Globalisation

Question 1

why does migration lead to interdependence?

Answer 1

ECONOMIC INTERDEPENDENCE -

• Some sectors of the UK rely on cheap Eastern European labour
• Eastern Europe relies on remittances from the UK
• In 2009 financial crash, UK cancelled many building projects which unskilled Eastern European workers were usually required for
• Migrants stopped sending money, Estonian economy shrunk by 13%

SOCIAL INTERDEPENDENCE -

• When migrants move to new country tend to group together, e.g. 55% black, asian and ethnic minority in Tower Hamlets
• Due to difficult of immigrants getting jobs, 7.3% foreign unemployment compared to 4.7% UK born employment
• Promotes entrepreneurship and new industries being created such as Brick Lane in the East End where curry has now become the UK national food.

Question 2

WTO

question on international organisations for FDI

Answer 2

WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION

• Works to reduce trade barriers and consequently allow free trade on a global scale
• This ties in with national governments promoting free trade blocs such as the EU.
• However, the latest round of talks began in Doha 2001 and still no agreement has been reached

Question 3

WORLD BANK

question on international organisations for FDI

Answer 3

WORLD BANK

• Since 1944 the role of the World Bank has been to lend money to developing countries to fund economic development and reduce poverty. The WB is largely controlled by western capitalist nations which priorities a profit driven economy.
• In doing so, the WB encourages FDI by promoting Special Economic Zones (SEZ). This has been seen since 1980 with countries such as China, India, Mexico and the Philippines.
• In particular, China has led the way with its “open door policy” and in 1980 created the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. About 50 million people in more than 100 countries work in such locations.
• This is attractive for FDI as the economic areas are usually tariff free.

Question 4

IMF

question on international organisations for FDI

Answer 4

IMF

• Since 1945 the IMF has worked to promote FDI and encourages countries to ‘open up’ towards a globalised economy
• Furthermore, this involves encouraging national governments privatising industry that was once nationalised. As has been seen in the UK with the steel industry and the NHS to some extent.

Question 5

how do individual states benefit from trade bloc membership

Answer 5

• A trade bloc is a voluntary organisation that exist for trading purposes for greater trading purposes. One benefit is that intra-community trade barriers are removed, meaning the markets for firms grow. In 2004 10 new countries joined the EU (an example of a trade bloc) which meant Tesco gained 75 million extra customers.
• Firms with a comparative advantage in production of a particular product or service should prosper such as French Wine makers
• An enlarged market increases demand, raising volume of production and thereby lowering costs of production per unit. Improved EoS results, products sold more cheaply and sales rise further for the most successful firms

Question 6

why do countries remain switched off from globalisation?

Answer 6

DICTATORSHIP -
-North Korea has only 1 million internet users as Kim Jong Un doesn’t want the population to see issues within the country or have government secrets leaked. Making military action more easy to keep secret.

MAINTAIN TRADITIONS -
-Globalisation leads to products entering the country which may affect cultural traditions, these may be lost to foreign business norms, this leads to cultural erosion

LACKING SKILLS -
-Lack of skilled workers means lacking highly technological jobs.

GEOGRAPHICAL ISOLATION
means that some places remain switched off from globalisation.
-The sahel region of africa is relatively switched off from globalisation as many of its countries are landlocked

Question 7

HOW DOES MIGRATION CREATE TENSION

Answer 7

• One reason is that migrants can take jobs of locals or make the job market more competitive. This is due to low waged international migration. These migrants will work at a lower wage rate than the locals which means that they take jobs away from locals as they are cheaper to employ. They also force wages down as there are more people per job, so demand for labour is less. This causes tension as locals are not happy that their wages are being forced down and that they are losing job opportunities. This has occurred in cities such as London, LA and Dublin.
• Another reason is that migrants may bring over culture such as religion, food types, clothing tradition and more. This may anger some locals, who don’t accept new cultures, as their culture is being changed and affected by migrants.

Question 8

3 ethical consumption schemes?

Answer 8

fairtrade

supply chain management

transition towns

Question 9

fairtrade

Answer 9

Fairtrade
Certification scheme, which means firms have to pay farmers a guaranteed higher income to farmers and some manufacturers even if the market price changes. Ensures that no exploitation of workers occurs and that they earn a fair wage/ Shoppers also know if their consumption is ethical due to the fairtrade logo, for example of Cadbury wrappers. Fairtrade produce examples include cocoa, coffee, bananas, wine and even clothing
It is hard to distribute this income to the farmers and manufacturers fairly, especially as the scheme grows in size. Some consumers may be put off ethical consumption due to the price

Question 10

transition towns

Answer 10

Such as Totnes, Exeter and Stroud. These places have their own currencies to encourage local trade of goods
Founded in 2006 the NGO ‘Transition Network’ encourages towns to grow their own food and reduce energy. Growing your own food means that global food miles are reduced meaning less environmental degradation caused by transportation
Can be very effective in reducing environmental costs but only on a small scale which will limit the overall global effectiveness

Question 11

supply chain management

Answer 11

Is the acceptance of by TNCs of responsibility for their supply chains. Large TNCs especially may have thousands of suppliers. This extra responsibility will mean that workers rights will improve, in terms of wages and working conditions. This may avoid disastrous events such as the Rana Plaza collapse which killed 100 textile workers, who were sent back in to complete an international order despite large cracks appearing in the walls. Nike and Gap are examples of companies who have taken more control
How ever it will be hard for some TNCs to monitor all suppliers due to the amount they have and the added cost of doing so will affect the consumer.

Question 12

how does globalisation cause cultural erosion

Answer 12

TNCs bring new products and services, such as McDonalds selling a ‘Maharaja burger’ using halal meat or Marvel producing the ‘Indian Superman’. These products include largely western cultural ideas which can push out local industries resulting in the gradual disappearance of traditions. For instance, India is now the second largest English speaking country with 10% of its population or 125 million people speaking the language.
Joining global production chains, causing western companies, such as Virgin Media, to gravitate towards Asia for cheap manufacturing and outsourcing. This has helped build benefits for Asian countries such as India, who have now seen improvements in infrastructure, wages, poverty reduction, education and training. However the costs of this have been: the loss of productive land as urban settlements grow, unplanned settlements leading to shanty towns (Dharavi in Mumbai). Dharavi now has 6,400 tonnes of solid waste pollution

Question 13

which ngo’s help eliminate bad part of globalisation

Answer 13

fairtrade

forest stewardship council

transition towns

Question 14

fair-trade for helping stop bad part of globalisation

Answer 14

One of the most widely reported negative consequences of globalisation is the ill-treatment of workers in emerging countries who work in sweatshop conditions for low pay and in very poor working conditions. Despite this being well known, consumers continue to buy products like jeans made by low paid text workers in Bangladesh. Few consumers boycott these products or are prepared to week out alternatives. An exception is food products like tea, coffee and coca which are part of the NGO Fair-trade Foundation. Fair-trade pays developing world farmers a higher price for their produce, so farmers can enjoy a better quality of life. Consumers pay more for the Fair-trade version of the product. Fair trade does work, but only for a small number of farmers so has a limited impact. Most coffee and coca traded globally is not fair trade. Critics of fair trade point out that the extra income received by farmers is small anyway.

Question 15

forest stewardship council for helping stop bad part of globalisation

Answer 15

Environmentally, the Forest Stewardship Council NGO tries to limit global deforestation by labelling products as coming from sustainably managed forests. Like the Fair trade logo, the FSC logo is well known and has raised global awareness. In both cases, this is perhaps the main success of these NGOs in that they have made consumers aware of globalisation’s social, economic and environmental downsides, which can slowly begin to change consumer behaviour. Some well-known brands, like Cadbury, are now Fair-trade showing it is now mainstream.

Question 16

transition towns for helping stop bad part of globalisation

Answer 16

Transition towns are local attempts to promote locally grown and made produce and encourage consumers to buy and trade local, thus protecting local jobs from the march of global products and brands. Totnes is an example, encouraging people to grow their own food to reduce the environmental impact of food transport. These local schemes are small, with a limited impact. They perhaps serve to make a small group of people feel good, rather than actually denying the low pay and poor working conditions suff

Question 17

To what extent is globalisation an economic process (12 marks)

economic

Answer 17

On the one hand, it is very much an economic process. This in turn, means that globalisation occurs due to economic reasons and also because of the incentive of economic growth in the future. A key example of this is the idea of global shift, whereby TNCs have begun shifting their production towards Asia, in an attempt to achieve higher profits due to cheaper labour. This can be seen as an economic process given the incentive to globalise the businesses is for profit reasons, which can also have negative economic consequences for areas of manufacturing within their own nation. For example, many ‘American’ car producers are now based in Asia, meaning there is currently major social problems within Detroit which was previously the manufacturing capital of the US. Furthermore, given that globalisation creates economic opportunities abroad, especially with increased employment for labourers, the idea of it being an economic process is enforced as once again the incentive for those receiving the increased interconnectedness is economic.

Question 18

To what extent is globalisation an economic process (12 marks)

social

Answer 18

Globalisation can also be seen as a social process. There have been major shifts in leisure time with millions of people spending hours on Facebook, an American TNC, meaning that people in areas of lower human development still share the same wants and needs as those in more developed nations. This demonstrates how western social media can change the social structure of developing nations through their TNC’s. However, even though these implications are very much social, the growth of TNC’s is through economic incentives and therefore the process is still relatively economic.

Question 19

To what extent is globalisation an economic process (12 marks)

cultural

Answer 19

Furthermore, globalisation can be deemed a cultural process. With the exposure of global brands leading to changes in lifestyle, in particular eating, dressing and leisure time, the process of globalisation has become a somewhat cultural phenomenon. We can see this change in many places across the world, particularly with India. As McDonalds continue to grow across Asia, there have been major changes to Indian diets as they begin to invest into fast food chains such as McDonalds. One of the most convincing arguments to suggest globalisation is an economic process is also the impacts that lesser developed areas can have upon areas of high HD. For example, whilst economically the west can impact the east; in terms of culture the east has a major impact upon western, in particular British, culture. Curry, Chinese food and Sushi are commonly eaten amongst the British population and given these foods originate from Asia, this demonstrates the idea that globalisation can be seen as a cultural process as Japan, India and china make a major cultural impact on the society. However, much of these cultural shifts are created through economic changes and growth of global TNCs, meaning that even the cultural impacts are led by economic decision making.

Question 20

technology aiding globalisation

Answer 20

travel

• cheap
• go further
• trade easier

internet
-5 mil facebook likes 2014

Question 21

tics jobs

Answer 21

WINNER - JOBS
Nike employ 700,000 people in 744 factories outside the USA
However, corporations’ are profit driven by definition and seek to cut costs hence the importance of outsourcing which brings jobs but they are often poorly paid
Develop money for local charities, McDonalds has charity boxes in every store that help ‘Ronald McDonald charities’ and raised £3.2 million in 2017

Question 22

tics cultural diffusion

Answer 22

LOSER - CULTURAL DIFFUSION
TNCs bring new products and services, such as McDonalds selling a ‘Maharaja burger’ using halal meat or Marvel producing the ‘Indian Superman’. These products include largely western cultural ideas which can push out local industries resulting in the gradual disappearance of traditions. For instance, India is now the second largest English speaking country with 10% of its population or 125 million people speaking the language.
Joining global production chains, causing western companies, such as Virgin Media, to gravitate towards Asia for cheap manufacturing and outsourcing. This has helped build benefits for Asian countries such as India, who have now seen improvements in infrastructure, wages, poverty reduction, education and training. However the costs of this have been: the loss of productive land as urban settlements grow, unplanned settlements leading to shanty towns (Dharavi in Mumbai). Dharavi now has 6,400 tonnes of solid waste pollution

Question 23

tnc s environment

Answer 23

LOSER - ENVIRONMENT
TNC’s set up factories in other countries due to the cheap labour they can get increasing potential profits for the corporation
These factories are commonly very harmful on the environment.
Large energy and mineral extraction corporations have especially poor environmental reputations and, given that they are capital intensive, they bring very few jobs so perhaps more losers than winners
Environmental impacts often are more subtle, but nevertheless can be significant and long term
EG Tar Sand production in Canada produces 3 million gallons of toxic waste water which affects wildlife such as fish in the Athabasca river, Alberta where fish levels have halved since 2016.