- Globalisation has brought foreign investment to India while also has helping Indian-based TNCs such as Tata to thrive.
These industries put pressure on water supplies.
In the drought-prone Indian state of Kerala, an aquifer lies close to the village of Plachimada.
In 2000, Coca-Cola’s subsidiary firm Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages established a bottling plant neraby.
Six wells were dug, tapping into the precious groundwater store. Very soon afterwards, water shortages began to be reported.
India’s integration into global systems helps explain the income rise for hundreds of millions of Indians who now enjoy the use of flushing lavatories and Showers.
- Improving the situation for the remaining 250 million Indians who still lack access to clean water will increase pressure on scarce water supplies in many places.
- As a result of such changes, India’s total demand for water is expected to soon exceed all current sources of supply; the country is set to become water scarce by the year 2025 (measured as per capita water availability of less than 1,000 cubic metres annually).
- India’s own heightened water demands could, in turn, lead to trans-boundary tension and conflict over the use of large rivers shared with other countries, notably China.
- The transboundary Brahmaputra River originates in Tibet and flows through China before reaching India.
- There are real Indian concerns that China - whose own water needs have sky-rocketed recently - might build dams capable of diverting the Brahmaputra away from India.
Legislating against global flows
Governments may try to prevent or control global flows of people, goods and information, with varying success:
Laws can be strengthened to limit numbers of economic migrants.
Around 40 world governments limit their citizens’ freedom to access online information.
Trade protectionism is still common, despite the efforts of the Bretton Woods institutions
Laws can be strengthened to limit numbers of economic migrants.
- However, illegal immigration is sometimes hard to tackle, as the USA has discovered.
- In 2015, large numbers of desperate refugees from Syria and poor African nations like Somalia arrived in Europe.
- Some had crossed the Mediterranean in overcrowded, leaky boats with great loss of life.
- Many more arrived at the borders of Hungary and Serbia, having walked there.
European countries are obliged to take in genuine refugees, irrespective of economic migration rules.
Since 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) has guaranteed refugees the right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution
Around 40 world governments limit their citizens’ freedom to access online information.
Violent or sexual imagery is censored in many countries.
However, a ‘dark web’ also exists, which is harder to control.
Trade protectionism is still common, despite the efforts of the Bretton Woods institutions
Illegal smuggling of both legal and illegal commodities can be very hard to control, however.
In 2014, global sales of illegal drugs are estimated to have exceeded US$300 billion.
2 Attempts to Control the Spread of Globalization
Censorship in North Korea
Immigration Limitations in the UK
Censorship in North Korea:
North Korea’s government controlled internet only has 28 websites
Korean central television is the state-run TV channel seen by North Koreans The network shows programmes praising Kim-Jong Il and Kim Il-Sung
therefore prevent the infiltration of foreign ideas and values.
Immigration Limitations in the UK:
Immigration policies are developed and enforced to regulate the entry of foreign nationals into the country.
The government may introduce stricter visa requirements, impose immigration caps, or prioritise certain skills or qualifications.
Trade Protectionism:
refers to government policies and measures aimed at restricting imports or promoting domestic industries.
includes tariffs, quotas, subsidies, or regulations that create barriers to international trade.
seen as an attempt to control the spread of globalization by safeguarding domestic industries and employment.
Governments may use protectionist measures to shield domestic producers from foreign competition, preserve national security interests, or address concerns about trade imbalances
Migration controls in the UK:
Since 2010, a five-tier point system has been in place in * the UK designed to help control immigration by checking that economic migrants possess skills or resources that the UK economy needs.
For example, tier 1 migrants must be prepared to invest more than £2 million in the UK or possess ‘exceptional talent’.
These rules do not apply to EU migrants, who are allowed free movement.
The incoming UK government of 2010 pledged to cut net migration to 100,000 people a year.
this target has not been met because:
fewer British citizens have left the UK to live overseas since the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC). Also, the pound-euro exchange rate has weakened, meaning that the cost of living in the Eurozone has risen for UK citizens
the government has no control over EU migrants wanting to work in the UK
refugees are allowed to remain in the UK under human rights law.
Resource nationalism and protecting cultures
‘Resource nationalism’ describes a growing tendency for state governments to take measures ensuring that domestic industries and consumers have priority access to the national resources found within their borders.
Resource nationalism and protecting cultures Resource nationalism and protecting cultures
Until recently, resource nationalism in China took the form of restrictions on rare earth exports.
Japan, the USA and the EU all expressed concerns to the WTO. As a result, China finally relaxed restrictions in 2014.
Particular cultural groups within a nation may sometimes take a view on whether global forces should be allowed to exploit their resources.
Opposition can be strong when an important landscape is threatened by the resource extraction process (see page 207).
Examples include the Ogoni people’s on-going struggle with oil companies in Nigeria and opposition to fracking (hydraulic fracturing) by Canada’s First Nations people.
First Nations in Canada:
Canada is home to six groups of indigenous people, known as the First Nations.
Their occupation of the land long pre-dates the arrival of Europeans.
Some First Nations people of the Mackenzie and Yukon River Basins oppose the attempts of global oil companies to ‘switch on’ their region (physically, an area of boreal forest and tundra).
The Dene residents of the Sahtu Region have already experienced negative impacts of globalisation and petroleum development near the settlement of Norman Wells
Over 200 million barrels of conventional oil has been extracted there since 1920
Particular concerns include:
the death of trout and other fish in oil-polluted lakes (a lifestyle based around subsistence fishing, hunting and trapping is fundamental to the Dene’s cultural identity)
the effects of alcohol and drugs (brought by oil workers) on the behaviour of young Dene people.
Oil TNCs, including Shell, ExxonMobil, Imperial Oil and ConocoPhillips Canada are now exploring the surrounding Canol shale and assessing its potential for shale oil (Figure 14.15). Shale ‘fracking’ (hydraulic fracturing) in other places has been linked with water pollution.
