General questions

What did the Montevideo convention determine and when was it

• 1933

• state sovereignty must have defined territory, permeant population, viable government and capacity for diplomatic relations

6 positives of economic globalisation

• reduced poverty

• increased productivity

• encouraged innovation

• led to higher living standards

• helped break the poverty cycle

• reduced conflict

5 criticisms of economic globalisation

• entrenched poverty

• race to the bottom

• widening inequality

• environmental degradation

• lack of job security

what does neoliberalism seek to do and who associated with

transfer control of economic factors to the private sector away from the public sector

• thatcher and Reagan

What the Washington consensus advocates for

• public spending cuts

• free trade policies

• openness to FDI

• privatisation

• deregulation of banking

• low taxation

statistics showing Gross world production has dramatically increased

• 2000 - US $33.8 tn

• 2019 - US $87.5 tn

number of people living in extreme poverty stats

• 1950 - 53%

• 2019 - 9%

World Systems theory

• aka Dependency theory

• globalisation sceptic - Immanuel Wallerstein - globalisation locks developing states into permanent dependency status

• If states open their borders to international trade too early, the ‘dumping’ of cheap manufactured products means

• 1. they become dependent on cheap foreign imports and dont develop their own industry

• 2. any domestic industry = unable to compete with scale and efficiency of foreign goods

DRC - case study - world systems theory

• one of the poorest countries in the world

• mineral coltan extracted using cheap labour from mines and exported to core countries

• done by MNCs such as Apple and Samsung becoming some of the world’s richest companies

• But DRC remains stuck in low-wage, low-tech economy reliant on poorly paid investment from foreign MNCs

wealth inequality in India

• 1% of the population earned 21% of the total income in 2019

• up from 11% in 1990

Amy Chua argument in World on Fire on economic globalisation

• improves all living standards but not equally

• results in resentment and dissatisfaction among the majority who although they may become practically better off they do not feel better off

• undermines social cohesion and encourage the rise of destabilising political movements

example of race to the bottom in China

• Chinese companies accused of low corporate social responsibility and exploiting workers

• HRW reported HRA by Chinese mining firms in Africa

• forced labour camps for Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang

KEY TERM:  a complex web of interconnectedness and interdependence

Globalisation

KEY TERM: Ultimate power and authority over a state?

Sovereignty

Give 4 characteristics / features of a nation state.  (Montevideo)

Defined territory / functioning, govt / stable population / diplomatic relations / Int. recognition

Give 2 examples of disputed of nationhood and/or statehood. 

Taiwan, Kurdistan, Kosovo, Cyprus, Palestine, Tibet

KEY TERM: state system developed in 1648; established the principle that no state has the right to intervene in the sovereign affairs of other states?

Westphalian state system

Which document (and which part) asserts: “This organisation is based on the principle of sovereign equality of all its members”? 

Article 2 of Chapter 1 of UN Charter

KEY TERM: used to describe the prevailing acceptance of economic liberalism and free-trade since 1945

Washington Consensus

Give 3 examples of neoliberal / neoclassical economic policies

Low tax, deregulation, privatisation, limits to public spending

What are IGOs? Give 3 examples of influential IGOs.

Intergovernmental orgs; UN +agencies IMF, WTO, WB etc NATO, EU, G7, G20,

Give an alternative name to the World System Model.

Core-periphery Model

Rana Plaza - Case Study

• in Bangladesh

• 1200 employees at the garment factory were killed when it collapsed in 2013 due to inadequate building regs

• manufactured goods for Accessorize, Primark and Walmart

Delhi Factory fire - case study

• 2019

• night-time fire killed 43 workers who slept at the factory

• showing MNCs too often fail to investigate the conditions in which their products are being manufactured

examples of Americanisation

• 9/10 most successful of global restaurant chains are American - Subway, McDonalds and Starbucks

• biggest restaurant chain in China is KFC, followed by McDonalds and Burger King

• netflix = biggest entertainment company

e.g. of globalisation destroying local industries

• rice farming in Ghana

• small-scale agriculture in Jamacia

example in China of psychological negative effects of globalisation

a spate of suicides among lonely young workers at Foxconn

example of pollution caused by Shell

UN report in 2013 estimated it will take at least 30 years for the pollution caused by Shell in the Niger Delta to be cleaned

How many tonnes of plastic waste are estimated to enter the sea each year

12.7 million tonnes

Naomi Klein - Commodity Fetishism

• increasing obsession with materialism and brand culture

• so humans undermine the uniqueness of their own culture

top 5 most recognisable brands in 2020

• Apple

• Google

• amazon

• Microsoft

• Coca-cola

who proposed the idea of a “McWorld” culture

Benjamin Barber

examples of globalisation creating rich global diversity - TV/ food

• Trailer for ‘peppa pig Celebrates Chinese New Year’ went viral getting 1 billion views

• Squid Games on netflix = most popular series of all time

• Nandos = one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains = a south African company with Portuguese/ Mozambique influences

glocalisation meaning

• local cultures moulding global brands to their own culture

examples of Glocalisation - curry and mcdonalds

• Balti curry developed in Birmingham = a mix of Indian and British-Asian influences

• McDonalds - lobster burgers in Canada and vegetarian burgers to Hindu market in India

Lord Palmerston quote on interests

“We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual and those interests it is our duty to follow

failing of US-UK intervention in Iraq

• humanitarian disaster

• half a million deaths estimated

• rise of militant islamism replacing Sadam Hussien

failing of US intervention in Afghanistan

• 20 years of ‘nation-building’ by western powers

• Taliban reclaimed power in Kabul in 2021

hyperglobalisers believe

• led to decisive relocation of power

• NS = obsolete

• borderless world will be created

globalisation sceptics believe

• NS = key actor

• not the first time globalisation has occurred - british empire in 19th century

• states won’t willingly abandon sovereignty

Transformationalists believe

• globalisation has changed the world

• NS are adapting to it

• e.g. China and India becoming increasingly powerful due to free trade

• local cultures can adapt

example of the shortcomings of global economic interdependence

• Financial crash 2008

• Great recession

• states can’t shield themselves from global financial crises

• due to interconnected nature of world economy

how does the EU erode NS sovereignty

• four freedoms

• eurozone - ECB setting interest rates

• ECJ jurisdiction

• ECtHR jurisdiction

• trade deals with non-EU countries

How Trump described the ICC

“an unelected, unaccountable global bureaucracy”

What does Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty suggest

All NSs within the EU maintain sovereignty through their right to leave - e.g. Brexit 2020

Viktor Orban as rejecting cultural globalisation

• emphasises the importance of Hungary’s Christian heritage

positive examples of internet globalisation

• BLM movement gained significant social media traction prompting institutions to address issues of racism - like #MeToo

• Climate change awareness - activists like Greta Thunberg having an international follwoings online

negative examples of internet globalisation

• misinformation and fake news can lead to social unrest e.g. Anti-immigration riots in UK after Southport murders was wrongly attributed to a Muslim asylum seeker

• states can use it to promote nationalistic agendas e.g. China