Globalisation- The backstory

by kaixin (student)

So what is Globalisation?

Globalisation is when an idea, message, a brand or anything spreads around the world. This happens all the time - a t-shirt for example, if you look at a tag on your t-shirt, chances are it is made from a country other than the one you are sitting in now. What's more, before it reached your wardrobe, this shirt could have very well been made with Chinese cotton sewed by Thai hands, shipped across the Pacific on a French freighter crewed by Spaniards to a Los Angeles harbour. This international exchange is just one example of globalization. Advertisements, pictures, global social networks such as Facebook, migration, trade, languages, and communication are just some examples of how globalisation works. But have Globalisation done any justice to the way we live and the world?

In our world, Globalisation is a very positive thing. It has given us cheap clothes, a huge selection of products and much, much more. Can we see any negatives? Not really. So how can this be fair? Or is there a back story?

TNC’s (transnational corporations) are corporations such as Nike, Gap, Wal-mart stores, Toyota, Ford, BP and Primark which sell their products around the world. Because of the fact they like their profits and we like having our products cheap, we go to LEDC’s (less economically developed country’s), such as India and lots of countries in Asia predominantly to make our clothes. This is because they can make our clothes cheaper as there are lower minimum wages or none at all, that there are no laws for the working hours of one person, so they can open a sweatshop. A sweatshop is a place where workers are paid unfairly to work for long hours non-stop in very poor, dangerous conditions Since people in LEDC’s need

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employment desperately in order to live, they do not rebel or fight against the bad conditions, the work load and working hours as if they do, they will lose their jobs, which results the whole family starving. It is the same for farmers; too as if they don’t take the prices they are given, they will end up with none. This forces the poorer counties in the world to do what the MEDC’s (more economically developed countries) such as America and countries in Europe tell them as they understand the consequences if they don’t do what they tell them to do. This can also break some laws of human rights. Also, it has not benefited the workers in MEDC’s either as they cannot find a job due to the fact that the workers in the LEDC’s are much more cheaply employed. The minimum wage an adult gets in the U.K. is £6.08 per hour, and in a Nike sweatshop, workers are paid around 15 cents per hour!

What a typical sweatshop looks like

So how are sweatshops related to globalisation? Well it is a product of fashion spreading across the world and the changing of fashion- mostly in MEDC’s. But, the people in the LEDC’s are the fashion victims. TNC’s are linked to Globalisation as their companies are in several countries and their clothing/product is sold around the world and so are their clothing/product designs.

People who support globalisation think that it benefits everyone overall and lot of countries benefit from it, in terms of economics. Countries like India and China have had a sharp decrease in their poverty rate due to globalisation and also improved in trade and living conditions. They feel it provides more job opportunities for people around the world and this greatly lessens the world’s overall poverty state. They also believe that this would benefit the LEDC countries in the financial ladder to become a MEDC country.

They also support globalisation mainly because of the fact that globalisation has indeed brought technological advancements, and improvements in the fields of Science and medicine have also been greatly and steadily improving, such as new treatments to terminal diseases.

In a course of six years, the Internet usage of LEDC countries, such as those of the Middle East and Africa, have increased 920% and 882% respectively, whereas in North America and Asia it had only grown 120% and 346% respectively (Information from the Internet usage statistics - The internet big picture in the Internet World Stats Web site). This can show that the digital gap between the MEDC countries and the LEDC countries is not widening, but instead is growing smaller.

Anti-globalisation activists feel that globalisation is unfair as it exploits the poor and brings benefits to the rich, and affect cultural practices. They also believe that the world is in danger due to factors like global warming, as more advanced technology would lead to higher carbon emissions, which is indirectly caused by globalisation.

Others also believed that “that geographical and climatic disadvantages have locked some countries out of global growth” BBC 2001. LEDC countries such as Africa, which are the ones losing out in the competition amidst globalisation, unlike bigger countries such as China and trading giants like America and Britain, due to the fact that the former is as advanced as compared to the latter.

Fair-trade however, have changed the situation. They ask local farmers who get ‘bullied’ into agreeing to any sum of money they offer to form together to rise up from the unfair payments. This way, the companies that want their crops will have to be forced into giving more money, to give farmers in less developed countries a fair wage to give farmers and their families a better living.

We, as consumers all over the world also understand fair-trade and the importance of it, so therefore we like to buy fair-trade products. In that way, shops and supermarkets all over the world sell fair-trade products to satisfy their consumers.

The fair-trade logo

In conclusion, globalisation has given our world cheap clothes, and the profits of TNC’s do help our country as they have to pay the tax. LEDC’s do have a lower poverty rate due to globalisation, and technology has improved due to the sharing of ideas around the world. The digital gap is also growing smaller due to globalisation. On the other hand, the people working in the LEDC countries are being exploited by the rich, and the improving technology would lead to more global warming. Thus, globalisation has given us both pros and cons. But is globalisation a good or bad thing? Well, it’s your choice.