Globalisation Flashcards
Globalisation definition…
David Held et al. (1999) defines globalisation as:
The widening, deepening and speeding up of worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects of life, from the cultural to the criminal, the financial to the spiritual.
Technological changes…
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. Just think about covid and the rise of teams and skype!
Economical changes…
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.
Political globalisation…
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.
How can this link to today’s climate.
Cultural globalisation…
Movement and sharing of ideas, attitudes, and cultural products across national borders. There is now a global culture that is transmitted, and reinforced by the internet, mass media and, the transnational marketing of particular brands.
Migration is an important aspect of cultural globalisation, and in this sense, the globalisation process has been going on for several centuries.
However, in the last 30 years, the process of cultural globalisation has dramatically intensified due to technological advances, in both transportation and communications technology.
How does cultural globalisation lead to crime?…
Cultural barriers are broken due to the influence of the media, technology, cheaper travel options, deregulation of financial and other markets, easier movement of businesses and peoples.
In terms of crime this means that what was once isolated to a specific area is now a global issue, meaning that there are new opportunities for criminals, new ways of committing crime and new types of crimes.
Manuel Castells…
Manual Castells argues that there is now a global criminal economy worth over 1 trillion per annum and this takes a number of forms.
> Arms trafficking
People Smuggling
Sex Tourism
Organ trafficking
Cyber Crimes
Green Crimes
Terrorism
Smuggling Goods
Trafficking cultural artefacts
Trafficking endangered species
Drugs Trade
Money Laundering
Supply and demand of globalisation…
The global criminal economy is seen to have a supply and demand side. The supply side is what provides the resources such as drugs, sex workers and other goods demanded around the world. The demand side is the organisations, people or criminals that need to use the resources that are supplied for profitable means.
Theories - Taylor…
Ian Taylor (1997) writing from a socialist perspective, argues that globalisation has led to changes in the patterns and extent of crimes. By giving free reign to market forces globalisation has created greater inequality and rising crime rates. He also states that globalisation has led to the creation of crime at both ends of the spectrum, from the social elite and transnational corporations to the poverty stricken.
Left realists…
Left Realists note that the increasingly materialistic culture promoted by global media portrays success in terms of lifestyle and consumption. This in turn creates insecurity and widening inequalities that encourage people , the poor especially, to turn to crime in order to achieve these cultural goals. For example in Los Angeles, de-industrialisation has led to a growth of drugs gangs which number of 10,000 members.
Elitist crimes…
Marxists - Globalisation has created criminal opportunities for the elite groups including transnational corporations and governments. For example the movement of money around the world via the internet in order to avoid taxation or governments who fraudulently claim subsidies from international bodies such as the EU and UN.
Risk society…
Ulrich Beck - argued that developments in the fields of science and technology have themselves brought about problems such as global warming and increases in terrorism. For example, scientists appear to contradict one another’s findings, which in itself causes the general public to question science itself and he suggested that a loss of respect for experts generally creates this uncertainty. In turn, this has led what Beck has led to the emergence of a ‘risk society’, where we are now faced with issues that would have not faced society before.
This is because a vast amount of the risk we face is now invisible and universal. And therefore they unescapable, even the rich can’t escape. This is an interesting concept especially when considering crime and globalisation.
Evaluation of globalisation and crime…
Many of these crimes have existed for centuries: smuggling is hardly only a feature of contemporary society. Terrorism has long.
The contemporary era is not the only time when there has been unemployment and employment in industrial areas.
Left realists note that crime rates were much lower in the 1930s than in the 1980s, despite the Great Depression. They use this to justify their assertion that it is relative deprivation, rather than poverty per se, that drives crime. However, critics of left realists might counter that their evidence suggests that it is neither poverty nor relative deprivation that drives crime, but other factors such as welfare dependency and therefore is unrelated to globalisation.
