EQ2 What are the impacts of globalisation for countries, different groups of people and cultures and the physical environment? Flashcards
What is the ‘Global Shift’?
The international relocation of different types of industries
- stems from a combination of off-shoring, outsourcing and new business start ups
What 3 unethical economic practices are common in early-industrialising nations?
- Dangerous working conditions
- Child Labour
- Highly unequal pay between genders
What impacts has globalisation had on poverty reduction and waged work?
- 1bn have escaped $1.25 per day poverty since 1990
- ‘new global middle class’ growing mass of urban workers who’ve escaped rural poverty
- 3bn middle-class people in Asia by 2030
What impacts has globalisation had on education and training?
-2500 universities in China, India and South Korea
- China awarded 30k PhD’s in 2012
- Asian countries crucial in quaternary sectors (biotech and medical science)
However, Illiteracy problems remain in rural India/Bangladesh
What impacts has globalisation had on Environment and resource pressure?
- Forested land lost to urbanisation (Nigeria forest halved since 1990)
- ‘Commodities Supercycle’ (1990-2008) for raw materials (e.g soy beans, iron ore)
However, pressure has reduced in line with reduced demand (economic growth in China has halved since 2008)
What impacts has globalisation had on infrastructure?
-Rapid Transport (motorways, high-speed rail, airports etc.)
- High rise development in city centres
- Loss of recreational space
- Loss of traditional settlements (Mumbai Dharavi slum prime for redevelopment)
Why was India targeted for outsourcing by UK and US businesses?
- Many Indian citizens are fluent English speakers - comparative advantage
- High Broadband capacity in Bangalore, a tech hub
What are some of the benefits of India’s operation as a call centre hub?
- Earn good middle-class wages by Indian standards
- purchasing power seen by growth in shopping malls
- Highly Profitable outsourcing companies
- Infosys revenue $9bn in 2015
What are some of the costs of India’s operation as a call centre hub?
- Workers feel exploited
- Highly repetitive and tedious work
- have to deal with time zone differences
- sometimes 10hr shifts, 6 days a week
- Wealth gap increased
-More billionaires than the UK
- More in absolute poverty than all of Africa
By how what percentage did extreme poverty fall in China from 1990-2005
60%
How has outsourcing changed through the decades in China
1990s: ‘Workshop of the world’ - Victorian living conditions
2000s: wage increases up to 65% - following worker strikes (Honda, Carlsberg etc.)
2010s: Strategic Planning to grow the ‘hi-tech’ market - less throwaway goods
Where have many sweatshops marketing ‘throw-away’ goods relocated to?
Bangladesh - Labour costs remain much lower
What are the costs of China’s ‘Workshop of the World’ status?
Dangerous Conditions
- 2500 metal workers lost a limb/finger per year
Environmental Damage
- life expectancy reduced by 5 years due to air pollution in cities
What are the benefits of China’s ‘Workshop of the World’ status?
Higher living standards
- car ownership up from 1% in 2000 to 20% now
Domestic firms starting to grow
- local companies adopt technologies brought by TNCs (e.g Xiaomi)
What environmental factor is a key driver for TNCs when looking for locations to outsource?
Strictness of environmental governance
- this allows them to produce however they choose; not being forced to abide by environmental laws
- high income nations have well funded bodies, (e.g UK Environment Agency) to monitor industrial operations
How has the global shift affected developed countries?
Western factories closed as Asia became the focus of global manufacturing.
- Inner city unemployment soared in places such as Sheffield and Baltimore
- ‘switched off’ communities arose, with little contribution to the global economy
What 4 challenges, posed by the global shift, are faced in developed nations?
- High unemployment
- Detroit yet to replace jobs following collapse of automobile industry - Crime
- ‘switched off’ areas less able to access legitimate global flows, turning to illegal global flows (drug/people trafficking) - De-population
- Detroit has lost 1m residents since 1950
- ‘white flight’ has re-ignited racial tensions in places such as Baltimore - Dereliction
- living environment declines in quality due to abandonment, crime and low house prices
What is de-industrialisation?
The decline of regionally important manufacturing industries
- can be characterised by falling output and reduced workforce numbers
What is an internal migrant?
Someone who relocates inside the borders of a country
- this is often rural-urban in emerging economies
- However, the inverse occurs in developed nations as wealthy people seek the countryside
What is urbanisation?
An increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas
What is an economic migrant?
Migrant who’s primary motivation is to seek employment
- could be for better pay, more regular pay, promotion or change in career entirely
What is a refugee?
People who are forced to flee their homes due to persecution
What are intervening obstacles?
Barriers to migration (e.g political borders/physical features)
What is Natural Increase?
The difference between birth rate and death rate
- developing megacities often high rate of natural increase - due to large proportion of young working adults
What level did global urbanisation pass in 2008, and what is the projection for 2050?
50% in 2008, 75% by 2050
- the majority of people now live in urban areas
How many internal and international migrants are there?
750M internal (1/3 Chinese rural-urban migrants)
250M international
- Most of these are economic migrants
