Global Challenges, Local Responses, and the Role of Anthropology

Chapter 16 overview: global challenges, local responses, and the role of anthropology.
Topics to be covered:
- Relationship between ethnocentrism and xenophobia.
- The role of power in structuring societies and cultures.
- Hard and soft power.
- Social problems as evidence of structural violence.
- Globalization's disruption and reorganization of cultures.

Global Integration Process

Global integration pursued worldwide for over a century with mixed success.
Key events and organizations:
- Olympic Games
- United Nations
- UNESCO
- World Trade Organization
- World Health Organization
Global organizations connect people and play a constructive role in maintaining the world system.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for a global system and a holistic approach.
Concept of the "blue marble" (planet ocean) emphasizes interconnectedness.
Symbiotic relationships among people and all life on Earth.

Pluralistic Societies and Multiculturalism

Nations and societies have become pluralistic over the past 5,000 years.
Pluralistic societies: groups maintain distinctive languages and cultural heritages.
Multiculturalism: a public policy focused on mutual respect and tolerance of other cultures.
Questions for reflection:
- How do we live in a pluralistic society?
- Do we have a national policy on multiculturalism?

Global Migration

Causes of human migration: famine, poverty, religious/political freedom, violent threats.
Migration's impact: social geography, cultural change, confusion of ideas, innovations.
Internal migration: within a country's boundaries.
External migration: movement from one country/region to another.
Humans have always moved, displaying nomadic tendencies.
Xenophobia: fear or hatred of strangers and anything foreign; a common result of migration.
Xenophobia is more apparent when migrating groups do not assimilate into the mainstream culture.
There's no excuse for xenophobia, and cultural diversity is beneficial.
- More foods, languages, and ideas.
Xenophobic behaviors can result in violent outbreaks.

Assam Conflict

Example of violent outbreak due to xenophobia
The Bodos (indigenous Buddhist people) clashed with Bengali-speaking Muslim immigrants over scarce farmland.
Dozens killed, many wounded, settlements abandoned.
Bengalis fled to refugee camps (approximately 270 camps).

Population Growth Byproduct

Migrants often begin life in expanding cities.
Urban areas expand, creating megacities with over 10,000,000 residents (e.g., Tokyo, Manila, New York).
Many migrants lack education and enter laborious jobs, poor conditions, or the sex industry.
Over 1,000,000,000 people live in slums.
This number is growing.

Structural Power in the Age of Globalization

Structural power: power that organizes systemic interaction within and among societies, directing economic, political, and ideological forces.
Better understood by looking at hard and soft power.

Hard Power

Backed by economic and military force (violence).
Economic force: putting people into poverty is a form of violence.

Soft Power

Cooperative power: ideas are impressed onto others through attraction and persuasion to change their ideas, beliefs, or values.

Military Hard Power

The United States spends more money on its military than any other country worldwide.
The United States spends $44\%$ , or $687,000,000,000$ , of the global military spending.
A large amount of tax dollars goes to military contractors.
American big business produces weapons.
*Areas include missile guidance systems.
These companies plan on and kill people.
These weapons create the potential for thermonuclear war.
*This raises the question of what the the US is protecting.

Comparison of Military Spending

China spends $7.4\%$ , a small amount comparison, but its economy is significant.
Russia spends $3.9\%$ , or $61,000,000,000$ .
France spends $3.7\%$ , or $57,000,000,000$ .
Britain spends $3.6\%$ , or $56,000,000,000$ .
Japan spends $3.5\%$ , or $54,000,000,000$ .
Saudi Arabia spends $3\%$ , or $47,000,000,000$ .
India spends $2.9\%$ , or $45,000,000,000$ .
Germany spends $2.5\%$ , or $38,000,000,000$ .
Italy spends $2.5\%$ .
Many of these countries have free healthcare and free education.
Canada spends $1.3\%$ , or $20,000,000,000$ .
Australia spends $1.3\%$ , or $20,000,000,000$ .
Other countries spend $17.1\%$ .
The U.S. government didn't provide basic necessities during COVID-19.
The government makes people feel guilty about collecting unemployment or Social Security, even though they've paid into it.
Over half the global pie for military spending

Military-Industrial Complex

President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned about the military-industrial complex.
Eisenhower was the general who orchestrated D-Day.
He rebuilt countries in the American model of FDR, providing free healthcare, free education, and safety in old age.
American infant mortality rate is rising, and Americans are living shorter lives.
People live longer and have less infant mortality in Ecuador than in the United States.
A lot of money that's supposed to fix infrastructure and provide social services is going into the $44\%$ of global military spending.
The U.S. is losing most conflicts.
Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Korea are examples of conflicts they did not win.

Economic Hard Power

Large corporations controlled by one group in one country.
Their power and wealth often exceeds that of national governments.
Fascism is unregulated capitalism.
The last administration created the illusion of an enemy to fuel unregulated capitalism.
Megacorporations have great influence on the ideas and behaviors of people worldwide.
States and corporations compete for scarce natural resources, cheap labor, new commercial markets, and ever-larger profits.
If it's free, you can't trust it.

Global Corporation Byproduct

Megacorporations not only earn significant profits but also destroy traditional cultures and natural habitats.
Corporate involvement and greed are destabilizing the world.
The United States destabilizes countries for corporate interests.

Discussion Points

Can you identify a megacorporation?
How do you and your family support this megacorporation?
Do you have a choice not to support this megacorporation?
Even if you want to buy an electric car, roads are made of asphalt, a petroleum product.
You have to pay taxes to fund this huge military budget, which fights for oil.

GDPs Versus Corporate Revenues

Saudi Arabia's GDP revenue is $577,000,000,000$ .
Royal Dutch Shell $484 billion$ , Norway GDP is $486 billion$ .
ExxonMobil's profit revenue is $403 billion$ . Argentina GDP is $446 billion$ .
Walmart's profit revenue is $447 billon$ . South Africa GDP is $408 billion$ .
British Petroleum (BP) $386 billon$ , United Arab Emirates GDP is $360 Billion$ .
China National Petroleum $352 billion$ , Chile GDP is $269 illion$ .
Toyota's profit revenue is $235 billion$ , Israel GDP is 243 billion$.
Volkswagen's profit revenue is 222 billion $. Pakistan GDP is$ 221 Billion.
General Motors (GM)'s profit revenue is 148 billion $, Iraq GDP is$ 215 Billion.
Apple's profit revenue is 108 billion $, Nepal GDP is$ 19 billion$.

Soft Power

States and corporations utilize ideological persuasion through electronic and digital media.
President Obama made a huge arms deal with Saudi Arabia to save the economy.
Global mass media corporations shape cultural trends and ideas.
CNN has over 30 bureaus in various countries and broadcasts news to over 1,500,000,000 people worldwide 24 hours a day.
CNN shapes foreign policy and how you see the world.

Global Branding

Poorest people in the world wear clothing discarded by those who are better off.
*Corporations like Disney influence customers to pay for clothing and fix their images.

Structural Violence

Physical and/or psychological harm, including repression, environmental destruction, poverty, hunger, illness, and premature death, caused by unjust systems.
Current structures offer wealth, power, and comfort for a few, and poverty, suffering, and death for the majority.
You will never be part of the American ruling class, but you may get crumbs from their table.
The disparity between most Americans and the 1% is greater than the disparity between the pharaohs of ancient Egypt and the people that built the pyramids.
The greatest challenge of your generation is to rectify this.
This inequality is disruptive and will result in real problems.

Poverty

In the 1960s, the average income for the 20 wealthiest countries was 15 times that of the 20 poorest countries.
Today, it is 30 times higher.
The gap between the rich and poor within poor countries is also widening.
The Gini income inequality index ranges from 0 to 100.
- 0: perfect equality.
- 100: perfect inequality.
  *Norway $25.6$ India $39.9$ United States $47.4$ China $51.6$ South Africa $63.6$

Overpopulation

In 1750, the world population was estimated at 1,000,000,000 people.
Today, it is estimated at over 7,000,000,000.
One third of the world's population lives in both India and China.
The present world population can be sustained only by using nonrenewable resources.

Hunger, Obesity, and Malnutrition

Over one fourth of the world's countries do not produce enough food to feed their population.
Hunger can be caused by drought, pests, religious, ethnic, and political conflicts.
Most of the world's hungry are victims of structural violence.
Millions of individuals are overeating.
The number of overfed people now exceeds those who are underfed; over $1.1$ billion people are overweight.
Obesity (BMI of 30 and higher) is now considered a global epidemic.

Global Pollution

Air and water pollution is the direct result of the human hand.
A large negative side effect of agribusiness is environmental degradation.
Pollutants cause the development of acid precipitation, which damages soil, vegetation, and wildlife.
The greenhouse effect is being enhanced by increased carbon dioxide, methane, and other gases produced by industrial and agricultural activities.

Global Energy Consumption

Canada consumes over $40,000,000$ BTUs per year.
The United States consumes $250,000,000-400,000,000$ . Mexico $150,000,000-240,000,000$ .
The US and Mexico have huge energy consumption.
Greenland has $50,000,000-249,000,000$ BTUs per person per year.
*Russia and Central Africa consumes less than $5,000,000$ BTUs a year.

Reactions to Globalization

Despite hard and soft power, there is opposition to globalization.
Examples: resurgent ethnonationalism, religious fundamentalist movements, grassroots movements.

Struggle for Human Rights

There are an estimated 5,000 national groups in the world today who have been subjected to political control by an outside group.
There are only 200 internationally recognized countries.
Many of these groups are in pursuit of self-determination, national autonomy, independence, or another political objective.
The United Nations is trying to address the problem of discrimination, repression, and other crimes against humanity such as genocide.
These are often the result of political domination over indigenous groups, although these rules apply to all minority groups (e.g., the Uighur population in China).

Anthropologist Role

Document and preserve cultures found all over the world.
Explain why various cultures exist.
Examine cultural similarities.
Identify knowledge and insights each culture holds regarding the human condition.
Cultural diversity is important to survive.
Preserving culture is important to your personal survival.
The more access to different worldviews, the better your life is going to be.