Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Globalisation: Marginalisation of the Poor
by: Nur Atiqah, TA 2D'o6 (:
I have stumbled upon this cartoon on the internet when i was researching on economic globalisation. I have chosen this for my reflections this time round as I believe that this cartoon has captured the idea of what I want to bring out in this post, which is that globalisation has brought to an increase in the marginalisation of the poor. (This cartoon shows that as the "rcih person" gets "heavier" or "richer", the cushion will compress even more on the "poor" guy.) I am sure all of us are familiar with the phrase, "the rich gets richer, the poor gets poorer". So therefore in my post this time round, I shall discuss on the pros and cons of globalisation and how the people are affected by the growth of the economy. I will also bring out some points to show that this phrase may not necessarily be 100% true.
Firstly, let us look at the claims made on the disadvantages of globalisation, where marginalisation of the poor is said to have occurred. Some radical view on globalisation is that it erodes global and national solidarity and brings about the increasing impoverishment and exclusion of the "Third World Countries" or also known as the LEDCs (Less Economically Developed Countries). The poor has been marginalized, according to them. Globalisation is a means for the exclusion and deepening inequality; it is a new form of Western Imperialism which dominates and exploits through TNC (TransNational Companies) capitals and instrumental governance such as IMF and the World Bank.
Globalisation has also been claimed to have intensified global and national inequality. There is an increases economic and social gap within countries. Globalisation is described as an uneven process causing world fragmentation. There has been increasing inequality through trade too, resulting in the amplification of the trade gap. This is evident in a few countries, for example, through increasing globalisation, the value of world trade is 17 times greater than that of 50 years ago. However, Latin America's share has decreased from 11% to 5% and Africa's from 8% to 2%. Globalisation also exploits LEDCs through TNCs. The World Guide has descirbed globalisation as a "euphemism for transnationalisation". This is the spread of powerful companies all over the globe that suits corporate interest best.
Increased global integration means that poorer countries become more vulnerable to the world financial markets. The East Asian Crisis was a direct result of globalisation and has resulted in an intensifying poverty. The crisis shows that even the strongest developing states are at the mercy of global economic forces that serve the interest of the dominant capitalist powers.
Globalisation is a form of disempowerment. International negotiations to reduce and eliminate foreign debt have led to increasing exports of capital and the further indebtness of the countries affected. Thus, the developing and poorer countries will have problems clearing their debt and thus it will make them "poorer". Therefore the LEDCs economies have became worse and this has constrained their development strategies.
However, despite all these claims that the poor are constantly marginalised, there are advantages of globalisation.
Globalisation has increased world prosperity and organisational efforts to stabilise the world economy has significantly improved. Figures have shown that global poverty has fallen more than in the last 50 years than in the last 500. The welfare of the people in most regions has also significantly improve over the past few decades.
Globalisation promotes development in the LEDCs as well spreading technology and knowledge of MEDCs (More Economically Developed Countries). Globalisation also has brought about huge amounts of benefits. The emergence of a single global market, the principles of free trade, capital mobility and global competition has allowed the diffusion of prosperity and wealth. New opportunities and possibilites have been opened up. Contrary to the view that it makes LEDCs more vulnerable, increasing global integration actually means that there are better organisational structures put in place to deal with the world political, economical and social problems.
Global market civilisation has also been reinforced by the policies of the major institutions of global economic governance. Such examples are the IMF, World Bank and the G7. Global governance, the World Bank, has restructured the LEDCs economies such that they can manage indebted economies.
Therefore, in conclusion, I do agree that globalisation has made "the rich gets richer, and the poor gets poorer". However, we should not limit our viewpoints until there and be narrow-minded. There are many advantages of globalisation that has, without doubt, increased the political, economical and social aspects of the countries today.
DONE BY: Nur Atiqah Ismail, TA 2D'o6 (:
ECONOMIC expert (:
; i'm lovin' it
