Lesson 3
Global Networks: Labor And
Migration
Change is inevitably in every aspect of life, both personal and social. Such change is experienced
by people in various ways and in different magnitudes and consequences. The world today is significantly
experiencing these changes in the field of environment, culture, politics and economics.
Understanding Globalization
Globalization is the most powerful force for change in the world today affecting all societies in
the planet. It entails the movement of capital, free flow of goods and services, the increased mobility of
individuals, and the expansions of multinational corporations and transnational organizations.
Globalization has integrated the product and financial markets of economies around the world through the
driving forces of trade and capital flows across borders.
One of the goals of globalization is for the world to become more interdependent. People and
countries of the world are closely woven together especially in the economic aspect.
It aims to standardized income distribution through its economic integration schemes. It shows
that globalization have an advantages and disadvantages.
"Globalization is the most powerful force change in the world today affecting all societies in the
planet".
Globalization and Migration
The issue of globalization is linked with migration and with movement of capital and
commodities. Migration is said to be as old as human civilizations, and there is clear proof that
globalization is inextricably related to it. The growing demand for laborers of the most capitalist countries
precipitated the migration of many families from the unprivileged communities.
According to estimates, more or less 20% of the labor force in the Philippines want to leave the
country in search for a job abroad. Some of them become victims of illegal recruitment and human
trafficking.
Understanding Globalization
“Globalization could be the answer to many of the world’s seemingly intractable problems. But
this requires strong democratic foundation based on political will to ensure equity and justice.” – Sharran
Burrow
Clearly, one of the goals of globalization is for the world to become more interdependent. People and
countries of the world are closely woven together especially in the economic aspect. Globalization is the
most powerful source for change in the world today affecting all societies in the planet. It entails
movement of capital, free flow of goods and services, the increased mobility of individuals, and the
expansion of multinational corporations and transnational organizations.
Globalization and Migration
The issue of globalization is linked with migration and with movement of capital and
commodities. Migration is said to be as old as human civilization, and there is clear proof that
globalization is inextricably related to it.
"According to estimates, more or less 20% of the labor force in the Philippines want to leave the
country in search for a job abroad. Some of them become victims of illegal recruitment and human
trafficking".
National Geographic defines human migration as the movement of people from one territory to
another for the purposes of taking up either as permanent or temporary residence. Movement can be
considered as voluntary or involuntary, long term or short term.
Migration- movement of people from one terittory to another for the purpose of taking up either a
permanent or temporary residence. People migrate for various reasons. The reasons may fall under four
categories:
• Environmental - Environmental is the adjective form of environment, referring to a surrounding
area. The word is usually used to refer to our ecology and the forces that act to change it. The
noun environment, meaning the "state of being environed," first appeared around 1600. The word
as referring to our natural surroundings was first recorded in 1827, and the popular idea of
environmental concern in an ecological sense first appeared in 1956. In recent decades, the
movement toward environmental awareness has grown rapidly. In a 1997 interview,
environmentalist Barry Commoner noted that "Environmental concern is now firmly embedded in
public life."
• Political - Things that are political have to do with government, elections, and how society is run.
Congress, state representatives, even county council members are all part of our political system.
The Republicans and Democrats are the two main political parties in America — they support
political candidates that run for office. The major things that politicians discuss, like balancing
the budget, raising taxes, and immigration laws, are political issues. But if someone gets a
promotion just because they're friends with the boss, you'd also say it was totally political. In
other words, they got ahead because of their connections rather than their qualifications, just like
a lot of politicians.
• Cultural - The adjective cultural comes from the noun "culture" but has several, subtly different
meanings, depending on context. The chief meaning is anything having to do human intellectual
or creative output. The word cultural is often used as a synonym for "ethnic," as in, "cultural
diversity," which means a variety of people. But it also means having to do with the arts and
creativity. When you move, you'll want to move somewhere with a vibrant cultural life—lots of
museums, libraries, and concert halls. In the middle is a term like "cultural anthropology," which
is the study of a population's work, arts, lifestyles, and ways of interacting.
• Economic - relates to the economy. And the economy? It's all about money, honey. The adjective
economic, meaning “pertaining to management of a household,” first developed in the 1590’s and
might remind you of "Home Economics" classes where you once learned to cook and sew.
Usually though, we use economic to describe things relating to finance. It’s not the same as
financial, but if you’re talking about a town or country whose finances are in dire straits, it’s ok to
say "economic ruin."
Economic is all about how money works, but something economical is a good deal. You might
take an economic studies class to understand the ebb and flow of cash in the world, but if you buy
a used textbook for it, you're being economical. Economic appeared in the late 1500s, referring to
household management, but its sense of relating to a country's wealth first appeared in the 1800s.
It's still related to economics (the study of the transfer of wealth) or economy (a country's
wealth), but not thrifty (that's the other
one). Here are some economic examples: The Fed said economic conditions will likely warrant
"exceptionally low" interest rates through at least mid-2013. (Business Week) Some slowing is
expected in 2012 because of global economic woes. (New York Times) The word economical
also showed up in the 1500s, referring to household management, but it refers to being thrifty or
not wasteful, which is still the definition today: Not long
after The New York Times profiled an inventive and economical restaurant experiment taking
place in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, the experiment ended. (New York Times) Electric lights are
economical, clean, and give more light than gas. (Rose Buhlig)
Within these categories, National Geographic categorized them as “push” and “pull” factors of
migration.
Push factors – are those that motivate people to move from one place to another because of
difficulty, such as food shortage, war, flood, etc.
Pull factors – are those that motivate people to move their place to another place simply because
of some desirable reasons such as nicer climate, better food supply, freedom and others.
Types of Migration
Internal Migration – this is defined as the process where migrants look for a new residence
within their own country, state, or continent.
External Migration – moving in a different country, state or continent to a new residence.
Migration – leaving one country to move to another or moving into a new country.
Forced Migration – this happens when the state or authorities forced its people to migrate for a
reason
Active Reading
The Revolutionary Globalization
Christopherson, Garretsen, and martin (2008) said that one of the contested aspects of globalization
concerns its geographies and especially whether globalization is rendering the significance of location and
place redundant and irrelevant:
Several writers have argued that globalization---especially as driven by the revolution in information
and communication technologies (ICT)--- marks the “end of emergence of at “borderless world”. the most
provocative---certainly the most colorful--- of these claims is Thomas Friedman’s recent pronouncement
that as consequences of globalization, “the world is flat”. He contends that the ICT revolution, the
regulations of a marked time spae compression of economic processes. The alleged result is that there is
no longer any “friction of distance” in economic relationship.
Read the following poem.
Ballade
Adam Mott
Precarious Life Migration in the Age of Globalization
Various Strife Cessation in the wage of translation
Starvation in our under age narration
Is opportunity worth the cost
Bifurcation of our to be nations
Will we make it across
Vicariously rife Location of our permanent vacation
Hilarious fife Hesitation in the living wage stagnation
Resignation of our own home nation
Will anything become lost
Frustration in this age of relocation
Will we make it across gregarious life
Migration in the age of inflation
Precarious Life
Stagflation been gauged with low expectations
Automation when we enrage damnation
It shall be worth the cost
Fixation on a whole new acclimation
Will we make it across
The Virtues of Deglobalization
Walden Bello
The current global downturn, the worst since the Great Depression 70 years ago, pounded the last
nail into the coffin of globalization. Already beleaguered by evidence that showed global poverty and
inequality increasing, even as most poor countries experienced little or no economic growth, globalization
has been terminally discredited in the last two years. As the much-heralded process of financial and trade
interdependence went into reverse, it became the transmission belt not of prosperity but of economic
crisis and collapse.
End of an Era
In their responses to the current economic crisis, governments paid lip service to global coordination
but propelled separate stimulus programs meant to rev up national markets. In so doing, governments
quietly shelved export-oriented growth, long the driver of many economies, though paid the usual
nostrums to advancing trade liberalization as a means of countering the global downturn by completing
the Doha Round of trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization. There is increasing
acknowledgment that there will be no returning to a world centrally dependent on free-spending
American consumers, since many are bankrupt and nobody has taken their place.
Moreover, whether agreed on internationally or unilaterally set up by national governments, a whole
raft of restrictions will almost certainly be imposed on finance capital, the untrammeled mobility of which
has been the cutting edge of the current crisis. Intellectual discourse, however, hasn't yet shown many
signs of this break with orthodoxy. Neoliberalism, with its emphasis on free trade, the primacy of private
enterprise, and a minimalist role for the state, continues to be the default language among policymakers.
Establishment critics of market fundamentalism, including Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman, have
become entangled in endless debates over how large stimulus programs should be, and whether or not the
state should retain an interventionist presence or, once stabilized, return the companies and banks to the
private sector. Moreover some, such as Stiglitz, continue to believe in what they perceive to be the
economic benefits of globalization while bemoaning its social costs.
But trends are fast outpacing both ideologues and critics of neo-liberal globalization, and
developments thought impossible a few years ago are gaining steam. "The integration of the world
economy is in retreat on almost every front," writes the Economist. While the magazine says that
corporations continue to believe in the efficiency of global supply chains, "like any chain, these are only
as strong as their weakest link. A danger point will come if firms decide that this way of organizing
production has had its day."
"De-globalization," a term that the Economist attributes to me, is a development that the magazine,
the world's prime avatar of free market ideology, views as negative. I believe, however, that de-
globalization is an opportunity. Indeed, my colleagues and I at Focus on the Global South first forwarded
de-globalization as a comprehensive paradigm to replace neo-liberal globalization almost a decade ago,
when the stresses, strains, and contradictions brought about by the latter had become painfully evident.
Elaborated as an
alternative mainly for developing countries, the de-globalization paradigm is not without relevance to the
central capitalist economies.
Eleven pillars of the Alternative
There are 11 key prongs of the deglobalization paradigm:
1. Production for the domestic market must again become the center of gravity of the economy rather
that production for export markets.
2. The principle of subsidiary should b enshrined in economic life by encouraging production of goods at
the level of the community and at the national level if this can be done at reasonable cost in order to
preserve community.
3. Trade policy that is quotas and tariffs should be used to protect the local economy from destruction by
corporate subsidized commodities with artificially low prices.
4. Industrial policy including subsidies, tariffs, and trade should be used to revitalize and strengthen the
manufacturing sector.
5. Long postponed measures of equitable income redistribution and land redistribution (including urban
land reform) can create a vibrant internal market that would serve as the anchor of the economy and
produce local financial resources for investment.
6. Deemphasizing growth, emphasizing upgrading the quality of life, and maximizing equity will reduce
environmental disequilibrium.
7. The development and diffusion of environmentally congenial technology in both agriculture and
industry should be encouraged.
8. Strategic economic decisions cannot be left to the market or to technocrats. Instead, the scope of
democratic decision-making in the economy should be expanded so that all vital questions such as which
industries to develop or phase out, what proportion of the government budget to devote to agriculture, etc,
become subject to democratic discussion and choice.
9. Civil society must constantly monitor and supervise the private sector and the state, a process that
should be institutionalized.
10. The property complex should be transformed into a “mixed economy’ that includes community
cooperatives, private enterprises, and state enterprises, and excludes transnational corporations.
11. Centralized global institutions like IMF and the World Bank should be replaced with regional
institutions built not on free trade and capital mobility but in principles of cooperation that, to use the
words of Hugo Chavez in describing Bolivarian Alternative for the Americans
(ALBA), “transcend the logic of capitalism.
TRENDS, NETWORKS AND CRITICAL THINKING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
WEEK 3
ACTIVITY
NAME: _____________________________________________________________________________
STRAND : _____________________________________
Brainstorm on the following marks of globalization and do a research.
What do the following mean? Give examples for each.
1. End of geography
2. Onset of the death of distance
3. Emergence of a borderless world
4. De-territorialisation or supra-territorialisation. Why do we need globalization?
5. Why do we need alternatives to globalization?
Answer the questions:
1. What do “precarious life” and “vicariously rife” mean based on the poem?
2. How do you understand de-globalization?
3. Explain in your own words: “Automation when we enrage damnation”.
Define the terms of the following.
1. Globalization
2. Networks
3. De-globalization
