Contemporary Global Trends (problems)To explain (some) of the contemporary trends in globalizationAs

Contemporary Global Trends (problems)To explain (some) of the contemporary trends in globalizationAs a result of globalization, our world today is like a global village. What are some of thesubstantive changes that are occurring in the world today?1. Trend: The global economy is becoming increasingly interconnected and consolidatedMany countries today share a common language of money in form of world currenciesMultinational Corporations are investing and trading with countries around the worldThe World today is developing several trading blocs i.e. OPEC, EU2. Trend: Global population expansion is threatening the quality of life in many regionsFeeding humanity may be compromised (global hunger) due to a high population growthGlobal health may equally be affected as a result3. Trend: There is a growing environmental awareness not only in the US, but the entireworldEducational campaigns Governmental efforts International institutions4. Trend: Global Terrorism and conflicts is has been scaled up i.e. on an increaseReligious intolerance in the Middle EastResource and power conflicts5. Trend: Global inequality continues to widenWealthy and developed countries continue to manifest higher and better standards ofliving, while the poor, developing countries continue to wallow in poverty- The Rich getricher, while the Poor sink into poverty6. Trend: Technology, innovation and industrial development have become key drivers ofthe world economySOCIO 363 ZA: GLOBAL PROBLEMSThis course is about global problems. As we enter into the 21 st century, globalization is one of the keyissues, hotly debated and contested. I dont know whatever that comes into your minds when the termglobal problem is mentioned. As students in this great University we are part of this enduringglobalization process. K-State is a global university. It is possible that many of us in this class tonightdepict globalization- the devices we use, the clothes we wear, our nationalities, interactions and indeedculture. Americans are tied to global processes in multiple ways. And yet historical evidence shows thatAmericans have always been connected with the rest of the world as far back as (1492). Sadly though itis possible that some of them (Americans) may have the notion that global issues are not connected totheir daily lives. I dont know about you…What are your thoughts and where do you fall.skeptical?Optimist? Hopefula believer in change? As global citizens (and I hope we are or possibly can endeavorto become) we are consumers of diverse global products. How I wish that we can take this discussion anotch higher by exploring our roles as global citizens. It is my hope that at the end of this course you willpossibly take time to reflect on the extent to which you will want to consider yourself as a global citizen.Being a global citizen means being informed about issues of global importance and taking action to betterthis world. The reality though is that every American is connected directly to the world scene in a varietyof ways- through mail, internet, travel, phones, international organizations, trade, etc.Emphasis is placed on the Process, impact (problems), interconnectednessMore than at any other time in world history, the future of mankind is being shaped by issues that arebeyond any one nations ability to solve (Climate change, Ebola epidemic, financial instability, terrorism,social inequality and poverty). These issues affect our economies, our environment, our nations, ourresources and indeed global peace. It is important to observe that how the world deals with these globalchallenges will determine the planets fate for generations. Plenty of evidence indicates that these issuesare growing in magnitude and will neither go away soon nor solve themselves. They will requireconcerted and indeed global solutions.I am of the humble opinion that students should leave school reasonably informed about one or more ofthe major global issues facing humanity today. These global problems require students and professionalswho are trained and willing to deal with these difficult and complex issues. Our capacity to tackle theseproblems is greater today than has been the case at any time during the last few centuries.Lets begin by exploring the conceptual framework for global problems.-some of the basicconcepts relevant to global problems.What is globalization?What is a problem?What about a social problem?What is your understanding of global problems?What features or characteristics define global problems?Session 2The Conceptual Framework of Global ProblemsThe understanding of concepts inherent in the discussion of global problems is critical. (This is an attemptto move from the known to unknown. At this juncture it is my humble belief that you have an idea ofwhere we are coming from and where we are headed in this course). Remember, it has been said that aproblem that is well defined is a problem half solved. Thus, in this class, if we can have a goodunderstanding of these problems, then arriving at solutions will not be a difficult issue. Further, AlbertEinstein, the great scientist is quoted to have said If I had an hour to solve a problem, Id spend 55minutes thinking through it and 5 minutes coming up with a solution. In other words all it takes is for usto have a good understanding of these problems and the rest in terms of solutions will not be such a bigproblem.A conceptual Framework is an analytical tool that is used to make conceptual distinctions and organizeideas. It is a way of understanding a given issue by examining or analyzing basic concepts inherent in it.To understand this framework, the following questions are used;What is a problem? How will you describe it?What is a social problem?What is globalization? How can it be explained and why?What are examples of these global problems?And so what is a problem?A problem denotes a situation that is difficult to deal with. It is an obstacle, that which hinders one fromrealizing a defined end. It is a perceived gap between the existing, current state of affairs and the desiredstate or situation.Social ProblemProblems are social in nature. They concern people and society. Global problems are therefore socialproblems. A social problem is an issue that negatively affects a person or groups state of well-being. It isa social condition that a segment of society views it as harmful to members of society.GlobalizationMany people have said diverse things about the understanding of what globalization is. In its very basicunderstanding, globalization relates to the whole world or globe. The term global relates to the wholeworld, worldwide, international, and intercontinental. (Literally, it actually takes the shape of the globe aswe all know it)The economic perspective appears to be most popular when defining globalization. In this sense, it isdescribed as the development of an increasingly integrated global economy marked by free trade(Merriam Webster dictionary). For Sociologists however, this focus is narrow as globalization is multidimensional i.e. it has political, social, cultural and even ideological aspects.It is the sharing of ideas, cultures and ways of life with people around the globe. Globalization is seen asthe widening, deepening and speeding up of worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects ofcontemporary social life (Held et al. 1999).It constitutes a multiplicity of linkages and interconnections that transcend the nation-states and byimplication the societies which make up the modern world system.It defines a process through which events, decisions and activities in one part of the world can come tohave a significant consequence for individuals and communities in quite distant parts of the world.Features/Characteristics:Globalization is a process, or simply a set of processes- involves diverse activities taking placesimultaneouslyGlobalization involves stretching or extending human activities, relations and networks acrossthe globeGlobalization is impactful, i.e. it is characterized by specific impact (consequences, negativeoutcomes)Globalization spans a multitude of disciplines, communities and cultures (cross- cutting)Global problemsGlobal problems are described as important or critical problems that affect many people. These areproblems that affect the whole planet and potentially all of the people who live in it.In my estimation I see the place of perception in the definition of these concepts and conceptualframework. People must first define it as problematic i.e. when a groups values and norms are violated.There must be evidence of a particular condition that is harmful to society, and that there is potential foraddressing it. Nonetheless, I dare say that all global problems have a way of being addressed.Why are these issues considered global? CriteriaEach issue affects a large number of people across countries/ national boundaries i.e. size and magnitudeEach of these issues is one of significant concern to all or most countries in the world i.e. it attractsimmense attentionEach issue has implications that are widespread. Global problems have ramifications to humanity.Global problems require a global regulatory approach in addressing them, i.e. collective global actionWhy care about global issues/problems?These issues are of great importance to humanity and whose impact is felt everywhere. It is important toknow that how the world deals with these global challenges/problems will determine the planets fate forgenerations. There are consequences that come with global problems. These may include; Economic,Political, Social, Health and even environmental consequences.Contemporary Global Trends (problems)To explain (some) of the contemporary trends in globalizationAs a result of globalization, our world today is like a global village. What are some of the substantivechanges that are occurring in the world today?1.Trend: The global economy is becoming increasingly interconnected and consolidatedMany countries today share a common language of money in form of world currenciesMultinational Corporations are investing and trading with countries around the worldThe World today is developing several trading blocs i.e. OPEC, EU2. Trend: Global population expansion is threatening the quality of life in many regionsFeeding humanity may be compromised (global hunger) due to a high population growthGlobal health may equally be affected as a result3. Trend: There is a growing environmental awareness not only in the US, but the entire worldEducational campaignsGovernmental effortsInternational institutions4. Trend: Global Terrorism and conflicts is has been scaled up i.e. on an increaseReligious intolerance in the Middle EastResource and power conflicts5. Trend: Global inequality continues to widenWealthy and developed countries continue to manifest higher and betterstandards of living, while the poor, developing countries continue to wallow inpoverty- The Rich get richer, while the Poor sink into poverty6. Trend: Technology, innovation and industrial development have become key drivers of the worldeconomySOCIO 363 ZA: GLOBAL PROBLEMSSession 3- Week 2Over time the world has been turning into a global scene in which various transformations continue to beexperienced in respect to the way people, entities, institutions and governments carry on theirtransactions.The world is a stage and all men and women are merely players- William ShakespeareThus, as human beings we have just but one stage-the world scene and that it offers an opportunity forinteraction and connectedness.Establishing facts already discussed about globalization and global problemsWe are connected as humanity in multiple waysSociety is experiencing problems and is indeed faced with global problemsThe future of mankind is being shaped by issues beyond any ones nations abilityto solveThe world today continues to experience changes in many different aspectsRemember; let us be careful even as we think about global problems that we do not end up interpretingevery issue to be a problem. It is actually very easy to do that. Perceptions play an important part in allthis and it is possible to see problems in everything.Methods and Tools for studying global problemsIndeed, some of us here may still be wondering; how do we go about analyzing global problems. This isa methodological question and issue. The answer lies in the method, theories and sociological toolsavailable to us (tools and methods). Sociology is more than a school of thought or a philosophy of life. Itis a science that attempts to discover facts and connections between people and the social world in whichthey live. Sociologists often frame their thinking by borrowing ideas from concepts, theories andparadigms. Indeed, the same applies to other disciplines as well.Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understandingboth- C Wright MillsAnd why is this important?Provides a basis on which we can appreciate whatever it is that we are learning-this happens inother disciplines as wellStrengthens our arguments and facilitates the critical analysis of issues ( evidence)Theories for instance provide us with different perspectives with which to view our worldQ. Is there something we can learn from these perspectives, theories and paradigms?Q. What will be the relevance of all these to the debate and discussions on global problems?What is a Theory? And what about Paradigms? Models?A Theory is a proposition or idea designed to answer a question or explain a particular phenomenon.Theories also have a predictive element to the social world in which we live i.e. global problemsSocial imaginationThe goal of this course is to examine our social world with the scientific lens called the sociologicalimagination- a unique perspective that includes the person, groups and the entire stage that accounts forsocial life. Thus, we acknowledge the importance of trees, but stress characteristics of the forest, which isperhaps complex and intriguing and yet full of fun. Sociological imagination is the ability to look beyondthe individual as the cause for success and or failure and see how ones society influences the outcome.The prominent American Sociologist C. Wright Mills (1916-1962) argued that people must understandhow extraneous factors contribute to individual situations. To do this, we must practice sociologicalimagination.This paradigm argues that to truly understand peoples behavior we must look beyond those individuals tothe larger social contexts in which they live i.e. criminal behavior, deviance, poverty (poor people), andobesityAlthough individuals make choices these choices are constrained and probably controlled by social,economic, cultural, political factors.Interestingly, people may not even realize the extent to which their lives are affected by things that areexternal to them and outside their control. In other words, if we are to understand our contexts well wemust always take into account external factors.Sociological imagination therefore might be a good lens in which to examine global problems. Instead ofmaking misplaced assumptions about the causes of global problems and the dynamics involved, we canuse this tool to re-examine these issues taking into consideration events worldwide.Major ParadigmsWhat should be our approach as we think and examine global problems?FunctionalismConflict TheorySymbolic interactionismFunctionalismAccording to Functionalism, Society is a system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony tomaintain a state of balance and equilibrium in the society. Each of the different parts contributes animportant function to society. For instance, Family provides a context for reproducing, nurturing andsocialization, Education offers a way to transmit a societys skills, knowledge and culture to its youth,Politics provides a means for governing members of the society, Economics provides for the production,distribution and consumption of goods and services, Religion on the other hand provides moral guidanceto society.These parts are therefore interrelated. Because it focuses on the entire social system and not just theindividual, it is considered a macro approach to sociological study. Functionalists believe that the bestway to understand society as a whole is to understand how social institutions such as family, education,and the economy are interrelated. Each institution has an impact no matter how small it may seem,because they are all connected. For instance, when the economy does poorly, it doesnt just affect yourwallet. Companies fold jobs, families go hungry; children do poorly in school, etc. Thus globally whenthe environment is destroyed the effects are felt in many other areas. Each part influences and isinfluenced by other parts.This theory makes use of the terms functional and dysfunctional, denoting the impact of globalization i.e.the global problems witnessed today are consequences of a dysfunctional system or world.Conflict TheoryThis is an approach to analyzing society and indeed global issues. Whereas the functionalist perspectiveviews the world as composed of different parts working together, the conflict theory in contrast viewssociety as composed of groups and interests competing for power and resources. (Ref. is made to KarlMarx and the Marxist ideology). This theoretical framework views society as being in a constant struggleover a limited amount of resources.This theory views society as simply divided between two classes of people thus; the haves and have-nots,the rich, wealthy and the poor, the owners of the means of production and workers. It argues that there isan ongoing struggle for wealth and power globally that creates global inequalities and that globalproblems are in fact the product of these struggles. Further, the wealthy and powerful will always want tomaintain the status quo thus denying the poor access to the many resources and opportunities available inthe world today. Conflict theorists believe that once inequality begins to take root, those at the top areunlikely to push for change, creating tension, global instability and conflicts (Terrorism). This inequalityis evident in many areas i.e. gender, race, religion, etc.When this perspective is applied to global politics, the poor, developing countries of the world arecontrasted with the wealthy and developed countries. The wealthy countries create rules that are oftenforced upon the poor. As regards the global economy this divide is equally wide and the strugglescontinue i.e. Fair trade, how fair is it? – Exploitation?Symbolic InteractionismThe Functionalist and Conflict perspectives are broad and macro in nature. The Symbolic interactionismmodel is micro as it seeks to primarily examine the individual. This is a theoretical framework thatfocuses on how individual interactions between people influence their behavior and how theseinteractions can impact society. It argues that human behavior is influenced by definitions and meaningscreated and maintained through symbolic interaction with others, thus how we interact with othersdevelops our self-concept. Symbolic interactionists analyze how social interactions influence, create andsustain human relationships-i.e. cultural interaction, ethnicity, and race issuesDoes our interaction with others influence how we perceive global problems?A sampling of global TheoriesWorld system TheoryModernization TheoryDependency TheoryTheory of global capitalismThe Network Society TheoryTheories of Trans nationality and TransnationalismThe World system TheoryThis is a system by which the capitalist way of doing things has spread across the globe. It is prompted bytechnological innovations and the rise of market institutions. This theory is largely associated withImmanuel Wallerstein.A world system theory is basically a world economy. It is a social system that has boundaries, structures,member groups, rules and yet still held together acrimoniously. It is a single division of labor with oneworld market and multiple cultural systems. It is also described as a system of interdependent parts thatform a bounded structure and operate according to distinct rules.This theory argues that this world system has 3 interdependent regionsThe Core nationsPeriphery nations andSemi-Periphery nationsThese nation-states are simply variables within the system.The world system is characterized further by the following key factors;TechnologyA specific economic orientation-private ownership entrepreneurismImperialism-domination of other countriesHegemony-the existence of one core state temporarily that outstrips the restGlobal class struggle-countries struggling to outclass each otherThe heart of the world system theory is its explanation of the exploitative process that has enabled corecountries to retain their wealth and power at the expense of peripheral and semi-peripheral nations-rawmaterials, cheap labor, and unfair rules, etc.Modernization TheoryTo help us appreciate these theories it is important to shed some light on issues of development andunderdevelopment. The world today is classified into two main categories in terms of development,The developed worldThe developing, poor countriesQ. What in your view are the differences between the developed and developing nations?This is an evolutionary theory that explains how societies world over develop and achieve prosperity. Itargues that all societies naturally pass through certain stages of development i.e. a progressive transitionfrom pre-modern or traditional stage to modern societies.All societies start out as traditional hunter-gatherers, to agriculturalists developing towns and cities, andeventually become modern industrial states. It examines the process of social change and the developmentof societies globally. Further, it seeks to explain why some countries are wealthy and developed andothers continue to wallow in poverty and go further to offer a blue print for development.This theory is based on the analyses of European societies. It assumed that the non-European societieswould have the same experiences and or will modernize faster with aid and technology from thedeveloped nationsDeveloped countries have modern economies and by contrast underdeveloped countries havetraditional economies characterized by low levels of industrialization and developmentDeveloped countries have citizens with modern psychological and cultural traits. By contrastunderdeveloped citizens have traditional psychological traits which place less value onachievement, hard work, investment and savingsDeveloped countries have modern institutions while the developing ones have poor almostdysfunctional systems.Modernization theorists argue that modernization is inevitable and irreversible and that for the poordeveloping nations to develop and achieve prosperity they must seek to embrace modernization.Do you believe so? To what extent does it hold the truth above?- ethnocentric,Dependency TheoryThis theory was developed in the 1950s and was the work of Raul Prebisch who was the Director, UNEconomic Commission for Latin America. It is focused on the glaring development global inequalitiesbetween the developed nations and the third world countries.Prebisch and his colleagues were troubled by the fact that economic growth in the advanced industrializedcountries did not necessarily lead to growth in poorer countries as it was assumed earlier (ModernizationTheory).This is a theory that was viewed as a possible historical way of explaining the persistent poverty of thedeveloping nations by favoring others at the detriment of others thus limiting the developmentpossibilities of the subordinate countriesIt characterizes the international system (globe) as comprising of two sets of statesDominant and developedDependent nationsIt is apparent that relations between the two categories above intensify inequality.It assumes that external forces are of singular importance to the economic activities within the dependentstates. These include; Multinational Corporations, International commodity markets, foreign assistance,etc.It argues that global Capitalism has forced developing countries into a state of underdevelopment. Thissystem is unfair. It has produced underdevelopment in the past and continues to do so even today.Theory of global capitalismThe global capitalism school shares with the world-systems paradigm the critique of capitalism. It focuseson a new global production and financial system.Sklair (2000, 2002) put forward a theory of the global system at the core of which are transnationalpractices (TNPs) as operational categories for the analysis of transnational phenomena.This theory involves the idea of Transnational capitalist class (TCC) as a new class that brings togetherseveral social groups who see their own interest in an expanding global capitalist system i.e. executives oftransnational corporations, globalizing bureaucrats, politicians and professionals.Further, a number of related theories see the rise of supra national political and planning agencies andinstitutions like the World Economic Forum, WTO, and the Group of 7 as global governance structuresThis theory argues that the transnational agencies are responsible for what befalls the world economytodayQ. what do you think is the role of Transnational agencies-Multi lateral agencies, Multicorporationsin the context of global problems?The Network SocietyThis theory exemplifies a technological approach to globalization.It argues that technology plays a critical role in facilitating globalization. It represents the age ofinformation.Two analytically processes are mentioned;The development of new information technology (IT)- Computers, internet,Information capitalism- capitalists using the power of technologyThis new paradigm is;1. Information based knowledge2. Is organized on a global scale3. Is networked in that productivity is generated through global networks of interactionWhat is the place of technology in the spread of globalization? What are its effects?