Globalisation

Question 1

Globalisation definition…

Answer 1

David Held et al. (1999) define globalisation as:

The widening, deepening and speeding up of world wide interconnectedness in all aspects of life, from the cultural to the criminal, the financial to the spiritual.

Question 2

Technological changes…

Answer 2

The first aspect of globalisation is technological changes and in particular, the growth of the internet. Computer technology and the internet, has allowed people to connect from across the world, almost instantaneously. People are now able to connect through video calls, instant messaging, email, and social media, to share ideas, experiences, and individual cultures.

Question 3

Economical changes…

Answer 3

This includes, the development of the 24-hour economy, as well as, transnational companies, such as Amazon, McDonald’s, and Microsoft. These companies can often have annual revenue that is larger than some middle-income countries. Apple, for example, generates more income than Finland does every year, and many oil companies, such as Shell and Exxon-Mobile, generate revenue several times that, of the poorer countries they extract from. This can mean that they have a huge influence on the government policies of the countries in which they operate.

Question 4

Political globalisation…

Answer 4

Refers to the amount of political co-operation that exists between different countries. Since the end of World War two, there has been a growth of international and regional mechanisms of government, such as the United Nations, and the European Union. Governments of the member states are increasingly restricted by international directives and laws, stemming from these international bodies, and influencing their domestic policies. With the growth of worldwide media, governments also need to be conscious of how their policies and laws will play on the global stage, as this could lead to sanctions from trading partners, as well as impact future negotiations and deals.

Question 5

Cultural globalisation…

Answer 5

Movement and sharing of ideas, attitudes, and cultural products across national borders. It refers specifically to the idea that there is now a global culture that is transmitted, and reinforced by the internet, mass media and, the transnational marketing of particular brands. This then shapes the perceptions, aspirations, tastes and everyday activities of people wherever they may live in the world.

Migration is an important aspect of cultural globalisation, and in this sense, the globalisation process has been going on for several centuries, with languages, religious beliefs, and values being spread by military conquest, missionary work, and trade. However, in the last 30 years, the process of cultural globalisation has dramatically intensified due to technological advances, in both transportation and communications technology.

Question 6

Hyperglobalists…

Answer 6

Hyper-globalists (sometimes referred to as global optimists) believe that globalization is happening and they (as the ‘optimist’ part of the label implies) believe that globalization is a positive process characterised by economic growth, increasing prosperity and the spread of democracy.

Question 7

Increasing trade…

Answer 7

Global optimists argue that economic globalisation has resulted in increasing trade which in turn has resulted in huge economic growth and rising prosperity, correlated with declining birth rates and family size.

Question 8

Increased birth rates…

Answer 8

Immigrant families to the UK have on average higher birth rates than non-immigrant families. A positive effect of this is that it reduces the dependency ratio, however a claimed negative consequence is an increased strain on public services, mainly schools.

Question 9

Increased migration…

Answer 9

Increasing migration to the U.K = increasing cultural diversity and diversity of family structures. After several generations, more ethnic diversity.

Increased migration means more families are stretched across national borders and have family members living abroad, which in turn reinforces globalisation as more families maintain contacts through media and physical visits.

Question 10

Cultural globalisation…

Answer 10

Cultural globalisation means more people create friendship groups based on shared interests online. Many people regard these friendship networks as ‘family’, if we follow analysis from the Personal life perspective.

Question 11

Single-person households…

Answer 11

There seems to be a globalisation of ‘single person households’. There seems to be a global trend of increasing numbers of people choosing to live alone (not necessarily not being in relationships.

Question 12

Global pessimists…

Answer 12

Pessimist globalists argue that globalization is a form of Western, American Imperialism. They see globalization as a process in which Western institutions and ideas are imposed on the rest of the world. Transnational Corporations are the backbone of this new global order and these are the institutions that benefit from especially economic globalization. Two examples of pessimist globalists are Ha-Joon Chang and Jeremy Seabrook.

Question 13

Displacement…

Answer 13

Part of globalisation is people displacement following conflict, which sometimes results in the breaking up of families, U.K. policy has focused (to an extent) on taking in orphan refugee children, meaning more ‘global step/ foster families’.

Question 14

Increasing inequality…

Answer 14

Increasing inequality in family life and increasing cost of living for the poor. Property price speculation has driven up prices in London meaning the basic costs of maintaining a family household had doubled in the last 30 years relative to inflation, this helps explain why so many young adults today ‘choose’ to live with their parents.

Question 15

Giddens and pure relationships…

Answer 15

More diversity, choice, uncertainty, resulting in decline of people committing to long term relationships and more ‘pure relationships’.

One which lasts only as long as both partners are happy with it, not because of tradition or a sense of commitment. This makes cohabitation and serial monogamy rather than the long term commitment of a marriage more likely.

Question 16

Media’s influence…

Answer 16

Globalisation = more media flows – children more active users of media, more exposed to global media events can have negative effects:

More difficult for parents to prevent radicalisation. (e.g. Shameena Begum)

More exposure to global media events (mass shootings in USA, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, war and conflicts) children are more risk conscious – anxious kids, more mental health issues. (More ‘toxic childhood’)

Parents are more paranoid, more restrictive parenting, less outdoors.

Question 17

Late modernists…

Answer 17

Late-Modernists such as Anthony Giddens and Ulrich Beck recognize that people have more choice in terms of their relationships and family arrangements, but do not believe that people are as free as postmodernists suggest.

There are still underlying patterns, and shared experiences of relationships that are a consequence of our living in a ‘late-modern’ society – rather than families just being diverse and random.

People are less likely to get married because of structural changes – For example gender equality means that both partners have to work and spend longer building their careers, which means the average person has less time to spend making a relationship work, which means a decline in marriage, and an increase in divorce.

Question 18

Beck…

Answer 18

Ulrich Beck also argues that fewer people getting married is because of an increase in ‘risk consciousness’ – people see that nearly half of all marriages end in divorce and so they are less willing to take the risk and get married.

This is not simply a matter of freedom of choice – people are ‘reflexive’ – they look at society, see the risk of marriage, and then choose not to get married – their personal decisions are informed by what they see going in society.

Question 19

Risk society…

Answer 19

Beck argues that we now live in a ‘risk society’ where tradition has less influence and people have more choice.

As a result we are more aware of risk (we have developed a ‘risk consciousness’) because having choice means we spend more time calculating the risks and rewards of different courses of action available.

Today’s risk society contrasts with the modern society of the past with its stable nuclear family and traditional gender roles.

Beck argues that even though the traditional patriarchal family was unequal and oppressive, it did provide a stable and predictable basis for the family by defining each member’s role and responsibly.

However the patriarchal family has been undermined by two trends.

Question 20

Equality and individualism…

Answer 20

Greater Gender Equality – which has challenged male domination in all spheres of life. Women now expect equality both at work and in marriage.

Greater individualism – where people’s actions are influenced more by calculations of their own self-interest that by a sense of obligation to others.

These trends have led to the rise of the negotiated family. Negotiated families do not conform to the traditional family norm, but vary according to the wishes and expectations of their members, who decided what is best for them by discussion. They enter the relationship on an equal basis.

Question 21

Giddens’ 3 characteristics…

Answer 21

Giddens argues that in recent decades the family and marriage have been transformed by greater choice and a more equal relationship between men and women. Giddens argues that relationships are now characterised by three general characteristics:

1) The basis of marriage and family has changed into one in which the couple are free to define the relationship themselves rather than simply acting out roles that have been defined in advance by law or tradition. For example, couples today can choose to cohabit rather than marry.

2) The typical relationship is the ‘pure relationship’….It exists solely to meet the partners’ needs and is likely to continue only so long as it succeeds. Couples stay together because of love, happiness of sexual attraction rather than tradition a sense of duty or for the sake of the children.

3) Relationships become part of the process of self-discovery or self-identity trying different relationships become part of establishing who we are part of our journey of self discovery.

Question 22

Stability…

Answer 22

However Giddens notes that with more choice, personal relationships inevitably become less stable and can be ended more or less at will by any partner! For example most teenagers (57%) think that their relationships will only last 1 year and only 2% of relationships at 18 will progress to marriage’.