Globalisation critique Flashcards
Benefits - Integration
Globalisation allows countries to pool their resources to solve global issues that are too great for a single country to deal with. Greater integration of information and people creates a better understanding between people of different backgrounds and cultures.
Benefits - Development
Foreign investment brings capital into a country, which can be used to improve education and infrastructure. This in turn can attract further trade and investment, which leads to further development. Global institutions like the World Bank can direct resources to help countries develop further.
Benefits - Stability
As countries become more interconnected, they become more dependent on one another. This discourages any actions that would upset global stability, because of the negative consequences for all countries.
Benefits - Economic growth
Participation in global trade allows countries to profit from their natural resources and specialist industries, generating wealth. Countries can also gain products and services that they would be unable to produce themselves. Greater access to money and products improves people’s standard of living.
Costs - Inequalities
As companies move low-skilled workers to less developed countries, low-skilled workers in developed countries find it more difficult to earn money. This creates a divide between rich and poor within countries. Inequalities also increase between countries and HICs have greater access to capital and technology, meaning they have an advantages over LICs.
Costs - Conflict
Developed countries have intervened in conflicts in order to secure access to resources like oil.
Cyber welfare is also a new source of conflict- countries, companies and individuals are now dependent on the internet, so attacks on their computer systems can have a large impact.
Costs - Injustice
Improved transport and communications systems have made human trafficking easier.
Many people in LICs have to work in sweatshops to make products for HICs.
Costs - Pollution
Global trade increases the amount of transportation required, meaning more pollution and GHGs.
Costs - Deforestation
Access to resources from around the world causes deforestation (e.g. clearing rainforests for oilseed plantations) and overfishing.
Costs - Race to the bottom
Countries and companies ignore environmental impacts in order to produce cheaper goods.
Costs - Waste
The abundance of cheap products around the world means that people can afford to be more wasteful, creating lots of landfill.
