LESSON 1: CONCEPT OF GLOBALIZATION
Wallerstein further argues that “global integration is
- Global dominance of Anglo-American ideas
- Fragmented
- Uneven
- Incomplete
- Contradictory set of ideas
- Time-space compression
- Increase global interconnectedness
- Unimpeded flow of capital, people, and ideas
beyond borders.
Globalization is “the geographic dispersion of industrial and
service activities. Research and development, sourcing of
inputs, production and distributions, and cross-border
networking of companies, example- through joint ventures and
the sharing of assets.” – Organization for economic
cooperation and development.
- Is the word used to describe the growing
interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures,
and populations, brought about by cross-border trade
in goods and services, technology, and flows of
investment, people, and information. – Peterson
institute for international economics.
- Is the increased interconnectedness and
interdependence of peoples and countries, is
generally understood to include two inter-related
elements: the opening of international borders to
increasingly fast flows of goods, services, finance,
people and ideas; and the changes in institutions and
policies and national and international levels that
facilitates or promote such flows. Globalization has
the potential for both positive and negative effects on
development and health. – world health organization.
- Can thus be defines as the intensification of
worldwide social relations which link distant localities
in such a way that local happenings are shaped by
events occurring many miles away and vice-versa.
This is a dialectical process because such local
happenings may move in an obverse direction from
the very destinated relations shape them. Local
transformation is as much part of globalization as the
lateral extension of social connections across time
and space. – Anthony Giddens
Globalization as Globaloney
Some group of scholars believed that the term is
imprecise, and this could be divided into three camps based on
their arguments: rejectionists, skeptics, and modifiers.
3 arguments to globalization
1. Rejectionists
- Are the scholars who dismiss the usefulness of the
term “globalization”. Craig Calhoun argues that the
concept is vague and it is as complex as nationalism.
Susan Strange refers to the concept of globalization
as vacuous term – it refers to “anything from the
internet to a hamburger”
Linda Meiss refers to it as a big idea resting slim
foundations. Given this supposed vagueness of the
concept globalization, some rejections offer the following
solutions or remedies to understand the concept. Holton
argues that we should abandon metatheory and move to
middle-range theory. Stegger also argues that we should
combine social-scientific and interpretive approaches in
understanding globalization.
2. Skeptics
- Contrary to the rejectionist, the skeptics are the
scholars who emphasize the limited nature of the
concept of globalization. One of these scholars is
Horster Thompson, who argues that the world
economy is not global because it is only concentrated
in Europe, Eastern Asia, and North America. Aside
from this argument, the skeptics also note that
economic activities are still national origin and scope;
hence, without a truly global economic system, there
can be no globalization. They also argue that
globalization, as a concept, is being used to benefit
the neoliberal interest.
3. Modifiers
- They argue that globalization is a historically
imprecise concept. One example of this is Wallerstein
and Frank, proponents of the World Systems Theory,
who argued that the modern capitalist economy has
been global since its inception. In connection to this,
modifiers argue that globalizing tendencies have been
proceeding along the continuum of modernization for
a long time. Basically, there is nothing new.
driven largely by economic forces.”
In connection to this, Neo Marxists and New World System
scholars argue that criticisms of globalization focus on
quantitative analyses (mostly economic) and neglect qualitative
shifts in social and political relations.
The rejectionists say that it is just “power word” like
“nationalism” and “development” invented by the westerners.
The skeptics say that it is insignificant because most trades
remain national in scope and the foreign policy of the states is
still for national survival. The modifier, on the other hand, say
that this is simply one of the many similar phases in history,
and history repeats itself.
LESSON 2: THE STUDY OF GLOBALIZATION
Competing conceptions of globalization
Globalization as an economic, political, and social process has
three competing conceptions namely, the rejectionist, skeptic,
and modifier concepts.
Every aspect of this globalization has underlying philosophy or
ideology that motivate or drive a society or any human
organization
4 DIMENSIONS OF GLOBALIZATION
The political dimension of globalization
Steger, in his 2017 book, defines political globalization as the
intensification and expansion of political interrelations around
the world.
Hyper-globalizers believe that the globalization is principally
driven by economic and technological forces.
On the other hand, globalization sceptics, totally disagree with
hyper-globalizers. They believe that is political in nature. It has
originated with neoliberal government’s political decisions to
remove international trade restrictions on capital.
The economic dimension of globalization
The philosophy of consumerism encourages the acquisition of
goods and services in an increasing amount.
This economic dimension in globalization also involves
ecological dimension to show the relationship of the
environment with the unabated increasing population affecting
humanity socially, politically, economically, and psychologically
as well.
The culture/social dimension of globalization
Cultural globalization is the intensification and expansion of
cultural flows across the globe. The hyper-globalizers consider
the political globalization that is driven by
economic and technologic forces see it as cultural imperialism.
But if culture means the way of life, and the people have
embraced the economic technology, it cannot be called
imperialism for the very fact that they have embraced and
accepted the technology. Culture virtually covers all areas of
human life. Imperialism is political in nature, and it is much
more serious because it involves the use of threat, force,
deception, and intimidation. Imperialism is tyrannic in nature.
Cultural hybridization also refers to the mingling of cultures as
a result of globalization intended to create a new and unique
hybrid cultures that are not reducible to either local or global
culture. Cultural hybridization in the Philippines is one good
example because this country had been colonized by Spain,
America, and Japan in different periods… and we have also
traded with them.
The concept of individualism in the cultural dimension of
globalization gives emphasis to human independence,
self-reliance, and liberty. When we talk about the cultural
dimension of globalization, it also includes the study of history
of a particular culture or nation beyond one’s homeland. The
study of globalization in the contemporary world is much more
tedious because it requires looking at the very roots of what is
happening today and the major turning points in the study of
world history.
The economic dimension of globalization
The optimistic and pessimistic hyper-globalizers look at
globalization differently. Economic technology is seen as an
enticement
The ecological dimension of globalization
These studies the global effects of the social, political and
economic unions on environment issue. Ecological
globalization refers to worldwide environmental issues which
include population growth, access to food, global reduction in
biodiversity, the gap between the rich and the poor, between
the global North and the global South, human-induced climate,
and global environmental degradation.
According to Manfred Steger, Ecological Globalization refers to
worldwide environmental issues which include
population growth, access to food, and global reduction in
biodiversity, the gap between rich and poor as well as between
the global north and the global south, human induced climate
change, and global environmental degradation
Globalization’s ecological effects, as impacted by the
economic, political, and cultural aspects are now recognized as
possibly life threatening for the earth.
Global human activities have been causing
various ecological problems, including resource and food
shortages and transboundary pollution.
The major manifestations and consequences of
environmental degradation are all global issues. All of these
problems are global, as they are results of aggregated actions,
and so they entail a coordinated response. Steger (2017)
further claims, “the deteriorating ecological health of our planet
will become the most pressing global problem by mid-century
UNDERLYING PHILOSOPHIES AND IDEOLOGIES IN
GLOBALIZATION
Ideology is defined as a system of ideas and ideals,
especially one which forms the basis of economic or
political theory and policy. As a system of commonly shared
beliefs, ideas, norms, and values among group of people,
ideology is frequently used to legitimize some political interests
or to justify prevailing power structures. Ideology links certain
human actions with some generalized claims.
Steger (2017) discussed three types of globalism or
ideologies that provide the concept of globalization with certain
meaning and values: Market Globalism, Justice Globalism, and
religious globalism
MARKET GLOBALISM
Market globalism pursues to grant globalization with neoliberal
meanings and free-market norms. Market globalists promise a
consumerist, neoliberal, free-market world. This ideology is
advocated by some powerful individuals, who claim, among
other things, that globalism spreads democracy and benefits
everybody.
Steger considers market globalism the dominant ideology of
our time, and believes that it has six major ideological
claims:
1. Globalization is about the liberalization and global
integration of markets.
2. Globalization is inevitable and irreversible.
3. Nobody oversees globalization.
4. Globalization benefits everyone.
5. Globalization furthers the spread of democracy in the world.
6. Globalization requires war on terror.
JUSTICE GLOBALISM
This ideology from the political Left contests market
globalism. Political Left or Left-wing politics is that which
supports social equality egalitarianism and usually in
opposition to social hierarchy.
Justice globalism critique of market globalism includes the
claim that “liberalization and global integration of free markets
lead to greater social inequalities, environmental destruction,
the escalation of global conflicts and violence, the weakening
participatory form of democracy, the proliferation of self-interest
and consumerism, and the further marginalization of the
powerless around the world”
(Steger 2017)
RELIGIOUS GLOBALISM
Religious globalism endeavors for a global religious community
with dominance over secular structures. These globalism fight
against both market globalism and justice globalism as they
seek to champion religious beliefs and values that are said to
be severe attack by the powers of consumerism and
secularism in the globalized world.
LESSON 3: GLOBAL ECONOMY
GLOBAL ECONOMY
Refers to the interconnected worldwide economic
activities that take place between multiple countries.
ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION
Is one of the three main dimensions of globalization
commonly found in academic literature, with the two others
being political globalization and cultural globalization, as well
as the general term globalization.
It also refers to the free movement of goods, capital,
services, technology and information. It is the increasing
economic integration and interdependence of national,
regional, and local economies across the world through an
intensification of cross-border movement of goods, services,
technologies and capital.
GLOBALIZATION AFFECTS MARKETS OF 3 KINDS
1. COMMODITIES- goods and services of all varieties.
2. LABOR- workers who produce goods and services.
3. ASSETS AND DEBTS – securities, bank, loan and
deposits, titles to land and physical capital.
INTERNATIONAL TRADING SYSTEM
This includes an open rule-based, predictable,
nondiscriminatory trading and financial system as an essential
goal. The international trading system comprises many
thousands of unilateral, bilateral, regional, and multilateral
rules and agreements among more than two hundred nations.
Trade negotiations.
IMPORTANCE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE
1. It enables the fuller utilization of the resources.
2. The trading partners get goods cheaper than
otherwise because every country produces those
goods in the production of which it has to occur at
less comparative cost.
FOREIGN TRADE
-Exchange of capitals, goods and services across international
borders or territories. In most countries, it represents a
significant share of gross domestic product (GDP).
Advantages of foreign trade
Foreign trade helps each country to specialize in the
production of those goods, which best suits its environment. It
thus leads to maximum use of its natural resources. It enables
a country to obtain goods by importing which cannot produce
due to higher costs at home.
FOREIGN TRADE POLICY
Are government actions, especially tariffs, import
quotas, and report subsidies, designed to increase net exports
by promoting exports or restricting imports.
IMPORTANCE OF GLOBAL TRADE
Countries trade with each other when, on their own,
they do not have the resources, or capacity to satisfy their own
needs and wants. By developing and exploiting their domestic
scarce resources, countries can produce a surplus, and trade
this for the resources they need.
THE THEORY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE
International trade theories are simply different
theories to explain international trade. Trade is the concept of
exchanging goods and services between two people or
entities. International trade is then the concept of this
exchange between people or entities in two different countries.
BENEFITS OF TRADING INTERNATIONALLY
- Variety of goods
- Outlet for surplus
- Reduction of market fluctuations
- Lower costs
- Production efficiently
- Resource specialization
- Innovation
- Investment
MAN-MADE TRADE BARRIERS COME IN SEVERAL
FORMS:
- Tariffs
- Non-tariff barriers to trade
- Import licenses
- Export licenses
- Import quotas
- Subsidies
- Voluntary export restraints
- Local content requirement

PURPOSE OF THE BRETTON WOODS SYSTEM
The purpose of the Bretton Woods meeting was to set
up a new system of rules, regulations, and procedures for the
major economies of the world to ensure their economic
stability. To do this, Bretton Woods established THE
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND(IMF) and the WORLD
BANK.
BRETTON WOODS CONFERENCE
The Bretton Woods Conference, officially known as
the UNITED NATIONS MONETARY AND FINANCIAL
CONFERENCE, was a gathering of delegates from 44 nations
that mt from July 1 to 22, 1944 in Bretton Woods. New
Hampshire, to agree upon a series of new rules for the
post-WWII international monetary system.
OBJECTIVE OF THE BRETTON WOODS SYSTEM
Are to achieve exchange rate stability and promote
international trade and development.
THE END OF THE BRETTON WOODS SYSTEM
On August 15, 1971, president RICHARD M. NIXON
announced his NEW ECONOMIC POLICY, a program “to
create a new prosperity without war”. Known colloquially as the
“Nixon Shock”, the initiative marked the beginning of the end
for the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates
established at the end of World War II. The Bretton Woods
twins refers to the two multilateral organizations created at the
Bretton Woods Conference in 1944. They are: The World Bank
and The International Monetary Fund.
LESSON 4: GLOBAL INTERSTATE SYSTEM
THE GLOBAL INTERSTATE SYSTEM
Also known as the world system, global interstate
systems are interactions between or among countries based
on the policies and partnerships that their heads of state have
agreed upon. This is not limited to economic transactions, but
encompasses all interactions between and among citizens
from different nations.
The modern global interstate system operates politically
on the premise that all states are equal – regardless if they are
allies or rivals. Therefore, it can be described as
multicentric, the opposite of hegemonic, because it is a
system of independent states that formed relationships with
one another, instead of a single entity united under one
leader.
The world was not always as clear with its boundaries,
historically speaking, as it is now. In fact, it could be said that
the current global interstate system emerged because of
the centuries of trial-and-error experienced by society, which
includes but is not limited to wars, colonization, technological
developments, research and education. Being the relatively
new field of study as it is, a new discipline emerged called
international relations, which focuses on the ways that the
countries interact and what the effects of their interactions are,
or could possibly be.
To create a stunning presentation, it's best to simplify
Culturally, the modern global interstate system is moving past
the outdated notion that some religions, races, social classes,
and/or genders are superior to others. On paper, there are
several laws in each nation and agreements among nations to
honor basic human right and celebrate diversity in all its forms,
yet in practice it is difficult to enforce your thoughts.
Start with an outline of topics and identify highlights, which can
be applied to whatever subject you plan on discussing.
Take, for instance, Islamophobia. Similar to the persecution
that the Jewish believers experienced in World War II, Muslim
believers experience discrimination because they are
automatically viewed the same way as the religious extremists
under Al Qaeda and other organizations categorized as
terrorists. This is akin to saying that Christian believers are the
same as the Crusaders who waged ‘holy wars’ in the medieval
period. Even some of the Muslims in East Asia are being
treated unfairly; the Uighurs in China
are placed in ‘re-education camps’, where they are forcibly
sterilized and indoctrinated with mainland Chinese culture.
Racially, the Black Lives Matter movement brought the
American people to the streets to protest the excessive
violence that Caucasian police officers tend to use on
African-American citizens, regardless of whether there was just
cause or not. In Asian nations such as the Philippines, Chinese
tourists and migrants have the habit of getting a little too
comfortable in the countries they visit, treating the actual
residents like second-class citizens by illegally putting up
businesses that are strictly Chinese-only. Under the Theory of
Eclecticism, there is a need for social regulation from both the
government leaders and the citizens. Despite the hiccups in
the global interstate system note above, there is potential to
raise more civically and politically engaged citizens through
today’s youth, especially now that the digital landscape is the
current generation’s new hunting ground for ideas that could
lead to actionable changes in the offline world.
A. THE DIFFERENCE OF INTERNATIONALISM AND
GLOBALISM.
INTERNATIONALISM
Is basically anchored on the opinion that nationalism
should be outrun because links that bind people of different
countries are more powerful than those that disconnect them
(Anora, 2014).
Immanuel Kant (1795)
-stated that agreements among nation must be
reached. The idea of liberal internationalism which proposes
that nations must give up their freedom and submit to a larger
system of laws that is embodied up their freedom by common
international principles. A form of global government is needed
to create and enforce these laws.
Guiseppe Mazzini (1805 –1872)
-nationalism and international cooperation
complemented each other. He believed that cooperation
among nation-states is essential.
Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)
-believes that nations were subject to the universal
laws of God that could be discovered through reason. The
principle of self-determination, democratic government,
collective security, international law, and a league of nations in
the concept of internationalism. Socialist internationalism
contradicts liberal internationalism. This form of
internationalism is based on the view that capitalism is a global
system and that the working class must unite as a global class
to forward struggle against capitalism. The notion of socialist
internationalism is link to the goal of a world revolution.
Globalism
-emerged as an attitude that seeks to understand all
the interconnections of the modern world and to highlight
patterns that underlie them. It pursues to describe and explain
a world that characterized by a network of connections that
span multi-continental distance.
LESSON 5: CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
● It refers to the sum of laws, norms, policies, and
institutions that define, constitute and mediate
trans-border relations between states, cultures,
citizens, intergovernmental and nongovernmental
organization and the market.
● In a civilized world, international law is the bench
mark of world affairs. International law may be defined
as the rules and principles that nation-states consider
binding upon themselves. International law may be
defines as the rules and principles that nation-states
consider binding upon themselves. International law
pertains to property, trade, immigration, and other
areas that have traditionally been under the
jurisdiction of individual nations.
● International law applies only to the extent that
countries are willing to assume all rights and
obligations in these areas. The roots of modern
international law can be traced back to the
17th-century Peace of Westphalia.
● States operate in a multicentric environment and
respect the element of political sovereignty. This is
expressed in their voting rights in the United Nations
General Assembly. In the same vein, nation-states
aligned themselves by establishing relationships with
other states of similar background. The idea of
regionalism was given birth.
● Regionalism which is “the formal process of
intergovernmental collaboration between two or more
states.
● Regionalism is the set of conscious activities carried
out by states within a region to cooperate while
regionalization is a less conscious process which is
the outcome of these states’ policies.
 ● Globalization is focused on the rapid expansion and
intensification of social relations across world time
and space (steger, 2013)
● Regionalization the latter is part of globalization.
The united nations is an intergovernmental organization aiming
to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly
relations among nations, achieve international cooperation,
and be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations. The UN
has 4 main purposes:
● To keep peace throughout the world
● To develop friendly relations among nations
● To help nations work together to improve the lives of
poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy,
ad to encourage respect for each other’s rights and
freedom
● To be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations
to achieve these goals.
THE UNITED NATIONS AS AN INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATION
The United Nations is composed of 193 member
states with 2 countries as observers namely: Vatican and
Palestine. The main function of the United Nations is to
preserve international peace and security. Chapter 6 of the
charter provides for the pacific settlement of disputes, through
the intervention of the Security Council, by means such as
negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and judicial decisions.
THE SIX MAIN ORGANS
1. The General Assembly
2. The Security Council
3. The Trusteeship Council
4. The Economic and Social Council
5. The International Court of Justice
6. The Secretariat
THE INTERNATIONAL ACTORS
● States
● International Organizations
● Civil Society
● Market (Global Corporations/Industries)
The international actors have their own sphere of influence in
globalization. As to the degree of their influence, it varies. This
is due to various factors in the realm of global interplay.
Dominant states coming from the global north display their
presence in the international arena through the presence of
multinational corporations and transnational corporations
operating in various places in the world. Resiliency in
developing and less-developed countries is shown in various
strategies formulated through their state policies.
LESSON 6: GLOBAL DIVIDES: NORTH AND SOUTH
The North-South divide is a socio-economic and political
division categorization of countries which globalization in the
world has two sides.
● The Global North
- Generally, the Global North includes the G8 countries,
the United States, Canada, all member states of the
European Union, Israel, Japan, Singapore, South
Korea, as well as Australia and New Zealand and four
of the five permanent members of the United Nations
Security Council, excluding China.
- The North is mostly correlated with the Western world
and the First World, plus much of the Second World.
- The North of the Divide comprises countries which
have developed economies and account for over 90%
of all manufacturing industries in the world. Although
these countries account for only one-quarter of the
total global population, they control 80% of the total
income earned around the world.
● The Global South
- The Global South is an emerging term used by the
World Bank to refer to low- and middle-income
countries located in Asia, Africa, Latin America and
the Caribbean.
- The Global South is made up of Africa, Latin America,
and developing Asia, including the Middle East, and is
home to the BRIC countries (excluding Russia):
Brazil, India, and China, which, along with Indonesia,
are the largest Southern states.
- An important characteristic of countries in the South is
the relatively low GDP and the high population.
Another common characteristic of the countries in the
South is the lack of basic amenities. As little as 5% of
the population is able to access basic needs such as
food and shelter.
● The Problem of Global Inequality
- Social Differentiation – a process in which people
are set apart for differential treatment by virtue of their
statuses, roles, and other social characteristics.
- Social Inequality – a condition in which people have
unequal wealth, power, and prestige. (e.g., The
people in the global south)
- Based on GDP per capita, the nations of the world
can be divided into three major strata: the core, the
semi-periphery, and the periphery:
❖ The Core ▪ Nations that comprise the core are
mostly in the global north such as, U.S., Germany,
France, Australia, U.K., France, the Scandinavia, and
others. ▪ Also, South Korea and Japan are included
even though they are in Global South because of the
GNP per capita.
❖ Semi-periphery ▪ Nations such as Saudi Arabia,
Brazil, and Taiwan, are comparable to the middle
class. They are moving toward industrialization.
❖ Periphery ▪ Poor nations such as Haiti,
Bangladesh, Ethiopia that resemble the lower and
working classes. They are poor and powerless.
Definition of Terms:
● Global North. It is mostly correlated with the Western
world and the First World.
● Global South. It is an emerging term used by the
World Bank to refer to low and middle-income
countries located in Asia, Africa, Latin America and
the Caribbean.
● Brandt Line. a way of visualizing the world that
highlights the disparities and inequalities between the
wealthy North and the poorer global South
LESSON 7: PEACE EDUCATION
The History of Peace Education Peace education can be
defined simply as ―the process of teaching people about the
threats of violence and strategies for peace, and may take
place inside or outside a classroom (Harris, 2008, p. 15). With
this broad definition, the history of peace education is arguably
as old as human history, as cultures throughout the world have
learned - and then taught the next generation - how to live
peacefully with others. Diverse religious and philosophical
traditions have been a rich and influential source of peace
learning, even though people have also promoted violence in
the names of these traditions.
Peace education in its modern form, however, has its roots in
academia and the field of peace studies. Peace education
scholar Ian Harris describes this modern peace movement as
beginning in nineteenth century Europe with many intellectual
efforts to learn about violent conflict, evolving into socialist
political thought, and spreading to the United States and
elsewhere before World War I. Scholars then began to study
war and started trying to educate the public about its dangers.
More and more people tried to persuade each other and their
governments to use mediation instead of war to solve
international conflicts. For example, influenced by the
progressive ideas of the American educational theorist John
Dewey, many teachers across the United States began using
progressive education to teach their students about our
common humanity in order to promote peaceful social progress
(Harris, 2008, p. 16-17).
Maria Montessori is one example of an influential mid20th
century theorist who found new connections between peace
and education. She linked teaching methodology to
peace-building, hoping to help the next generation avoid the
violence of authoritarianism. Other peace educators at that
time, such as Herbert Read, began encouraging the use of art
and students' creativity to promote peace, while others, such
as Paulo Freire, focused on training students for critical
analysis and reform of society.
International organizations, including various United Nations
bodies, as well as many nongovernmental organizations, have
been growing in influence and importance since the end of
World War I, and have contributed greatly to the movement to
achieve global peace. Although the League of Nations failed,
the establishment of the United Nations achieved new levels of
global cooperation, norms, and ideals. The Charter of the
United Nations has since served as inspiration for the
development of peace education, as educators aspired to help
in the global effort to save succeeding generations from the
scourge of war, to reaffirm faith in the …dignity and worth of
men and women, to establish conditions under which justice
and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other
sources of international law can be maintained, and ―to
promote social progress and better standards of life in larger
freedom (United Nations, 1945). With this mandate, the study
and promotion of sustainable peace through education began
to take on new urgency and sophistication to achieve these
universal ideals.
Peace studies became a more serious academic subject soon
after World War II. The threat of nuclear war throughout the
Cold War encouraged many scholars to devote their studies to
creating a sustainable peace. Since the 1980s in particular,
peace education scholarship has developed in many
directions. Some have emphasized minimizing masculine
aggression, domestic violence, and militarism; others have
sought to foster empathy and care in students; and many have
argued that critical thinking and democratic pedagogy are vital.
With the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), created
in 1989, peace education and human rights education took on
new importance, as this type of education came to be seen as
a fundamental right that all children should have. As UNICEF
scholar Susan Fountain writes, ―It is significant that the
framers of the CRC viewed the promotion of understanding,
peace and tolerance through education as a fundamental right
of all children, not an optional extra-curricular activityǁ.
International organizations of all types, along with local
teachers and communities, felt renewed pressure to provide
peace education to all students as part of their core studies;
this provision became an explicit duty for everyone in society,
and especially for those involved in formal education.
Thus, peace education has evolved to emphasize local peace
potentials and local traditions of conflict transformation.
Teachers and others have shaped their programs to address
the needs and goals of their communities. For example, some
scholars have suggested ubuntu - an ethical philosophy of
southern Africa that roughly translates to “I am because you
are as a helpful” component of peace education in parts of
Africa.
The history of peace education, therefore, has various roots
and has developed on various paths; nonetheless, every
instance of peace education can be seen as part of a larger
movement toward the creation of a more peaceful world.
Despite their differences in local context, peace education
teachers have much in common. Many peace educators seek
to promote some combination of the following ideals: human
rights and the rights of the child, social justice and the
minimization of structural violence, critical analysis and
transformation of violent concepts and institutions, nonviolent
interpersonal and inter-communal conflict resolution, universal
empathy, global familiarity, and peaceful coexistence with the
environment. Around the world, teachers have drawn upon the
work and research of international activists, scholars, and each
other for ideas. At the same time, these peace educators' work
continues to inspire further work and study concerning new
possibilities for peace education.
Peace Education
Peace education as a concept and a field is difficult to
accurately and comprehensively define. It encompasses so
many different sub-topics, theories, and thinkers that a unifying
definition has proved elusive. Consequently, as peace
education has developed, evolving definitions have continued
to emerge, and even today there are many different definitions
of the concept. No one definition can be called correct, as no
overarching authority of peace education exists; rather, the
definition one chooses to adopt is a matter of personal
preference. However, it is important to be aware of the various
definitions and their implications for classroom practice before
deciding which best fits one's own perception and practice of
peace education. The following definitions are not a
comprehensive collection – we are all free to define peace
education in terms that reflect our values and contexts. This
section attempts to present examples of the key types of
definitions in order to help teachers formulate their own
informed view on peace education
Definitions of Peace Education
As explained by Abebe, Gbesso, & Nyawalo (2006):
Peace education is a unifying and comprehensive concept that
seeks to promote a holistic view of education. However, its
relevance is inextricably part of and is highly dependent on
contextual specificity. UNESCO literature states that Peace
Education is more effective and meaningful when adopted
according to the social and cultural context and the needs of a
country. It should be enriched by its cultural and spiritual values
together with the universal human values. It should also be
globally relevant. Given such a framework, it is hard to find a
universally accepted definition. As such, Peace Education is
characterized by its many definitions (p. 14).
John Dewey
One of the key thinkers of the field, John Dewey (1923),
defined peace education as a curriculum
“…..which will make it more difficult for the flames of hatred
and suspicion to sweep over this country in the future, which
indeed will make this impossible, because when children’s
minds are in the formative period we shall have fixed in them
through the medium of the schools, feelings of respect and
friendliness for the other nations and peoples of the world (p.
516). “
Dewey's emphasis, developed in the midst of two World Wars,
was on a sense of world patriotism and peaceful
internationalism that would eliminate the horrific wars of his
time, and his definition reflects that globalist theory.
United Nations
The United Nations, even in its earliest years, voiced similar
support for peace education as a catalyst for international
respect and human rights, as described in its Universal
Declaration of Human Rights:
“Education shall be directed to the full development of the
human personality and to the strengthening of respect for
human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote
understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations,
racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the
United Nations for the maintenance of peace (United Nations
General Assembly, 1948, p. 6)”
According to Abebe et. al. (2006), Peace Education is process
of developing knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviors and
values that enable learners to:
• Identify and understand sources of local and global issues
and acquire positive and appropriate sensitivities to these
problems
• Resolve conflicts and to attain justice in a non-violent way
• Live by universal standards of human rights and equity by
appreciating cultural diversity, respect for the earth and for
each other (p. 14).
Positive Peace and Negative Peace
Negative peace is the absence of violence. In order to create
negative peace, we must look for ways to reduce and eliminate
violence. A cease-fire would be an example of an action for
negative peace.
Positive peace is the presence of social justice and equality,
and the absence of structural or indirect violence. It is
characterized by the presence of harmonious social relations
and the “integration of human society” (Galtung, 1964). In
order to further understand positive peace, it is important to
understand structural violence.
Structural violence, or indirect violence, is the result of social
structures or institutions that prevent people from meeting their
basic needs and accessing their basic human rights. Assefa
describes this as ―killing people without the use of the gunǁ
(1993: 3). For example, hunger can be the result of structural
violence, as economic and social systems may prevent people
from being able to access adequate food supplies, particularly
in societies where there are rich people with excess food
supplies, and especially when public resources are diverted to
other areas, such as military spending. Another example would
be institutionalized racism or sexism.
Cultural violence refers to any aspect of culture which can be
used to justify structural violence. Language, religion, ideology,
and science are examples of parts of a culture that may mask
structural violence, and even make it seem natural or right
Key Points: • Peace • Violence • Peace Education
Definition of Terms:
● Peace. Refers to the legal relationship between an
individual and a state.
● Violence. It is the unlawful exercise of physical force
or intimidation by the exhibition of such force.
● Peace Education. It is the process of teaching
people about the threats of violence and strategies for
peace, and may take place inside or outside a
classroom
LESSON 8: ASIAN REGIONALISM
Asian Regionalism
The contemporary world that we have right now can be closely
related to an association made of different teams supporting
each other while performing specific tasks--such as producing
high quality services or goods. Globalization has always taught
us that countries work together in order to develop. Thus these
political, economic, cultural and environmental
interconnections are the biggest backbone of improvement of
today’s developing world.
● ASIA
Asia refers together to the regions of East (or Northeast) Asia,
Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and South Asia. In addition
to differences in language and culture, it includes some of the
world’s most economically developed states such as Japan,
South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, and highly impoverished
countries such as Cambodia, Laos and Nepal. It includes the
largest and most populous states on the globe including China
and India and some of the world’s smallest such as the
Maldives and Bhutan.
The area makes up nearly a third of the world’s land mass and
two-thirds of the global population. The combined economies
of the region now generate the largest share of global GDP at
35 percent. It also accounts for just over a third of total world
exports of merchandise goods up from a quarter in 2001
(Asian Development Bank, 2012: 211). Some experts argue
that Asia is in fact “decoupling” (or removing its connections)
from the world economy. Whatever the eventual outcome, for
now, Asia clearly has a significant role in shaping global
economic activity and especially regional activity, and this role
will increase with the region’s growth and wealth. Policy
makers need new, more sophisticated tools to monitor regional
economic developments and set policies that will dampen
economic fluctuations and exchange rate volatility.
Regionalism Defined
How do Filipinos know that Philippines is part of the Southeast
Asian region? Besides from its geographic location, there are
many things to be considered such as politics and economics.
They said that Asian regionalism is mainly a product of
economic interaction and not political planning. Asia’s
economies are becoming closely intertwined which is caused
by Asian economies growing large and prosperous enough to
become important to each other.
However, regionalism is not just a political or an economic
phenomenon, the term actually encompasses an even wider
area. It can also be related to ethics, identities, culture, religion
and ecological sustainability. It is not only affected by policy
makers or economic actors; it is also affected by social
movements.
Edward D. Mansfield and Helen V. Milner described a region
as “a group of countries located in the same geographically
specified area” and “an amalgamation of two regions or a
combination of more than two regions” organized to regulate
and “oversee flows and policy choices”. They had further
specified the difference between regionalism and
regionalization. Regionalism is a political process
characterized by economic policy cooperation and coordination
among countries. This is where countries coordinate in order to
form alliances with nearby countries. A great example of this is
the establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN).
Regionalization, on the other hand, is the regional
concentration of economic flows between countries. Countries
form regional organizations for many reasons such as for
military defense and for sharing of resources. Economic crisis
usually binds countries together.
Difference of Globalization and Regionalization
Globalization is a phenomenon that describes the
interdependence of world economies with one another.
Basically, it is the process of international integration arising
from the interchange of world views, products and ideas. Its
scope is worldwide. On the other hand, regionalization is a part
of the process of globalization but it focuses on specific regions
wherein countries function together. An example of one region
is Southeast Asia or Asia itself. Regionalization happens
because of the need of countries to secure their economy,
health or even safety through the help of their neighboring
countries.
When it comes to its nature, globalization promotes the
integration of economies around the world. However,
regionalization is dividing it by region. Moreover, globalization
allows companies to trade at an international level but in
regionalization trading secures local trading first before
anything else.
An alternative way to see the relationship between
globalization and regionalization is to look at Asia Pacific and
South Asia. The region is more of an autonomous agent
serving as an engine for globalization. This view, while
acknowledging the external impacts on the region shows
important ways in which the region is also influencing and
transforming the nature of globalization itself.
Evolution of Asian Regionalism
Which is more influential, the acceleration of globalization
defined as the worldwide integration along economic, political,
social and cultural lines or the emerging influence of Asia as a
global force?
The success of Asian economies during the last decades is a
symbol of dynamism of East Asia. Almost all countries from
East Asia are called the tiger economies, namely Singapore,
Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan. During the postwar era,
Asia had experienced difficulties in managing their politics and
economy. The emergence of countries like Hong Kong, South
Korea, China and Japan signaled the advent of new economic
powers. With this, Asia’s neighboring countries started to adapt
strategies and initiatives from them when it comes to their
economy, security and politics. Before the dramatic rise, Asia
was a home for countries labeled as “underdeveloped”.
The economic development of East Asian countries like
Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea had been
perceived as the East Asian Miracle. The pattern of
developments in East Asia was marked by different internal
and external factors which are important in the rebuilding of
Asian economies.
For us to further understand Asian Regionalism, let us examine
the three proposed views about the connection of Asia and
globalization:
A. externalist view – the region as an object impacted by
globalization;
B. generative view – the region as a springboard; and
C. the region as an alternative to globalization.
A. The Region as an Object Impacted by Globalization
An externalist view refers to the colonial rule and dominance of
Western countries to Asian countries. In addition, the
technologically and industrially more advanced Western
powers found their way to the region and alternatively prodded
and muscled their way to political and economic dominance.
Colonial Rule and Dominance
Colonialism in the region beginning from 1500s brought
enormous and devastating changes. An example of this was
the Portuguese invasion of Melaka in 1521 and the subsequent
fall of the sultanate which shifted political and economic
dynamics in Melaka and beyond. The arrival of Ferdinand
Magellan in 1521 in the Visayan region of the Philippines
marked the beginning of extended Spanish colonial rule in
those islands. The Dutch followed in the 17th century and
slowly strengthened their position in the Dutch East Indies. The
British also consolidated their power in South Asia, Burma and
the Malay peninsula while the French eventually took control of
Indo-China in the late 19th century.
Europeans brought new economic practices, religious beliefs,
cultural values, and political structures that changed the region
drastically. Japan and Thailand did not experience colonial
rule, but they had to deal with the consequences of Western
influence. Japan which had been closed off during the reign of
the Tokugawa shogunate, was forced by the ‘black ships’ of
Commodore Matthew Perry in the late 19th century that
brought about the Meiji Restoration. Also, Thailand underwent
significant changes under the reign of King Mongkut (Rama IV)
and King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). Rama V is remembered as
the ‘Great Modernizer’ who brought major political, social, and
economic reforms to Thailand (Stifel, 1976).
In the 19th and 20th centuries, movements for nationalism and
independence also emerged in many parts of the world
including the Asia Pacific and South Asia. Anderson (2007)
highlights the global experiences of nationalist leaders such as
Jose Rizal in the Philippines, who came to imagine themselves
as Filipino after being influenced by life in Spain and
elsewhere.
World War II
World War II marks another way in which the region comes to
be at once integrated and influenced by external forces. After
World War II, concerns about political instability, faltering
economic reform, and the fall of China all pushed the United
States and their occupation to stress Japan’ economic growth
and its incorporation into the world economy (Ikenberry, 2007:
52). This meant opening up American markets to Japanese
goods, drawing on the Japanese market to supply equipment
and goods for US armed forces and other aid programs, and
eventually incorporating Japan into the multilateral economic
order including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(Ikenberry, 2007).
Adoption of Export-oriented Growth
In the 1980s and 1990s, Japan, Korea and Taiwan were able
to adapt economic policies in line with what they understood as
an increasing globalized economic system and benefitted from
export-oriented growth policies. This was followed by the
high-flying growth of Southeast Asian ‘tigers’ including
Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam The
East Asian countries and Southeast Asian countries had some
similarities including relatively close ties between the state and
business elite, some degree of autonomous decision-making
structure, and the rise of manufacturing. However, Southeast
Asian countries were more reliant on infusions of foreign
capital.
International Monetary Fund and World Bank (Bretton Woods
System)
Part of the Bretton Woods System, IMF and World Bank were
the cornerstones of economic liberalization and globalization in
the post-war global economy. Also, they soon turned their
attention to the developing world including Southeast Asia.
In Indonesia, Suharto’s policies and the economic framework
under the IMF and World Bank provided crucial assistance and
foundation for the legitimacy of the authoritarian Suharto
regime. Despite providing some basis for economic coherence,
the lenders looked away from the massive amounts of
corruption and patrimonialism that occurred in the Suharto
regime.
In Thailand, the IFIs pushed liberalization and export-oriented
growth which led to increasing amounts of foreign investment
and double-digit GDP growth. While in the Philippines, the
World Bank and the IMF had a cozy relationship with
Ferdinand Marcos whose tenure left with nearly US$30 billion
in debt.
Asian Financial Crisis
The IFIs and orthodox economists argued that the Asian
Financial Crisis in 1997 occurred due to poor policies, weak
governance, corruption, poor institutions and inadequate
liberalization (Rahman, 1998). According to Bello and
Bullardand Malhotra (2000) the other problem was the
unfettered capital resulting from processes of globalization
over the past several decades. Both views recognized the
deep impact globalization has had on the economies in the
region and the influence it played in the 1997 crisis. The
financial crisis showed how deeply integrated the economy
was in the global financial system.
Liberalization of Economy and Membership to World Trade
Organization
China began liberalizing their economy in the late 1970s with
the reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping. India began to
liberalize their economy in 1991 and increased levels of trade
and foreign direct investment particularly in the textile and
services sectors of the economy. Mabtaney (2008) said that
both countries have experienced high levels of economic
growth as a result and have also become much more
integrated into the global economy including membership in
the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Effects on Culture
Globalization is leading to cultural homogenization and
destruction of cultural diversity. This can be seen in the
following:
● Increase in number of McDonald stores in Asia from 951 in
1987 to 7,000 in 2002;
● Rise of domestic fast food chains in Asia like Jollibee in the
Philippines, California Fried Chicken (CFC) in Indonesia, MOS
Burger in Japan, Jumbo King in India, etc.; and
● Rapid expansion of supermarkets in the region.
There is also strong evidence to suggest that diets in Asia
have been increasingly Westernized. One study in Japan
shows that younger people consume more beef and beer while
the older people eat more rice, vegetables and fruits. Wheat
replaced rice as staple food in most regions. Furthermore,
changing tastes in areas such as music, clothing, television
and film is also evident. In this light, McDonaldization might
also be referred to as ‘MTVization’ or ‘Hollywoodization.
B. The Region as a Springboard
A generative view shows how the region as an active agent
pushing the process of globalization forward. It can be seen as
a force for good bringing economic development, political
progress, and social and cultural diversity to the region.
Spice trade
As Anthony Reid notes, the Europeans did not create the spice
trade.Spices were already making their way to various parts of
the globe, but the Europeans were interested in cutting out the
middleman. Circumnavigating the globe was a means to find
cheaper and faster ways to bring the goods back to Europe
(Reid, 1988). In the same vein, some have argued that Asia,
not the West, was the central global force in the early modern
world economy because it was the site of the world’s most
important trade routes, and in some places more
technologically advanced than the West in key areas such as
science and medicine.
Colonialism
Colonialism too has come under a new lens recently as
scholars have argued that colonies in the Asia Pacific and
South Asia and elsewhere influenced the West as much as
vice versa. Stoler argues that colonies were often ‘laboratories
of modernity’ where ‘innovations in political form, and social
imaginary, and in what defined the modern itself, were not
European exports but traveled as often the other way around’
(Stoler, 2006: 41).
In the Philippines, colonial policing in the American colony can
be understood as a social experiment that transformed both
the Philippine polity as well as the US national security state.
Practices and technologies such as counter-insurgency,
surveillance, and torture were developed and perfected in the
colonial Philippines before making their way back to the core
(McCoy and Scarano, 2009). In the fields of medicine and
public health, American scientists and physicians in the
Philippines brought back colonial bureaucratic practices and
identities to urban health departments in the United States in
the early twentieth century (Warwick Anderson, 2006). In other
words, colonialism was not simply a practice of Western
domination, but also productive of what we think of as Western
and modern.
Rise of Japan, China, and India
The end of World War II and the rise of the Cold War helped
bring Japan into the global economy. Japan as a resource poor
nation-state embarked on a massive project to procure raw
materials such as coal and iron at unprecedented economies
of scale allowing them to gain a competitive edge in the global
manufacturing market. This not only transformed the market for
these materials but also globalized shipping and procurement
patterns which influenced other sectors as well. Furthermore,
as Japan’s competitive advantage became visible, other
countries modeled their practices on theirs further deepening
the globalized patterns of procurement and trade blazed by the
Japanese (Bunker, 2007).
China can also be seen as pursuing a similar pattern of
development today. It is now one of the world’s largest
importers of basic raw materials such as iron and has
surpassed Japan, the United States, and Europe in steel
production. In terms of its low wage labor and supply chain
management, China has also had an enormous impact on the
availability and consumption of goods around the globe (Nolan,
2004). China has also now surpassed the World Bank in
lending to developing countries. The China Development Bank
and the China Export Import Bank signed loans of at least
US$110 billion to other developing country governments and
companies in 2009 and 2010, surpassing the US$100.3 billion
from mid-2008 to mid2010 by the IFIs (Dyer et al., 2011). The
implications here are political as well as economic. Grants and
loans made by states can often have economic and political
strings attached as the Japanese experience has shown
(Islam, 1991).
India is often mentioned in the same breath as China for its
scale and impact on globalization. India too has opened up and
emphasized an export-oriented strategy. Textiles and other low
wage sectors have been a key part of the economy, but high
value exports such as software development have also been
highly successful. It is also playing a key role in global service
provision as trends in outsourcing and offshoring increase
(Dossani and Kenney, 2007).
International migrant labor
India and China, among others in the region, have become a
major source of international migrant labor, which is also one of
the fundamental characteristics of the era of globalization. This
includes the migration of highly skilled labor into the high-tech
industry based in Silicon Valley, which includes a
disproportionate number of immigrants from India and China.
But much more prominent is the flow of domestic workers to
other places in the region, or to the Middle East, Europe, and
the United States. Much of this migration has received
international attention because it is often undocumented and
working conditions can be poor, even deadly.
Remittance from migrant workers
Women constitute a large majority of many countries’ migrant
pool including Indonesian (79 per cent), the Philippines (71 per
cent) and Sri Lanka (66 per cent) (Kee, Yoshimatsu and Osaki,
2010: 30). Remittances from migrants have also become a
core source of income for many of the region’s economies.
Sometimes, these exceed the flow of official development
assistance (ODA) or foreign direct assistance (FDI) (Kee,
Yoshimatsu and Osaki, 2010: 32). In the Philippines,
remittances are now equal to 11 per cent of the entire economy
(The Economist, 2010). In 2007, India, China, and the
Philippines were three of the top four recipient states of
migrant remittances totaling US$70 billion (the other country
was Mexico) (Kee, Yoshimatsu and Osaki, 2010: 32). In other
words, the region is both the source and recipient of the
influences of the massive globalization of migration.
Regional free trade arrangements
Another broad trend in the Asia Pacific and South Asia is the
rise of regional free trade arrangements. This regionalism can
be interpreted either as a kind of bulwark to globalization or as
compatible and even pushing forward the process of global
economic integration. Proponents of the latter view argue that
regionalism can promote learning, assuage domestic
audiences to the benefits of free trade, and form the
institutional framework to scale up from regional cooperation to
global cooperation (Lee and Park, 2005). In other words,
regionalism can act as a springboard for globalization. One of
the distinguishing features of regional institutions in Asia
Pacific and South Asia has been the adoption of ‘open
regionalism’ which aims to develop and maintain cooperation
with outside actors. This form of regionalism was meant to
resolve the tension between the rise of regional trade
agreements and the push for global trade as embodied by the
WTO (Bergsten, 1997). ‘Open’ refers to the principle of
non-discrimination, more specifically an openness in
membership and openness in terms of economic flows (Sutton,
2007). Most regional trade agreements and organizations in
other regions including North America (NAFTA) and Europe
(the European Union) tend to be exclusive and thereby
‘closed’.
Open regionalism
Open regionalism is embodied by Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation, or APEC. Formed in 1989, it includes 21 member
economies along the Pacific Rim including East Asian and
Southeast Asian states but also Russia, Peru, Chile, the United
States and Canada. As the 1990 Ministerial Declaration states,
‘it was desirable to reduce barriers to trade in goods and
services among participants so long as such liberalization was
consistent with GATT principles and was not to the detriment of
other parties. To be sure, APEC has faced significant
challenges especially in the wake of the 1997 Asian Financial
Crisis and the more recent global economic crisis. However, it
continues to push for a vision of regional cooperation that is
consistent with and advances globalization. A final area to
consider is the broad area of culture and globalization in the
region.
Asian Products in Global Market
The region is the source of a wide variety of cultural
phenomena that have also spread outward to the West and the
rest of the world. ‘Hello Kitty’, created in Japan by the Sanrio
Group in 1974, for example, has become a massive global
success. It can be seen on a range of products from pencils
and erasers to designer handbags and diamond encrusted
watches and generates a billion dollars in revenue annually.
Anime (and other entertainment products from Japan) has
become a regional and global phenomenon including
Pokemon, Mario Brothers, Astroboy, and Power Rangers
among others. Much of this has come to be understood as the
spread of a kawaii or ‘cute’ culture, or what some have called
‘Pink Globalization’ (Yano, 2009: 681–8). Japan holds no
monopoly in this domain of cultural globalization. In terms of
cinema for example, films ranging from ‘Kung-fu’ movies to
Bollywood have become massively popular in the West, not to
mention individual filmmakers from the region with global
acclaim. More recently, there has been a regional and global
rise in Korean popular culture dubbed the ‘K-Wave’ that
includes the spread of Korean dramas as well as music
(Kpop).
Nothing demonstrates this better than the smash hit,
‘Gangnam Style’ by Korea pop star PSY. Released in July
2012, the song and music video became a viral sensation on
YouTube, topping music charts in over two dozen countries
including France, Germany, Poland, Mexico, Australia, Norway,
and Lebanon, and subsequently won Best Video at the MTV
Europe Music Awards (Gangnam Style: PSY 2012).
Globalization has not been a one-way street. While there is
little doubt that the Asia Pacific and South Asia have very
much been on the receiving end of globalization, it is also true
that the region is generative of many aspects of the
globalization process. This can be seen both historically and
more recently and across a broad variety of domains from the
economy to political structures to culture.
C. The Region as an Alternative to Globalization The
arguments from this perspective see the region as a
source of resistance to globalization or to global or
Western powers.
Japan’s colonization of the region in 1930s and 1940s and the
building of a supposed East Asian CoProsperity Sphere merely
replicated imperial relationships in East and Southeast Asia
with new masters. The ‘Sphere’ referred initially to Japan,
China, and Manchukuo. With the outbreak of World War II, the
members of the Sphere included Japan, Manchukuo,
Mangjiang (Outer Mongolia), the Republic of China, States of
Burma, Republic of the Philippines, Empire of Vietnam,
Kingdom of Kampuchea, Kingdom of Laos, Azad Hind, and
Kingdom of Thailand (Beasley, 2000). The failure of the
Co-prosperity Sphere was a result not only of Japan’s loss in
the World War II, but also the overt racism of Japan itself
towards its supposed co-members. It soon became clear that
the Sphere was for Japanese interests only at the expense of
the interests of the fellow members.
The Concept of Asian Values
According to Prime Minister Mohamed Mahathir of Malaysia,
Asia has culturally distinct characteristics that make it different
from Western liberal democracies. Mahathir noted that “the
Asian way is to reach consensus on national goals with the
democratic framework to take the middle path to exercise
tolerance and sensitivity towards others. This contrasts to
Western values where every individual can do what he likes,
free from any restraint by the government. Furthermore, Asians
respect hard work, thrift, authority and emphasize community
over the individual. Asian operates based on harmony and
consensus rather than majority rule.
Regional Arrangements
Another way the region serves as an alternative to
globalization is through the lens of regional arrangements. The
East Asia Economic Caucus (EAEC) was pushed as an
alternative to APEC, an APEC without Western states. The
proposed member-states were ASEAN, China, Korea and
Japan. A second institutional example along the same lines
was the proposed Asian Monetary Fund (AMF). The fund was
envisioned to have a capitalization of US$100 billion and
include ten members – China, Hong Kong, Japan, South
Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and
the Philippines. USA was not included from the
proposed-membership which resulted in the US to strike down
the proposal.

Emergence of Regional Terror Network

The emergence of regional terror networks such as Jemaah

Islamiyah or JI is a more subversive articulation of regionalism
as an alternative to the West. According to the International
Crisis Group (2002), JI’s main operations have been in
Indonesia with apparent links in Malaysia, Philippines, and
Thailand among others. JI is infamous for the 2002 Bali
bombings which took place in a nightclub in the resort town of
Kuta and Killed more than 200 people, mostly Australian and
other foreign nationals. The alleged goals of JI are territorial
and also regionalist, to create an Islamic state in Indonesia.
followed by a pan-Islamic caliphate incorporating Malaysia,
Singapore, Brunei, and the southern Philippines.

Local Movements Emerged

The village of Santi Suk in Thailand created their own currency

following the Asian Financial Crisis that struck the region in
Thailand. The currency is called the ‘bia’ which can be used to
purchase various commodities but cannot be used outside of
participating villages and cannot be exchanged for Thailand’s
national currency. Community currency is an example of a
larger trend in self sufficiency movements that emerged in
Thailand after the Asian Financial Crisis.

In Japan, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and the

Seikatsu Club both encourage consumers to buy ethically and
locally. Lok Samiti Group in India advocates local village level
education and development and campaigns against the
Coca-Cola bottling plant in Mehdiganj.

Definition of Terms:
● Decoupling. separate, disengage, or dissociate
(something) from something else.
● Regionalism. It refers to formal economic cooperation
and economic arrangements of a group of countries
aimed at facilitating or enhancing regional integration.
● Regionalization. The growth of societal integration
within a given region, including the undirected
processes of social and economic interaction among
the units.
● Tiger Economies. A tiger economy is a term used to
describe several booming economies in Southeast
Asia.
● Patrimonialism is a form of governance in which all
power flows directly from the leader.
● Asian Financial Crisis. The Asian financial crisis was
a period of financial crisis that happened in East Asia
and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised
fears of a worldwide economic meltdown.
● Hollywoodization. to make (someone or something,
such as an author or his or her writings) conform to
standards set up by the American motionpicture
industry does not believe that the author can be
completely Hollywoodized— A. A. VanDuym
● Open Regionalism. It involves economic integration
without discrimination against economies outside the
region. (Garnaut, 1994)
● K-wave. The Korean wave is the increase in global
popularity of South Korean culture since the 1980s.
First driven by the spread of K-dramas and Kpop
across East, Southeast and South Asia.