1. Rodrik uses the example of Japan's Meiji government during its industrialization to argue that healthy economic policy arises from more government regulation—not less, and that Japan has been able to remain to this day a major power in the global economy because of this. However, during most of this period in history Japan was also under martial law, in which the military led the government and individual rights suffered. Would it be worth it to you to live in a militarist country if things like wages, job security and food prices were stable and secure?
Personally I believe militarism would not be worth stable wages, job security or food prices. As an individual and a member of society I believe that a democratic state, separate from the government would make me feel more secure and stable. The military should not be an internal enforcement, and should not be in charge of internal affairs and the making of laws. The military should have the central goal to serve and protect the people, not govern wages, etc. "Individual freedom" is more important than financial consistency. The ability and opportunity to attain any job appropriate for my experience/ability, and to get get paid according to the quality of my work depending on demand is not so terrible. You need to earn the wages you receive as an individual or a company, food prices varie according to supply and demand. THis is how the economic cycle works, with constant ups and downs balancing price with the value of the currency. Trading freedom for stable and secure financial consistencies is a communist notion, which removes all possibilities for ambition and improvement.
2. According to Rodrik, 'domesticating' globalization is the only way to "tame" it. How was China able to 'domesticate' globalization when it came to foreign investment?
China was able to domesticate globalization by taking advantage of specialized economic zones. They were able to make international exports, duty free, while also being able to gain knowledge regarding superior infrastructures. Thus, improving their own. This duty free trade attracted privatized global investments while China was still able to maintain domestic/governmental control over production, wages, etc. Once China had built up a strong enough industrial base with a solid infrastructure they were able to enter the WTO grasping globalization by the leash. Only to improve their economy and stature as a global economic power.
Sunday 10 February 2013
Monday 4 February 2013
Chapter 3 - Part 2
Steger outlines of the birth of the Internet and the rise of satellite and fibre-optic technologies in the 1990s as a factor that has significantly changed our concept of economics. How so, and what are both the positive and negative byproducts of this shift?
With the creation of the internet came the birth of a more global stock exchange; billions of dollars worth of stocks are now able to be trades every minute with the click of a button, while the prices of each stock are simultaneously monitored, compared, and predicted. This makes it easier for TNC's to purchase local companies in different countries to broaden their reach as a corporate power. For the global spread of these companies is a positive shift, causing the sharing of technologies, information and resources. A negative byproduct of this shift was that online banking was now a possibility, and the creation of imaginary money for safety nets due to loans appears. This causes inflation, the more currency a state has the less its worth unless there is an appropriate demand from products. Countries began shifting this imaginary money between them due to debts while corporations were making more than these countries. The amount of money was increasing so the value was decreasing, which increases the price of products. Which creates the need for more loans to afford products; stunting developmental growth. Although these technologies brought companies closer together, it gave these companies more power than states, and increased global debt.
With the creation of the internet came the birth of a more global stock exchange; billions of dollars worth of stocks are now able to be trades every minute with the click of a button, while the prices of each stock are simultaneously monitored, compared, and predicted. This makes it easier for TNC's to purchase local companies in different countries to broaden their reach as a corporate power. For the global spread of these companies is a positive shift, causing the sharing of technologies, information and resources. A negative byproduct of this shift was that online banking was now a possibility, and the creation of imaginary money for safety nets due to loans appears. This causes inflation, the more currency a state has the less its worth unless there is an appropriate demand from products. Countries began shifting this imaginary money between them due to debts while corporations were making more than these countries. The amount of money was increasing so the value was decreasing, which increases the price of products. Which creates the need for more loans to afford products; stunting developmental growth. Although these technologies brought companies closer together, it gave these companies more power than states, and increased global debt.
Chapter 3 - Economic Dimension of Globalization
In your own words, define the term "laissez-faire" as it applies to economics. What is the role of laissez-faire economics in the process of globalization? Cite some examples of how we can see this in Canada and abroad.
LAISSEZ-FAIRE - The idea that government should not interfere with economic affairs, or trade, especially on a global scale.
Laissez-faire allows for competition and variety among companies that produce the same product, as well as allowing the possibility of trans-national companies to exist. If the government where to control all production (socialism/communism) then every company would be under the state that it is located in and would probably be the only company dealing with the production of said product. With laissez-faire companies are able to take advantage of locations all across the globe taking advantages of the resources and labour in each area. Thus creating a wider reach of technologies and consumers. This connects the world globally through friendly trade without having to worry about political complications between companies. It also allows the companies to earn more than they would than in a single state, and in general earn more than most states.
An example of where canada does not use Laissez faire would be Lcbo (Liquor Control Board of Ontario), the province of ontario puts a tax and restrictions on when alcohol can be distributed. This limits the profits for the companies that produce the alcohol and only the Ontario provincial government benefits from this. A laissez-faire way of doing this would be that any store, Walmart, etc. would be able to sell such items without the governments tax on the items. Walmart would then gain more revenue, be able to sell alcohol anywhere at any time as long as too costumers of the appropriate age. Opening up a larger portion of revenue without such taxes, the price of liquor would drop, and people would have more opportunities to buy it.
LAISSEZ-FAIRE - The idea that government should not interfere with economic affairs, or trade, especially on a global scale.
Laissez-faire allows for competition and variety among companies that produce the same product, as well as allowing the possibility of trans-national companies to exist. If the government where to control all production (socialism/communism) then every company would be under the state that it is located in and would probably be the only company dealing with the production of said product. With laissez-faire companies are able to take advantage of locations all across the globe taking advantages of the resources and labour in each area. Thus creating a wider reach of technologies and consumers. This connects the world globally through friendly trade without having to worry about political complications between companies. It also allows the companies to earn more than they would than in a single state, and in general earn more than most states.
An example of where canada does not use Laissez faire would be Lcbo (Liquor Control Board of Ontario), the province of ontario puts a tax and restrictions on when alcohol can be distributed. This limits the profits for the companies that produce the alcohol and only the Ontario provincial government benefits from this. A laissez-faire way of doing this would be that any store, Walmart, etc. would be able to sell such items without the governments tax on the items. Walmart would then gain more revenue, be able to sell alcohol anywhere at any time as long as too costumers of the appropriate age. Opening up a larger portion of revenue without such taxes, the price of liquor would drop, and people would have more opportunities to buy it.
Monday 21 January 2013
Rough Work for Poster
NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH OR GLOBAL SURVEILLANCE ?
-Rough sketch of idea
-Images used for rough draft
-Rough draft with incorrect image size, debating on painting the poster? v- fixed the sizes and saved a jpg in 72 dpi to show my process work
Your right to privacy is lost, whether it be your neighbour upstairs listening to your conversation or your government screening your phone calls.
ALL FORMS OF COMMUNICATION ARE BEING TAPPED BY SOMEONE
Intentional or not, most everything we say either gets published on the web or gets recorded in a database for a phone company, for example; my homework is now a public thing for anyone to read.
THIS IS MY ROUGH WORK
Sunday 20 January 2013
Chapter 2 - Globalization and History
THOUGHTS ON STEGER'S INTRODUCTION TO GLOBALIZATION
2. Throughout Chapter 2, Steger refers to the influence of social and economic classes in the advent of globalization. What is the definition of "classes" here, and how does it relate to the way we read and interpret images in a globalized context?
In this context "classes" are groups of people with the same economic stature, education, or status among coming together to build up a population. Each class has a certain place in the scheme of production and consumption. Hierarchy may lessen equality but it gave birth the ability divide work loads among the people creating new opportunities for jobs. Invention and technology advancement came from the class separation of "craft specialist" in the prehistoric era. Now these classes have evolved so that each stage in the global market is a different social and economic class. These economic classes also create the need for variations in prices on products to suit the different classes. An upper class wealthy person of a higher social status would go to a "why pay less" whole foods store to pay for what they deem as the best, while a working class person of a below average economic class would go to a Food Basics and get the necessities. This created the need for brands, or multiple companies producing the same products but they are valued differently due to a name. Without the differences in class there would not have been need for options in what you purchase, which also effects world trade. Where mass production is less costly the products that get exported out are cheaper, whereas places with a higher paid working class produce more expensive product. The amount of varying social classes globally require more trade between continents to achieve those options, which the classes so desire.
1. In this chapter, Steger outlines 5 historical periods in which globalization could be said to have begun: The Prehistoric, The Pre-Modern, The Early Modern, The Modern and the Contemporary periods. He argues that each one has its own set of events and outcomes to suggest that it heralded the beginning of the social shift towards what we read last week can be called a "global imaginary". Which of these five periods do you feel most strongly represents the beginning days of globalization, and why?
I believe that the prehistoric period (10,000 BCE-3500 BCE) is the birth of globalization in the sense that since human beings reached global migration we have been striving to re-unite as a species. When separating and dividing into small tribes of nomadic hunters and gatherers eventually there were humans scattered amongst all corners of the world. Once there was no longer a sense of unity throughout the human population (in a physical sense) we have been tracing back at an exponential rate to recreate that unity. Beginning slow advancements such as the settling of villages etc. globalization began to slowly accelerate. You could relate the worlds progression of globility to that of a parabola. The left half of the parabola depicting the separation. The further along you follow the function the further humans got from one another physically. The bottom most point being the furtherest away from globalization we were as a people. Whilst the right side of the parabola represents the journey back to coalition. Starting off slowly but as more time progressed the advancements accelerate dramatically. The only difference between the two states of unity is the distance between the population. We as humans feel connected to the whole population on a more subconscious, imaginary level considering the fact that most interaction is through screens. Where as before the great migration all interaction was physical. I believe that globalization has been a continuous incline with centuries of change in both technology and social/moral stature. Just because there was no word to describe what was going on until recent years it is ignorant to deny the significance of even the smallest progression of globalization. All five periods in time are on the parabola of the global imaginary.
2. Throughout Chapter 2, Steger refers to the influence of social and economic classes in the advent of globalization. What is the definition of "classes" here, and how does it relate to the way we read and interpret images in a globalized context?
In this context "classes" are groups of people with the same economic stature, education, or status among coming together to build up a population. Each class has a certain place in the scheme of production and consumption. Hierarchy may lessen equality but it gave birth the ability divide work loads among the people creating new opportunities for jobs. Invention and technology advancement came from the class separation of "craft specialist" in the prehistoric era. Now these classes have evolved so that each stage in the global market is a different social and economic class. These economic classes also create the need for variations in prices on products to suit the different classes. An upper class wealthy person of a higher social status would go to a "why pay less" whole foods store to pay for what they deem as the best, while a working class person of a below average economic class would go to a Food Basics and get the necessities. This created the need for brands, or multiple companies producing the same products but they are valued differently due to a name. Without the differences in class there would not have been need for options in what you purchase, which also effects world trade. Where mass production is less costly the products that get exported out are cheaper, whereas places with a higher paid working class produce more expensive product. The amount of varying social classes globally require more trade between continents to achieve those options, which the classes so desire.
Sunday 13 January 2013
Chapter 1 - A Contested Concept
THOUGHTS ON STEGER'S INTRODUCTION TO GLOBALIZATION
1. Steger talks about the tension between localism and globalism in the images of Osama Bin Laden's video broadcasts, and the irony of these images in regards to Bin Laden's contempt for the West. Do you agree with Steger? What are some examples in your own life where you can see this tension between local and global imagery?
I agree with Steger's opinion on the Bin Laden videos, the imagery was contradictory in the sense that Bin Laden's view on globalization and westernization is a negative one. Even if Bin Laden was representing himself with specifically only local items; unlike the Timex watch and the Kalashnikov he still is a subject to global media. Steger poses a good argument that without the technologies that sprouted from globalization, Bin Laden would not have been able to send out his video successfully. The line between local and global has become so blurry that even an "antiglobalizer" is subjected to pro-global activity without realization or intention. It is a system that you fall into without even full consciousness of your submission.
When thinking about tensions between the global and local in my everyday life I began by looking around my room at objects that I use and see everyday. The further I looked into this the more I realized that very little of my clothes and shoes were actually made locally even though they are represented as in a North American style. For example Chuck Taylor All Stars, which are a type of Converse shoe made by Nike. They have very American symbolism such as the red, white and blue logo, which is centred by a large blue star. The logo itself basically screams the American flag, while they also have a reputation as being an all American shoe, hence the name All Star. When I researched further into the areas as too where they are manufactured I discovered that majority of the factories for that style of shoe are actually in asia. The once very western shoe now has a new appearance to me, which also poses many questions such as: Do the people making the shoe realize the symbolism behind the logo? Do they resent the false logo that they are required to put on the shoe? Or do they even care that the only recognition they get for making the shoe is hidden on a little label on the inside while the United States gets all of the credit? What is western style if none of it is even made in the west.
2. On pg. 10, Steger introduces his own concept of the global imaginary. What do you think he means by "imaginary"? How does this concept differ from globality?
When Steger refers to the global imaginary, I believe that he is referring to the to the understanding that everything is an active cog in the system of globalization, that grows and changes exponentially. Thus meaning there is no finite end to the evolution of globalization. This concept contradicts the idea of globility; globility is the idea of the world coming to a social, and conscious unity. If globalization is "the intensification and acceleration" of social relations it can never come to a complete global consensus. Globalization is a progression of a system, without the progression is it still globalization.
1. Steger talks about the tension between localism and globalism in the images of Osama Bin Laden's video broadcasts, and the irony of these images in regards to Bin Laden's contempt for the West. Do you agree with Steger? What are some examples in your own life where you can see this tension between local and global imagery?
I agree with Steger's opinion on the Bin Laden videos, the imagery was contradictory in the sense that Bin Laden's view on globalization and westernization is a negative one. Even if Bin Laden was representing himself with specifically only local items; unlike the Timex watch and the Kalashnikov he still is a subject to global media. Steger poses a good argument that without the technologies that sprouted from globalization, Bin Laden would not have been able to send out his video successfully. The line between local and global has become so blurry that even an "antiglobalizer" is subjected to pro-global activity without realization or intention. It is a system that you fall into without even full consciousness of your submission.
When thinking about tensions between the global and local in my everyday life I began by looking around my room at objects that I use and see everyday. The further I looked into this the more I realized that very little of my clothes and shoes were actually made locally even though they are represented as in a North American style. For example Chuck Taylor All Stars, which are a type of Converse shoe made by Nike. They have very American symbolism such as the red, white and blue logo, which is centred by a large blue star. The logo itself basically screams the American flag, while they also have a reputation as being an all American shoe, hence the name All Star. When I researched further into the areas as too where they are manufactured I discovered that majority of the factories for that style of shoe are actually in asia. The once very western shoe now has a new appearance to me, which also poses many questions such as: Do the people making the shoe realize the symbolism behind the logo? Do they resent the false logo that they are required to put on the shoe? Or do they even care that the only recognition they get for making the shoe is hidden on a little label on the inside while the United States gets all of the credit? What is western style if none of it is even made in the west.
http://www.nikeinc.com/pages/manufacturing-map
2. On pg. 10, Steger introduces his own concept of the global imaginary. What do you think he means by "imaginary"? How does this concept differ from globality?
When Steger refers to the global imaginary, I believe that he is referring to the to the understanding that everything is an active cog in the system of globalization, that grows and changes exponentially. Thus meaning there is no finite end to the evolution of globalization. This concept contradicts the idea of globility; globility is the idea of the world coming to a social, and conscious unity. If globalization is "the intensification and acceleration" of social relations it can never come to a complete global consensus. Globalization is a progression of a system, without the progression is it still globalization.
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