CONTEMPORARY

GLOBALGOVERNANCE CHAPTER 5

POLITICAL FLOWS

• The global flow of people, especially refugees and illegal immigrants, poses a
direct threat to the nation - state and its ability to control its borders.

• The looming crises associated with dwindling oil and water supplies threaten to
lead to riots and perhaps insurrections that could lead to the downfall of extant
governments.

• The inability of the nation - state to control economic flows dominated by MNCs, as
well as the current economic and financial crisis that is sweeping the world, is also
posing a profound threat to the nation - state (e.g. in Eastern Europe).

• Environmental problems of all sorts, especially those related to global warming, are
very likely to be destabilizing politically.

• Borderless diseases, especially malaria, TB, and AIDs in Africa, pose a danger to
political structures.

• War is the most obvious global flow threatening the nation – states involved,
especially those on the losing side.

• Global inequalities, especially the profound and growing North-South split,

threaten to pit poor nations against rich nations.

• Terrorism is clearly regarded as a threat by those nations against which it is

waged (hence the so - called “war on terrorism” in the US).

GLOBAL PROBLEMS

• Many of which (e.g. trade protection and liberalization; efforts to increase political
transparency and accountability) are political in nature.

• Finally, political structures (e.g. nation -states, the UN) initiate a wide range of
global flows (e.g. the violence sponsored by Robert Mugabe ’ s

government in Zimbabwe that led to the mass migration of millions of people from
the country).

The Nation State

• Nation: Social group linked through common descent, culture, language, or

territorial contiguity.
• National identity: A fluid and dynamic form of collective identity; members of the
community believe that they are different from other groups.

• Nationalism: is a doctrine and (or) political movement that seek to make the nation
the basis of a political structure, especially a state.

• State: Organizational structure outside other socioeconomic hierarchies with

relatively autonomous office - holders.

• Nation - state: Integrates sub - groups that define themselves as a nation with the
organizational structure of the state.

Threats to the Nation – State

The nation - state is especially threatened by the global economy and global
economic flows.

Example

• In terms of the global economy, nation - states have become little more than bit
actors”(Ohmae, 1996: 12). It refers to the borderless global economy that nation -
states are unable to control.

• B.The decline of the nation - state is linked to technological and financial changes,
as well as to “ the accelerated integration of national economies into one single
global market economy ” (Strange 1996 : 13 – 14). While nation - states once
controlled markets, it is now the markets that often control the nation - states.

2. Other factors threatening the autonomy of the nation – state

• A. including flows of information,

• B. illegal immigrants,

• C. new social movements,

• D. terrorists,

• E. criminals,

• F. drugs,

• G. money (including laundered money, and other financial instruments), • H. sex-

trafficking and much else.

• Many of these flows have been made possible by the development and continual
refinement of technologies of all sorts. The nation -state has become increasingly
porous. While this seems to be supported by a great deal of evidence, the fact is that
no nation - state has ever been able to control its borders completely (Bauman 1992:
57). Thus, it is not the porosity of the nation -state that is new, but rather what is new
is a dramatic increase in that porosity and the kinds of flows that are capable of
passing through national borders.
• International Human Rights

• Another threat to the autonomy of the nation -state is the growing interest in
international human rights (Elliott 2007: 343 – 63; Chatterjee 2008; Fredman 2008 ).

Human Rights

• defined as the “entitlement of individuals to life, security, and well - being” (Turner
1993: 489 – 512; 2007 : 591), has emerged as a major global political issue. It is
argued that because these rights are universal, the nation - state cannot abrogate
them. As a result, global human rights groups have claimed the right to be able to
have a say about what is done to people within (for example, torture of terror
suspects) and between, illegal trafficking in humans [Farr 2005] sovereign states.

• Thus, in such a view, human rights are a global matter and not exclusively a
concern of the state (Levy and Sznaider 2006 :657 – 76). Furthermore, the
implication is that the international community can and should intervene when a
state violates human rights or when a violation occurs within a state border and the
state does not take adequate action to deal with the violation.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights For example, according to Article 13:

• (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the
borders of each State.

• (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to
his country.

• It is clear in this Declaration and its Articles is that human rights take precedence
over the nation -state and that the UN is seeking to exert control over the state, at
least on these issues.

UNITED NATIONS

• The United Nations (UN), in spite of its myriad problems, is the premier global
organization in the realm of politics.

ROLES AND FUNCTIONS of the UNITED NATIONs

• UN stands in opposition, at least in general, to those who argue that globalization

has brought about, or is bringing about, the demise of the (nation - )state. The UN is
a global setting in which nation - states meet and deliberate.

However, the UN is not merely a setting in which nation - states meet; it is also an
independent actor.
• The two best - known state - based organs in the UN:

1.the Security Council- UN ’ s main deliberative body and

2.the General Assembly responsible for the maintenance of international peace and
security

The UN 4 broad areas.

• 1.Military issues-The UN was envisioned as a major force in managing peace and

security, especially in inter - state relations. However, it was marginalized during the
Cold War 1 largely because in the Security Council both the US and the Soviet
Union could veto proposed interventions.

• A turning point in the military role of the UN was the 1991 authorization by the
Security Council of the use of force todeal with Iraq ’ s invasion of Kuwait.
Throughout the 1990s the UN engaged in a wide variety of actions that were not
anticipated by its founders and which had been regarded previously as the province
of states. These included:

• A. interventions in civil wars in less developed countries;

• B. election and human rights monitoring,

• C. disarmament,

• D. and even the assumption of state functions (in Cambodia and East Timor,for
example) ” (Weiss and Zach 2007 : 1219). However, the expansionism of the UN in
these areas was tempered by failures in the 1990s in Somalia and Yugoslavia. In the
military realm it is also important to mention the fact that the UN has been actively
involved in arms control and disarmament.

• 2.Economic issues - promote actions that would lead to reductions in global

inequality.

• 3.Environmental issues- (e.g. pollution, hazardous wastes) which are dealt with
primarily through the United Nations Environment Programme.

• 4.Human protection -A variety of UN - sponsored human rights treaties and

agreements have protected human rights around the world.
 The Relevance of State amidst globalization

1.With globalization, the nation - state faces

innumerable challenges, leading to a significant

loss of control over economic flows and

transnational organizations.

2.Although the role of the nation - state has

declined, it is still an important political structure.

However, in the global age, the “ porosity ” of the

nation - state, the increasing global flows through

it, should be a focal concern.

Benedict Anderson’ s “ imagined community” • is an important idea in thinking about

the nation - state. As a result of the development of “ print capitalism, ” it came to be
conceived of as being actively constructed, socially and politically, by people who
identify with the community that is represented by the nation - state. This concept is
extended further by examining how the nation - state transcends its geographic
boundaries in the face of rapidly developing technology and increasing immigration
flows. Emphasis is placed on the “ re - imagining ” of the nation - state in the light of
such global flows.

Changing Geo - Political Scenario

The world can be seen as evolving through

three stages :

• bipolar (during the Cold War),

• unipolar (ascendancy of the US),

• and finally, to a tri - polar future with the US, EU, and China as the three centers of
power.

Also examined is the emergence of the United Nations, as well more specific

organizations such as UNCTAD, UNESCO, and IAEA.

GLOBAL

• What is a Global Governance?

• --is a movement towards political integration of transnational actors aimed at

negotiating responses to problems that affect more than one state or region. It tends
to involve institutionalization. These institutions of global governance—the United
Nations, the International Criminal Court, the World Bank, etc.—tend to have limited
or demarcated power to enforce compliance. The modern question of world
governance exists in the context of globalization and globalizing regimes of power:
politically, economically and culturally. In response to the acceleration of
interdependence on a worldwide scale, both between human societies and between
humankind and the biosphere, the term "global governance" may also be used to
name the process of designating laws, rules, or regulations intended for a global
scale.

New Forms of Governance

• The first is governance without government (Rosenau and Czempiel 1992),

governance without government management. For example, various matters are
managed within the nation - state without the involvement of state government.
Thus, locales and regions within the nation - state may manage themselves.

• The second is governance through various public policy networks. At the global
level, this involves government by various international institutions as well as INGOS
(International Non -Governmental Organizations; see below) and private sector
organizations of various sorts.

• Finally, governance at the global level can be normatively mediated and

moderated. Included here are efforts driven by values including the Commission on
Global Governance as well as the “Global Compact” created by former UN Secretary
-General, Kofi Annan.

CHALLENGES OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

• The increasing “premigration” of the global order. This reflects increasing global
diversity as well as the array of contradictory forces that have been unleashed as a
result. Among those contradictory forces are globalization and localization,
centralization and decentralization, and integration and fragmentation (premigration).

• The declining power of nation -states. If states themselves are less able to handle
various responsibilities, this leaves open the possibility of the emergence of some
form of global governance to fill the void.

• The vast flows of all sorts of things that run into and often right through the borders
of nation - states. This could involve the flow of digital information of all sorts through
the Internet. It is difficult, if not impossible, for a nation - state to stop such flows and
in any case it is likely that such action would be politically unpopular and bring much
negative reaction to the nation – state involved in such an effort. For example,
China’ s periodic efforts to interfere with the Internet have brought great
condemnation both internally and externally.

• The mass migration of people and their entry, often illegally, into various nation -
states. If states are unable to control this flow, then there is a need for some sort of
global governance to help deal with the problem. The flow of criminal elements, as
well as their products (drugs, laundered money, those bought and sold in sex
trafficking, etc.), is a strong factor in the call for global governance.

• Horrendous events within nation - states that the states themselves either foment
and carry out or are unable to control. For example, in Darfur, Sudan, perhaps
hundreds of thousands have been killed and millions of people displaced and the
lives of many more disrupted in a conflict that dates to early 2003.

• Then there are global problems that single nation - states cannot hope to tackle on
their own. One, of course, is the global financial crises and panics (including the
current one) that sweep the world periodically and which nations are often unable to
deal with on their own. Indeed, some nations (e.g. the nations of Southeast Asia)
have often been, and are being, victimized by such crises. Unable to help
themselves, such nations are in need of assistance from some type of global
governance.

International non – governmental organizations (INGOs):

• International not - for – profit organizations performing public functions but not
established or run by nation - states.

• The first modern INGOs are traceable to the nineteenth century (the International
Red Cross was founded in Switzerland in 1865), but they have boomed in recent
years.

• Turning point in the history of INGOs occurred in 1992 when a treaty to control the
emission of greenhouse gases was signed as a result of the actions of a variety of
groups that not only exerted external pressure, but were actually involved in the
decision - making process.

• international treaty spearheaded by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines

(ICBL). The treaty was signed in 1997 by 122 nations which agreed to stop selling
and using landmines.

Negative sides to the growth of INGOS (and civil society)

• Fundamentally, INGOs are special interest groups and therefore they may not take
into consideration wider sets of concerns and issues. • In addition, they are not
democratic, often keep their agendas secret, and are not accountable to anyone
other than their members.

• They are elitist (many involve better - off and well - educated people from the North)
– that is, undemocratic – organizations that seek to impose inappropriate universal
plans on local organizations and settings.

• Thus, they have the potential to be “loose cannons” on the global stage.

• They are seen as annoying busybodies that are forever putting their noses in the
business of others (Thomas 2007: 84 – 102).

• They often pander to public opinion and posture for the media both to attract
attention to their issues and to maintain or expand their power and membership.

• As a result, they may distort the magnitude of certain problems (e.g. overestimating
the effects, and misjudging the causes, of an oil spill) in order to advance their cause
and interests.

• Their focus on one issue may adversely affect the interest in, and ability to deal
with, many other important issues.

• The nature of the focus, and indeed the very creation, of an INGO may be a
function of its ability to attract attention and to raise funds. As a result, other worthy,
if not more worthy, issues (e.g. soil erosion, especially in Africa) may fail to attract
much, if any, attention, and interest.

• In some cases, well - meaning INGOs conflict with one another, such as those
wishing to end certain practices (e.g. logging) versus those that see those practices
as solutions (e.g. logging producing wood as a sustainable resource that is
preferable to fossil fuels).

• The North’ s control over INGOs has actually increased, leading to questions about
their relevance to the concerns of the South.
• However, perhaps the strongest criticism of INGOs is that they “seem to have
helped accelerate further state withdrawal from social provision” (Harvey 2006 :52).
In that sense they can be seen as neo - liberalism’ s “Trojan horses, ” furthering its
agenda while seeming to operate against some of its worst abuses.

Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs)

• --are organizations such as the UN that are international in scope.INGOs stand to

gain from such formal associations in various ways.

There are symbolic gains such as:

• greater legitimacy associated with being involved with such an internationally

visible organization.

• There are also the more material gains since such an organization might provide
badly needed funding to various INGOs;

• work may even be sub - contracted to INGOs and they can earn income for
performing the required tasks.

Dangers to INGOs

• They can easily become co - opted by the IGO involved.

• Less extremely, INGOs may need to become more rationalized, bureaucratized,

and professionalized in order to deal with the needs and demands of the IGO. This,
in turn, can lead to a more subtle change of orientation, and a decline in radicalism,
in an INGO.

• Other possible changes in INGOs include a loss of flexibility (as they must satisfy
the demands of the IGO which, after all, may well be the source of badly needed
funds), a decline in capacity to act quickly, and, perhaps most troubling, a loss of
autonomy and perhaps even identity.

• For their part, IGOs are affected by the involvement of INGOs. They, too, can gain
symbolically and increase their legitimacy through the involvement of high - minded
INGOs. Further, they can gain in a material sense because of the fact that less
bureaucratized INGOs can perform tasks that would be much more costly, and done
much more slowly and inefficiently, were they performed by IGOs.

• INGOs may also share a symbiotic relationship with inter - governmental

organizations (IGOs), which, while being beneficial in symbolic and material terms,
creates challenges for the INGOs in terms of loss of radicalism and autonomy.
 Chapter 6 THE WORLD OF REGIONS

1. Global Divides: The North and the South (focus: Latin

America)
2. Asian Regionalism

Global Divides: The North and the South (focus: Latin America)
Global South refers to the regions of Latin America, Asia, Africa, and
Oceania mostly low- income and often politically or culturally marginalized. It
may also be called the "developing World" such as Africa, Latin America,
and the developing countries in Asia, "developing countries," "less
developed countries," and "less developed regions”
including poorer "southern" regions of wealthy "northern" countries .
(122) (123)

In general, Global South refers to these countries' "interconnected

histories of colonialism, neo-imperialism, and differential economic and
social change through which large inequalities in living standards, life
expectancy, and access to resources are maintained . Contemporary
(124)

critics of neo-liberal globalization use the global south as a banner to rally

countries victimized by the violent economic cures of institutions like the
International Monetary Fund.

Three Primary Concepts of Global South

1. It refers to economically disadvantaged nation-states and as a post-

cold war alternative to “Third World”.

Third World" is a phrase frequently used to describe a developing

nation. The phrase "Third World" arose during the Cold War to identify
countries whose views did not align with NATO and capitalism or the Soviet
Union and communism. The First World described countries whose views
aligned with NATO and capitalism, and the Second World referred to
countries
that supported communism and the Soviet Union
.
(125a)

Third World countries are largely characterized as poor and

underdeveloped. In these countries, low levels of education, poor
infrastructure, improper sanitation and poor access to health care mean
living conditions are seen as inferior to those in the world's more developed
nations. As a result, the terms Third World country and developing nation
have become increasingly interchangeable in recent decades . (126b)
2. The Global South captures a deterritorialized geography of capitalism’s
externalities and means to account for subjugated peoples within the
borders of wealthier countries, such that there are economic Souths in the
geographic North and Norths in the geographic South.

3. It refers to the resistant imaginary of a transnational political subject that

results from a shared experience of subjugation under contemporary global
capitalism.

The global South is not a directional designation or a point due south

from a fixed north. It is a symbolic designation meant to capture the
semblance of cohesion that emerged when former colonial entities engaged
in political projects of decolonization and moved toward the realization of a
post- colonial international order .
(126)

The process of globalization places into question geographically

bound conceptions of poverty and inequality. The increase and
intensification of global flows spread both poverty and affluence. Spaces of
underdevelopment in developed countries may mirror the poverty of the
global south, and spaces of affluence mirror those of the global north .
(127)

The strongest vehicle for social redistribution and the main

mechanism for social transfer is the state. The redistributative function of
the state becomes crucial in the context of economic globalization where the
goal of neo-liberal economists and institutions is precisely to dismantle local
state oversight .
(128)

The development of the global south must begin by drawing most of the
country’s financial
resources for development from within rather than becoming dependent on
foreign investments and foreign financial markets . (129)

The global south is not relevant for those who live in countries
traditionally associated with it but also signifies that the south continues to
be globalized. It also represents emergent forms of progressive
cosmopolitanism. It is an always emergent and provisional internationalism.

New Internationalism in the Global South

The ills of the global south are being globalized. Underdeveloped

states of the global south are ravaged by merciless IMF policies in the
1980’s. The economic prescriptions of the IMF as cures are recommended
for countries in the global south. Other countries like Greece realize the
similarity of problems in the global south that inspirations were drawn from
poorer nations. The global south has provided model of resistance for the
world like Gandhi’s non
violence that initially directed at colonial authority in India is now part of
global protest culture, as well as benefits of critiques of international
financial institutions from the experiences and writings of intellectuals and
activists from the global south.
A similar globalization of the south’s concern is arising from the issue
about global environment. Amidst the existential threat of climate change the
most radical notions of climate justice are being articulated in the global
south. As global problems increase, it is necessary for people in the north to
support people from the south.
As a symbol and metaphor, global south is not only relevant for those
who live in countries traditionally associated with it. The global in global
south does not only mean that the south is the globe but also signifies that
the south continues to be globalized. The global south while embedded in
specific geographic imaginaries, represents emergent forms of progressive
cosmopolitanism. It is always emergent and provisional internationalism.

Asian Regionalism

Regionalism refers to the decentralization of political powers or

competencies from a higher towards a lower political level. More
specifically, it distinguishes between top-down from bottom up regionalism
where top - down regionalism describes the decentralization of
competencies or the establishment of regional institutions by the state while
bottom -up includes all patterns of endeavors toward political
decentralization from within the particular region .
(130)

Globalization is the intensification of economic, political, social, and

cultural relations across borders and a consciousness of that intensification,
with a concomitant diminution in the significance of territorial boundaries .
(131)

Views of Globalization in the Asia Pacific and South Asia

Globalization is an external phenomenon being pushed into the

region by world powers particularly the United States and Europe. From this
perspective, globalization can be understood as a process that transforms
the Asia Pacific and South Asia. It is a force for good bringing economic
development, political progress, and social and cultural diversity to the
region.
The Asia Pacific and South Asia refer together to the regions of
East (or Northeast) Asia, South Asia, the Pacific Islands, and South Asia. 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 also 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 . (132)

The Asia and South Pacific has emerged over the past decade as a
new political force in the world. The economies of Japan, Korea, Indonesia,
Vietnam and Pakistan have strategic relevance in today’s global system.
They are the focused of global powers outside of the region. A foreign policy
 shift called “Pacific Pivot” was implemented by the United States to commit
more resources and attention to the region. This shift which is also called
“Atlantic Century” was termed “Pacific Century” by US Secretary of States
Hilary Clinton. He stated that the Asia Pacific has become a key driver of
global politics. It is the home to several key allies and important emerging
powers like China, India, and Indonesia.
Globalization in the Asia Pacific and South Asia is an external
phenomenon being pushed into the region by world powers like US and
Europe. Globalization in this context is a process that transforms the Asia
Pacific and South Asia. It can be viewed as a force for good, bringing
economic development, political progress, and social and cultural diversity.
Asia Pacific and South Asia’s Impact on Globalization

Asia was the central global force in the early modern world economy. It was
the site of the most important trade routes and in some places more
advanced in technology than West such as science and medicine. Colonies
in the Asia pacific and South Asia influenced the West and vice versa. They
were often “laboratories of modernity” (133). Colonialism was not simply a
practice of Western Domination but a product of what one thinks of as
Western and modern.

1. Japan embarked on procuring raw materials like coal and iron at

unprecedented economies of scale allowing them to gain a competitive edge in the
global manufacturing market as well as globalized shipping and procurement patterns
which other countries modeled . (134)

2. China pursues similar pattern of development at present and is now the

world’s largest importers of basic raw materials such as iron and surpassed Japan, the
US and Europe in steel production. It also surpassed the World bank in lending to
developing countries. It had an enormous impact on the availability and consumption of
goods around the world ). This simple scale of China’s development is shaping and
(135

furthering globalization.
3. India opened -up and emphasized an export-oriented strategy. Textiles and
other low wage sectors have been a key part of the economy with highly successful
software development exports. It also plays a key role in global service provisions as
trends in outsourcing and off- shoring increase .
(136)

4. India and China have also 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. India, China and the Philippines were three of the top four recipient
states of migrant remittances.
5. The trend of the rising regional free arrangements in the Asia Pacific and
South Asia. This kind of regionalism would mean as bulwark to globalization or as
compatible and even pushing forward the process of global economic integration.
Regionalism can promote learning, assuage domestic audiences to the benefits of free
trade, and form the institutional framework to scale up from regional cooperation o
global cooperation . Regionalism can act as springboard for globalization.
(137)

One distinguishing feature of regional institutions in Asia Pacific and South Asia
is the adoption of “Open Regionalism” which aims to develop and maintain cooperation
with outside actors. This is meant to resolve the tension between the rise of regional
trade agreements and the push for global trade as embodied by World Trade
Organization (WTO) ), the only global international organization dealing with the rules
(138

of trade between nations . (139)

 “Open” refers to the principle of non-discrimination, more specifically an
openness in membership and openness in terms of economic flows . Open
(140)

regionalism is embodied by Asia Pacific Economic cooperation or APEC.

6. In culture and globalization in the region, the source of a wide variety of
cultural phenomena that have spread outward to the West and the rest of the world is
the region. Examples include “hello Kitty” created in Japan including Anime, Pokemon,
Power Rangers which become regional and global phenomenon; the regional and
global rise of Korean popular culture called ‘K-Wave” comprising of Korean dramas,
music (K-pop) and the smash hit “Gangnam Style” of Korean pop star PSY.
Asia Pacific and South Asia are on the receiving end of globalization. The
region serves as the source of many aspects of globalization process which can be
seen in history, economy, political structure and culture.

The Region-Making in Southeast Asia and Middle-

Class Formation: The Third Wave

Regionalization entails complex and dynamic interactions between

and among governmental and nongovernmental actors which resulted to
hybrid East Asia. The main engines of hybridization are explained by the
successive waves of regional economic development that is powered by
developmental states and national and transnational capitalism that
nurtured sizeable middle-classes that share a lot in common in terms of
professional lives and their lifestyles, in fashion, leisure, and entertainment,
in their aspirations and dreams. The middle-class occupies different
positions in their respective societies as well as in relation to their nation-
states as they constitute the expanding regional consumer market . (141)

The product of regional economic development in the post war era are
the middle classes in east Asia. Regional economic development took place
within the context of the American informal empire in “Free Asia”, with the
US-led regional security system and the triangular trade system as its two
major pillars. Furthermore, the national states in the region promoted it
actively under democratic or authoritarian developmentalist regimes, both of
which espoused the politics of productivity, a politics of that transformed
political issues into problems of output and sought to neutralize class conflict
in favor of a consensus on economic growth . (142)

The first wave of regional economic development took place in japan

from mid- 1950’s to the early 1970s and led to the emergence of a middle-
class by the early 1970s. The second wave took place between the 1960s
and 1980s in South Korea, Taiwan, Hongkong and Singapore and led to the
formation of middle -class societies in these countries by the 1980s.

Two salient points in the history of east Asian middle-class formation.

1. Middle class formation in Southeast Asia was driven by global and

regional transnational capitalism working in alliance with national states
while middle class in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan were created by
developmental states and national capitalism.
 2. New urban middle classes in East Asia, whether in Japan, South
Korea, Taiwan, or Southeast Asia, with their middle-class jobs, education,
and income, have in turn created their own new lifestyles commensurate
with their middle-class income and status.

Middle Classes in The Philippines

New urban middle classes emerged in the post 1986 Philippines. They were
created through growth in retail trade, manufacture, banking, real estate
development, and an expanding range of specialist services such as
accounting, advertising, computing, and market research. Fostered by
government policies of liberalization and deregulation, the development of
these new enterprises has been oriented both toward the export and
domestic markets and has entailed increasingly diverse sources of foreign
investment and variable subcontracting, franchise, and service
relationships, with a noticeable expansion of ties connecting the Philippines
to other countries in East and Southeast Asia.

Regional Implications of Middle -Class Formation in East Asia

Complex historical forces shaped new urban middle classes. They are
product of regional economic development, which has taken place in waves
under the U.S. informal empire over a half century, first in Japan, then in
South Korea, Taiwan, Hongkong, and Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia,
Indonesia and Philippines, and now in China. They are product as well for
development states. Their lifestyles have been shaped in very complex ways
by their appropriation of things American, Japanese, Chinese, South
Korean, Islamic and other ways of life, often mediated by the market.
The political consequences of the rise of East Asia middle classes
vary. The cultural and political hegemony of the South Korean middle
classes is embodied by single generation, while that of the Taiwanese
middle classes manifest itself in the political assertiveness of an ethnic
majority. Southeast Asian middle classes also exemplify the diversity and
complexity of class formation. Thai middle classes are coherent socially,
hegemonic culturally, and ascend politically; their counterparts in Malaysia
and Indonesia are socially divided, dependent on the state, politically
assertive and vulnerable; and the Philippine middle classes are socially
coherent, less dependent on the state, culturally ascendant, but politically
vacillating.

CONTEMPORARY
GLOBALGOVERNANCE CHAPTER 5

POLITICAL FLOWS

• The global flow of people, especially refugees and illegal immigrants, poses a
direct threat to the nation - state and its ability to control its borders.

• The looming crises associated with dwindling oil and water supplies threaten to
lead to riots and perhaps insurrections that could lead to the downfall of extant
governments.

• The inability of the nation - state to control economic flows dominated by MNCs, as
well as the current economic and financial crisis that is sweeping the world, is also
posing a profound threat to the nation - state (e.g. in Eastern Europe).

• Environmental problems of all sorts, especially those related to global warming, are
very likely to be destabilizing politically.

• Borderless diseases, especially malaria, TB, and AIDs in Africa, pose a danger to
political structures.

• War is the most obvious global flow threatening the nation – states involved,
especially those on the losing side.

• Global inequalities, especially the profound and growing North-South split,

threaten to pit poor nations against rich nations.

• Terrorism is clearly regarded as a threat by those nations against which it is

waged (hence the so - called “war on terrorism” in the US).

GLOBAL PROBLEMS

• Many of which (e.g. trade protection and liberalization; efforts to increase political
transparency and accountability) are political in nature.
• Finally, political structures (e.g. nation -states, the UN) initiate a wide range of
global flows (e.g. the violence sponsored by Robert Mugabe ’ s

government in Zimbabwe that led to the mass migration of millions of people from
the country).

The Nation State

• Nation: Social group linked through common

descent, culture, language, or territorial contiguity.

• National identity: A fluid and dynamic form of

collective identity; members of the community

believe that they are different from other groups.

• Nationalism: is a doctrine and (or) political

movement that seek to make the nation the basis

of a political structure, especially a state.

• State: Organizational structure outside other

socioeconomic hierarchies with relatively

autonomous office - holders.

• Nation - state: Integrates sub - groups that define

themselves as a nation with the organizational

structure of the state.

Threats to the Nation – State

The nation - state is especially threatened by the global economy and global
economic flows.

Example

• In terms of the global economy, nation - states have become little more than bit
actors”(Ohmae, 1996: 12). It refers to the borderless global economy that nation -
states are unable to control.

• B.The decline of the nation - state is linked to technological and financial changes,
as well as to “ the accelerated integration of national economies into one single
global market economy ” (Strange 1996 : 13 – 14). While nation - states once
controlled markets, it is now the markets that often control the nation - states.

2. Other factors threatening the autonomy of the nation – state

• A. including flows of information,

• B. illegal immigrants,

• C. new social movements,

• D. terrorists,

• E. criminals,

• F. drugs,

• G. money (including laundered money, and other financial instruments), • H. sex-

trafficking and much else.

• Many of these flows have been made possible by the development and continual
refinement of technologies of all sorts. The nation -state has become increasingly
porous. While this seems to be supported by a great deal of evidence, the fact is that
no nation - state has ever been able to control its borders completely (Bauman 1992:
57). Thus, it is not the porosity of the nation -state that is new, but rather what is new
is a dramatic increase in that porosity and the kinds of flows that are capable of
passing through national borders.

• International Human Rights

• Another threat to the autonomy of the nation -state is the growing interest in
international human rights (Elliott 2007: 343 – 63; Chatterjee 2008; Fredman 2008 ).

Human Rights

• defined as the “entitlement of individuals to life, security, and well - being” (Turner
1993: 489 – 512; 2007 : 591), has emerged as a major global political issue. It is
argued that because these rights are universal, the nation - state cannot abrogate
them. As a result, global human rights groups have claimed the right to be able to
have a say about what is done to people within (for example, torture of terror
suspects) and between, illegal trafficking in humans [Farr 2005] sovereign states.

• Thus, in such a view, human rights are a global matter and not exclusively a
concern of the state (Levy and Sznaider 2006 :657 – 76). Furthermore, the
implication is that the international community can and should intervene when a
state violates human rights or when a violation occurs within a state border and the
state does not take adequate action to deal with the violation.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights For example, according to Article 13:

• (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the
borders of each State.

• (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to
his country.

• It is clear in this Declaration and its Articles is that human rights take precedence
over the nation -state and that the UN is seeking to exert control over the state, at
least on these issues.

UNITED NATIONS

• The United Nations (UN), in spite of its myriad problems, is the premier global
organization in the realm of politics.

ROLES AND FUNCTIONS of the UNITED NATIONs

• UN stands in opposition, at least in general, to those who argue that globalization

has brought about, or is bringing about, the demise of the (nation - )state. The UN is
a global setting in which nation - states meet and deliberate.

However, the UN is not merely a setting in which nation - states meet; it is also an
independent actor.

• The two best - known state - based organs in the UN:

1.the Security Council- UN ’ s main deliberative body and

2.the General Assembly responsible for the maintenance of international peace and
security
The UN 4 broad areas.

• 1.Military issues-The UN was envisioned as a major force in managing peace and

security, especially in inter - state relations. However, it was marginalized during the
Cold War 1 largely because in the Security Council both the US and the Soviet
Union could veto proposed interventions.

• A turning point in the military role of the UN was the 1991 authorization by the
Security Council of the use of force todeal with Iraq ’ s invasion of Kuwait.
Throughout the 1990s the UN engaged in a wide variety of actions that were not
anticipated by its founders and which had been regarded previously as the province
of states. These included:

• A. interventions in civil wars in less developed countries;

• B. election and human rights monitoring,

• C. disarmament,

• D. and even the assumption of state functions (in Cambodia and East Timor,for
example) ” (Weiss and Zach 2007 : 1219). However, the expansionism of the UN in
these areas was tempered by failures in the 1990s in Somalia and Yugoslavia. In the
military realm it is also important to mention the fact that the UN has been actively
involved in arms control and disarmament.

• 2.Economic issues - promote actions that would lead to reductions in global

inequality.

• 3.Environmental issues- (e.g. pollution, hazardous wastes) which are dealt with
primarily through the United Nations Environment Programme.

• 4.Human protection -A variety of UN - sponsored human rights treaties and

agreements have protected human rights around the world.

The Relevance of State amidst globalization

1.With globalization, the nation - state faces

innumerable challenges, leading to a significant

loss of control over economic flows and

transnational organizations.

2.Although the role of the nation - state has

declined, it is still an important political structure.

However, in the global age, the “ porosity ” of the

nation - state, the increasing global flows through

it, should be a focal concern.

Benedict Anderson’ s “ imagined community” • is an important idea in thinking about

the nation - state. As a result of the development of “ print capitalism, ” it came to be
conceived of as being actively constructed, socially and politically, by people who
identify with the community that is represented by the nation - state. This concept is
extended further by examining how the nation - state transcends its geographic
boundaries in the face of rapidly developing technology and increasing immigration
flows. Emphasis is placed on the “ re - imagining ” of the nation - state in the light of
such global flows.

Changing Geo - Political Scenario

The world can be seen as evolving through

three stages :

• bipolar (during the Cold War),

• unipolar (ascendancy of the US),

• and finally, to a tri - polar future with the US,

EU, and China as the three centers of power.

Also examined is the emergence of the

United Nations, as well more specific

organizations such as UNCTAD, UNESCO,

and IAEA.

GLOBAL

• What is a Global Governance?

• --is a movement towards political integration of transnational actors aimed at

negotiating responses to problems that affect more than one state or region. It tends
to involve institutionalization. These institutions of global governance—the United
Nations, the International Criminal Court, the World Bank, etc.—tend to have limited
or demarcated power to enforce compliance. The modern question of world
governance exists in the context of globalization and globalizing regimes of power:
politically, economically and culturally. In response to the acceleration of
interdependence on a worldwide scale, both between human societies and between
humankind and the biosphere, the term "global governance" may also be used to
name the process of designating laws, rules, or regulations intended for a global
scale.

New Forms of Governance

• The first is governance without government (Rosenau and Czempiel 1992),

governance without government management. For example, various matters are
managed within the nation - state without the involvement of state government.
Thus, locales and regions within the nation - state may manage themselves.

• The second is governance through various public policy networks. At the global
level, this involves government by various international institutions as well as INGOS
(International Non -Governmental Organizations; see below) and private sector
organizations of various sorts.

• Finally, governance at the global level can be normatively mediated and

moderated. Included here are efforts driven by values including the Commission on
Global Governance as well as the “Global Compact” created by former UN Secretary
-General, Kofi Annan.

CHALLENGES OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

• The increasing “premigration” of the global order. This reflects increasing global
diversity as well as the array of contradictory forces that have been unleashed as a
result. Among those contradictory forces are globalization and localization,
centralization and decentralization, and integration and fragmentation (premigration).

• The declining power of nation -states. If states themselves are less able to handle
various responsibilities, this leaves open the possibility of the emergence of some
form of global governance to fill the void.

• The vast flows of all sorts of things that run into and often right through the borders
of nation - states. This could involve the flow of digital information of all sorts through
the Internet. It is difficult, if not impossible, for a nation - state to stop such flows and
in any case it is likely that such action would be politically unpopular and bring much
negative reaction to the nation – state involved in such an effort. For example,
China’ s periodic efforts to interfere with the Internet have brought great
condemnation both internally and externally.

• The mass migration of people and their entry, often illegally, into various nation -
states. If states are unable to control this flow, then there is a need for some sort of
global governance to help deal with the problem. The flow of criminal elements, as
well as their products (drugs, laundered money, those bought and sold in sex
trafficking, etc.), is a strong factor in the call for global governance.

• Horrendous events within nation - states that the states themselves either foment
and carry out or are unable to control. For example, in Darfur, Sudan, perhaps
hundreds of thousands have been killed and millions of people displaced and the
lives of many more disrupted in a conflict that dates to early 2003.

• Then there are global problems that single nation - states cannot hope to tackle on
their own. One, of course, is the global financial crises and panics (including the
current one) that sweep the world periodically and which nations are often unable to
deal with on their own. Indeed, some nations (e.g. the nations of Southeast Asia)
have often been, and are being, victimized by such crises. Unable to help
themselves, such nations are in need of assistance from some type of global
governance.

International non – governmental organizations (INGOs):

• International not - for – profit organizations performing public functions but not
established or run by nation - states.

• The first modern INGOs are traceable to the nineteenth century (the International
Red Cross was founded in Switzerland in 1865), but they have boomed in recent
years.

• Turning point in the history of INGOs occurred in 1992 when a treaty to control the
emission of greenhouse gases was signed as a result of the actions of a variety of
groups that not only exerted external pressure, but were actually involved in the
decision - making process.

• international treaty spearheaded by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines

(ICBL). The treaty was signed in 1997 by 122 nations which agreed to stop selling
and using landmines.

Negative sides to the growth of INGOS (and civil society)

• Fundamentally, INGOs are special interest groups and therefore they may not take
into consideration wider sets of concerns and issues. • In addition, they are not
democratic, often keep their agendas secret, and are not accountable to anyone
other than their members.

• They are elitist (many involve better - off and well - educated people from the North)
– that is, undemocratic – organizations that seek to impose inappropriate universal
plans on local organizations and settings.

• Thus, they have the potential to be “loose cannons” on the global stage.

• They are seen as annoying busybodies that are forever putting their noses in the
business of others (Thomas 2007: 84 – 102).

• They often pander to public opinion and posture for the media both to attract
attention to their issues and to maintain or expand their power and membership.

• As a result, they may distort the magnitude of certain problems (e.g. overestimating
the effects, and misjudging the causes, of an oil spill) in order to advance their cause
and interests.

• Their focus on one issue may adversely affect the interest in, and ability to deal
with, many other important issues.

• The nature of the focus, and indeed the very creation, of an INGO may be a
function of its ability to attract attention and to raise funds. As a result, other worthy,
if not more worthy, issues (e.g. soil erosion, especially in Africa) may fail to attract
much, if any, attention, and interest.

• In some cases, well - meaning INGOs conflict with one another, such as those
wishing to end certain practices (e.g. logging) versus those that see those practices
as solutions (e.g. logging producing wood as a sustainable resource that is
preferable to fossil fuels).

• The North’ s control over INGOs has actually increased, leading to questions about
their relevance to the concerns of the South.
• However, perhaps the strongest criticism of INGOs is that they “seem to have
helped accelerate further state withdrawal from social provision” (Harvey 2006 :52).
In that sense they can be seen as neo - liberalism’ s “Trojan horses, ” furthering its
agenda while seeming to operate against some of its worst abuses.

Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs)

• --are organizations such as the UN that are international in scope.INGOs stand to

gain from such formal associations in various ways.

There are symbolic gains such as:

• greater legitimacy associated with being involved with such an internationally

visible organization.

• There are also the more material gains since such an organization might provide
badly needed funding to various INGOs;

• work may even be sub - contracted to INGOs and they can earn income for
performing the required tasks.

Dangers to INGOs

• They can easily become co - opted by the IGO involved.

• Less extremely, INGOs may need to become more rationalized, bureaucratized,

and professionalized in order to deal with the needs and demands of the IGO. This,
in turn, can lead to a more subtle change of orientation, and a decline in radicalism,
in an INGO.

• Other possible changes in INGOs include a loss of flexibility (as they must satisfy
the demands of the IGO which, after all, may well be the source of badly needed
funds), a decline in capacity to act quickly, and, perhaps most troubling, a loss of
autonomy and perhaps even identity.

• For their part, IGOs are affected by the involvement of INGOs. They, too, can gain
symbolically and increase their legitimacy through the involvement of high - minded
INGOs. Further, they can gain in a material sense because of the fact that less
bureaucratized INGOs can perform tasks that would be much more costly, and done
much more slowly and inefficiently, were they performed by IGOs.

• INGOs may also share a symbiotic relationship with inter - governmental

organizations (IGOs), which, while being beneficial in symbolic and material terms,
creates challenges for the INGOs in terms of loss of radicalism and autonomy.
Chapter 7 THE WORLD OF IDEAS

The Global Media Cultures

Globalization and identity, globalization and human rights,

globalization and culture, or globalization and terrorism are some concepts
related to the study of globalization by many scholars. Among these
concepts, the one that offers special insights is globalization and media.
They are partners and act as a unit. Situations created through globalization
and media make people conceive they belong to one world called global
village, a term coined by Marshall Mac
Luhan in early 1960’s, a Canadian media theorist, to express the idea that
people throughout the world are interconnected through the use of new
media technologies (143).

According to scholars, the world is globalized in the 1900s upon the

advancement of media and transportation technology. Changes in
migration patterns where people move easily and advancement in media
which brought changes to human life heightens globalization. As a process,
globalization worked silently for millennia without having been given a name;
as a trend it had been with us since the beginning of history and further
argued that a multitude of threads connect us faraway places from an
ancient time . (144)

Globalization and Media

Globalization which refers to economic and political integration on a
world scale, has a crucial cultural dimension in which the media has the
central role. Global institution like the media has an impact upon the
structures and processes of the nation‐state, including its national culture.
In that sense, media globalization is about how most national media
systems have become more internationalized, becoming more open to
outside influences, both in their content and in their ownership and control
.
(145)

Five Time Periods in the Study of Globalization and Media

1. Oral Communication
Globalization as a social process is characterized by the existence of
global economic, political, cultural, linguistic and environmental
interconnections and flows that make the many of the currently existing
borders and boundaries irrelevant.
Of all forms of media, human speech is the oldest and most enduring.
Humans are allowed to cooperate and communicate through language.
Human ability to move from one place to another and to adapt to a new and
different environment are facilitated by the sharing of information of other
peoples . Languages as a means to develop the ability to communicate
(146)

across culture are the lifeline of globalization. Without language there would
be no globalization; and vice versa, without globalization there would be no
world languages . (147)
2. Script
Writing is humankind’s principal technology for collecting, manipulating,
storing, retrieving, communicating and disseminating information. Writing
may have been invented independently three times in different parts of the
world: in the Near East, China and Mesoamerica. Writing is a system of
graphic marks representing the units of a specific language. Cuneiform
script created in Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq, is the only writing system
which can be traced to its earliest prehistoric origin.

This antecedent of the cuneiform script was a system of counting and

recording goods with clay tokens. The evolution of writing from tokens to
pictography, syllabary and alphabet illustrates the development of
information processing to deal with larger amounts of data in ever greater
abstraction . (148)

Humans communicate and shared knowledge and ideas through script- the
very first writing. The origin of writing was in the form of carvings such as
wood, stone, bones and others. The medium that drove humans to
globalization was the script of Ancient Egyptian written in papyrus (plant).
Written and orderly arrangement of documents pertaining to religious,
cultural, economic and religious practices are done through script for
dissemination to other places. These can also be
handed down from generation to generation. Script is an important tool for
globalization as it considers the integration of economy, politics and culture
to the world. The great civilization from Egypt to Rome and China were
made possible through script . (149)

3.The Printing Press

The printing press is a device that allows for the mass
production of uniform printed matter, mainly text in the form of
books, pamphlets and newspapers . It revolutionized society in
(150)

China where it was created.

Johannes Gutenberg further developed this in the 15 century with his
th

invention of the Gutenberg press.

The following are the consequences of the printing press : (151)

1. The printing press changed the very nature of knowledge. It preserved

knowledge which had been more malleable in oral cultures. It also
standardized knowledge.

2. Print encouraged the challenge of political and religious authority

because of its ability to circulate competing views. Printing press
encouraged the literacy of the public and the growth of schools.

Lands and culture were learned by people through travels.

News around the world were brought through inexpensive and
easily obtained magazines and daily newspapers. People learned
 about the world. Indeed, printing press helped foster globalization
and knowledge of globalization.

4. Electronic Media

It refers to the broadcast or storage media that take advantage of

electronic technology. They may include television, radio, internet, fax, CD-
ROMs, DVD, and any other medium that requires electricity or digital
encoding of information. The term electronic media is often used in contrast
with print media . (152)

On going globalization processes such as economic, political, and cultural

are revolutionized by a host of new media in the beginning of the 19th
century. These electronic media in the likes of telegraph, telephone, radio,
film, and television continously open up new perspectives of globalization.
In the 20th century, the only available mass media in remote villages was
the radio while film was soon developed as an artistic medium for great
cultural expression. The most powerful and pervasive mass media is
television as it brought the visual and aural power of film with the
accessibility of radio. The introduction of television was a defining moment
in globalization . Thus, the world is proclaimed a global village because of
(153)

television . (154)

5. Digital Media

Phones and television are now considered digital while computer is

considered the most important media influencing globalization. Computers
give access to global and market place and transformed cultural life. The
following are the companies involved in globalization: Microsoft, Apple,
Google, and Facebook.

Our daily life is revolutionized by digital media. People are able to

adopt and adapt new practices like fashion, sports, music, food and many
others through access of information provided by computers. They also
exchange ideas, establish relations and linkages through the use of skype,
google, chat, and zoom.

Popular Music and Globalization

Music participates in the reinforcing of boundaries of culture and
identity. Popular music explains the complex dynamics of globalization not
only because it is popular but music is highly mediated, is deeply invested
in meaning and has proven to be an extremely mobile and resourceful
capital .
(155)

World music is defined as the umbrella category which various types of

traditional and non- Western music are produced for Western consumption
 ). It is a label of industrial origin that westernrefers to an amalgamated
(156

global marketplace of sounds as ethnic commodities .(157)

Globalization is not something that happen to music or has a certain impact

on it. Changes in musical culture constitute one of the aspects of
globalization, and they concern institutions, system of value, and social
groups involved in musical life ). The change in popular music is not the
(158

outcome of globalization but rather popular music industry is a part of

globalization phenomena . (159)

The Globalization of Religion

Globalization implicates religions in several ways. It calls forth

religious response and interpretation. Religions played important roles in
bringing about and characterizing globalization. Among the consequences
of this implication for religion is that globalization encourages religious
pluralism. Religions identify themselves in relation to one another, and they
become less rooted in particular places because of diasporas and
transnational ties. Globalization further provides fertile ground for a variety
of noninstitutionalized religious manifestations and for the development of
religion as a political and cultural resource .
(160)

Perspectives on the Role of Religion in the

Globalization Process

1. The Modernist Perspective.

It is the perspective of most intellectuals and academics. Its view is
that all secularizations would eventually look alike and the different religions
would all end up as the same secular and “rational” philosophy. It sees
religion revivals as sometimes being a reaction to the Enlightenment and
modernization.

2. Post-Modernist Perspective.

It rejects the Enlightenment, modernist values of rationalism,

empiricism, and science, along with the Enlightenment, modernist
structures of capitalism, bureaucracy, and even liberalism. The core value
of post-modernism is expressive individualism. The post-modernist
perspective can include “spiritual experiences,” but only those without
religious constraints. Post
modernism is largely hyper- secularism, and it joins modernism in
predicting, and eagerly anticipating, the disappearance of traditional
religions. Globalization, by breaking up and dissolving every traditional,
local, and national structure, will bring about the universal triumph of
expressive individualism.

3. The Pre-Modernist Perspective.

 There is an alternative perspective, one which is post-modern in its
occurrence but which is pre-modern in its sensibility. It is best represented
and articulated by the Roman Catholic Church, especially by Pope John
Paul II. The Pope’s understanding is drawn from his experiences with
Poland, but it encompasses events in other countries as well. Each religion
has secularized in its own distinctive way, which has resulted in its own
distinctive secular outcome. This suggests that even if globalization brings
about more secularization, it will not soon bring about one common, global
worldview.

Secularization is understood as a shift in the overall frameworks of

human condition; it makes it possible for people to have a choice
between belief and non belief in a manner glocalizahitherto unknown . (162 )

Transnational Religion and Multiple Glocalization

Throughout the 20th century migration of faiths across the globe has
been a major feature. One of these features is the deterritorialization of
religion – that is , the appearance and the efflorescence of religious
traditions in places where these previously had been largely unknown or
were at least in a minority position .(163)

Transnational religion is a means of describing solutions to new-

found situations that people face as a result of migration and it comes as
two quite distinct blends of religious universalism and local particularism.
1. It is possible for religious universalism to gain the upperhand,
whereby universalism becomes the central reference for immigrant
communities. In such instances, religious transnationalism is often
depicted as a religion going global.

2. It is possible for local ethnic or national particularism to gain or

maintain the most important place for local immigrant communities.

In such instances, transnational national communities are

constructed and religious hierarchies perform dual religious and secular
functions that ensure the groups’ survival . Fundamentalist or revivalist
(164)

movement attempt to construct pure religion that sheds the cultural tradition
in which past religious life was immersed . (165)

Transnational religion is used to describe cases of institutional

transnationalism whereby communities living outside the national territory of
particular states maintain religious attachments to their home churches or
institutional .
(166)

Indigenization, hybridization or glocalization are processes that

register the ability of religion to mould into the fabric of different
communities in ways that connect it intimately with communal and local
relations . Global -local or glocal religion represents a genre of
(167)

expression, communication and individual identities . It involves the

(168)

consideration of an entire range of responses as outcomes instead of a

single master narrative of secularization and modernization . (169)

Forms of Glocalization

1. indigenization

2. vernacularization

3. nationalization
4. transnationalization

Indigenization is connected with the specific faiths with ethnic

groups whereby religion and culture were often fused into a single unit. It is
also connected to the survival of particular ethnic groups.
Vernacularization involved the rise of vernacular language endowed with
the symbolic ability of offering privileged access to the sacred and often
promoted by empires . (170)

Nationalization connected the consolidation of specific nations with

particular confessions and has been a popular strategy both in Western and
eastern Europe . Transnationalization complemented religious
(171)

nationalization by forcing groups to identify with specific religious traditions

of real or imagine national homelands or to adopt a more universalist vision
of religion . (172)

References:
 Chapter 8 GLOBAL POPULATION AND MOBILITY

1. The Global City

2. Global Demography
3. Global Migration

Global City: Its Definition and Concepts

As defined, a global city is an urban centre that enjoys significant
competitive advantages and that serves as a hub within a globalized
economic system. The term has its origins in research on cities carried
out during the 1980s, which examined the common characteristics of the
world’s most important cities. However, with increased attention being
paid to processes of globalization during subsequent years, these world
cities came to be known as global cities. Linked with globalization was the
idea of spatial reorganization and the hypothesis that cities were
becoming key loci within global networks of production, finance, and
telecommunications. In some formulations of the global city thesis, then,
such cities are seen as the building blocks of globalization. 173

What constitutes a global city were primarily economic. As such, New

York, London, and Tokyo can be identified as global cities, all of which
are hubs of global finance and capitalism. This concept of global cities
174

was used to describe these three urban centers of New York, London,
and Tokyo as economic centers that exert control over the world’s political
economy. World cities are categorized as such based on the global reach
of organization found in them. Not only are there inequalities between
these cities there also exists inequalities within each city. Alternatively,
175

these cities can be seen as important nodes in a variety of global

networks.176

Although cities are major beneficiaries of globalization, they are

also the most severely affected by global problems. Therefore the city
faces peculiar political problems, wherein it is often fruitlessly seeing to
deal locally with global problems and local politics has become
overloaded. 177

Indicators of a Global City

The following are the foremost characteristics of a global city. 178

1. Seats of Economic Power

New York may have the largest stock market in the world but Tokyo
houses the most number of corporate headquarters (613 company
headquarters as against 217 in New York, its competitor). Shanghai may
have a smaller stock market compared to New York and Tokyo, but plays
a critical role in the global economic supply chain ever since China has
become the manufacturing center of the world. Shanghai has the world’s
busiest container port, moving over 33 million container units in 2013.
2. Centers of Authority
Washington DC may not be wealthy as New York but it is the seat
of American state power. People around the world know its major
landmarks: the White House, the Capitol Building (Congress), the
Supreme Court, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument.
Similarly, compared with Sydney and Melbourne, Canberra is a sleepy
town and thus is not as attractive to tourists. But as Australia’s political
capital, it is home to the country’s top politicians, bureaucrats, and policy
advisors.
3. Centers of Political Influence
Cities that house major international organizations may also be
considered centers of political influence. The headquaters of the United
Nations is in New York, and that of the European Union is in Brussels. An
influential political city near the Philippines is Jakarta, which is not just the
capital of Indonesia, but also the location of the main headquarters of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Powerful political hubs exert influence on their own countires as well as on
international affairs. The European Central Bank which oversees the Euro
(the European Union’s currency), is based in Frankfurt.
4. Centers of Higher Learning and Culture
A city’s intellectual influence is seen through the influence of its
publishing industry. Many of the books that people read are published in
places like New York, London, or Paris. The New York Times carries the
name of New York City but it is far from being a local newspaper. People
read it not just across America, but also all over the world. One of the
reasons for many tourists visiting Boston is that they want to see Harvard
University - the world’s top university.
Many Asian teenagers are moving to cities in Australia because of the
leading language universities there. Los Angeles, the center of the
American film industry may also be considered a global city. A less
obvious example, however, is Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. It is
so small that one can tour the entire city by bicycle in thirty minutes. It is
not the home of a major stock market, and its population is rather
homogenous. However, Copenhagen is now considered as one of the
culinary capitals of the world, with its top restaurants incommensurate
with its size. Similarly, Manchester, England in the 1980’s was a dreary,
industrial city. But many prominent post-punk and New Wave bands - Joy
Division, the Smiths, the Happy Mondays - hailed from this city, making it
a global household name.
In Southeast Asia, Singapore is slowly becoming a cultural hub for
the region. It now houses some of the region’s top television stations and
news organization (MTV Southeast Asia and Channel News Asia). Its
various art galleries and cinemas also show paintings from artists and
 filmmakers respectively from the Philippines and Thailand. It is, in fact,
sometimes easier to watch the movie of a Filipino indie filmmaker in
Singapore than it is in Manila.
5. Economic Opportunities
Economic opportunities in a global city make it attractive to talents
from across the world. Since the 1970’s, many of the top IT
programmers and engineers from Asia have moved to San Francisco
Bay Area to become some of the key figures in Silicon Valley’s
technology boom. London remains a preferred destination for many
Filipinos with nursing degrees.
6. Economic Competitiveness
The Economist Intelligence Unit has added other criteria like market
size, purchasing power of citizens, size of the middle class, and potential
for growth. Based on this criteria, tiny Singapore is considered Asia’s
most competitive city because of its strong market, efficient and
incorruptible government, and livability. It also houses the regional offices
179

of many major global corporations.

Cities as Engines of Globalization

Cities are the engines of globalization. They are social magnets,

growing faster and faster. In the current generation, urban life has
become the dominant form of human life throughout the world. An
increasing number of large cities, with populations of over five million, are
already identified as global cities, cities that are nodes of global as much
as national networks. In 2000, there were 18 megacities (over 10 million)
‚ such as Mumbai, Tokyo, New York City/Newark and Mexico City had
populations in excess of 10 million inhabitants. Greater Tokyo already has
35 million. The Hong Kong/Guangzhou area is even larger, perhaps 120
million.

The social magnetism of these urban areas is generating larger and

denser metropolitan communities to the point that they are joining
together to become regional conurbations. In 1900, 5% of the world
population was urban. In 2007, the count passed 50%. By 2050, up to
75% is anticipated. Urban growth is faster outside the Western world,
fastest in the poorest areas, such as Africa and the poorer parts of Asia,
producing the most serious problems‚ which as the processes of
globalization also progress will cease to be African and Asian problems
and will become global problems. Movement into cities increases political
voice and participation, as previously isolated rural populations become
players on city streets, on the Internet, and in migration.

As the pace of growth accelerates, the distinguishing cultural

features of established historical cities become diluted. Established
institutional forms of governance and services do not work with larger
numbers. In the past, cities worked differently in culturally different parts
of the world, and experienced different problems. Now, institutional
innovation is failing to keep up with the rate of growth and change, and
the problems confronting urban populations depend more on size and the
rate of growth than on cultural expectations. 180

Global Demography

Demography: Meaning and Its Origin

The term demography was derived from the Greek word demos for
“population” and graphia for “description” or “writing,” thus the phrase,
“writings about population.” 181 It was coined by Achille Guillard, a Belgian
statistician, in 1855. However, the origins of modern demography can be
traced back to the John Graunt’s analysis of ‘Bills of Mortality’ which was
published in 1662. 182

By its meaning, as cited by Tulchinsky, demography refers to the

study of populations, with reference to size and density, fertility, mortality,
growth, age distribution, migration, and vital statistics and the interaction
of all these with social and economic conditions”. As such, demography is
based on vital statistics reporting and special surveys of population size
and density; it measures trends over time. 183

Demographic transition started in mid- or late 1700’s in Europe.

During that time, death rates and fertility began to decline. High to low
fertility happened 200 years in France and 100 years in the United States.
In other parts of the world, the transition began later. It was only in the 20 th

century that mortality decline in Africa and Asia, with the exemption of
Japan. In India, life expectancy in India was only 24 years in the early 20 th

century while the same life expectancy

occurred in China in 1929 until 1931. Fertility decline in Asia did not begin
until the 1950’s and so on. In the case of Japan, it was until the 1930’s
184

that “total fertility rate did not drop below five births per woman”. This
185

resulted in rapid population growth after the Second World War affecting
the age structure of Asia and the developing world. Specifically, the baby
boom in the developing world was caused by the decline of infant and
child mortality rates. The West, on the other hand, experienced baby
boom that resulted from rising birth rates.

Effect of Demographic Transition

A remarkable effect of the demographic transition is ‘the enormous

gap in life expectancy that emerged between Japan and the West on the
one hand and the rest of the world on the other.” By 1820, the life
expectancy at birth of Japan and the West was 12 years greater than that
of other countries. It increased by 20 years by 1900. Although there was
an improvement in life expectancy all throughout the world in 1900-1950,
the gap had reached 22 years. In 1999, the gap declined to 14 years.
These differences in time of transition affected the global population.
During the 19 century, Europe and the West had an increased in share in
th

the world’s population, from 22.0 percent to 33.0 percent, while Asia and
Oceania’s contribution dropped from 69.0 percent to 56.7. India and
China suffered from economic stagnation and decline during that time. 186

There was a reverse in global population shares during the 20 th

century as Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania had high levels of
population growth rates. Population growth shows a more remarkable
shift: “Between 1820 and 1980, 69.3 percent of the world’s population
growth occurred in Europe and Western offshoots. Between 1950 and
2000, however, only 11.7 percent occurred in the region.” 187

The United States projected that population growth will be shifted

toward Africa. It is estimated that by 2150, the region’s share to the world
population will be almost 20 percent, relatively much greater than its
share in 1820 (seven percent) and in 1900 (six percent). Also, in 2150,
there will be a projected increase of two billion if we combine the
population of Asia, Latin America, and Oceania.

In terms of age structure, the overall trend in Japan and the West
was downward until 1950. Their dependency ratio was close to 0.5. It
only increased, although temporary, when the baby boom after the
Second World War occurred. Japan’s dependency ratio, however,
increased between 1888 and 1920. its dependency ratio was higher than
the West between 1920 and
the early 1950’s. It dropped in 1970 and later since its precipitous decline
in childbearing during the 1950’s and low fertility rates in recent years.

The developing countries like India and the Philippines had higher
dependency ratios than the West in 1900. A great increase in
dependency ratio was caused by the decline in infant and child mortality
and high levels of fertility, with its peak around 1970.

Dependency ratios started to disappear because there is a decline

in global birth rate. Furthermore, the gap in fertility between the West and
the less developed countries became smaller by the 21 century. Over the
st

next 50 years, the cases of dependency ratios of these two areas in the
world will be reversed. 188
The aging populations will cause a rise in
dependency ratio, starting in the West.

Theory of Demographic Transition

Demographic transition theory suggests that future population

growth will develop along a predictable four- or five-stage model. 189
Stage 1

In stage one, pre-industrial society, death rates and birth rates are
high and roughly in balance. An example of this stage is the United
States in the 1800s. All human populations are believed to have had this
balance until the late 18th century, when this balance ended in Western
Europe. In fact, growth rates were less than 0.05% at least since the
Agricultural Revolution over 10,000 years ago.

Population growth is typically very slow in this stage, because the

society is constrained by the available food supply; therefore, unless the
society develops new technologies to increase food production (e.g.
discovers new sources of food or achieves higher crop yields), any
fluctuations in birth rates are soon matched by death rates.

Stage 2

In stage two, that of a developing country, death rates drop rapidly

due to improvements in food supply and sanitation, which increase life
spans and reduce disease. Afghanistan is currently in this stage.
The improvements specific to food supply typically include selective
breeding and crop rotation and farming techniques. Other improvements
generally include access to technology, basic healthcare, and education.
For example, numerous improvements in public health reduce mortality,
especially childhood mortality. Prior to the mid-20th
century, these improvements in public health were primarily in the areas of
food handling, water supply, sewage, and personal hygiene. Another
variable often cited is the increase in female literacy combined with public
health education programs which emerged in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries.

In Europe, the death rate decline started in the late 18th century in
northwestern Europe and spread to the south and east over
approximately the next 100 years. Without a corresponding fall in birth
rates this produces an imbalance, and the countries in this stage
experience a large increase in population.

Stage 3

In stage three, birth rates fall. Mexico’s population is at this stage.

Birth rates decrease due to various fertility factors such as access to
contraception, increases in wages, urbanization, a reduction in
subsistence agriculture, an increase in the status and education of
women, a reduction in the value of children’s work, an increase in
parental investment in the education of children and other social changes.
Population growth begins to level off. The birth rate decline in developed
countries started in the late 19th century in northern Europe.

While improvements in contraception do play a role in birth rate

decline, it should be noted that contraceptives were not generally
available nor widely used in the 19th century and as a result likely did not
play a significant role in the decline then.

It is important to note that birth rate decline is caused also by a

transition in values; not just because of the availability of contraceptives.

Stage 4

During stage four, there are both low birth rates and low death
rates. Birth rates may drop to well below replacement level as has
happened in countries like Germany, Italy, and Japan, leading to a
shrinking population, a threat to many industries that rely on population
growth. Sweden is considered to currently be in Stage 4.

As the large group born during stage two ages, it creates an

economic burden on the shrinking working population. Death rates may
remain consistently low or increase slightly due to increases in lifestyle
diseases due to low exercise levels and high obesity and an aging
population in developed countries. By the late 20th century, birth rates and
death rates in developed countries leveled off at lower rates.

Stage 5 (Debated)

Some scholars delineate a separate fifth stage of below-replacement

fertility levels. Others hypothesize a different stage five involving an
increase in fertility. The United Nations Population Fund (2008)
categorizes nations as high-fertility, intermediate-fertility, or low-fertility.
The United Nations (UN) anticipates the population growth will triple
between 2011 and 2100 in high-fertility countries, which are currently
concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa.
For countries with intermediate fertility rates (the United States,
India, and Mexico all fall into this category), growth is expected to be
about 26 percent. Low-fertility countries like China, Australia, and most of
Europe will actually see population decline of approximately 20 percent.

Global Migration: Meaning and Concept

Globalization has made migration possible and an inevitable fact.

As defined by Cambridge dictionary, global migration is a situation in
190

which people go to live in foreign countries especially to find a job.

Though it can be often seen as a permanent move rather than a complex
series of backward or onward series, the term migration is often
191

conceptualized as a move from an origin to a destination, or from a place

of birth to another destination across administrative borders within a
country or international borders. 192
Types of Migration

Internal migration
This refers to people moving from one area to another within one
country
International migration
This refers to the movement people who cross the
borders of one country to another.

The latter can be broken down into five groups:

First are those who move permanently to another country (immigrants). The
second refers to workers who stay in another country for a fixed period (at
least 6 months in a year). Illegal immigrants comprise the third group,
193

while the fourth are migrants whose families have “petitioned” them to move
to the destination country. The fifth group are refugees (also known as
assylum-seekers), i.e., those “unable or unwilling to return because of a well-
founded fear of persecution on acccount of race, religion, nationality,
membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. “194

Many countries face issues of illegal migration. The United States

faces a major influx of illegal immigrants from Mexico and other Central
American states . A fence is being constructed on the US-Mexico border
195

to control this flow of people. However, its efficacy is questioned and it is

196

thought that it will only be illegal immigrants to adopt more dangerous

methods to gain entry. In addition, tighter borders have also had the effect
of “locking in” people who might otherwise have left the country. Other
197

countries with similar concerns about illegal immigration include Great

Britain, Switzerland, and Greece as well as other countries in Asia.
A strong case can be made on the backlash against illegal
immigrants . In the North, such immigrants constitute a younger
198

workforce that does work which locals may not perform,

and they are consumers who contribute to growth. They also send
remittances back to family members in the country of origin, which
improves the lives of the recipients, reduces poverty rates, and increases
the level of education as well as the foreign reserves of the home country
. Banks are often unwilling or unable to handle the type (small amounts of
199

money) and volume of remittances. As a result, specialized organizations

play a major role in the transmission of remittances. In terms of
remittances, the Philippines is one of the leaders when it comes to the
flow of remittances ($14.7 billion), next to India ($24.5 billion) and China
($21.1 billion). 200

Reasons for Migration

 People decide to migrate because of push and pull factors. A push
factor induces people to move out of their present location, whereas a
pull factor induces people to move into a new location. As migration for
most people is a major step not taken lightly, both push and pull factors
typically play a role. To migrate, people view their current place of
residence so negatively that they feel pushed away, and they view
another place so attractively that they feel pulled toward it. The following
201

are the factors underlying the global movement of the people.

1. Cultural Factor
Cultural factor can be especially a compelling push factor, forcing
people to emigrate from a country. Forced international migration has
historically occurred for two main cultural reasons: slavery and political
instability. Millions of people were shipped to other countries as slaves or
as prisoners, especially from Africa to the Western Hemisphere, during
the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Large groups of people are
no longer forced to migrate as slaves, but forced international migration
persists because of political instability resulting from cultural diversity.
2. Socio-political Factor
Socio-political factors have become more prominent force to initiate
migration activities. Political instability in some parts of the world is
responsible for migration that needs to be addressed by the scholars of
the world. Situation of war, oppression and the lack of socio political rights
are the major factors of migration in contemporary time. Lack of political
rights and prevalent exploitation of a particular group or community in any
nation state act as push factors for migration to get away from such
situation.
Social conflict forces millions of human creature to leave
sometimes their homes and even their homeland every year to continue
breathing on this planet. This displacement creates a humanitarian
nightmare. This human crisis threatens the security of displaced people.
The journalists around the globe describe such situation with their voice
that attracts the people’s attention towards this crisis. For example, we
can quote some headlines as sample ‘growing stream of refugees’ from
Sudan, a ‘flood of boat people’ trying to reach Australia, and a ‘tide of
refugees’ inundating Florida. 202

3. Environmental Factor
Despite the fact that human relocation is a fundamental piece of
history and culture of world, ecological change assumes a contributing
part in influencing populace movement, especially on local level.
According to IOM (International Organisation of Migration):
“Environmental migrants are persons or groups of persons who, for
compelling reasons of sudden or progressive changes in the environment
that adversely affect their lives or living conditions, are obliged to leave
their habitual homes, or choose to do so, either temporarily or
permanently, and who move either within their country or abroad”. This 203

definition comprises the people who have been displaced by natural

disasters and those who choose to migrate because of worsening
environmental condition of a particular area. The environmentally caused
migration can be internal as well as international.
Environmental migrants commonly suffer with great risks to remain
without legal protection. Sometimes they find themselves outside of their
own country and also within the country. When world leaders of most of
the countries came together in Paris to discuss the matter of climate
change and its consequences for migration, it seemed like they would find
long term solution. According to The European Commission, “The
greatest single impact of climate change could be on human migration
with millions of people displaced by shoreline erosion, coastal flooding,
and agricultural disruption—a crisis in the making.”204

4. Economic Factors
Migration is a process affecting individuals and their families economically.
It ensues as a response to economic development along with social and
cultural factors. Recent studies on the economic impact of migration in
European countries as well as other part of the world have reflected fresh
comparative evidence that provides boost for economy. International
migration has two-way effects on economic growth. Though it is still
debatable about its positive impact on GDP growth of a host country, it is
worldwidely recognised that migration expands the skilled workforce.
A recent UNCTAD report notes: ‘Remittances are more stable and
predictable as compared to other financial flows and, more importantly,
they are counter-cyclical providing buffer against economic shocks. In
conflict or post–conflict situations, remittances can be crucial to survival,
sustenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction. In providing primarily for
household livelihoods, remittances are spent on general consumption
items in local communities that contribute to local economies by
supporting small businesses.
Moreover, in contributing to foreign exchange earnings, remittances
can spur economic growth by improving sending countries’ credit
worthiness and expanding their access to international capital markets’. 205

It is also important to consider the impact of return migration on the

economy of a particular country. Return migration has always put impacts
on, at various levels, of economy as well as society in whole.

According to World Migration Report published in 2018, “The total

estimated 244 million people living in a country other than their country of
birth in 2015 is almost 100 million more than in 1990 (when it was 153
million), and over three times the estimated number in 1970 (84
million).While the proportion of international migrants globally has
increased over this period, it is evident that the vast majority of people
continue to live in the country in which they were born. Most international
migrants in 2015 (around 72%) were of working age (20 to 64 years of
age), with a slight decrease in migrants aged less than 20 between 2000
and 2015 (17% to 15%), and a constant share 159 (around
12%) of international migrants aged 65 years or more since 2000. 206

Dependency Ratio

Chapter 9 TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE WORLD

Sustainable Development and Climate Change

By its meaning, sustainable development has been variously
defined, but one of the most quoted definitions of this term is from the
Brundtland Report also known as Our Common Future, which is a
publication released by the World Commission on Environment and
Development in 1987, “sustainable development is development that
meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.” 207

As this term primarily relates to how the needs of the people

basically through the consumption and utilization of resources,
sustainable development is often linked with climate change which due to
its hazardous effects in the environment is known to be a major restriction
in achieving sustainability.
This link between sustainable development and climate change is
considered strong. Poor developing countries particularly those
developed countries tend to be the most severely affected by climate
change. Undoubtedly, climate change is often seen as a part of the
broader challenge in sustainable development thru a two-fold link: 208

1. Impacts of climate change can severely hamper

development efforts in key sector (e.g. increased threat of
natural disasters and growing water stress will have to be
factored into plans for public health infrastructure)
2. Development choice will influence the capacity to mitigate
and adapt to climate change (e.g. policies for forest
conservation and sustainable energy will improve
communities’ resilience reducing thereby the vulnerability of
their sources of income to climate change)
In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Member
States express their commitment to protect the planet from degradation
and take urgent action on climate change. The Agenda also identifies, in
its paragraph 14, climate change as “one of the greatest challenges of our
time” and worries about “its adverse impacts undermine the ability of all
countries to achieve sustainable development. Increases in global
temperature, sea level rise, ocean acidification and other climate change
impacts are seriously affecting coastal areas and low-lying coastal
countries, including many least developed countries and Small Island
Developing States. The survival of many societies, and of the biological
support systems of the planet, is at risk”. 209

Various efforts are underway to deal with climate. However, strong

resistance on the part of governments and corporations counters these.
There are significant challenges involved in implementing various
measures such as “carbon tax” and ‘carbon neutrality” to deal with
environmental problems. It is also difficult to find alternatives to fossil
210

fuels. For instance, the use of ethanol as an alternative to gasoline has an

attendant set of problems - it is less efficient and it has led to escalation in
the price of corn, which currently serves as major source of ethanol.
Although biofuels themselves produce lower emissions, their extraction
and transport contribute significantly to total emissions. 211

The World’s Leading Environmental Problems

The Conserve Energy Future website lists the following

212

environmental challenges that the world faces today:

1. Depredation caused by industrial and transportation toxins and plastic
in the ground; the defiling of the sea, rivers, and water beds by oil spills
and acid rain; the dumping of urban waste
Changes in global weather patterns (flash floods, extreme snowstorms,
and the spread of deserts) and the surge in ocean and land
temperatures leading to a rise in sea levels (as the polar ice caps melt
because of the weather), plus the flooding of many lowland areas
across the world
2. Overpopulation
3. Exhaustion of the world’s natural non-renewable resources from oil
reserves to minerals to potable water
4. Waste disposal catastrophe due to excessive amount of waste (from
plastic to food packages to electronic waste) unloaded by communities in
landfills as well as on the ocean; and dumping of nuclear waste
5. Destruction of million-year-old ecosystems and the loss of biodiversity
(destruction of the coral reefs and massive deforestation) that have led to
the extinction of particular species and decline in the number of others
6. Reduction of oxygen and increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
due to deforestation, resulting in the rise in ocean acidity by as much as
150 percent in the last 250 years
7. Depletion of ozone layer protecting the planet from the sun’s deadly
ultraviolet rays due to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the atmosphere
8. Deadly acid rain as a result of fossil fuel combustion, toxic chemicals
from erupting volcanoes, and the massive rotting vegetables filling up
garbage dumps or left on the streets
9. Water pollution arising from industrial and community waste residues
seeping into underground water tables, rivers and seas
10. Urban sprawls that continue to expand as a city turns into a
megalopolis, destroying farmlands, increasing traffic gridlock, and making
smog cloud a permanent urban fixture
 11. Pandemics and other threats to public health arising from wastes with
drinking water, polluted environment that become the breeding grounds
for mosquitoes and disease carrying rodents, and pollution
12. A radical alteration of food systems because of genetic
modifications in food production Global Food Security

What is Food Security?

As said, food security exists when all people, at all times, have
access to adequate, safe, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs
and food preferences for an active and healthy life. This widely accepted
213

definition of food security emphasizes the four dimensions of food

security which are as follows:
214

1. food access: access to adequate resources to acquire a healthy and

nutritious diet
2. food use: use of food through adequate diet, clean water and
health care to reach the state of a healthy well-being
3. availability: availability of adequate supply of food, produced
either through domestic or foreign import, including as well the
food aid received from outside the country
4. stability: access to sufficient food at all times, without losing
access to food supply brought by either economic or climatic crisis
Global Food Security: Issues, Interventions and Public Policy
Implications

The global food security situation and outlook remains delicately

imbalanced amid surplus food production and the prevalence of hunger,
due to the complex interplay of social, economic, and ecological factors
that mediate food security outcomes at various human and institutional
scales. Food production outpaced food demand over the past 50 years
due to expansion in crop area and irrigation, as well as supportive policy
and institutional interventions that led to the fast and sustained growth in
agricultural productivity and improved food security in many parts of the
world. However, future predictions point to a slow-down in agricultural
productivity and a food- gap mainly in areas across Africa and Asia which
are having ongoing food security issues.

The problem of food insecurity is expected to worsen due to,

among others, rapid population growth and other emerging challenges
such as climate change and rising demand for biofuels. Climate change
poses complex challenges in terms of increased variability and risk for
food producers and the energy and water sectors. There is a need to look
beyond agriculture and invest in affordable and suitable farm technologies
if the problem of food insecurity is to be addressed in a sustainable
manner. This requires both revisiting the current approach of agricultural
intervention and reorienting the existing agricultural research institutions
and policy framework.
 Proactive interventions and policies for tackling food security are to
be discussed which include issues such as agriculture for development,
ecosystem services from agriculture, and gender mainstreaming, to
extend the focus on food security within and beyond the agriculture
sector, by incorporating cross-cutting issues such as energy security,
resource reuse and recovery, social protection programs, and involving
civil society in food policy making processes by promoting food
sovereignty. 215

Challenges in Food Security

Demand for food will be 60% greater than it is today and the
challenge of food security requires the world to feed 9 billion people by
2050. Global food security means delivering sufficient food to the entire
world population. It is, therefore, a priority of all countries, whether
developed or less developed. The security of food also means the
sustainability of society such as population growth, climate change, water
scarcity, and agriculture. The case of India show how complex the issue
of food security is in relation to other factors:
Agriculture accounts for 18% of the economy’s output and 47% of
its workforce. India is the second biggest producer of fruits and
vegetables in the world. Yet, according to the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, some 194 million Indians are
undernourished, the largest number of hungry people in any single
country. An estimated 15.2% of the population of India are too
malnourished to lead a normal life. A third of the world’s malnourished
children live in India (n.p.) 216

But perhaps the closest aspect of human life associated with food
security is the environment. A major environmental problem is the
destruction of natural habitats, particularly through deforestation. 217

Industrial fishing has contributed to a significant destruction of marine life

and ecosystems. Biodiversity and usable farmland have also declined at
218

a rapid pace.
Another significant environmental challenge is that of the decline in the
availability of
fresh water. Because of the degradation of soil or desertification, decline
219

in water supply has transformed what was once considered a public good
into a privatized commodity. The poorest areas of the globe experience
220

a disproportionate share of water-related problems. The problem is

further intensified by the consumption of “virtual water”, wherein people
use up water from elsewhere to produce consumer products. The 221

destruction of the water ecosystem may lead to the creation of “climate

refugees, people who are forcibly displaced due to effects of climate
change and disasters. 222

Pollution through toxic chemicals has had a long-term impact on

the environment. The use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) has led
to significant industrial pollution.
 Greenhouse gases, gases that trap sunlight and heat in the earth’s
223

atmosphere, contribute greatly to global warming. In turn, this process

causes the melting of land- based and glacial ice with potentially
catastrophic effects , the possibility of substantial flooding, a reduction in
224

the alkalinity of the oceans, and the destruction of existing ecosystems.

Ultimately, global warming
poses a threat to the global supply of food as well as to human health. 225

Furthermore, population growth and its attendant increase in consumption

intensify ecological problems. The global flow of dangerous debris is
another major concern, with electronic waste often dumped in developing
countries.
There are different models and agenda pushed by different
organizations to address the issue of global food security. One of this is
through sustainability. The United Nations has set ending hunger,
achieving food security and improved security, and promoting sustainable
agriculture as the second of its 17 Sustainable Goals (SDGs) for the year
2030. The World Economic Forum (2010) also addressed this issue
through the New Vision of Agriculture (NVA) in 2009 wherein public-
private partnerships were established. It has mobilized over $10 billion
226

that reached smallholder farmers.

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

Global Citizenship as Defined

As there is no widely accepted definition of global citizenship,
oftentimes, educators use this term loosely. Having been derived from the
word city, the term citizenship tends to suggest allegiance to one’s own
country or state. Quitely so, the concept of citizenship has taken on a new
meaning from its historical usage as it has gone “global”. 227

According to Oxfam International, global citizenship is the idea that,

as people, we are all citizens of the globe who have an equal responsibility
for what happens on, and to our world. This means to say that every global
228

citizen has a duty to address issues affecting our being citizens. As there
could be no formal process to become a global citizen, holding this
citizenship status is something that we all have a right to and obligation as
well.
Given this above definition, citizenship can thus be associated with
rights and obligations. For instance, the right to vote and the obligation to
pay taxes. Both rights and obligations link the individual to the state. It also
has to do with our attitude. We need to be willing to engage and to spend
time and effort to the community of which we feel part of.
Caecilia Johanna van Peski (as cited in Baraldi, 2012) defined global
citizenship “as a moral and ethical disposition that can guide the
understanding of individuals or groups of local and global contexts, and
remind them of their relative responsibilities within various communities.”
Global citizens are the glue which binds local communities together in an
increasingly globalized world. In van Peski’s words, “global citizens might
be a new type of people that can travel within these various boundaries
and somehow still make sense of the world”. 229

Salient Features of Global Citizenship

Global citizenship may seem to have far broader meanings than the
above given ones. Equally, it is still important to note its salient features for
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a better understanding of this concept.

1. Global citizenship as a choice and a way of thinking
People come to consider themselves as global citizens through
various formative life experiences and have different interpretations of what
it means to them. For many, the practice of global citizenship is primarily
exercised at home through engagement in global issues or with different
cultures in a local setting. For others, global citizenship means firsthand
experience with different countries, people and cultures.
2. Global citizenship as self-awareness and awareness of others
Self-awareness helps students identify with the universalities of
human experience, thus increasing their identification with fellow human
beings and their sense of responsibility toward them.
3. Global citizenship as they practice cultural empathy
Cultural empathy or intercultural competence is commonly articulated
as a goal of global education. Intercultural competence occupies a central
position in higher education’s thinking about global citizenship and is seen
as an important skill in the workplace.
4. Global citizenship as the cultivation of principled decision making
Global citizenship entails an awareness of the interdependence of
individuals and systems as well as a sense of responsibility that follows from
it. Although the goal of undergraduate education should not be to impose a
correct set of answers, critical thinking, cultural empathy and ethical
systems and choices are an essential foundation to principled decision
making.
5. Global citizenship as participation in the social and political life of one’s
community
There are various types of communities that range from local to
global, from religious to political group. Global citizens feel a sense of
connection towards their communities and translate this connection to
participation.

Global Citizenship and Globalization

 Global citizenship does not automatically entail a single attitude and a
particular value with globalization. We must remember that globalization is
not a single phenomenon; rather, there are many globalizations. They are
bound to be multiple futures for multiple globalizations. These globalizations
created enemies because according to one broad view, globalization failed
to deliver its promises. The so- called bottom billion lacks infrastructures
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and has been disenfranchised. The opponents of globalization blame either

Westernization or global capitalism. Thus, the enemies resist globalization,
especially when it comes to global economy and global governance.

Global Citizenship and Global Economy

There are three approaches to global economic resistance. Trade

protectionism involves the systematic government intervention in foreign
trade through tariffs and non- tariff barriers in order to encourage domestic
producers and deter their foreign competitors Although there exists a
.
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widespread consensus regarding its inefficiency, trade protectionism is still

popular since it shields the domestic economy from systemic shocks. Fair
trade is a different approach to economic globalization, which emerged as a
counter to neoliberal “free trade” principles. 233

Fair trade aims at a moral and equitable global economic system in

which, for instance, price is not set by the market; instead, it is negotiated
transparently by both producers and consumers. Its ability to supply a mass
market and its applicability to manufacture products are also doubted. The
third form of resistance to economic globalization relates to helping the
bottom billion. Increasing aid is only one of the many measures that is
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required. International norms and standards can be adapted to the needs of

the bottom billion. The reduction of trade barriers would also reduce the
economic marginalization of these people and their nations.
Global Citizenship and Global Governance

When it comes to dealing with political globalization, increased accountability

and transparency are the key issues. All political organizations, at different
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levels, should be more accountable for their actions because they are now
surrounded by an “ocean of opacity”. Increased transparency has been
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aided by various mechanism such as transnational justice systems,

international tribunals, civil society and particularly the Transparency
International.
Like globalization, resistance to globalization is multiple, complex,
contradictory, and ambiguous. This movement also has the potential to
emerge as the new public sphere, which may uphold progressive values
such as autonomy, democracy, peace, ecological sustainability, and social
justice. These forces of resistance are products of globalization and can be
seen as
globalization from below. The impetus for such a
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movement comes from individuals, groups and organizations which are

oppressed (i.e., self perception) by globalization from above (neoliberal
economic systems or aggressively expanding nations and corporations).
They seek a more democratic process of globalization. However,
globalization from below also involves less visible, more right-wing elements,
such as the America First Party and the Taliban. 238

The World Social Forum (WSF) is centered on addressing the lack of

democracy in economic and political affairs. However, the diversity of
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elements involved in WSF hinders the development of concrete political

proposals. A significant influence on WSF has been that of cyberactivism,
which is based on the “cultural logic of networking” and “virtual movements”,
such as Global Huaren. This cyberpublic was formed as a protest against
the violence, discrimination, and hatred experienced by Chinese residents in
Indonesia after the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In 1998, worldwide rallies
condemning the violence were made possible through the Global Huaren.
Given that there is no world government, the idea of global citizenship
demands the creation of rights and obligations. However, fulfilling the
promises of globalization and the solution to the problems of the
contemporary world does not lie on single entity or individual, but on
citizens, the community, and the different organization in societies.