Colonization, Global Trade, Economic Development

Question 1

What were the changed functions and meanings of Elmina Castle in Elmina, Ghana over time?

Answer 1

Portuguese castle and slave transshipment entrepot
THEN
Dutch major slave trade hub
THEN
British Colonization - training center for police officers
THEN
Independent Ghana, Museum and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Elmina, Ghana commemorating the real history of the horrors of slavery

Question 2

What is the competition and European rationalization of colonialism?

Answer 2

Competition: The European countries were competing to get the most economic value out of Africa’s raw materials as well as for national prestige.
Rationalized by race and by saying that they were helping by introducing them to christianity

Question 3

Explain the Berlin Conference and the scramble for Africa?

Answer 3

Did it for economic gain. The slaves in Africa provided money and resources that fueled this economic revolution and allowed them to industrialize
1884-1885 European conference in order to reduce the tension between European countries. Agreed on rules for carving up Africa. countries would need to have their claims to territory in Africa ratified by the other European powers.

Question 4

Explain Superimposed Borders?

Answer 4

Caused a lot of ethnic diversity and political diversity creating a problem later down the line

Question 5

Explain the impacts of WWI and WWII on colonized
Africans?

Answer 5

Africans
World War I (1914-1918) turned regions of Africa into battlegrounds between the colonial powers.
Africans served as soldiers and military officers. They also worked as porters, moving supplies through interior regions of the continent where there were no railroads. In North Africa, colonial officials recruited workers to replace European factory workers who were fighting in the war. Africans saw that Europeans could be challenged and defeated.
World War II showed how much Europe depended on the colonies, exposed to leaders against powers and all of the same as WWI

Question 6

Explain Pan-African-ism?

Answer 6

Nationalist Movement
Pan Africanism inspired more Africans to join anticolonial groups. While some called for outright independence, most called for increased representation in government, an end to racial discrimination and inequality, and reform of the colonial system to make it beneficial to Africans.

Question 7

Explain Primary, secondary, tertiary, and Quaternary levels of economic activity?

Answer 7

Primary: Selling the original farmed material
Secondary: Sold products made from the original material/good
Tertiary: Buy from a Store organized for selling stuff
Quaternary: Organized Business leadership. People who organize labor activities. People whose job it is to sell you stuff. Advertising

Question 7

Explain the locations of early human trade routes - Silk Road, Trans-Sahara, Indian Ocean rimland,
Mediterranean basin

Answer 7

Silk Road: China Han dynasty (207 BCE- 220 CE)
Trans-Sahara: Sahara(North Africa) and made in 400, peak 700-1600
Indian Ocean Rimland: Heartland/Russia in early 20th century
Mediterranean Basin: Mediterranean in 600-1450

Question 8

What is comparative advantage?

Answer 8

Produce for less cost than competitors

Question 9

What are imports?

Answer 9

Goods coming in

Question 10

What are exports?

Answer 10

Goods going out

Question 11

What is free trade? pros and cons?

Answer 11

in theory, free trade is the ideal situation in which individuals and companies in different countries can buy and sell goods to and from each other without any interference from governments.
Pros: lower cost and more variety of consumer goods
- job creation
- improved relations between countries
- everyone benefits or will ‘eventually’ have same
benefits others currently enjoy.
Cons:
HR Activists: Free trade allows for child labor, substandard working conditions, modern slavery, bonded labor . . .
Environmentalists: Ever-expanding free trade and global capitalism is destroying planet earth. Externalities to doing business. Tragedy of the commons.
Labor Advocates: Free trade is unfair because labor is cheaper in poorer countries, and workers in rich countries lose jobs.

Question 12

What is protectionism? Pros and Cons?

Answer 12

a governmental economic strategy to limit trade or impose trade barriers.
Pros:
- keep in place or help create domestic jobs
- keeps in place or helps create decent wages and
standards of living for domestic workers
Cons:
Market Distortion and loss of Economic Efficiency
Higher Prices for Consumers
Reduction in Market Access for Producers
Extra Costs for Exporters
Adverse Effects on Poverty
Retaliation & Trade Wars

Question 13

What is a tariff?

Answer 13

Duty on imports

Question 14

What is subsidy?

Answer 14

money given to companies by govt to give boost

Question 15

What is globalization? Pros and Cons?

Answer 15

development of an increasingly interdependent global economy marked especially by free trade, free flow of capital, and the tapping of cheaper foreign labor markets (outsourcing). This process is a combination of economic, technological, sociocultural, and political forces. Globalization in its modern form has roots in the post-WW II period.
Pros:
Improved standards of living
reduction of poverty and disease globally
technology and innovation
connectivity and cultural exchange
Cons:
Ripple effect of shocks to the ‘system’
global financial crisis - 2008 recession
COVID-19 Pandemic
supply chain issues and labor shortages
climate change and extreme weather
The ‘dependence’ part of economic interdependence, winners and losers, inequality

Question 16

What is a supply chain?

Answer 16

a network of companies and people that are involved in the production and delivery of a product or service. The components of a supply chain include producers, vendors, warehouses, transportation companies, distribution centers, and retailer

Question 17

What is the impact of automation and technological advances on workers?

Answer 17

Workers lose jobs, but with food some jobs become easier. It also opens more possibilities for jobs.

Question 18

What is outsourcing?

Answer 18

tapping of cheaper foreign labor markets

Question 19

What is GDP?

Answer 19

Gross Domestic Product, measures the monetary value of final goods and services—that is, those that are bought by the final user—produced in a country in a given period of time

Question 20

What is GNP?

Answer 20

the total value of all the goods and services produced by the residents and businesses of a country, irrespective of the location of production.

Question 21

What is GNI per capita?

Answer 21

Gross National Income per capita is the dollar value of a country’s final income in a year divided by its population using Atlas methodology.

Question 22

What is the Human Developement Index?

Answer 22

income, education, life expectancy - combined to give index measure and ranking

Question 23

How does HDI connect to other factors like gender inequality and total fertility rates?

Answer 23

HDI could show the pay gap and education gap between males and females(not men and women because then you would have to include non-binary people and xenogenders(neopronouns)). If the life expectancy is low, then the total fertility rates will be high, and as the life expectancy increases, then the rates go down.

Question 24

What is an industrial revolution ?

Answer 24

Change from agrarian economy to producing goods in factories

Question 25

What is racial capitalism?

Answer 25

Would Europe have had an industrial revolution without the insane economic advantages of slave labor and colonial rule?

Question 26

What are economies of extraction?

Answer 26

relies heavily on the extraction and use of natural resources as a primary source of economic growth and development.

Question 27

Modernization Theory: its 5 stages

Answer 27

Stage 1: Traditional Society
Subsistence, barter, agriculture
Stage 2: Transitional Stage
Specialization, Surpluses, infrastructure(mainly)
Stage 3: Take Off
Industrialisation, growing investment, regional growth, political change
Stage 4: Drive to Maturity
Diversification, innovation, less reliance on imports, investment
Stage 5: High mass consumption
Consumer oriented, durable goods flourish, service sector becomes dominant

Question 28

Modernization Theory: application

Answer 28

Western European countries and the United States
Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore
Brazil, urban pockets of India
China

Question 29

Modernization Theory: criticism

Answer 29

model is simply a justification for capitalist systems to exploit - recently
industrialized countries follow the same pattern (Ex. China in Africa)
Modernization simply has not occurred in many poor countries.
Rich nations can block the path to development for poor countries through trade agreements
Poor countries are developing from a point of weakness.
Model suggests that causes of poverty lie entirely in the poor societies themselves. Overlooks history of oppression and interference of non-whites by white outsiders.

Question 30

What is the world systems theory?

Answer 30

Open system
One global market with a global division of labor
Although the world has 190 + countries, almost everything takes place within the context of the world economy. In other words, every country fits into the global economy somehow, to their benefit, detriment, or somewhere in between
World economy has a three tier structure:
Core, Semi-periphery, and Periphery

Question 31

World Systems Theory: core,

Answer 31

rich nations that fuel world economy by taking raw materials from around the world and channeling wealth to North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan through multinational corporations that operate worldwide

Question 32

World Systems Theory: semi periphery

Answer 32

poor nations drawn into the world economy by colonial exploitation, and they continue to support rich ones today by providing inexpensive labor and a large market for industrial products

Question 33

World Systems Theory:
periphery

Answer 33

remaining countries that are somewhere in between. They exert more power than peripheral countries, but are dominated to some degree by the core countries.

Question 34

World Systems Theory: neocolonialism,

Answer 34

Current direct or indirect domination of rich over poor

Question 35

World Systems Theory: application

Answer 35

Previous colonies still using same currency as colonizers – French Franc and now the Euro for 14 countries in West Africa
“Dollarization” in Latin America
Capitalist production and moving production quickly from one place to another around the globe to enhance profits – textile industry is a good example
Areas of raw material extraction with infrastructure solely meant for extracting raw materials and little else:
Cocoa in West African countries, Timber in Gabon, Oil in Angola, Diamonds and rare ores in the DRC, natural gas in Papua New Guinea, Farmland leasing in Ethiopia by China . . . .
dependency on export revenue of raw materials

Question 36

World Systems Theory: criticism

Answer 36

theory treats wealth as a zero-sum game. No one gets richer without others getting poorer; not necessarily the case
No developed country “blocks” another from success out of greed
Does not acknowledge the long history of rich countries supporting poorer ones
Ignores cultural factors that discourage economic growth
Wealth can be squandered by country’s leaders, i.e. corruption and/or lack of rule of law, political infighting - hindering development

Question 37

What is debt?

Answer 37

is money you owe a person or a business.

Question 38

What is microcredit?

Answer 38

the lending of small amounts of money at low interest to new businesses in the developing world.

Question 39

What is Fair Trade?

Answer 39

Basically, human decency towards the people that are in developing countries and they are making the products. You give them some of the cut, good working conditions, etc…