LESSON 2: STRUCTURES OF GLOBALIZATION

UNIT 1: The Globalization of World Economies Introduction:

We learn that politics, culture, and economy are interconnected. This chapter will focus on
the economic area of globalization and how it came to be. This section will not only focus
on the the global history but apply the theories on the present situation, specifically with
the global pandemic we are experiencing. The discussion will provide how important the
economy is. At the same time the discussion will also focus on the matter of macro (global
market) perspective and micro perspective (community /individuals). The discussion will
give the students a clear understanding of the structure of the global economy and its
consequences.
Learning Objectives:
 
By the end of this unit students must be able to
 
1. Define economic globalization
2. Identify the actors that facilitate economic globalization
4. narrate the short history of global market integration in the twentieth
century
5. Demonstrate critical thinking in comprehending contemporary realities in
light of global economic relationships.
6. articulate stance on global economic integration
 
Sections of the Unit
1. What is economic globalization?
2. Early historical traces of exchange up to presen
3. Economic Globalization today
4. Economic Crisis into Social Crisis
What is economic globalization?
 
According to Held et. Al (1999), globalization may be thought
of initially as the widening, deepening, and speeding up of
worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects of contemporary
social life. Globalization is best thought of as a
multidimensional phenomenon. It refers to the increasing
integration of economies around the world, particularly
through the movement of goods, services, capital and even
people (labor) & knowledge (technology) across borders.
In this discussion’s context these are the important terms and concepts:

1.Internationalization- Extension of economic Activities.

2. Economic Globalization - Integration between dispersed activities. As defined by

Szentes, ‘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. Nation State is still a relevant factor on globalization.

3. Globalization- Globalization is nothing but a process making the world economy an

“organic system” Globalization transforms the national economy into a global one.
Globalization is an effective manager of the national economy.
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) regards “economic globalization” as a
historical process representing the result of human innovation and technological
progress (Claudio and Abinales 2018). It is characterized by increasing integration of
economies around the world through movement and exchange of goods, services and
capital. (Claudio and Abinales 2018).

• Much like globalization, the definition of integration along with other consequences of
it is qualitative and subjective. Are increase in Growth Domestic Product (GDP) and
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) are good indicators of the
increasing integration? According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and
development (UNCTAD), the amount of FDIs flowing across the world was 57 billion
US dollars in 1982, by 2015 that number was 1.76 trillion dollars (Claudio and
Abinales 2018). These dramatic increases in global trade happened in the span of just a
few decades.
 Considering the increased speed in exchange and frequency of trading due to
technological advancements, the world is quickly evolving. From songs Compact
Disks to MP3 format that you can download online. Physical exchange was
gradually replaced or supplemented by online virtual access. On the other hand,
there is a cultural lag between not only nations but also in the communities that
belong to it. Internet connection is now considered as an essential commodity
especially now that everything that we do is now anchored to the world wide web.
In these trying times of the COVID-19 pandemic, access to the internet and personal
priorities were the problems of a poor student. The discrepancies between the rich
and poor are still significant. This chapter assesses economic globalization and
examines who benefits and who is left out.
Early Historical Traces of Exchange up to Present

•Gills and Thompson (2006) suggests that globalization processes have been ongoing since
Homo sapiens began migrating from the African continent ultimately to populate the rest of
the world.
•the oldest known international trade was the Silk Road – a network of pathways in the
ancient world that spanned from China to what is now the Middle East and to Europe.
Traders used the Silk Road from 130 BCE when the Chinese Han Dynasty opened the trade
to the West up until 1453 BCE when the Ottoman Empire closed it.
•Silk Road was not considered “global” because it had no ocean routes that could reach the
American continent.
• Galleon trade was part of the age of mercantilism. Mercantilism was thus also a part of
the global trade but with multiple restrictions.

• A more open trade system emerged in 1867, when the United States and other European
nations adopted the gold standard at an international monetary conference in Paris.
• During World War I, many countries were forced to abandon the gold standard, when
they depleted their gold reserves. Since European countries had low gold reserves, they
adopted floating currencies that were no longer redeemable in gold.

• Now, the world operates using what is called the fiat currencies – currencies whose value
is determined by their cost relative to other currencies. This system allows governments
to freely and actively manage their economies by increasing or decreasing the amount of
money as they see fit. 
Economic Globalization Today

Exports make national economies grow. In the past, the countries who benefited most
from the free trade were the advanced nations that were producing and selling industrial
and agricultural goods. The United States, Japan, and the member-countries of the
European Union were responsible for 65 percent of global exports, while developing
countries only accounted for 29 percent. More countries opened up their economies to take
advantage of the increased free trade, which results in higher percentages accumulated by
the developing countries. The trade liberalization has altered the dynamics of the global
economy.
In the recent decades, economic globalization has spiked in global growth
rates, partly as a result of the increased exports. According to the IMF, the
global per capita GDP rose over five- fold in the second half of the 20th
century. Yet, economic globalization remains an uneven process, with some
countries, corporations, and even individuals are benefitting a lot more than
others
Economic Crisis into Social Crisis

• Karl Marx reiterated that capitalist societies are more prone to economic crises and
that this will worsen over time, which will lead to workers’ revolution. But why is it
that when a society falls in a crisis, a different change in the political climate often
follows?
• traditional Marxist theories of crisis tendencies are not applicable to some Western
late-capitalist societies. The reason is because these societies have become more
democratic and have changed significantly because welfare-state policies, such as
free healthcare provision
 Economic Crisis into Social Crisis
• CAPITALIST societies, under state-regulated late-capitalism, the primary site of
crisis and conflict has shifted to the cultural and political spheres. The crisis of
modern Western society is, according to Habermas, one of legitimation.
Legitimacy has become the focal concern because the state, as manager of the
“free market” economy, has simultaneously to solve economic problems, ensure
democracy, and please the voters.

If the public feels government policies are unfair, it withdraws its support for the
government. The state therefore has the difficult task of balancing the pursuit for
capital with maintaining mass support.

In other words, state policies must favor business and property owners while
appearing to represent the interests of all. This means the conditions exist for
government institutions to suffer a large-scale loss of legitimacy
Economic Crisis into Social Crisis

If citizens sense that the government is just and benevolent, then they will show support. If,
however, they feel that policies are not in their interests, people will respond with political
apathy or even large-scale discontent and protests. Given a threat to the status quo, a
government may try to appease its citizens with short lived social welfare measures.
 TERM PAPER 1
 
Instruction: Students will be tasked to write a critical paper that addresses the
contemporary condition of the Philippines by applying both the economic
relations and the status of the country on battling the COVID-19 Pandemic. How
has the world economy and the global pandemic influence the state of the
Philippines’ economy?
UNIT 2: Global Politics & Contemporary Global Governance
 
Introduction:

Governance and Government are usually expressed as synonyms in most dictionaries,

indicating the authority exercised by an institution, state, or organization. However,
governance, unlike the objectively defined institution of the government, is defined more
as the process of exercising political, economic, and administrative authority to manage
national or international affairs. It ensures the distribution of power to manage public
resources and provide solutions for existing problems. In this lesson, we focus on how
connectivity or integration of countries occur in globalization and shed light in the
discussion of international order and world government. It puts United Nation as the main
platform for the integration of world leaders in terms of politics, economy, and military
affairs. The principal institution in charge of the process of governance is the United
Nations- founded in 1945 in the wake of the Second World War. The institution was
established to limit future conflicts that bring catastrophic global consequences that
endanger the innate rights and dignity of men. The United Nations' primary mandate is to
preserve global security and settle international legal issues that jeopardize the
sovereignty of some Nation States.
Learning Objectives:

By the end of this unit students must be able to:

1. Analyze the dynamics of global politics and governance

2. Explain the drivers of global governance
3. Understand the process of governance and how it influences the
relationship of Nation States.
4. Examine the implications of established universal principles to the manner
of national governance.
Sections of the Unit:
 
1. What is state and nation?
2. The interstate system and internationalism
3. Global governance and the United Nations
4. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
As discussed briefly in Lesson 1, the state and nation are different but highly related to each other. A
state is independent and has sovereignty over its territory while nation is a population having shared
culture, history, territory and more. Sovereignty is a power to control its state externally (its relationship
to other sovereign state) and internally (its relationship to citizens and other governing bodies).

Politics’ Premise

1.There are countries or states that are independent and govern themselves
2.These countries interact with each other through diplomacy
3.There are international organizations, like the UN, that facilitate these interactions (such as UN)
4.International organizations has its own focus on specific sector (ILO, WHO, UNICEF)

The global politics recognize that nation states are sovereign but they opt to participate in the global
community as these international organizations tend to organize interactions between countries to avoid
conflicts.
The International State System

The concept of sovereignty (present-day) can be traced back to Treaty of Westphalia

(1648), a set of agreements to end the Thirty Years’ War between the major continental
powers of Europe (Claudio & Abinales, 2018). A long brutal war between the Catholics
and Protestant. The birth of interstate system avoided wars in the future by recognizing
state sovereignty. From then on, state begins to grow in power. It started in Europe and
spread to the rest of the world. Europeans experienced fast development necessary (tax
systems and military power) to spread influence and power around the world. The
expansion of the Interstate system began in Europe, spread globally through
imperialism, resulting in over two hundred states and most existing in poverty.
Internationalism

The internationalism is the desire for greater unity among states and people. It
comes in two different forms:

Liberal Internationalism – it offers orderliness and Socialist Internationalism - the greatest happiness
protection, without a form of world government, of all nations taken together.
international system would be chaotic.

 Immanuel Kant – likened states in a  Karl Marx – economic equality

global system  Joseph Stalin – Communist International
 Kant imagined a form of global government.
 Jeremy Bentham – creation of international law for Bureau
inter-state relations.
 Giuseppe Mazzini – system of free nations that
cooperated with each other to create an international
system
 Woodrow Wilson – prominent advocate for the
creation of the League of Nations.
 The liberal advocates for participative global community where integration for
politics and economy is highly encourage while the socialist advocates for economic
equality. They do not problematize the divided nations as it is not a problem for them,
their main concern is the economic division of people. For the post-war period, liberal
internationalism would once again prosper and the best evidence to this is the United
Nations as the center of global governance.
The first attempt to build a global system is the creation of League of Nations at
the end of World War I. American President Woodrow Wilson is highly associated in
the formation of League of Nations. Although he was advocating for the formation of
it, he was not able to join the league the moment it was formed due to opposition of the
Senate.
The Global Governance

Governance is the action or the manner of governing. In the contemporary global

governance, there is no one organization that various states are accountable to follow
and more likely no organization can militarily force a state to follow the global rules.
But there are, somehow, existing general behavior of states such as following
navigational route and recognizing respective territorial boundaries. If they would not,
it will be a global concern. Maintaining the international order is by following the
global norms despite the lack of holistic single world government.
Global governance is the different intersecting processes that create this order.
The Global Governance

Governance is the action or the manner of governing. In the contemporary global

governance, there is no one organization that various states are accountable to follow
and more likely no organization can militarily force a state to follow the global rules.
But there are, somehow, existing general behavior of states such as following
navigational route and recognizing respective territorial boundaries. If they would not,
it will be a global concern. Maintaining the international order is by following the
global norms despite the lack of holistic single world government.
Global governance is the different intersecting processes that create this order.
Conceptualizing Social Justice

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