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Essay for the question ''In what ways has globalisation impacted on processes of social change?''...

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Polly De’Ath - 100307894

In what ways has globalisation impacted on processes of social change? Globalisation has had a colossal impact on the processes of social change, bringing with it many positive aspects as well as negative ones. Social change is increasingly evident in modern society in many different spheres for example working patterns and women’s rights. Before starting this essay it is imperative to define what is meant by globalisation and social change. The definition of globalisation constantly changes due to a constant flow of research into the term, one early definition of globalisation is the ‘’recent and rapid process of intercontinental economic, political and social integration’’ (Wells, Shuey and Kiely, 2001, p. 1). This definition is still applicable over 15 years later and Milanovic (2016) argues that it still affects us economically, socially and politically, thus is shown through her more recent definition ‘’globalization is an ever stronger force affecting everything from our income levels, our employment prospects, and the extent knowledge and information, to the costs of the goods we buy daily’’ (Milanovic, 2016, p. NA). Secondly, the program Animating democracy uses the term social change as a broad term to ‘’encompass a range of typical social and civic outcomes from increased awareness and understanding, to attitudinal change, to increased civic participation, the building of public will, to policy change that corrects injustice’’ (Animating democracy, NA). This is a detailed definition but in short refers to ‘’the significant alteration of social structure and cultural patterns through time’’ (Harper and Leicht, 2011, NA). Social change can involve many different aspects, in this essay I will be discussing globalisation and social change in accordance with interconnectedness and politics, women’s rights, the decline in traditional culture, business and work patterns and finally the effects globalisation has had on the environment. Interconnectedness is a major aspect to take into account when discussing globalisation and social change and refers to the way in which people are now more easily connected at a global level. Stadler (2006, p.100) argues that ‘’with many-to-many communication tools becoming widely available, people can communicate much easier’’. Communication has changed socially because of the compression of time and space, individuals are now able to communicate information across the globe in seconds with the aid of new technologies such as smart phones able to connect to the internet etc. This is supported by Castells who argues ‘’that the way we generate and share knowledge will be shaped by digital media; that digital media will support new forms of economic, political and cultural organization’’ (Howard, 2011, p. 18). In turn, this means that people are now more able to connect with those sharing a similar identity for example the organization Meetup, which is an online website enabling Muslims in London to connect. This idea, however, must be criticized as it does not take into account the fact that ‘’Non-Western countries are not yet all

Polly De’Ath - 100307894 connected to the global culture’’ (Miroshnik and Basu, 2016, p.69). This is because they do not have the economic capital to buy the technologies that allow individuals to become connected based on common interests or identities. The fact technology has allowed easier communication has not just impacted social change in terms of the way in which we connect and share our lives digitally but it can also affect politics. It is now easier to connect with those sharing similar political views, thus is through the use of global campaigns. Castells states that "political power is increasingly centered in and exercised in the media" (Howard, 2011, NA). Global online politics have given people more opportunity to become invested in large scale political debates whether that be at a local, regional or global level. Technological social change can also benefit not only those who follow politics but those directly involved in political power an example of one person who used technology to benefit their campaign at a large scale was Barack Obama, who encouraged his social media followers to post political content of their own, share media content and subscribe to campaign updates. It must be highlighted though, that not everybody is connected to the internet, The International Telecommunication Union (2015) found that 3.2 billion people were online in 2015, however the population stood at 7.7 billion worldwide at the time of the research, meaning that more than half the world were not connected to the internet. Those with access to internet live in primarily developed or developing countries meaning the concerns of those faced with poverty are not able to connect therefore their concerns are not brought to politician’s attention. This suggests that global online politics are not representative. One aspect which globalisation has impacted is women’s right, this is due to the above point regarding the fast flow of ideas around the world, ‘’Globalisation has facilitated the emergence of feminism as a goal in a wide variety of issue advocacy networks active at the transnational level’’ (Ferree and Tripp, 2006, p. 12). An example of this type of network is ‘Equality Now’, an online charity that can be accessed from around the world, campaining for women’s rights and helping to diminish problems effecting especially women and girls such as human trafficking. However, it can be argued that globalisation has led to the increase in sex trafficking as migrant women from developing counteries whom are trying to gain employment are increasingly victims of sex trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitaion (Butale, 2015). Globalisation also increased the competition for cheap imports this meant that ‘’employers would ditch their prejudices and start hiring workers strictly for their skills — irrespective of gender’’ (Giugale, 2012, p.NA) this was primarily to increase profits however was a huge success in terms of women’s rights as women were now more able to earn their own income. Another way in which globalisation increased women’s job prospects was through

Polly De’Ath - 100307894 the introduction of technology at work which required more brain power and less physicality to work which eliminated men’s physical advantage. (Giugale, 2012, p.NA). For the most part womens’s rights have been improved through globalisation, networks that have allowed women to connect have created change in the perceptions and attitudes towards women (Cho, 2012, p.7). However globalisation has led to some disadvantages for some women one being the fact that the capitalist system sees womens children and their ability and choice to have children as a threat to profits instead of a contribution to the new workforce (Horgan, 2001, p. NA). This disadvanage only effects those women working in a capitalist economy, which suggests globalisation effects women’s proccesses of social change differently. Cheater (1999, p.52) argues that this is because ‘’although gender can be viewed as a universal category, women are differentiated by a large number of other social and cultural characteristics […] it may therefore be summised that the effects of globalistion do not necessarily apply equally to all women’’. Women are effected different depending on many other characteristics such as class, age and ethnicity etc. It is argued that ‘’the spread of Western culture is the essence of globalization; with it comes the loss of traditional cultures’’ (Leeder, 2003, NA). A process of social change that has been effected by globalisation, most specifically by the introduction of technology is culture, within recent years there has been an emergence of a universal culture based on western views meaning globalisation has led to the degradation of ‘traditional’ cultures. Culture can be defined as ‘’the entire way of life, activities, beliefs, and customs of a people, group or society’’ (Smith, 2001, p.2). This definition helps us to understand in what ways cultures have changed and it is argued that ‘’Habit, custom and tradition plays less of a role than they did for previous generations. Similarly the beliefs and practices of individuals have also been changed significantly’’ (Sahoo, 2006, p.16). A general example of this ‘’can be seen through, for example, wearing Adidas clothing, listening to iPods, watching Western television series, eating McDonalds, drinking Starbucks or Coca Cola, and even speaking a language that includes Americanized English slang (Godfrey, 2008). This happens primarily because of the increase in technology whereby westernized views and trends spread easily across the globe, Hershock and Tigranovna (2003, p.583) argue that technology has created a profound worldview and ontological shift that changes how we fit into the world and think about the world. A more specific example of how culture has changed is traditional African cultures, whom believed traditional African gods were of war and bravery. African warriors were rewarded, whereas the spread of Christianity through globalisation taught Africans to shame martyrs and warriors. Religion played a large role in African cultures, many of which worshipped superhuman forces such as sun and rain whereas Christianity diminished this and suggested there was only one supreme god. These westernized ideas

Polly De’Ath - 100307894 were taught through the spread of people whom brought new ideas, as well as through new technology that also helped promote these ideas as the ‘right’ ideas. One social process which has been hugely impacted is the business sphere, this is for various reasons but the perhaps most significant is the fact that it is a lot easier to ship products between countries now there is more transport options. The organization for economic cooperation and development (2010) argue that the majority of goods are now moved by sea to and from different continents, a lot of have goods have always been shipped by sea but the frequency of shipping’s has increased dramatically and ‘’short sea shipping has increased more than inland transport’’ (European Conference of Ministers of Transport, 1993, p.65). Another way in which social processes of multinational companies has changed is the ability for companies to work from different parts of the world and send information and money easily online to other branches. Castells (2010) argues that ‘’financial flows have increased dramatically in their volume, in their velocity and in their complexity, and in their interconnectedness’’ (Castells, 2010, p.102). Although this has created a more stable global economy, there are inevitably weakness for example the lack of communication and clarification between employers and employees. When looking at buisness, it is also necessary to take into account how working patterns have been impacted by globalisation. As corporations are now able to open up factories in other countries, more jobs are provided for people in those countries, The Welsh Affairs committee argue that ‘’training and employment support to actually maximise the opportunities that are available locally’’ (The Welsh Affairs Committe, 2009, p.219). Another impact that is positive for the main headquarters of a company is the fact that they ‘’can set up their offices in several countries where demand for their services and products are high while cheaper labor is available’’ (Future of Working, 2016). This means that the are able to maximise profits for themselves in a way that would not have been possible prior ro globalisation as companies would be based in one area. Although as stated above there are many benefits surrounding the social processes of work, many negatives have been established. Workers in developing countries are faced with mistreament in the work place this is supported by Dörrenbächer and Gepper (2017, p.NA) who argue that multinational corporations contribute to ‘’exploitative low wages, long working hours, and bad working conditions’’. Bad working conditions may included things such as: lack of health and safety regulations, incorrect training and cramped and unhygenic work spaces. One area of social change that has been impacted greatly is the environment, which has reaped many negative social changes. With the increase in global trade there is now a colossal about of

Polly De’Ath - 100307894 pollution ‘’Air, water and soil pollution have increased markedly as global trade has increased’’ this is due to the increase in the ‘’transport of raw materials and finished goods that were formerly produced and consumed locally’’ (Ehrenfeld, 2003). This pollution has had many negative effects on the environment and ’It is evident that globalisation is making a profound contribution to the great reduction in biodiversity that is now taking place’’ (Ehrenfeld, 2003). Environmental changes are related to social change because there are harmful effects to human health leading to changes in prevalence of disease not as prominent before globalisation. Pollution caused by living in a globalized world ‘’affects the respiratory and inflammatory systems, but can also lead to more serious conditions such as heart disease and cancer.’’ (Department for Environmental Food and Rural Affairs, 2013) It is now argued that ‘’the number of countries with a shrinking local population is growing’’ (p.139). This is due to the effect of migration, trafficking and refugee movements, which are huge aspects of social change, which have been enhanced by globalisation. The trend in flow of people has impacted many social aspects, one being the general health of the population, especially in terms of people trafficking whether that be for sexual exploitation or labor. It is said that ‘’during captivity, they can experience physical violence, sexual exploitation, psychological abuse, poor living conditions and exposure to a wide range of disease’’ (p.150). All of the above can have long term effects on physical, reproductive and mental health, meaning there is a larger strain on public health services. To combat this, in March 2003 a regional conference was held on public health and human trafficking which concluded that more resources and attention must be paid to health and public concerns regarded trafficking, although little has been done since this conference. One disadvantage surrounding the flow of people is the effect on the environment due to fumes from the methods of transport. Motor vehicles produce high levels of hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide and greenhouse gases. These gases can lead to acid rain which erodes precious land and Eutrophication whereby water that is highly polluted stimulates algae growth which can reduce plant and animal diversity all of which alter social processes surrounding how humans produce and consume food, as well as impacting health outcomes. A final disadvantage I will discuss with reference to how migration has influenced how we behave socially is the rise in racism ‘’ The Durban Declaration recognized that xenophobia against non-nationals, including migrants, constitutes one of the main sources of contemporary racism’’ (United nations, NA) leading many members of minority groups to not integrate and therefore lack the positive aspects of social change. To conclude, globalisation is a process and therefore is not fixed, it is logical to suggest that if what is meant by globalisation changes in the future, as it has done before, we can suggest that processes of

Polly De’Ath - 100307894 social change will also change, whether that be for better or for worse. As stated in this essay there have been many positive aspects of social change brought about by globalisation such as: employment, women’s rights and interconnectedness, however, there have also been many negative aspects which require urgent attention. It is unclear what the future of a living in a globalized world entails but more research must be done in order to propagate these positive aspects and eliminate to a high degree as possible the limitations.

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