Unit 9 - Globalization c. 1900 - Present

Question 1

Explain how the development of new technologies changed the world from 1900 to present.

Answer 1

• communication/transportation tech reduced the problem of geographical distance:
• ex:
  
  • radio: speaker talks directly to audience -> reduces potential biases by getting rid of middleman
    
    • FDR’s fireside chats
  • TV (mid-1900s): able to see the speaker
  • cellular tech (phones): helped connect ppl globally
    - portability = revolutionary
    - Arab Spring: mid east anti-gov’t protests that spread bc of social media
  • commercial airlines = quicker travel
  • shipping containers -> mass transportation of commercial goods
• energy:
  
  • the beginning of 1900’s coal was the primary source of energy
  • later on, natural gas + petroleum were also used by the 1940s -> ↑ industrial output
    
    • all nonrenewable resources + are fossil fuels -> air pollution + greenhouse gases (i.e. CO2)
      - awareness for global warming led to ppl using cleaner energy sources
    • nuclear energy pretty clean
      - can be dangerous bc of nuclear power plants blowing up
      - Chernobyl
    • wind/solar/hydro power also used
    • these sources account for 5% of global energy output
• medical innovations impact longevity of humans
  
  • ex:
    
    • antibiotics kill bacterial infections
      - penicillin = the first antibiotic
    • vaccine usage spiked in 1900s
      - basically eradicated smallpox, measles, polio
    • more effective forms of birth control like pills -> fertility rates ↓ globally
      - gave women more control over their bodies
      - transformed reproductive practices/gender roles
• Green Revolution = scientists developed new varieties of grain that had higher yields/resistance to pests, droughts
  - emerged in response to global hunger
  - new varieties developed by crossbreeding + genetic engineering + irrigation + fertilizers + pesticides
  - acreage devoted to crops ↑ worldwide
  - small farmers could not afford new fertilizers/pesticides -> can’t compete w/ large landowners -> had to sell their land to corporations -> ↑ commercial agriculture
  - new mechanized equipment -> less jobs
  - a lot of chemicals in soil damaged environment

Question 2

Explain how environmental factors (diseases) affected human populations over time (in the 1900s).

Answer 2

• diseases associated w/ poverty persisted:
• impoverished dealt w/ contaminated water + little access to healthcare + live vry close together -> spread of diseases more common
  
  • malaria: carried by mosquitoes + common in tropical environments
    - NGO Doctors Without Borders treated 1.7 mil ppl mostly in Africa
    - insecticide mosquito nets created to cover during sleep
  • tuberculosis: airborne disease transmitted thru coughing/sneezing
  • cholera: transmitted thru bad water & causes severe diarrhea + dehydration + vomiting
  • polio: spread via bad water killed a bunch of ppl but a vaccine was developed & was basically eradicated in all but a few countries like PK
• epidemics caused by globalization:
• ex:
  
  • Spanish Flu/Influenza in 1918: as ww1 soldiers go home, they bring flu w/ them
    
    • 1/5 of global pop. became infected
  • AIDS -> HIV Epidemic: weakens immune system so ppl can easily contract other diseases
    
    • spread thru body fluids
    • treated by antiretroviral drugs but is $$
    • still a major problem today
  • Ebola 2014: spread thru infected fluids
    
    • causes bleeding + organ failure -> death
    • WHO (world health org) helped contain/end outbreak
• increased longevity leads to new diseases:
• ex:
  
  • Alzheimer’s: form of dementia (memory loss)
    
    • can lead to death if disease progresses
  • Heart disease associated w/ longer lives
    
    • # 1 cause of death, esp in 1st world countries

Question 3

Explain the causes and effects of environmental changes in the period from 1900 to present.

Answer 3

• causes:
• ↑ global population -> ↑ farmland for food -> ↑ deforestation, soil erosion, habitat destruction, etc.
  
  • also leads to depletion of freshwater
• ↑ urbanization -> city ppl pressure farmers for more food -> farmers use more intensive/harmful techniques to keep up w/ demand
  
  • city ppl produce a lot of waste
• industrialization spreads -> nat resources used for manufacturing being depleted
  
  • workers in dev countries making a new mid class so they also want cars + etc that contribute to pollution
• effects:
• competition ↑ for raw materials/nat resources as industrialization spreads
• resource depletion like oil + coal + water
  
  • by 2025, half of the world won’t have clean water
  • water scarcity linked to other inequalities
• climate change: factories, cars, etc emit a lot of pollutants like CO2 + other greenhouse gases that trap heat & warm up the earth -> melting ice caps, severe droughts
  
  • skeptics say this is part of earth’s “natural” cycle
• ↑ environmental awareness
  
  • green party: a political party that focuses on environmental issues
  • development of renewable energy sources like wind
  • green belt movement: women-led kenyan org that plants trees
  • greta thunberg
• global action:
• kyoto protocol: in 1997, developed countries argued that developing countries should curb their CO2 emissions
• paris agreement: developed nations need to chill w/ their carbon output
  
  • laxer terms for 3rd world
  • 195 countries signed

Question 4

Explain the continuities and changes in the global economy from 1900 to present.

Answer 4

• the trend of gov’ts promoting free-market econ policies + econ liberalization (relaxation of restrictions as eastern bloc can trade w/ west) was accelerated by the end of the Cold War
  
  • Ronald Reagan (US) & Margaret Thatcher (UK) wanted free markets w/ little gov’t control
  • pinochet made chile more free-market by privatizing state-run businesses + lowering inflation
    
    • chicago boys helped design chile’s econ reforms
  • deng xiaoping (commie) promoted econ growth rather than equality
    
    • “let some ppl get rich first”: encouraged foreign comapanies, some private ownership, reopened stock market, no more communes, etc
    • ppl thought econ reforms meant that political reforms will come too but not true -> student protests in Tiananmen Square met w/ gov’t force
• advancements in info + communication -> growth of knowledge econ: econ that creates + uses knowledge (designers, engineers, teachers)
  - finland was agrarian + faced econ crisis as USSR fell -> gov’t invested in education + tech -> became center for mobile phones + software companies
  - USA’s silicon valley
  - after ww2 japan did mercantilist stuff again -> became manufacturing powerhouse w/ investments from US -> became knowledge econ
  - Asian Tigers: Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, & Taiwan followed japan’s econ model: high exports, intense edu, & low-wage labor
• many transnational free-trade orgs helped global econ + reflected principles of free-market econ
  - european econ community
  - mercosur (south america)
  - ASEAN (southeast asia)
  - NAFTA
  - General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which lowered tariffs -> World Trade Org (WTO)
• joint-stock companies -> multinational corporations
  - used to be a way for imperialists to make wealth during the age of imperialism
  - Nestle (child labor)
  - Nissan
  - Mahindra and Mahindra
  - india for example has become an IT powerhouse bc of investment from multinational corporations like microsoft + google
• corporations + manufacturing econs moved to countries w/ little regulations, lower taxes, wages, etc.
  - vietnam + bangladesh
  - mexico (NAFTA encouraged US + Canadian industries to build maquiladoras (factories) in MX that uses low-wage labor) + honduras (more sustainable)

Question 5

Explain how social categories, roles, and practices have been maintained and challenged in the 1900s. (challenges to stereotypes + more rights)

Answer 5

• challenges to stereotypes:
• The UN Universal Declaration of Human
  Rights: sought to esp protect the rights of children, women, & refugees
  
  • UN International Children’s Fund: provided food for suffering children after WW2
  • International Court of Justice by UN
• Global feminism movements
  
  • 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women held by UN wanted the right to vote, freely choose a spouse, same edu as men, & birth control
• Negritude Movement in W. Africa emphasized blackness + self-determination
• Liberation theology combined socialism + catholicism
  - spread in Latin America thru the 50s + 60s
  - interpreted Jesus’s teachings to include freeing ppl from econ + pol + social abuses
• ↑ access to edu + political roles:
• The right to vote + hold public office granted to women in the US (1920 - WHITE only), Brazil (1932), Turkey (1934), Japan (1945), India (1947), and Morocco (1963)
• ↑ rate of female literacy + the ↑ numbers of women in higher edu in most the world
• US Civil Rights Act in 1965 banned discrimination based on race, religion, etc
  
  • desegregation of schools
• Voting Rights Act in 1965 gave all right to vote in US
• South Africa had apartheid + pass laws which marginalized the majority black south africans
  
  • the world teamed up to bully south africa into releasing mandela & pres f.w. de klerk released him
  • end of apartheid in 90s
• discrimination against dalits in s. asia -> caste reservation system in india where gov’t guaranteed a certain % of gov’t jobs + better edu for dalits
• china’s an exception to this bc of:
  
  • student massacre at tiananmen quare
  • uyghur ppl oppressed
• environmental repair/rights:
• earth day started in 1970
• greenpeace founded in 1971 is an org that battles deforestation, global warming, overfishing, etc.
• wangari maathai founded the green belt movement in response to env degradation from colonial rule in kenya
  
  • women plant trees to improve soil + collect rainwater
• fair econ:
• in response the WTO’s strictly econ interests, the World Fair Trade Org (WFTO) was formed in 1989
  
  • member org follow 10 principles based on fair trade like no child labor + fair price

Question 6

Explain how and why globalization changed culture over time. (1900s)

Answer 6

• pol + social changes -> changes in art:
• After WW2 ppl embrace modernism + experimentation + consumer culture
• as USSR fell the world was no longer divided -> focused on cooperation (created NAFTA, European Union, UN)
• ppl became closer in contact + rights movements uplifted marginalized voices into mainstream + tech dev + new scientific knowledge challenged old beliefs
• cubism painting + stream-of-consciousness writing + atonal music changed art
  
  • maybe in response to mechanized + efficient society
• harlem renaissance: rebirth of african american culture
  
  • jazz emerged
• pop culture reflects influence of globalized society:
• americanization bc of US being influential power
  
  • many resent it & consider it as throwaway culture
  • english spreads
• bollywood
• reggae + reggaeton
• anime
• k-pop
• olympic games
• world cup
• nba
• globalization + religion:
• New Age religions (shamanism, sufism, etc) revived + adapted for West
  
  • Hari Krishna mov’t based on hindu scriptures + became pop in USA + EU
  • Falun Gong mov’t based on buddhism + daoism
    
    • CCP banned it -> international protests against chinese regime for human rights abuses
• ↑ of nonbelievers
• global consumerism:
• online commerce: Alibaba, eBay
• global brands: Toyota, Coca-Cola, Nike

Question 7

Explain the various responses to increasing globalization after 1900. (Why Resist Globalization?)

Answer 7

• globalization threatens some ppl’s + gov’ts sense of autonomy + identity
• anti-globalists claim that global financial institutions like International Monetary Fund (IMF) & WTO maximize profits at the expense of labor conditions + env
  
  • the battle of seattle protested WTO
  • critics claim UN’s World Bank (wants to improve member states’ econs) favors richer countries over poorer ones
  • consumers who buy stuff w/ a few clicks have no idea what goes into creating those products
    - child labor used in w. africa still for cocoa
    - Amazon’s warehouses
    - collapse of Rana Plaza factory in Bangla killed 1000 female garment workers
    - fuel involved in shipping products contributes to greenhouse gases
    - brazil cuts down its rainforest to make way for cattle farms
• supporters of globalization point out that it can help the env thru ecotourism
• conservatives in britain think that the EU interferes w/ britain’s right to govern itself + forces it to accept too many immigrants
  - they want a Brexit
  - opponents say this can be dangerous for an island dependent on imports
• large corporations can depend on IMF & WTO to help them but small businesses can’t so globalization is essentially destroying them
• anti-globalization gov’t block/hinder social media bc they think it can spread unwanted ideas into their country & spark unrest
  - china creates Weibo + Wechat as a sub for other social media in response to fights btwn Han & Uyghurs
  - saudi arabian officials use twt + facebook to harass + intimidate citizens

Question 8

Explain how and why globalization changed international interactions among states. (global institutions)

Answer 8

• The UN rose out of the ashes of WWII
  
  • a League of Nations 2.0
  • Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 guarantees basic freedoms
  • Deploys lightly armed peacekeepers to countries in conflict/natural disasters
    
    • helped end civil wars in Mozambique, El Salvador, and Cambodia
    • failed to prevent Rwandan Genocide, Somalian civil war, Bosnia’s shenanigans
  • Protects refugees (UNHCR)
  • Feeds the hungry thru World Food Program (WFP)
  • UNESCO focuses on literacy, free edu, protecting cultural/env sites
  • Human Rights Watch monitors human rights abuses
  • The Global Goals set 17 goals to accomplish by 2030 like clean water, gender equality, etc.
  • Has 6 bodies:
    - The Gen Assembly: the UN body which all members have rep
    - Security Council: 5 perm members who can veto + 10 elected other members on a rotating basis
    - other nations resented the 5’s power -> caused conflict which prevented the UN from confronting probs
    - Secretariat: UN’s administrative arm
    - International Court of Justice
    - Econ & Social Council: directs econ/social initiatives
    - The Trusteeship Council supervises the gov’t of trust territories
• Many NGOs worked w/ UN on econ issues
  - The World Bank fought poverty by providing loans to countries
  - critics say that they ignore how their projects like dams damage the env + local culture
  - IMF gives short-term loans + econ advice to countries
  - critics say that the IMF it favored rich countries over poorer ones
• there are many NGOs separate from the UN as well:
  - International Peace Bureau founded in 1891
  - focuses on nuclear disarmament
  - International Committee of the Red Cross (est 1863)
  - responds quickly to ppl affected by armed conflict + nat disasters