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GNED 7

CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY


The Contemporary World
2
BACOOR CITY CAMPUS
s

DEPARTMENT OF
CRIMINOLOGY

MODULE
THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD
(GNED 7)

Compiled By:
MURVEN B. ABIADEW,RCrim, LPT
MBA
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TABLEPREFACE
OF CONTENTS
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THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

This course introduces students to the contemporary world by examining the multifaceted

phenomenon of globalization. Using the various disciplines of the social sciences, it examines

the economic, social, political, technological, and other transformations that have created an

increasing awareness of the interconnectedness of peoples and places around the globe. To this

end, the course provides an overview of the various debates in global governance, development,

and sustainability. Beyond exposing the student to the world outside the Philippines, it seeks to

inculcate a sense of global citizenship and global ethical responsibility.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

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At the end of this course the student will be able to:

1.distinguish different interpretations of and approaches to globalization;

2.describe the emergence of global economic, political, social, and cultural systems;

3.analyze the various contemporary drivers of globalization;

4.understand the issues confronting the nation-state;

5.assess the effects of globalization on different social units and their responses;

6.analyze contemporary news events in the context of globalization;

7.analyze global issues in relation to Filipinos and the Philippines;

8.write a research paper with proper citations on a topic related to globalization;

9.articulate personal positions on various global issues; and

10.identify the ethical implications of global citizenship.

LESSON 1
Overview of Globalization

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Globalization
 refers to the processes by which more people across large distances become
connected in more and different ways. They can become connected very simply by
doing or experiencing the same sort of thing.
 For example, Japanese cuisine "globalizes” when more people on different
continents enjoy the taste of the sushi. Since the nineteenth century soccer has
become globalized as players and fans in many countries took an interest in the
game. Though many people lack access to good medicine, parents around the world
routinely decide to immunize their children against major diseases. These are
instances of diffusion: ways of thinking, acting, or feeling spread widely. Such
diffusion increased greatly in recent decades as the infrastructure for
communication and transportation improved dramatically, connecting groups,
institutions, and countries in new ways.
 The spread of sushi involved not just a shared consumer experience; if American
fishermen dependent on a Japanese market as tuna caught off the US coast is sold
and shipped overseas. In soccer, the professional prospects of great players form
South America depend on the demand from European teams. The health of many
children depends on breakthroughs in distant laboratories and in intricate global
system for dispensing medication; at the same time, the movement of people around
the globe also exposes people to new health risks. For good and ill, such links make
more people more interdependent These links are molded into new organizational
forms as regional institutions go global or new ones take shape on the world stage.
 For example, international law governs who can fish in coastal waters, and the
World Trade Organization handles disputes between members, including the United
States and Japan. FIFA is an international nongovernmental organization that sets
the rules of soccer and organizes campaign to address major tournaments such as
World Cup. The World Health Organization, as well as more informal networks of
professionals and volunteers, organizes campaigns to address major health threats.

The Forces of Globalization


Globalization is an interaction of people and primarily an economic process of
integration which has social and cultural aspects as well. Such institutions, which have
emerged in many areas of human activity, reflect increasingly common knowledge and
awareness. Eating sushi, watching the World Cup, and getting a hepatitis B shot involve
elements of world culture the meaning of sushi, the application of the offside rule, or the
reason for immunization are known to consumers, fans, and patients regardless of their
location. Even if they do not know the larger structures, their everyday life is nevertheless
embedded in a world culture that transcends their village, town, or country, and that
becomes part of individual and collective identities. As people become more intricately
connected to many others across large distances - not all people to the same extent, of
course - the world is becoming a "single place."
Globalization thus involves growing diffusion, expanding interdependence,
transnational institutions, and an emerging world culture and consciousness - all aspects of
the connectedness at the heart of globalization, all elements of the world society
globalization is creating (Lechner, 2015).

Globalization
 The process by which capitalism expands across the globe as powerful economic
actors seek profit in global markets and impose their rules everywhere, a process
often labeled “Neoliberalism."
 Though sometimes invoked by defenders of globalization, this is a critical definition
that usually serves to challenge the process it tries to capture.
 Through this lens, generic globalization looks a little different: the export of TV show
formats as cultural commodities is driven by media producers in core markets,
Chinese workers making baby products are exploited as nodes in a global
commodity chain, and the World Cup has turned into a marketing event for
multinational shoe companies and an audition for players seeking professional
advancement.

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 This lens filters out much of what the generic view includes but also sharpens the
focus, in a way that especially suits contemporary critics of capitalist market
society.

The Meaning of Globalization to Different People


1. To a Korean Pentecostal missionary, it means a new opportunity to spread the faith
and convert lost souls abroad.
2. To a Dominican immigrant in the United States, it means growing new roots while
staying deeply involved in the home village.
3. To an Indian television viewer, it means sampling a variety of new shows, some
adapted from foreign formats.
4. To a Chinese apparel worker, it means a chance to escape rural poverty by cutting
threads off designer jeans.
5. To an American shoe company executive, it means managing a far-flung supply chain
to get products to stores.
6. To a Filipino global justice advocate, it means rules of the global game that favor the
rich North over the poor South.

Theories of Globalization
1. World-System Theory
 A perspective that globalization is essentially the expansion of the capitalist system
around the globe.
 At the time Marx was writing in the mid-nineteenth century, the world was
becoming unified via thickening networks of communication and economic
exchange. A world economy, guided by liberal philosophy with global aspirations,
provided the framework for a single world that since has grown more integrated and
standardized. What happened in the mid-nineteenth century, he suggests, was a
phase in a centuries-old process. The capitalist world-system originated in the
sixteenth century, when European traders established enduring connections with
Asia, Africa, and the Americas. From the outset, this system consisted of a single
economy - a market and a regional division of labor - but many states, and no one
power was strong enough to gain control and stifle dynamic competition. At the
"core" of the system, the dominant classes were supported by strong states as they
exploited labor, resources, and trade opportunities, most notably in “peripheral"
areas. Buffer countries in the "semiperiphery helped mitigate tensions between core
and periphery, and a set of political and economic norms that favored core
countries helped to keep the system remarkably stable. The central purpose of the
world- growth and decline.
2. World Polity Theory
 State remains an important component of world society, but primary attention goes
to the global cultural and organization environment in which states are embedded.
What is new in world society, from this perspective, is the all-encompassing "world-
polity" and its associated world culture, which supplies a set of cultural rules or
scripts that specify how institutions around the world should deal with common
problems.
 Globalization is the formation and enactment of this world polity and culture. One
of the world polity's key elements is a general, globally legitimated model of how to
form a state. Guided by this model, particular states in widely varying
circumstances organize their affairs in surprisingly similar fashion. Because world
society is structured as a polity with an intensifying global culture, new
organizations - business enterprises, educational institutions, social movements,
leisure and hobby groups, and so on - spring up in all sorts of countries to enact its
precepts. As carriers of global principles, these organizations then help to build and
elaborate world culture and world society further.
3. World Culture Theory
 This perspective agrees that-world culture is indeed new and important, but it is
less homogeneous than world-polity scholars imply.

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 Globalization is a process of relativization. Societies must make sense of themselves


in relation to a larger system of societies, while individuals make sense of
themselves in relation to a sense of humanity as a larger whole. World society thus
consists of a complex set of relationships among multiple units in the "global field.”
In this model, world society is governed not by a particular set of values but by the
confrontation of different ways of organizing these relationships. Globalization
compresses the world into a single entity, and people necessarily become more and
more aware of their relationship to this global presence. Of central importance to
this process is the problem of "globality": how to make living together in one global
system meaningful or even possible. Not surprisingly, religious traditions take on
new significance insofar as they address the new global predicament that compels
societies and individuals to identify" themselves in new ways. It concludes that a
“search for fundamentals” is inherent in globalization.

The Interdisciplinary Understanding of Globalization


1. Political Scientist
 With global ecological changes, an ever more integrated global economy, and other
global trends, political activity increasingly takes place at the global level. Under
globalization, politics can take place above the state through political integration
schemes such as the European Union, the ASEAN integration where Philippines is
involved, though intergovernmental organizations such as the International
Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization. Political activity
can also transcend national borders through global movements and Non-
Governmental Organizations (NGO's). Civil society organizations act globally by
forming alliances with organizations in other countries, using global communication
systems, and lobbying international organizations and other actors directly, instead
of working though their national governments (Global Policy Forum 2017).
2. Economist
 Economists have his own view of globalization. First it is integration through
international trade of markets in goods and services as a reflected in a variety of
possible measures. These include direct measures of barriers like tariffs and
transport costs, trade volumes and price related measures. Globalization also
means foreign direct investment, increased trade in intermediate product,
international outsourcing of services like the call center industry here in the
Philippines, and international movement of persons like our Overseas Filipino
Workers (OFW). Globalization would also include the international spread of ideas,
from consumer tastes like Coke and Hershey's to intellectual ideas like
technological patents and management principles and accounting standards.
3. Sociologist
 Cole (2017) states that globalization, according to sociologists, is an ongoing
process that involves interconnected changes in the cultural and social spheres. As
a process, it involves the ever increasing integration of these aspects between
nations, regions, communities, and even seemingly isolated places.
 The process of globalization also involves the spread and diffusion of ideologies-
values, ideas, norms, beliefs and expectations that foster, justify, and provide
legitimacy for economic and political globalization. It fuelled by globally integrated
communication systems like social media such as Facebook and Twitter, media
coverage of the world's elite and their lifestyles, the movement of people around the
world via business and leisure travel, and the expectation of these travellers that
host societies will provide amenities and experiences that reflect their own cultural
norms.
4. Historian
 Historians follow rather than led the way. Globalization is not new as a
phenomenon but the word itself took hold only recently which records shows first
use in English in 1930 and shows that usage soared suddenly in the 1990's. Why is
globalization "hot" now and what does it portend for the study of history.
 Hunt (2014) states that globalization defined most succinctly as the interconnection
of places far distant from each other. When the Soviet Union collapse and end the

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Cold War globalization filled the ideological vacuum created by the end of the Cold
War division between Capitalism and Communism.
 Cultural history has lost its luster. Theory no longer excites passionate debate and
perhaps most important, the nation-state no longer seems as self-evident as the
necessary unit of historical analysis. Moreover, globalization is still too much
entangled with world history, global history and transnational history.

Market Globalism
 An idea that reflects the concepts of globalization.
 It seeks to endow globalization with free market norms and neoliberal meanings.
 Steger (2005) states that the term 'globalization' gained in currency in the late
1980s. The persistence of academic divisions on the subject notwithstanding, the
term was associated with specific meanings in public discourse during the 1990s.
 With the collapse of Soviet-style communism in Eastern Europe, loosely affiliated
power elites concentrated in the global north stepped up their ongoing efforts to sell
their version of 'globalization' to the public in the ideological form of market
globalism.
 These power elites consisted chiefly of corporate managers, executives of large
transnational corporations, corporate lobbyists, high-level military officers,
prominent journalists and public relations specialists, intellectuals writing to a
large public audience, state bureaucrats and influential politicians. By the mid-
1990s, large segments of the population in both the global north and south had
accepted globalism's core claims, thus internalizing large parts of its overarching
neo-liberal framework that advocate the deregulation of markets, the liberalization
of trade, the privatization of state-owned enterprises.

The Five Core Claims of Market Globalism (Steger, 2005)


1. Globalization is about the Liberalization and Global integration of markets.
2. Globalization is inevitable and irreversible
3. Nobody is in charge of Globalization
4. Globalization benefits everyone
5. Globalization furthers the spread of Democracy in the World.

Neoliberalism
 is in the first instance a theory of political economic practices that proposes that
human well-being can best be advance by liberating characterized by strong private
property rights, free markets, and free trade.
 The individual entrepreneurial freedoms and skills within an institutional
framework role of the state is to create and preserve an institutional framework
appropriate to such practices. The state has to guarantee, for example, the quality
and integrity of money.
 It must also set up those military, defense, police, and legal structures and
functions required to secure private property rights and to guarantee, by force if
need be, the proper functioning of markets.
 Furthermore, if markets do not exist (in areas such as land, water, education,
health care, social security, or environmental pollution) then they must be created,
by state action if necessary But beyond these tasks the state should not venture.
 State interventions in markets must be kept to a bare minimum because, according
to the theory, the state cannot possibly possess enough information to second-
guess market signals (prices) and because powerful interest groups will inevitably
distort and bias state interventions (particularly in democracies) for their own
benefit.

Privatization
 is the process of transferring an enterprise or industry from the public sector to the
private sector. Some of the government owned and controlled corporations in the
Philippines transferred already from public to private sector are Philippine Airlines
(PAL), Philippine Long Distance Corporation (PLDT), Manila Electric Company

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(MERALCO) and Manila Waterworks and Sewerage System(MWSS) which are now
Maynilad Water Services and Manila Water Company.

Characteristics of Neoliberalism
1. Government must limit subsidies
2. Make a reforms to tax law in order to expand tax base
3. Reduce deficit spending
4. Limit protectionism
5. Open markets
6. Removal of fixed exchange rates
7. Back deregulation
8. Privatization

LESSON 2
THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
Economic Globalization
 Benczes (2014) defines economic globalization as the increasing integration of
economies around the world, particularly through the movement of goods, services
and capital across borders. The term sometimes also refers to the movement of
people and knowledge across international borders
 What makes economic globalization distinct from internationalization is that the
latter is about the extension of economic activities of nation states across borders
while the former is functional integration between internationally dispersed
activities. That is, economic globalization is rather a qualitative transformation than
just a quantitative change. If, however, globalization is indeed a 'complex,
indeterminate set of processes operating very unevenly in both time and space,' a
more substantive definition for economic globalization is required than the one
offered by the IMF. The definition befits the purpose of this particular chapter: 'In
economic terms globalization is nothing but a process making the world economy
an "organic system” by extending transnational economic processes and economic
relations to more and more countries and by deepening the economic
interdependencies among them.

According to Benczes (2014) the phenomenon can does have several interconnected
dimensions are:
1. The globalization of trade of goods and services
2. The globalization of financial and capital markets
3. The globalization of technology and communication
4. The globalization of production

International Monetary System


 The international monetary system is a system that forms rules and standards for
facilitating international trade among the nations in the world.

The Four Monetary Regimes


Cohn (2005) states that the modern period of international monetary relations commonly
refers to the existence of four successive monetary regimes:
1. Classical Gold Standard
 1870s to the outbreak of World War I in 1914.
2. Gold Exchange Standard
 First part of the interwar period
3. Bretton Woods System Regime
 1944 to 1973

Research Work:
1. The role of U.S dollar.
2. The G10 members.

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4. Flexible Exchange Rates Regime


 From 1973 to the present.

Global Actors in Economic Globalization


1. International Governmental Organizations
2. International Non-Governmental Organizations
3. Multinational Corporations

The effects of Economic Globalization on Developing Countries


1. Increased Standard of Living
2. Access to New Markets
3. Widening Disparity in Incomes
4. Decreased Employment

LESSON 3
MARKET INTEGRATION
International Financial Institutions (IFIs)
 Institutions that provide financial support via grants and loans for economic and
social development activities in developing countries.
 It includes public banks, such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund,
and regional development banks.
 They provide loans, grants, and technical assistance to governments, as well as
loans to private businesses investing in developing countries.
 They also play a significant role in the privatization and regulation of public utilities
and natural resources.
 These multi-laterals share a mission of combating poverty.
 It is usually chartered by more than one country and its owners and shareholders
are national governments.
 Some of the IFI's are created after the World War II to assist the reconstruction of
Europe and other countries affected by the devastation of the war (Global
Greenfund Grants 2017).

The following are usually classified as international financial institutions:


1. World Bank (WB)
2. International Monetary Fund (IMF)
3. European Investment Bank (EIB)
4. Islamic Development Bank (ISDB)
5. Asian Development Bank (ADB)
6. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
7. CAF - Development Bank of Latin America (CAF)
8. Inter-American Development Bank Group (IADB)
9. African Development Bank (AfDB)
10. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

International Monetary Fund (IMF)


 An organization of 189 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation,
secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment
and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.
 Created in 1945, the IMF is governed by and accountable to the 189 countries that
make up its near global membership.
 The IMF, also known as the Fund, was conceived at a UN confereit in Bretton
Woods, New Hampshire, United States, in July 1944.
 The 44 countries that conference sought to build a framework for economic
cooperation to o a repetition of the competitive devaluations that had contributed to
the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The IMF's responsibilities:

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 The IMF's primary purpose is to ensure the stability of the international monetary
system-the system of exchange rates and international payments that enables
countries and their citizens to transact with each other.
 The Fund's mandate was updated in 2012 to include all macroeconomic and
financial sector issues that bear on global stability.

The Mission of International Monetary Fund


According to IMF (2017) the IMF's fundamental mission is to ensure the stability of the
international monetary system. It does so in three ways: keeping track of the global
economy and the economies of member countries; lending to countries with balance of
payments difficulties; and giving practical help to
members.
1. Surveillance
 The IMF oversees the international monetary system and monitors the economic
and financial policies of its 189 member countries.
 As part of this process, which takes place both at the global level and in individual
countries, the IMF highlights possible risks to stability and advises on needed policy
adjustments.
2. Lending
 A core responsibility of the IMF is to provide loans to member countries
experiencing actual or potential balance of payments problems.
 This financial assistance enables countries to rebuild their international reserves,
stabilize their currencies, continue paying for imports, and restore conditions for
strong economic growth, while undertaking policies to correct underlying problems.
 Unlike development banks, the IMF does not lend for specific projects.
3. Capacity Development
 IMF capacity development-technical assistance and training-helps member
countries design and implement economic policies that foster stability and growth
by strengthening their institutional capacity and skills.
 The IMF seeks to build on synergies between technical assistance and training to
maximize their effectiveness.

Market integration
 A term that is used to identify a phenomenon in which markets of goods and
services are somehow related to one another being to experience similar patterns of
increase or decrease in terms of the prices of those products.
 The term can also refer to a situation in which the prices of related goods and
services sold in a defined geographical location also begin to move in some sort of
similar pattern to one another.
 At times, the integration may be intentional with a governmental implementing
certain strategies as a way to control the direction of the economy.
 At other times, the integrating of the markets may be due to factor such as shifts in
supply and demand that have a spillover effect on several markets.

According to Koester (2017), the following are the forms of integration:


1. Preferential Agreement
 It involves lower trade barriers between those countries which have signed the
agreement. It is considered to be the first and smallest step on the road to further
integration such schemes imply that a country or region grants other countries
preferential access for imports.
 Preferences can be given in the form of tariff reductions for unlimited volumes of
imports from specific countries or for specified import quantities.
2. Free Trade Agreement
 It reduces barriers to trade among member countries to zero, but each member
country still has autonomy in deciding on the external rate of tariff for its trade with
non-member countries.
 The European Free Trade Area is one of the examples of it.
3. Customs Union

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 It represents a higher stage of economic integration than a Free Trade Area as the
member countries adopt a common external tariff.
 In the Customs Union, countries agree to abolish tariff and non-tariff barriers to
trade in goods flowing between them.
 In addition, they agree to a common external tariff.
 This was in fact the first phase of integration of the European Community on the
way to Common Market.
4. Common Market
 It goes beyond a Customs Union in allowing for free movement of labor and capital
within the Union.
 Hence, the intention of a Common Market is to integrate both product and factors
markets of member countries.
5. Economic Union
 It is the highest form of economic integration.
 In addition to the conditions of a Common Market, member countries also agree to
integrate monetary, fiscal and other policies.

The European Integration


 The European Union is a unique economic and political union between 28
European countries that together cover much of the continent.
 The EU was created in the aftermath of the Second World War.
 The first steps were to foster economic cooperation: the idea being that countries
that trade with one another become economically interdependent and so more likely
to avoid conflict.
 The result was the European Economic Community (EEC), created in 1958, and
initially increasing economic cooperation between six countries: Belgium, Germany,
France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Since then, a huge single market
has been created and continues to develop towards its full potential

Legal Basis of European Union


 The European Union is based on the rule of law. This means that every action taken
by the EU is founded on treaties that have been approved voluntarily and
democratically by all EU member countries. For example, if a policy area is not cited
in a treaty, the Commission cannot propose a law in that area. A treaty is a binding
agreement between EU member countries. It sets out EU objectives, rules for EU
institutions, how decisions are made and the relationship between the EU and its
member countries. Treaties are amended to make the EU more efficient and
transparent, to prepare for new member countries and to introduce new areas of
cooperation - such as the single currency.

According to europa.eu (201), the main treaties that help created European Union are:
1. Treaty of Lisbon
 Signed on 13 December 2007 to make the EU more democratic, more efficient
and better able to address global problems, such as climate change, with one
voice.
2. Treaty of Nice
 Signed on 26 February 2001 to reform the institutions so that the EU could
function efficiently after reaching 25 member countries.
3. Treaty of Amsterdam
 Signed on 2 October 1997 to reform the EU institutions in preparation for the
arrival of future member countries.
4. Treaty on European Union Maastricht Treaty
 Signed on 7 February 1992 to prepare for European Monetary Union and
introduce elements of a political union such as citizenship, common foreign and
internal affairs policy.
5. Single European Act
 Signed on 17 February 1986 in Luxembourg and 28 February 1986 in The
Hague, Netherlands to reform the institutions in preparation for Portugal and

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Spain's membership and speed up decision-making in preparation for the single


market.
6. Merger Treaty
 Brussels Treaty- Signed on 8 April 1965 to streamline the European
institutions. It creates a single Commission and a single Council to serve the
then three European Communities (EEC, Euratom, ECSC). Repealed by the
Treaty of Amsterdam.
7. Treaties of Rome: EEC and EURATOM treaties
 Signed on 25 March 1957 to set up the European Economic Community (EEC)
and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).
8. Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community
 Signed on 18 April 1951 to create interdependence in coal and steel so that one
country could no longer mobilize its armed forces without others knowing
 This eased distrust and tensions after WWIl. The ECSC treaty expired in 2002.

ASEAN Integration
 On 8 August 1967, five leaders-the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand-sat down together in the main hall of the
Department of Foreign Affairs building in Bangkok, Thailand and signed a
document.
 By virtue of that document, the Association of SoutheastnAsian Nations (ASEAN)
was born. The five Foreign Ministers who signed it- Adam Malik of Indonesia,
Narciso R. Ramos of the Philippines, Tun Abdul Razak of Malaysia, S. Rajaratnam
of Singapore, and Thanat Khoman of Thailand -would subsequently be hailed as the
Founding Fathers of probably the most successful inter-governmental organization
in the developing world today.
 And the document that they signed would be known as the ASEAN Declaration.
 The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8
August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration
(Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia,
Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
 Brunei Darussalam then joined on 7 January 1984, Vietnam on 28 July 1995, Lao
PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999, making up
what is today the ten Member States of ASEAN.

The Five Interrelated and Mutually Reinforcing Characteristics of ASEAN Economic


Community/The AEC Blueprint 2025 consists of five interrelated and mutually
reinforcing characteristics namely:
1. A Highly Integrated and Cohesive Economy
2. A Competitive, Innovative, and Dynamic ASEAN
3. Enhanced Connectivity and Sectoral Cooperation
4. A Resilient, Inclusive, People-Oriented, and People-Centered ASEANN
5. A Global ASEAN.

The Four Pillars of the ASEAN Economic Community:


1. Single Market and Production Base
 The region as a whole must become a single market and production base to
produce and commercialize goods and services anywhere in ASEAN.
2. Competitive Economic Region
 The region must emphasize on the competitiveness of its production and
capacity for export, as well as the free competition inside of its frontiers.
3. Equitable Economic Development
 To receive the benefits of the AEC, the people and businesses of ASEAN must
be engaged into the integration process of the AEC
4. ASEAN's integration into the globalized economy
 ASEAN must not be isolated but an integrated part of the global economy

The Five Core Principles of the ASEAN single market and production base

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1. Free flow of goods


2. Free flow of services
3. Free tlow of investment
4. Free flow of capital
5. Free flow of skilled labor

LESSON 4
Contemporary Global Governance
The United Nations
 The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945. It is currently
made up of 193 Member States. The mission and work of the United Nations are
guided by the purposes and principles contained in its founding Charter.
 Due to the powers vested in its Charter and its unique international character, the
United Nations can take action on the issues confronting humanity in the 21st
century, such as peace and security, climate change, sustainable development,
human rights, disarmament, terrorism, humanitarian and health emergencies,
gender equality, governance, food production, and more.
 The UN also provides a forum for its members to express their views in the General
Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, and other bodies
and committees. By enabling dialogue between its members, and by hosting
negotiations, the Organization has become a mechanism for governments to find
areas of agreement and solve problems together.
 The UN's Chief Administrative Officer is the Secretary-General. 2020 marks the
75th anniversary of the United Nations.

What do UN do?
1. MAINTAIN INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY
 The United Nations came into being in 1945, following the devastation of the
Second World War, with one central mission: the maintenance of international
peace and security.
 The UN does this by working to prevent conflict; helping parties in conflict make
peace; peacekeeping; and creating the conditions to allow peace to hold and
flourish.
 These activities often overlap and should reinforce one another, to be effective.
 The UN Security Council has the primary responsibility for international peace
and security.
 The General Assembly and the Secretary-General play major, important, and
complementary roles, along with other UN offices and bodies.
2. PROTECT HUMAN RIGHTS
 The term “human rights” was mentioned seven times in the UN's founding
Charter, making the promotion and protection of human rights a key purpose
and guiding principle of the Organization. In 1948, the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights brought human rights into the realm of international law. Since
then, the Organization has diligently protected human rights through legal
instruments and on-the-ground activities.
3. DELIVER HUMANITARIAN AID
 One of the purposes of the United Nations, as stated in its Charter, is "to
achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an
economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character." The UN first did this in
the aftermath of the Second World War on the devastated continent of Europe,
which it helped to rebuild. The Organization is now relied upon by the
international community to coordinate humanitarian relief operations due to
natural and man-made disasters in areas beyond the relief capacity of national
authorities alone.
4. PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
 From the start in 1945, one of the main priorities of the United Nations was to
“achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an
economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character and in promoting and

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encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all
without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.” Improving people’s
well-being continues to be one of the main focuses of the UN. The global
understanding of development has changed over the years, and countries now
have agreed that sustainable development – development that promotes
prosperity and economic opportunity, greater social well-being, and protection
of the environment – offers the best path forward for improving the lives of
people everywhere.
5. UPHOLD INTERNATIONAL LAW
 The UN Charter, in its Preamble, set an objective: "to establish conditions under
which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other
sources of international law can be maintained". Ever since, the development of,
and respect for international law has been a key part of the work of the
Organization. This work is carried out in many ways - by courts, tribunals,
multilateral treaties - and by the Security Council, which can approve
peacekeeping missions, impose sanctions, or authorize the use of force when
there is a threat to international peace and security, if it deems this necessary.
These powers are given to it by the UN Charter, which is considered an
international treaty. As such, it is an instrument of international law, and UN
Member States are bound by it. The UN Charter codifies the major principles of
international relations, from sovereign equality of States to the prohibition of
the use of force in international relations.

Where We Work?
 The work of the UN is global, touching the lives of billions of people. The work of the
Organization is, however, mostly done locally, within regions and countries. In
order to accomplish this, the UN and the many entities comprising the “UN system”
have created a presence in every region of the world, so the people most in need of
help can be reached quickly. The UN’s work is divided into five geographical regions:
Africa, Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, and the Middle
East. Here is an overview of each area, with links to relevant offices, agencies and
programmes:

1. AFRICA
 The two main centres of UN activity in Africa are Nairobi, Kenya and Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia. There are also, in Africa, many regional and country offices of UN system
entities, UN political offices, and nine UN peacekeeping missions.
2. AMERICAS
 The centre of UN activity in North America is New York City, USA, host of the
United Nations Headquarters. The centre of UN activity in South America is
Santiago, Chile, home to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean.
3. ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
 The main centre of United Nations activity in Asia and the Pacific is Bangkok,
Thailand, home to the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
There are also many regional and country offices of UN system entities, and UN
political offices in the Asia and Pacific region.
4. EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA
 The main centres of United Nations activity in Europe and Central Asia are Geneva,
Switzerland, Vienna, Austria and The Hague in the Netherlands. Geneva is home to
the UN Office at Geneva (UNOG) and the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE).
Vienna is home to the UN Office in Vienna (UNOV). The Hague is the seat of the
International Court of Justice. There are also many regional and country offices of
UN system entities, and UN political offices in Europe and Central Asia.
5. MIDDLE EAST
 The centre of UN activity in the Middle East is Beirut, Lebanon, home to the
Economic and Social Commision for Western Asia. In addition to ESCWA, there are

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also UN political offices in the Middle East, and many regional and country offices
of UN system entities in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Note Well:
 The United Nations is neither a supra-State nor a government of governments. It
does not have an army and it imposes no taxes. It depends on the political will of its
Member States to have its decisions put into action and relies on the contributions
of its Members to carry out its activities.

The six organs of the United Nations are outlined in the sections below:
1. General Assembly
 The General Assembly is the main deliberative organ of the United Nations. It is
composed of representatives from all Member States, each of which has one
vote. .
2. Security Council
 Under the Charter, the Security Council has primary responsibility for the
maintenance of international peace and security. It has 15 Members, and each
Member has one vote. Under the Charter, all Member States are obligated to
comply with Council decisions.
3. Economic and Social Council
 A founding UN Charter body established in 1946, the Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC) is the place where the world’s economic, social and
environmental challenges are discussed and debated, and policy
recommendations issued.
4. Trusteeship Council
 The Trusteeship Council was established to provide international supervision
for 11 Trust Territories and to make sure that adequate steps were taken to
prepare the Territories for self-government or independence.
5. International Court of Justice
 The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United
Nations. The Court is charged with settling legal disputes between States and
giving advisory opinions to the United Nations and its specialized agencies.
6. Secretariat
 The UN Secretariat, consisting of staff representing all nationalities working in
duty stations all over the world, carries out the day to day work of the
Organization. The Secretariat services the other principal organs of the United
Nations and administers the programmes and policies established by them.

LESSON 5
Global Divides: The North and the South
1. Global North
 Rich, Industrialized, wealthy nations
 Democratic, Capitalists Countries
 USA, Canada, Western Europe
 Developed parts of Asia and Australia
 New Zealand
2. Global South
 Developing Nations
 Non-Democratic Countries
 Africa, Latin America and Developing Asia including Middle East

Top Ten and Bottom Ten Countries in Terms of HDI Rankings
(UN Human Development Report 2010)
Top Ten
1. Norway
2. Australia
3. New Zealand

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4. USA
5. Ireland
6. Lichtenstein
7. Netherlands
8. Canada
9. Sweden
10. Germany

Bottom Ten
1. Mali
2. Burkina Faso
3. Liberia
4. Chad
5. Guinea-Bissau
6. Mozambique
7. Burundi
8. Niger
9. Congo
10. Mozambique
LESSON 6
Global Media Cultures
Historical Background of Globalization and Media
According to Appadurai (1996) as cited by Lule (2014), "there was a rupture within
social life in the 20th century, advances in media such as the television, computers, and
cellular phones combined with the changes in migration patterns - these two diacritics -
media and migration - fundamentally changed human life which gave rise to this so-called
globalization.
However many scholars believed that globalization started as early as the nomadic
Homo sapiens, when these people started to travel and look for food, globalization also
started. This theory is actually supported by Chanda (2007) as cited by Lule (2014), for
according to him, "globalization is a process that has worked silently for millennia without
having been given a name - it has been with us since the beginning of history and that a
multitude of threads connect us to faraway places from an ancient time.
In the Philippines, as early as 4th century with the Indian traders ofporcelain jars, to
9th century for people of Mai (Mindoro - Batangas) going to Fukien China for trade to the
Galleon Trade with Europe and America, globalization is already present in the country and
changing the lives of the Filipinos. As indication, the Baybayin (early writings) of the
Filipinos which consist of symbols is believed to be a combination of Sanskrit and Chinese
characters.
Media is not as complicated as globalization. It is used to deliver or a passage of
communication. The word media was popularized in the 1920s because there was a need to
talk about certain issues like the widespread of comic books where parents become doubtful
of the effect to their children, birth of Mickey Mouse, collapse of stock market, end of World
War I and other events which led the experts to gather all these phenomenon and debate
over the "mass media."

Media
 the means of communication, as radio and television, newspapers, magazines, and
the Internet, that reach or influence people widely.

Evolution of Media and Globalization


1. Oral Communication
2. Script
3. Printing Press
4. Electronic Media
5. Digital Media

What is Media Oligopoly?

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In media, an Oligopoly is a market structure in which a small number of firms control


increasing shares of the mass media.

The Advantages of an Oligopoly


1. High Profits
 Since there is such little competition, the companies that are involved in the
market have the potential to bring a large amount of profits. The services and
goods that are controlled through oligopolies are generally highly needed or
wanted by the large majority of the population.
2. Simple Choices
 Having only a few companies that offer the goods or service that you are looking
for makes it easy to compare between them and choose the best option for you.
In other markets it can be difficult to thoroughly look at all of the competitors to
compare pricing and services offered.
3. Reduced for No Fear Of Competition
 Often times the companies that are in the oligopoly market become very settled
with their business. The profits and the way they run are guaranteed to work,
so they no longer feel the need to come up with creative or innovate new ideas.
4. Better Information and Goods
 Right along with price competition, product competition plays a huge part in a
the oligopoly market structure. Each company scrambles to come out with
latest and greatest thing in order to sway consumers to go with their company
over a different one. This also goes with the advertising and amount of
information and support that they provide their customers.

The Disadvantages of Oligopoly


1. Little or no competition in the market.
 The competitive market leads to improvement in quality, innovation and
diversification.
2. Less Choices
 In many cases having to choose a company in an oligopoly is like choosing the
lesser evil. The consumers have very limited choices and options for the services
that they want. This is one of the biggest pitfalls of a oligopoly.
3. Limited Freedom of the press
 Once large media house become commercially driven they choose to suppress
stories that do not serve their interests. In essence, they become driven for
capital instead of the public interests.

Media Pluralism
 Is related with the Independence of media from private control and disproportionate
influences of one or few economic, social and/or political powers.
 Defined as the state of having a plurality of voices, opinions and analyses on media
system (internal pluralism) or the coexistence of different and diverse types of
medias and media support (external pluralism).

LESSON 7
Globalization of Religion

What is Religion?
 Religion, human beings’ relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred,
absolute, spiritual, divine, or worthy of especial reverence.
 It is also commonly regarded as consisting of the way people deal with ultimate
concerns about their lives and their fate after death.
 In many traditions, this relation and these concerns are expressed in terms of
one’s relationship with or attitude toward gods or spirits; in more humanistic or
naturalistic forms of religion, they are expressed in terms of one’s relationship
with or attitudes toward the broader human community or the natural world.

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 In many religions, texts are deemed to have scriptural status, and people are
esteemed to be invested with spiritual or moral authority.
 Believers and worshippers participate in and are often enjoined to perform
devotional or contemplative practices such as prayer, meditation, or particular
rituals.
 Worship, moral conduct, right belief, and participation in religious institutions
are among the constituent elements of the religious life.

Historical Background of Religion


The history of religion refers to the written record of human religious experiences and
ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,220 years
ago (3200 BCE). The prehistory of religion involves the study of religious beliefs that existed
prior to the advent of written records. One can also study comparative religious chronology
through a timeline of religion. Writing played a major role in standardizing religious texts
regardless of time or location, and making easier the memorization of prayers and divine
rules. A small part of the Bible involves the collation of oral texts handed down over the
centuries.
The concept of "religion" was formed in the 16th and 17th centuries, despite the fact
that ancient sacred texts like the Bible, the Quran, and others did not have a word or even a
concept of religion in the original languages and neither did the people or the cultures in
which these sacred texts were written.
The word religion as used in the 21st century does not have an obvious pre-colonial
translation into non-European languages. The anthropologist Daniel Dubuisson writes that
"what the West and the history of religions in its wake have objectified under the name
'religion' is ... something quite unique, which could be appropriate only to itself and its own
history". The history of other cultures' interaction with the "religious" category is therefore
their interaction with an idea that first developed in Europe under the influence of
Christianity.

LESSON 8
The Global City
Global city
 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.
 Simultaneously, these cities were becoming newly privileged sites of local politics
within the context of a broader project to reconfigure state institutions.

What is the GPCI?


 Given the global competition between cities, the Global Power City Index (GPCI)
evaluates and ranks the major cities of the world according to their “magnetism,” or
their comprehensive power to attract people, capital, and enterprises from around
the world.
 It does so through measuring 6 functions: (pp 134)
 1. Economy
 2. Research and Development
 3. Cultural Interaction
 4. Livability
 5. Environment
 6. Accessibility—providing a multidimensional ranking.

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 The GPCI is able to grasp the strengths, weaknesses, and challenges of global cities
in a continuously changing world not only through a ranking, but also through
analyzing that ranking’s specific components.

Top Ten Global Cities


There was no change in the top 10 ranking from last year’s GPCI. In comparison with
the top 3 cities of London, New York, and Tokyo, Paris’s drop in score was minimal,
narrowing the gap once again between the French capital and Tokyo. Although Paris
experienced a downtrend in score following the repeated terror attacks of 2015, following
the 2017 confirmation as host-city of the 2024 Olympic Games, an upward trend in score is
building. Among the 4 new cities added this year (Melbourne, Helsinki, Dublin, Tel Aviv),
Melbourne at #11 was the highest performer.

LESSON 9
Global Demography
What is Demography?
 Demography is the study of human populations – their size, composition and
distribution across space – and the process through which populations change.
 Births, deaths and migration are the ‘big three’ of demography, jointly producing
population stability or change.
 A population’s composition may be described in terms of basic demographic
features – age, sex, family and household status – and by features of the
population’s social and economic context – language, education, occupation,
ethnicity, religion, income and wealth.
 The distribution of populations can be defined at multiple levels (local, regional,
national, global) and with different types of boundaries (political, economic,
geographic).
 Demography is a central component of societal contexts and social change.

What do demographers do?


 What demographers do goes well beyond this broad definition and draws extensively
from related disciplines – Sociology, Economics, statistics, History, Political Science,
Anthropology, Psychology, Public Health and Environmental Sciences.

Why Demography Matters?


 Demography is very useful for understanding social and economic problems and
identifying potential solutions.
 Demographers are engaged in social planning, market research, insurance
forecasting, labor market analysis, economic development and so on.
 They work for private firms and public agencies at local, regional, national and
international levels.

A. Population

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 World Population - 7,794,798,739 (see live at woldometer)


 Yearly Change (+ 1.05%)

Yearly Net Density Urban Urban


Year World Population Change Change (P/Km²) Pop Pop %
2020 7,794,798,739 1.05 % 81,330,639 52 4,378,993,944 56 %

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Yearly Net Density Urban Urban


Year World Population Change Change (P/Km²) Pop Pop %
2015 7,379,797,139 1.16 % 84,506,374 50 3,981,497,663 54 %
2010 6,956,823,603 1.22 % 84,056,510 47 3,594,868,146 52 %
2005 6,541,907,027 1.25 % 80,747,638 44 3,215,905,863 49 %
2000 6,143,493,823 1.31 % 79,254,768 41 2,868,307,513 47 %
1995 5,744,212,979 1.43 % 81,062,552 39 2,575,505,235 45 %
1990 5,327,231,061 1.71 % 89,789,503 36 2,290,228,096 43 %
1985 4,870,921,740 1.82 % 86,910,119 33 2,007,939,063 41 %
1980 4,458,003,514 1.77 % 77,497,414 30 1,754,201,029 39 %
1975 4,079,480,606 1.89 % 75,686,434 27 1,538,624,994 38 %
1970 3,700,437,046 2.06 % 74,756,419 25 1,354,215,496 37 %
1965 3,339,583,597 2.00 % 65,605,259 22 1,188,469,224 36 %
1960 3,034,949,748 1.86 % 55,373,563 20 1,023,845,517 34 %
1955 2,773,019,936 1.77 % 48,173,195 19 877,008,842 32 %
1954 2,724,846,741 1.76 % 47,237,781 18 850,179,106 31 %
1953 2,677,608,960 1.78 % 46,747,398 18 824,289,989 31 %
1952 2,630,861,562 1.81 % 46,827,301 18 799,282,533 30 %
1951 2,584,034,261 1.88 % 47,603,112 17 775,067,697 30 %
1927 2,000,000,000
1900 1,600,000,000
1850 1,200,000,000

1804 1,000,000,000
1760 770,000,000
1700 610,000,000
800 220,000,000
700 210,000,000
600 200,000,000
200 190,000,000
-200 150,000,000

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Yearly Net Density Urban Urban


Year World Population Change Change (P/Km²) Pop Pop %
-500 100,000,000
-1000 50,000,000
-5000 5,000,000

Source: Worldometer (www.Worldometers.info)

B. Fertility in the World


 A Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 2.1 represents the Replacement-Level Fertility: the
average number of children per woman needed for each generation to exactly
replace itself without needing international immigration. A value below 2.1 will
cause the native population to decline

C. Life Expectancy in the World


 BOTH SEXES 73.2 years (life expectancy at birth, both sexes combined)
 FEMALES 75.6 years (life expectancy at birth, females)
 MALES 70.8 years (life expectancy at birth, males)

D. Infant Mortality Rate and Deaths of Children under 5 Years Old in the World
 INFANT MORTALITY
26.1 (infant deaths per 1,000 live births)
 DEATHS UNDER AGE 5

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35.8 (per 1,000 live births)

E. World Urban Population


 Currently, 55.7 % of the population of the World is urban (4,299,438,618 people in
2019)

F.Population Density
 The 2019 population density in the World is 52 people per Km2 (134 people per
mi2), calculated on a total land area of 148,940,000 Km2 (57,506,032 sq. miles).

G. Population Pyramid
 A Population pyramid (also called "Age-Sex Pyramid") is a graphical representation
of the age and sex of a population.

Types:
 Expansive
 pyramid with a wide base (larger percentage of people in younger age groups,
indicating high birth rates and high fertility rates) and narrow top (high death
rate and lower life expectancies). It suggests a growing population. Example:
Nigera Population Pyramid
 Constrictive
 pyramid with a narrow base (lower percentage of younger people, indicating
declining birth rates with each succeeding age group getting smaller than the
previous one). Example: United States
 Stationary
 with a somewhat equal proportion of the population in each age group. The
population is stable, neither increasing nor decreasing.

Stages:

Dependency Ratio
 There are three types of age dependency ratio: Youth, Elderly, and Total. All three
ratios are commonly multiplied by 100.

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Youth Dependency Ratio


 Definition: population ages 0-15 divided by the population ages 16-64.
 Formula: ([Population ages 0-15] ÷ [Population ages 16-64]) × 100

Elderly dependency ratio


 Definition: population ages 65-plus divided by the population ages 16-64.
 Formula: ([Population ages 65-plus] ÷ [Population ages 16-64]) × 100

Total dependency ratio


 Definition: sum of the youth and old-age ratios.
 Formula: (([Population ages 0-15] + [Population ages 65-plus]) ÷ [Population ages
16-64]) × 100

NOTE:
 Dependency Ratio does not take into account labor force participation rates by age
group. Some portion of the population counted as "working age" may actually be
unemployed or not in the labor force whereas some portion of the "dependent"
population may be employed and not necessarily economically dependent.

LESSON 10
Global Migration
Global Migration
 is a situation in which people go to live in foreign countries

Of the world’s current 247 million immigrants and expatriates, where are they from
and where are they going?
 As a global phenomenon, people are moving just about everywhere. In particular,
Quartz Media LLC indicates that the largest area of regional migration is from
Southeast Asia to the Middle East, which is largely due to oil construction booms
on the Arabian Peninsula. The biggest flow between individual countries is between
Mexico and the United States, the latter making up the largest single migrant
destination in the world. Many migration routes are within the same continents and
regions, with people moving to neighboring countries.
 How people migrate depends greatly on each nation’s current immigration laws and
the safety of the route itself. While some migrants are able to travel by airplane or
train, others do not have the same luxury. Those looking to enter Europe through
North Africa often face a particularly perilous route: an extremely overcrowded boat
over the Mediterranean Sea, sometimes with a Saharan Desert trek directly
beforehand. Transportation is one of many examples of how migration can take
drastically different forms.

Why do people move?


 Global migration can be understood as a cause and effect relationship, though the
causes are just as numerous as their effects. People move across international
borders for a variety of reasons, including (though not limited to):
1. Safety
2. Natural disaster
3. Political conflict
4. Education
5. Family
6. Career
7. Economic betterment

The Push-Pull Factor


 Some of the reasons that trigger global migration can be explained by what’s known
as the Push-Pull factor.
Pull factors

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 are factors in the destination country that attract the individual or group to leave
their home. These factors attract people to a new place largely because of the
opportunities presented in the new location were not available to them previously.
 An example of a pull factor would include a family moving from a country with
minimal job opportunities to a new location with more opportunities for a
successful career.
 The beneficial elements that the new country presents encourages people to migrate
there in order to seek a better life for their families.

Push factor
 refers to conditions which force people to leave their homes.
 A person would typically move because of distress (safety, natural disaster, or
political conflict).
 Although push factors don’t require a person to leave their home, the conditions
impacting the push factors often negatively impact the quality of life for the person
if they choose to stay.
 Places that experience drought and famine, war conflicts, and/or high
unemployment would contribute to the push factors that trigger migration for that
country’s residents.

Push factors, in particular, are often underestimated in their popularity and frequency,
which is emphasized by Manpower Inc.’s survey of employees across 27 countries. In this
survey about relocating internationally, 82 percent of respondents said they would move for
a pay increase, 74 percent would move to increase their career, and 47 percent would move
to learn another language. In short, people migrate for all kinds of unexpected reasons.

Does migration improve the quality of life?


 Whether individuals migrate due to push or pull factors, there are undeniable
benefits involved with adapting to a new country. Some benefits are simply fun and
exciting: learning a new culture and experiencing new opportunities, such as
tasting new foods and getting to know a different approach to communication, or
immersing yourself in the new cultural activities, can be exciting and enriching.
 Other benefits, namely personal freedoms, are essential. People may leave their
home countries in search of safety and religious, academic, or political freedom in
their new countries. It’s estimated that around 11 million Syrians have fled their
homes since the outbreak of the civil war in March 2011; many fleeing for their
safety in search of a better quality of life for their families. In this example,
migration can improve peoples’ lives drastically.

Potential Drawbacks for Global Migration


 Migration can present a great variety of challenges ranging from simple discomfort
to profound shifts in mental health. Migrating to a new place where the diet or the
local culture is largely unfamiliar may be quite jarring. Imagine moving from the US
where drinking coffee or tea in the mornings is the cultural norm to living in Central
Asia where in some parts, drinking salty yak butter tea is the norm.
 Culture shock is a predictable culprit for migratory challenges: changes in
language, diet, politics, religion, and environment are immediately visible. For
example, those who migrate from the Middle East or Africa are aware of the
difficulties of adjusting to colder temperatures in Scandinavia. What might not be
as obvious, though, is the challenge of adjusting to extremely short daylight hours
in the winter, making seasonal affective disorder an unanticipated hurdle for many
immigrants.
 Furthermore, the act of leaving a home country can be emotionally difficult,
especially for those who may never be able to return and/or were forced out by
situations that they couldn’t control. Having to emigrate as a refugee from a war-
torn Syria, breaks up families and can destabilize immigrants’ sense of self, which
could lead to depression. These challenges obviously should not be taken lightly –
help and support are key.

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LESSON 11
Global Food Security

Food security
 defined as the availability of food and one's access to it. A household is considered
food secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvation. Stages of
food insecurity range from food secure situations to full-scale famine. The World
Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as existing "when all people at all times
have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life".

The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security;


 as existing "when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious
food to maintain a healthy and active life". Commonly, the concept of food security
is defined as including both physical and economic access to food that meets
people's dietary needs as well as their food preferences.
 Household food security exists when all members, at all times, have access to
enough food for an active, healthy life. Food security incorporates a measure of
resilience to future disruption or unavailability of critical food supply due to various
risk factors including droughts, shipping disruptions, fuel shortages, economic
instability, and wars.

Food stability
 Refers to the ability to obtain food over time.
Food access
 Refers to the affordability and allocation of food, as well as the preferences of
individuals and households.
Food availability
 Relates to the supply of food through production, distribution, and exchange.

What is Food Security


 Two common definitions of food security come from the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA), and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO):

Food security (FAO)


 exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient,
safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an
active and healthy life.
Food security (USDA)
 for a household means access by all members at all times to enough food for an
active, healthy life. Food security includes at a minimum:
(1) The ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods
(2) An assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable
ways (that is, without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging,
stealing, or other coping strategies).

In 2006 it was reported that globally, the number of people who are overweight has
surpassed the number who are undernourished - the world had more than one billion
people who were overweight, and an estimated 800 million who were undernourished.
Worldwide around 852 million people are chronically hungry due to extreme poverty, while
up to 2 billion people lack food security intermittently due to varying degrees of poverty.
17,000 children die of hunger and malnutrition related diseases every day, which equals 6
million children who die of hunger every year.
In the United States of America there are approximately 2,000,000 farmers, less than
1% of the population. A direct relationship exists between food consumption levels and
poverty. Families with the financial resources to escape extreme poverty rarely suffer from
chronic hunger; while poor families not only suffer the most from chronic hunger, but are
also the segment of the population most at risk during food shortages and famines.

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Things affecting food security today include:


1. Global Water Crisis
 Water table reserves are falling in many countries (including Northern China,
the US, and India) due to widespread over-pumping and irrigation.
2. Climate Change
 Rising global temperatures are beginning to have a ripple effect on crop yields,
forest resources, water supplies and altering the balance of nature.
3. Land Degradation
 Intensive farming leads to a vicious cycle of exhaustion of soil fertility and
decline of agricultural yields.
4. Greedy Land Deals
 Corporations and Governments buying rights to millions of acres of agricultural
land in developing countries to secure their own long-term food supplies.

Genetically Modified (GM) Food and Food Security


 Will genetically modified foods be the answer to a crisis in food security? At present
little is known on the consequences and future safety aspects of GM foods. The
movement of genes from GM plants into conventional crops in the wild (out-
crossing), as well as the mixing of crops derived from conventional seeds with those
grown using GM crops, may have an indirect effect on food safety and food security.
This risk is real, as was shown when traces of a maize type which was only
approved for feed use appeared in maize products for human consumption in the
United States of America.
 Far from focusing on the needs of the poor in developing countries, GM crop
development is driven by the commercial interests of US and European companies.
The major GM crops currently grown - soya, oilseed rape, cotton and maize - are
designed to support the food and textile industries of the developed world. There is
currently little GM research and development by private companies on staple food
crops vital to developing countries.
 "Terminator" seeds are modified to produce sterile seeds. This prevents farmers
from saving seeds to plant the following season. 1.4 billion people, mainly poor
farmers in developing countries, depend on saved seed. Farmers are then forced to
buy new seeds every year from the biotech companies. Despite universal
condemnation from farmers' movements all over the world, the technology is still
being developed today.
 Food security is not just a poverty issue; it is a much larger issue that involves the
whole food system and affects every one of us in some way. Issues such as whether
households get enough food, how it is distributed within the household and
whether that food fulfills the nutrition needs of all members of the household show
that food security is clearly linked to health.
 Global Food Security must exist to meet the challenge of providing the world's
growing population with a sustainable, secure supply of good quality food.

LESSON 12
Global Citizenship
A Global Citizen is someone who:
 is aware of the wider world and has a sense of their own role as a world citizen
 respects and values diversity
 has an understanding of how the world works
 is outraged by social injustice
 participates in the community at a range of levels, from the local to the global
 is willing to act to make the world a more equitable and sustainable place
 takes responsibility for their actions.

To be effective Global Citizens:


 young people need to be flexible, creative and proactive.

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 They need to be able to solve problems, make decisions, think critically,


communicate ideas effectively and work well within teams and groups.
 These skills and attributes are increasingly recognised as being essential to succeed
in other areas of 21st century life too, including many workplaces.
 These skills and qualities cannot be developed without the use of active learning
methods through which pupils learn by doing and by collaborating with others.

Global citizenship
 is all about encouraging young people to develop the knowledge, skills and values
they need to engage with the world. And it's about the belief that we can all make a
difference.
 the idea that one's identity transcends geography or political borders and that
responsibilities or rights are derived from membership in a broader class:
"humanity". This does not mean that such a person denounces or waives their
nationality or other, more local identities, but that such identities are given "second
place" to their membership in a global community. Extended, the idea leads to
questions about the state of global society in the age of globalization.
 In general usage, the term may have much the same meaning as "world citizen" or
cosmopolitan, but it also has additional, specialized meanings in differing contexts.
Various organizations, such as the World Service Authority, have advocated global
citizenship.

Education for global citizenship


 is not an additional subject
 it's a framework for learning, reaching beyond school to the wider community
 It can be promoted in class through the existing curriculum or through new
initiatives and activities.

The benefits are felt across the school and beyond. Global citizenship helps young
people to:
1. Build their own understanding of world events.
2. Think about their values and what's important to them.
3. Take learning into the real world.
4. Challenge ignorance and intolerance.
5. Get involved in their local, national and global communities.
6. Develop an argument and voice their opinions.
7. See that they have power to act and influence the world around them.

 What's more, global citizenship inspires and informs teachers and parents, too. But
above all, it shows young people that they have a voice. The world may be changing fast,
but they can make a positive difference - and help build a fairer, safer and more secure
world for everyone.

References:
1.Steger, Manfred B., Paul Battersby, and Joseph M. Siracusa, eds. 2014.The SAGE
Handbook of Globalization. Two volumes.
2.Bello, Walden F. 2006. “The Multiple Crises of Global Capitalism.” In Deglobalization:
Ideas for a New World Economy, pp. 1-31. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
3.Castles, Stephen. 2000. “International Migration at the Beginning of the Twenty-First
Century: Global Trends and Issues.” International Social Science Journal 52 (165): 269–
281.
4.Carter, April. 2001. “Global Civil Society: Acting as Global Citizens” in The Political Theory
of Global Citizenship, pp. 147-176. London: Routledge.
5.Mazower, Mark. 2006. “An International Civilization? Empire, Internationalism and the
Crisis of the Mid-Twentieth Century.” International Affairs 82(3): 553–566.
6.Sassen, Saskia. 2005. “The Global City: Introducing a Concept.” Brown Journal of World
AffairsXI(2): 27-43.

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7.Steger, Manfred B. 2005. “Ideologies of Globalization.” Journal of Political Ideologies 10(1):


11–30.
8.Wallerstein, Immanuel. 2004. “The Modern World-System as a Capitalist World Economy:
Production, Surplus-Value, and Polarization.” In World-SystemsAnalysis: An Introduction,
pp. 23-41. Durham and London: Duke University Press.
9.Saluba, D.J. et. al., The Contemporary World (2018), Panday-Lahi Publishing House, Inc.,
BLK. 26 Lot 9 Sampaguita Street, Doña Rosario, Bayview Subdivision, Sucat, Muntinlupa
City

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