WEEK 03: Understanding Globalization (and its Impact on Solidarity)
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50 Terms
Why does the course emphasize building our own understanding of globalization?
Because theories are tools, not truths; understanding emerges from applying ideas to experience and revising them in context.
How are theories defined in this course?
As maps explaining why the world is the way it is
As lenses shaping the questions we ask
As abstractions created for specific purposes
As ideas that shift with context and evidence
What does “the map is not the territory” mean for social theory?
Theories simplify reality; they guide understanding but never fully capture complex social processes.
Why is it difficult to pin down “what Marx really meant”?
Because Marx was an evolving thinker with extensive, dynamic writings shaped by changing historical contexts.
Why is The Communist Manifesto not considered Marx’s main academic work?
It was a commissioned political document—powerful and persuasive, but not representative of his full theoretical framework.
According to Marx, what fundamentally shapes political and intellectual life?
The prevailing mode of economic production and exchange and the social organization that follows from it.
How does Marx define human history since primitive tribal society?
As a history of class struggles between exploiting and exploited classes.
What condition did Marx place on the working class overthrowing capitalism?
Class consciousness—without it, transformation is not inevitable.
Why does Brecher reject historical inevitability in Marx’s theory?
Because it allows people to avoid moral responsibility for social change.
What does a non-deterministic future demand from people?
Active responsibility for their choices and actions in shaping history.
Why shouldn’t Marx’s theory be discarded entirely if parts fail?
Because flawed components do not invalidate the entire framework (“don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater”).
How does Marx define social class?
By relationship to the means of production (workers vs. capitalists).
What are Marx’s two forms of differentiation?
Division of labour
Division between owners and workers
Why does interdependence under capitalism produce antagonism?
Because it is unequal, creating unilateral dependence and oppression.
How does Marx’s view of interdependence lead to Dependency Theory?
Unequal interdependence creates systemic domination at both individual and global levels.
What are the two contradictory sides of capitalism?
Ordered domination in production
Disordered competition in markets
Why are solutions to capitalist problems complex?
Because they must balance freedom with coordination.
How does theory affect proposed solutions?
Different theoretical lenses emphasize different problems and interventions.
What does the metaphor “we are like fish in water” mean?
People are immersed in social systems, making fundamental change hard to imagine.
Why does seeing society as process make change imaginable?
Because systems are constantly transforming—nothing is fixed (“all that is solid melts into air”).
How does C. Wright Mills’ sociological imagination apply here?
It connects personal biography with historical and structural forces.
What does Marx assume is the normal state of society?
Change—not stability.
What question divides revolutionary and reformist approaches?
Whether fundamental change requires conflict and rupture or gradual reform.
What danger arises from reducing society to economic relations alone?
A “monomania” that oversimplifies complex social processes.
Why must Marx’s ideas often be “translated”?
They are implicitly process-based and abstract, requiring clarification to be testable.
Why is combining theories important?
Because no single theory fully explains social complexity.
What theories does Brecher integrate with Marx?
Pragmatism, cybernetics, open systems, equilibration, complexity theory.
How did Dewey reinterpret adaptation?
As transforming the environment—not merely adjusting to it.
How does Dewey link thought and action?
Ideas are “plans in action” tested through experience and revised based on outcomes.
How does social learning contribute to social change?
Groups learn collectively through action, reflection, and adjustment.
Why is reliance on elites or authorities potentially dangerous?
It risks domination and undermines collective agency.
What defines genuine collective agency?
Shared understanding that groups can initiate and control their own actions.
Why is globalization considered both old and new?
Global economic interdependence has existed for centuries, but its scale, speed, and impact are unprecedented.
Why is globalization not a planned social change?
It emerged from intentional actions with unintended consequences and interactions.
What are the main components of globalization?
Production, markets, finance, technology, institutions, corporate restructuring, labour, ideology, migration, culture.
What promise did neoliberal globalization make?
“A rising tide lifts all boats.”
Why did that promise fail?
Because deregulation and austerity deepened inequality and environmental harm.
What are externalities in globalization?
Unaccounted costs such as pollution, community collapse, and economic crises.
What is the “race to the bottom”?
Competition between countries to lower labour, social, and environmental standards to attract capital.
What are the consequences of the race to the bottom?
Impoverishment, inequality, instability, democratic erosion, environmental destruction.
What defines “globalization from below”?
Grassroots movements connecting across borders to impose human and ecological needs on the global economy.
Why did national solutions become insufficient?
Globalization outflanked national regulations and protections.
What issues pushed movements toward global solidarity?
Climate change, environmental destruction, labour exploitation.
What is the G-77 and why was it formed?
A coalition of developing nations formed to challenge global inequality and economic domination.
Why is aid from rich countries often criticized?
Because it is frequently tied to corporate or political interests.
Why do small farmers often resist corporate globalization?
It threatens autonomy, sustainability, and food sovereignty.
How have labour movements adapted to globalization?
By linking labour rights, environmental standards, and global fairness.
How do identity-based movements express global solidarity?
By reframing struggles as global (e.g., women’s rights, Black Lives Matter).
How do consumer movements challenge globalization from above?
By targeting global corporations and supply chains.
How does understanding social change help explain globalization?
Globalization is a complex, emergent process shaped by agency, structure, unintended effects, and collective learning.