and that responsibilities or rights are derived from membership in a broader class: "humanity".
This does not mean that such a person denounces or waives their nationality or other, more
local identities, but that such identities are given "second place" to their membership in a global
community. For Oxfam, global citizenship is all about encouraging young people to develop
the knowledge, skills and values they need to engage with the world.
And it's about the belief that we can all make a difference.

It is a way of living that recognizes our world is an increasingly complex web of

connections and interdependencies. One in which our choices and actions may have
repercussions for people and communities locally, nationally or internationally.

Global Citizenship nurtures personal respect and respect for others, wherever they live.
It encourages individuals to think deeply and critically about what is equitable and just, and
what will minimise harm to our planet. Exploring Global Citizenship themes help learners grow
more confident in standing up for their beliefs, and more skilled in evaluating the ethics and
impact of their decisions.
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Global citizenship usually involves three dimensions — awareness (of self and others),
responsibility and participation. The enlightened global citizen understands that there does not
have to be a tension between a nationalistic sense of duty and moral obligations to the rest of
the world.

A Global Citizen is someone who:

• is aware of the wider world and has a sense of their own role as a world citizen
• respects and values diversity
• has an understanding of how the world works
• is outraged by social injustice
• participates in the community at a range of levels, from the local to the global
• is willing to act to make the world a more equitable and sustainable place takes
responsibility for their actions.

To be effective Global Citizens, young people need to be flexible, creative and proactive.
They need to be able to solve problems, make decisions, think critically, communicate ideas
effectively and work well within teams and groups. These skills and attributes are increasingly
recognised as being essential to succeed in other areas of 21st century life too, including many
workplaces. These skills and qualities cannot be developed without the use of active learning
methods through which pupils learn by doing and by collaborating with others.
A Global Citizen is someone who …is aware of the wider world and has a sense of their
own role as a world citizen respects and values diversity has an understanding of how the
world works is outraged by social injustice participates in the community at a range of
levels, from the local to the globalis willing to act to make the world a more equitable and
sustainable place takes responsibility for their actions.

To be a global citizen you must …

1. understand we were born of this world;

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2. protect our country, the world, when called upon to do so.

3. Stand up and defend against the injustices we see.
4. Understand the interconnectedness
5. Respect ad value diversity
6. Take action in meaningful ways.

FIVE MAIN CONCEPTS OF GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

1. Accepting universal values and responsibilities
2. Acting for the common good
3. Understanding diversity
4. Being proactive to improve the world, and
5. Honouring this global promise regardless of others' actions

Even though we are all part of communities made up of our cities, countries and
ethnicities, it is crucial to remember that one undeniable commonality that we share as humans
is that our home is planet Earth. As this is a given, there are universal values and morals that
we share despite our location on Earth. In fact, we have more similarities than we do difference.

We gain benefits from being part of a global community, thus we have the
responsibility to uphold the values of this community. What we gain from living on Earth, we
must repay by respecting our natural environment.
Currently, this is not coming from nation states. Instead, it is the responsibility of the global
citizen.

Is there a need for global citizenship education in the contemporary world?

"Education must be not only a transmission of culture but also a provider of
alternative views of the world and a strengthener of skills to explore them"

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Jerome S Bruner

With the interconnected and interdependent nature of our world, the global is not ‘out
there’; it is part of our everyday lives, as we are linked to others on every continent: socially and
culturally through the media and telecommunications, and through travel and migration,
economically through trade, environmentally through sharing one planet politically through
international relations and systems of regulation.

Education for global citizenship is not an additional subject - it's a framework for learning,
reaching beyond school to the wider community. It can be promoted in class through the
existing curriculum or through new initiatives and activities.

The benefits are felt across the school and beyond. Global citizenship helps young people to:
a) Build their own understanding of world events.
b) Think about their values and what's important to them.
c) Take learning into the real world.
d) Challenge ignorance and intolerance.
e) Get involved in their local, national and global communities.
f) Develop an argument and voice their opinions.
g) See that they have power to act and influence the world around them.

The Global Filipino (by Johanna Zulueta)

https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/arts-and-culture/2019/07/28/1938641/global-filipino

On the first day of my Sociology of Globalization class last April, I asked each student
why they chose to attend the class. Their answers ranged from wanting to know how
globalization is analyzed from a sociological perspective, to wanting to understand how global

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processes affect local societies and cultures. One student’s answer stood out though. She told
me that in addition to an interest in the topics related to globalization, she wanted to know
how globalization has affected Philippine national identity, having visited the Philippines
previously. As a Filipino, I told her that it was a challenging question to answer, and that one
needs to look at several factors to comprehend a concept as complex as “national identity.”

As an overseas Filipino, I have had my share of queries about who and what being
Filipino is — this, upon initially being doubted whether I was indeed Filipino due to my physical
features, thanks to my Chinese ancestry. I also have had (much older) colleagues who asked
me what happened to my country and why it has gone behind many of its Asian neighbors. I
could only give them a sheepish smile while attempting to answer. Despite us lagging behind
many of our neighbors, we Filipinos — both at home and overseas — have in ourselves a
certain national “pride” especially when talking about fellow Filipinos who have given the
country much recognition in the realm of sports, science and technology, academia, and even
beauty pageants. We are arguably a nation of “greats,” but why then are we not a “great”
nation?

What makes a nation great? It is without a doubt that economic wealth, military
strength, political might, and cultural influence, make a country rise above all others. The
Philippines at present, is lacking in these aspects; but should this fact discourage us in
envisioning a vibrant future for our country? Should we even compare ourselves to much more
powerful nations that only remind us of our current “inferior” status in the world system?

The Philippines has one of the largest diasporas in the world today. Filipinos are visible
in almost all levels of the occupation hierarchy, ranging from the low-skilled to the
highlyskilled, professional class. Filipinos work in the service industry, in construction, in
schools and universities, in multi-national corporations, in hospitals, in the IT sector, not to
mention those who offer their services to many households throughout the world. Migration

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has become a reality for many Filipino families that this phenomenon, arguably, has become
part of the national consciousness. While people migrate for a variety of reasons, the most
significant one is to further economic opportunities for one’s family. We hear of sacrifices of a
parent or a child who has to live miles away from home in a place which is, in most cases,
linguistically and culturally different. Our traditional notion of what a family is has also been
affected by the migration of one or two family members, and this has created several
challenges for many of these transnational families. Transnational families are those families
that, despite living apart, try to create a sense of “familyhood” across nation-state borders.
These are oftentimes done through economic remittances as well as the carrying out of
responsibilities through “transnational care-giving”—“taking care” of family members from a
distance, be it one’s children or one’s aging parents. This has been made possible through the
sending of financial support, shipping balikbayan boxes, as well as regular communication with
one’s kin, thanks to advances in communications technology and social media use.

These Filipino transnational families are continuously increasing, with the act of
migrating regarded as a “noble” act. If large numbers of Filipinos engage in this “noble” deed,
is it not great in itself? These migrants are considered to be “bagong bayani” who not only
prop up the GDP but earn accolades for their good performance at their work places. To make
our country competitive in these times, we should be able to engage with these “global”
Filipinos in the task of rebuilding the nation beyond the discourse of economic remittances.

What makes a country great should not only be limited to its GDP, or its political and
military influence; the country’s human resources within and without its borders should also be
given much importance. A Japanese colleague once told me that she never really gave much
thought about the Philippines until she visited recently. She then said that the country has
much potential with its young population, as opposed to Japan’s aging populace. Recently,
Japan has been opening its doors to migrant workers to address the need for labor,
particularly in care work, and Filipinos are among those who are accepted. We ought not to

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forget overseas Filipinos who are a resource to the country, not only with the remittances—
both economic and social—that they send back home, but also for the valuable work they do
in the countries that welcomed them. How do we harness them for the country’s development
and avoid a so-called “brain drain” and turn this instead into “brain circulation”? This has been
on the policy agendas of most sending countries, including the Philippines. While government
agencies and policymakers continue to address issues related to Filipino migration, what can
most of us do? We can start by changing our mindset.

So, the next time we see migrant Filipinos arriving at the NAIA with loads of boxes, or if
we happen to meet some Filipinos working as restaurant crew while on transit at the Dubai
International Airport, or if we pass by Filipino women chatting about their alagas along
Orchard Road in Singapore, think of how they try to perform their duties as a
spouse/parent/sibling/child to their families back home. Think of how their remittances
contribute to the country’s GDP. Think of how the investments they make or plan to make in
their homeland upon their return. Think of how the skills they gain could be imparted to the
next generation when they decide to return. With this mindset, we could envision a much
brighter future that would enable the Philippines to stand among the world’s greats.

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