The Contemporary World

Local Implication
Source(s): Dannug, Roman D.(2005) Politics and Governance C&E Publishing, Inc & Sarmiento, Rene
V. (2014) Human Rights Law, Human Rights Culture Quezon City : Rex Printing Company, Inc

1987 Constitutions contains an Incorporation Clause found in its Article II, Section 2,
stating, " the Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy adopts the generally
accepted principles of international laws as part of the land...." This clause made possible the
application in the Philippines of the human rights principles stated in the International Bill of Rights
(composed of the three- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights).
The preamble to the declaration is important because it refers to the concept of inherent human
dignity and one inalienable human rights as the philosophical sources of the declaration and
inspiration for further development of human rights. The preamble calls for inter-cultural
consensus by indicating that, a common understanding of the rights and freedom is of the greatest
importance for the full realization" of the pledge of members of the united nations which if the
promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Conceptualizing Social Justice

Source(s): Dannug, Roman D.(2005) Politics and Governance C&E Publishing, Inc & Sarmiento, Rene
V. (2014) Human Rights Law, Human Rights Culture Quezon City : Rex Printing Company, Inc

Social justice is not defined in the 1987 constitution. What commissioner Teresa,
chairperson of the committee on social justice in the 1986 constitutional commission, said that
social justice is the centerpiece of the 1987 constitution and rights, dignity, and participation
remain illusory without social justice. It was Jose P. Laurel in Calalang vs. Williams (70 Phil.726)
who defined social justice as, " neither communism nor despotism, not atomism, nor anarchy, but
the humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces by the state so that
justice in its rationale and objective lee secular conception may at least be approximated.

LESSON 3: THE WORLD OF REGIONS

The Global North and South
Introduction
What is Regionalism and why is it important to understand in a Globalizing world?
There is an idiom: There is strength in numbers. In this discussion, formation of Regions and
Regionalism will be tackled. From each basic feature, formation, and the significance of its
continuing existence in the era of globalization. This lesson will try to merge the previous lessons
regarding the political, social, and economic factors that inspired the countries into forming these
regional alliances.
Further, this lesson will discuss the new emerging form of Regionalism that identify alliances
based on its causes rather than geographic location.

Learning Objectives
Students are expected to learn the following, by the end of this lesson:
1. Able to differentiate the State Regionalism with Non-State Regionalism
2. Understand historical events that inspired the countries to form these alliances
3. Explain the significance of keeping the regions in the era of globalization
Sections of the Unit:

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1. Defining Regionalism 2.
What Are Regions?

Defining Regionalism
Source(S): Claudio, Lisandro E. (2014) “Locating the Global South” The Sage Handbook of Globalization

From the previous lessons, you understand the processes and impacts of Globalization. From the
aspect of the political to the economic aspect, globalization seemed to identify each country as a
player in this worldwide phenomenon. If you understood globalization as a seemingly formal
conference table with each country representatives shaking hands with one another, then you
understood globalization in an optimistic manner with free trade and free market as its foundation.
But for this lesson, I need you to imagine globalization as a stadium of a fight, or stadium of
performances. There is this certainty that there will be losing country (usually those who do not
have as many resources and machineries as others), and there will be a winning country (those
who have the means to innovate success).
With that in mind, Regionalism was established by groups of neighboring countries as a way of
coping in the “stadium of performances/fight” or the Globalization.
Regionalism is a political and economic phenomenon. You can disaggregate the motivations of
a particular phenomenon whether it was established through similar identities, ethics, religion,
ecological sustainability, or health. Further, it is also a process. Forming of Regionalism is not
inevitable, it is not a “natural process” in society. Formation of regionalism is observed to be
inspired by socially emergent issues that needs to be addressed. Regionalism is constructed and
defined by policymakers (Claudio & Abinales, 2018:50).
For further definition of Regionalism, this is its definition from the World Atlas:
Regionalism is defined as a political ideology that favors a specific region over a greater area. It
usually results due to political separations, religious geography, cultural boundaries, linguistic
regions, and managerial divisions. Regionalism emphasizes on developing the administrative
power and swaying the available or some inhabitants of a region. Activists of regionalism claim
that instituting the governing bodies and civil authorities within an area, at the expense of a
national regime, will significantly increase local populations by improving the local economies
through the distribution of resources and execution of local policies and strategies.1
What are Regions?
• Basic features:
• A group of countries located in the same geographically specified area
• Regionalization vs. Regionalism
• Regionalization – regional concentration of economic flows
• Regionalism – political process characterized by economic policy cooperation
and coordination among countries
Why form Regions?
A way of coping with globalization – this does not only apply on the small lesser developed
countries. Forming alliances between neighboring countries is also a tactic used by the developed

1
https://www.worldatlas.com/what-is-regionalism.html

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countries in terms of protecting or solidifying their strengths. Following alliances with different
motivations are briefly discussed below:
For military defense
• Example: NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Formed during the Cold War
when several Western European countries plus the United States agreed to protect
Europe against the threat of the Soviet Union...The Soviet Union imploded in
December 1991, but NATO remains in place (Claudio & Abinales, 2018:52).
For pooling of resources
• Example: OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) [In order to] get
better returns for their exports, as well as expand their leverage against trading
partners, [and] regulate the production and sale of oil…Iran, Iraq, Kuwait Saudi Arabia,
and Venezuela…established OPEC in 1960 (Claudio & Abinales, 2018:52).
To protect a country’s independence from the pressures of superpower politics
• Example: NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) …Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, and
Yugoslavia created the NAM in 1961 to pursue world peace and international
cooperation, human rights national sovereignty, racial and national equality, non-
intervention, and peaceful conflict resolution (Claudio & Abinales, 2018:52).
To mitigate economic crisis
• 1997 Asian Financial Crisis The International Monetary Fund (IMF) tried to reverse the
crisis, but it was only after the ASEAN countries along with China, Japan, and South
Korea agreed to establish an emergency fund to anticipate a crisis that the Asian
economies stabilized. The crisis made ASEAN more “unified and coordinated”
(Claudio & Abinales, 2018:53).
What is a Non-State Regionalism?
• Also called as the “New regionalism”
• Unlike with the first part of the discussion having the basic feature of forming a Regions
is the geographic location, with Non-State Regionalism, countries actually form an
alliance based on their common motivations regardless of their geographic proximity.
• The way they identify problems may:
• Differ as to form
• Tiny associations vs. huge continental unions
• Non-state regionalism is relatively as a smaller association compared to many
established regions before them. Participating countries in non-state regions
may be less compared to the participating countries in established alliance
created before them.
• Differ as to tactics and strategies
• Working with the government vs. Not working with the government
• Non-state regionalism may also have a relatively difficult budget source
compared to alliances established before them.

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• Differ as to causes
• Specialized and general
What are contemporary challenges to regionalism?
• Resurgence of militant nationalism and populism
• For example, Trump’s standpoint regarding NATO does nothing for America any
more than taking advantage of the military resources; the urge to dismantle these
alliances.
• Continuing economic crisis
• #Brexit – Amid the worsening economic crisis, Britain finally aimed for a more
flexible economic transactions that the European Union alliance was limiting them
for the longest time.
• Sovereignty vs. Regional stability
• Take for example the China and Philippine territorial dispute. Even the international
ruling favored the Philippines, votes and statements from fellow ASEAN countries
were about pursuing diplomacy over confrontation against China.
• Differing visions of what regionalism should be for
• Singapore, China, and Russia are some of the countries that are not in favor of
this democratic style of decision-making. The lengthy debate before an economic
policy rolls out simply means a delayed in probable economic growth.

LESSON 4 CONTEMPORARY FORMS OF CONNECTIVITY

Unit 1: Religion and Globalization

Introduction

Religion is one of the binding forms of networks that have intensified people’s sense of
community across the world. The study of religion involves the study of religious practices,
customs, beliefs, and rituals in the context of social structures such as -religious institutions,
education, community, and family. The class will learn how the distinct belief systems embedded
in distinct forms of religion bind people together across different areas of the world. It is a
significant phenomenon to examine since it illustrates how globalization has transformed the
contemporary world through these forms of connectivity.
______________________________________________________________________
Learning Objectives
By the end of this unit students must be able to:
1. Understand Religion as a social system that binds people together

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