TCWD - Lecture notes 7-10 PDF

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THE CONTEMPORARY WORLDWeek 7-8 Third World and Global South Asian Regionalism Theories of Global StratificationHIERARCHY: First World - Western Capitalist Countries Second World -Soviet Union and its Allies Third World - all others not in 1st and 2nd  After Cold War- 2nd World Countries became null...

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THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD Week 7-8 Third World and Global South Asian Regionalism Theories of Global Stratification HIERARCHY: First World- Western Capitalist Countries Second World-Soviet Union and its Allies Third World- all others not in 1st and 2nd  After Cold War- 2nd World Countries became null and void  There comes Global North and Global South Issues: 1.Classification not accurate > Botswana (9x larger income) and Rwanda in Third World 2. Distinction point s to racial inequality (black and white)

Northern Hemisphere >Rich, Industrialized, Wealthy Nations > Democratic Capitalist Countries Southern Hemisphere >Developing Nations >Non-Democratic Countries Concepts of Global Relations Major Premise The underdevelopment of certain states/peoples and their lack of representations in global political process is a reality Prevalent Imbalances of Aggregate economics and political power between states Interstate dimensions

ASIAN REGIONALISM Regionalism is a relatively new aspect of Asia’s rise.Asia’s economies are increasingly connected through trade, financial transactions, direct investment, technology, labor and tourist flows, and other economic relationships.

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Regional economic cooperation is essential for addressing these challenges. Asia’s economic rise is unprecedented. The region is home to over half the world’s population, produces three tenths of global output (in terms of purchasing power), and consistently records the world’s highest economic growth rates.

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Asian economies are principally connected through markets— but where markets lead, governments are following.

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Asian leaders have committed to work together more closely and have already taken concrete steps in some areas. The 1997/98 financial crisis, in particular, was an important catalyst for this new regionalism and gave rise to a range of new initiatives.

How can regionalism benefit Asia?  link the competitive strengths of its diverse economies in order to boost their productivity and sustain the region’s exceptional growth;  connect the region’s capital markets to enhance financial stability, reduce the cost of

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capital, and improve opportunities for sharing risks; cooperate in setting exchange rate and macroeconomic policies in order to minimize the effects of global and regional shocks and to facilitate the resolution of global imbalances; pool the region’s foreign exchange reserves to make more resources available for investment and development; exercise leadership in global decision making to sustain the open global trade and financial systems that have supported a half century of unparalleled economic development; build connected infrastructure and collaborate on inclusive development to reduce inequalities within and across economies and thus to strengthen support for pro-growth policies; and create regional mechanisms to manage cross-border health, safety, and environmental issues better.

How can Asian regionalism benefit the world?  generate productivity gains, new ideas, and competition that boost economic growth and raise incomes across the world;  contribute to the efficiency and stability of global financial markets by making Asian capital markets stronger and safer, and by maximizing the productive use of Asian savings;  diversify sources of global demand, helping to stabilize the world economy and diminish the risks posed by global imbalances

and downturns in other major economies;  provide leadership to help sustain open global trade and financial systems; and  create regional mechanisms to manage health, safety, and environmental issues better, and thus contribute to more effective global solutions of these problems. Theories of Global Stratification  Modernization Theories  Dependency Theory  Modern World System 1.Modernization Theory Global stratification as a function of technological and cultural differences between nations 2 Historical Events why Western Europe developed faster than the rest of the world 1. Columbian Exchange- refers to the spread of goods, technology, education, diseases between Americas and Europe after Christopher Columbus “discovery of Americas” 2. Industrial Revolution in 18th and 19th centuries New technologies like steam power and mechanization, allowed countries to replace human labor with machines and increase productivity. WALT ROSTOW’S FOUR STAGES OF MODERNIZATION 1.Traditional Stage- refers to societies that are structured around small, local communities with production typically being done in family setting. e.g. Feudal Europe and Chinese Dynasties

2.Take-Off Stage- people begin to use their individual talents to produce things beyond necessities. This innovation creates new markets for trade. 3. Drive to Technological Maturity Stage- nations typically begin to push for social change along with economic change, like implementing basic schooling and democratic political systems > bears fruit in the form of population growth, reductions in absolute poverty levels and more diverse job opportunities. 4. High Mass Consumption Stage- it is when the country is big enough that production becomes more about wants than needs. 2. Dependency Theory and the Latin American Experience  1500s, European Explorers spread throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia, claiming lands for Europe.  With colonization came the exploitation of both natural and human resources  Transatlantic Slaves followed a triangular route between Africa, American and Caribbean and Europe Dependency - is the condition in which the development of nation-states of the South contributed to a decline in their independence and to an increase in economic development of the countries of the North. - argues that liberal trade causes greater impoverishment, not economic improvement to less developed

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2 MAIN SUB-THEORIES: 1.North American Neo-Marxist Approach 2.Latin American Structuralist Approach 3 MODERN WORLD SYSTEMS Core, Semi-Periphery, Periphery Countries.

Week 9: GLOBAL MEDIA CULTURES Media  Are the communication outlets or tools used to store and deliver information or data  Various means of communication Examples/Purposes 1.Newspaper -information, opinion, current events, and news. 2.Internet -network system of the interconnected computer systems 3.Television -system of transmitting visual images and sound used for broadcast Types of Media 1.Traditional/Old Media > Print media such as books, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, journals, pamphlets, fliers, broadsides, billboards 2.New media - means of communication using digital technologies such as : Telephone, computers, social media, mobile phones. Stages of Evolution 1.Pre-Industrial Age > Time before there were machines and tools to help perform tasks on mass. 2. Industrial Age > Defined by mass production, broadcasting the rise of the nation state, power, modern machine and running water

3.Electronic Age > Began when electronic equipment, including computers came into use 4.Digital Age > Starting 1970’s with introduction of personal computer and subsequent technology. History of Global Media  Pre- Industrial Age >Enhanced processing of language >Oral tradition as the basic ancestor of information and communication flow >Communication through writing symbols and drawing crude pictures >Symbolic impressions in clay and stone tablets; e.g. Code of Hamurabi > With discovery of papyrus by Ancient Egyptians and other forms of writing tools led to advent of paper  Industrial Age >Inventions with electricity related experimentation >Active role of technology in communication and dissemination of information >Existence of printing press >Newspaper- access to news and information >Image recording and invention of photography > Other tchnological advancement that led to ourmodern-day media such as telegraph, wires and cables  Electronic Age >Realization of the importance and relevance of Information as a commodity >Development of fax machine and cellphones- faster way of transmitting messages >Cable and satellite technologies >Development of broadcast industry; expansion of radio and television

>Portable gadgets like Walkman and discman revolutionized the access to mass media

>The global media debate was launched during the 1973 General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Nairobi, Kenya.

 Digital Age >Refers to our current age; information is seen as commodity >Evolution of personal computer- Apple, IBM Company ,Windows >emergence of digital photography with digital single lens reflex camera known as DSLR

>As a specialized agency of the United Nations, the mission of UNESCO includes issues of communication and culture. Media, Globalization, and Hybridization Several reasons explain the analytical shift from cultural imperialism to globalization.

Cultural Imperialism and the Global Media Debate >In international communication theory and research, cultural imperialism theory argued that audiences across the globe are heavily affected by media messages emanating from the Western industrialized countries. >In the early stage of cultural imperialism, researchers focused their efforts mostly on nation-states as primary actors in international relations. They imputed rich, industrialized, and Western nation-states with intentions and actions by which they export their cultural products and impose their sociocultural values on poorer and weaker nations in the developing world. >This argument was supported by a number of studies demonstrating that the flow of news and entertainment was biased in favor of industrialized countries. >This bias was clear both in terms of quantity, because most media flows were exported by Western countries and imported by developing nations, and in terms of quality, because developing nations received scant and prejudicial coverage in Western media.

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First, the end of the Cold War as a global framework for ideological, geopolitical, and economic competition calls for a rethinking of the analytical categories and paradigms of thought. Second, according to John Tomlinson (1991), globalization replaced cultural imperialism because it conveys a process with less coherence and direction, which will weaken the cultural unity of all nation-states, not only those in the developing world. Finally, globalization has emerged as a key perspective across the humanities and social sciences, a current undoubtedly affecting the discipline of communication.

WEEK 9: GLOBAL RELIGION

WEEK 10: GLOBAL CITY Global City

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The idea emerged in the social science literature in the 1980’s, shortly after the concept of globalization.  It has a central place in understanding contemporary spatial patterns of globalization  It is the main physical and geographic playground of the globalizing forces  The global flows of people, capital and ideas are woven into the daily lived experiences of its residents  It means power, sophistication, wealth, and influence.  The ideas and values of the metropolis shape the world.  Embodies both the good and the bad effects of globalization.  The global city transcends boundaries of nation-states  According to Sassen (1991), global cities are characterized by occupational and income polarization, with the highly paid professional class on the one end and providers of low-paid services on the other.  The lifestyle and needs of the well-off professional classes bring into the global city an army of low-paid workers who deliver personal and labor-intensive services like cleaning, child-care, delivery, restaurants and eateries, catering, maintenance, transport, hotels, domestic help and retail.  Sassen (2005) introduces global cities as global command centers of the world economy. Cosmopolitanism  It is the phenomenon most Global City

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The idea emerged in the social science literature in the 1980’s, shortly after the concept of globalization.  It has a central place in understanding contemporary spatial patterns of globalization  It is the main physical and geographic playground of the globalizing forces  The global flows of people, capital and ideas are woven into the daily lived experiences of its residents  It means power, sophistication, wealth, and influence.  readily associated with the global city.  Large, diverse cities attract people, material and cultural products from all over the world.  The idea of cosmopolitanism invokes pleasant images of travel, exploration, and ‘worldly’ pursuits enjoyed by those who have benefited from globalization.  Everyday life is significantly shaped by commercial culture, retail and shopping as well as cross cultural variety of food, fashion, entertainment and various other consumables and artifacts.  Consumption is costly in resources  Networks and groups rely on geographic proximity Global Cities are livable cities because:  They provide jobs that pay an adequate wage  They provide basic services, including safe water and adequate sanitation

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They are void of discriminatory practices  People have access to educational opportunities and health care  People are not at risk of forced eviction  People enjoy security of tenure in affordable housing  People live in communities that are safe and environment that are clean  The cities are governed through inclusive local democratic processes Downsides of the Global City  High costs  Alienation  Impersonality  Social isolation  Discrimination against migrants of certain kinds Key Issues  Diversity and community  Mobility and community Trends for the Top 3 Cities  London, the No. 1 city in the comprehensive ranking for the sixth year in a row, further extends its lead over the competition by improving its scores for such indicators as GDP Growth Rate and Level of Political, Economic and Business Risk in Economy, and for Attractiveness of Dining Options and Number of Visitors from Abroad in Cultural Interaction.  New York (No. 2) increases its scores for the Economy indicators of Nominal GDP and GDP Growth Rate, but fails to make any significant headway in comprehensive score, having returned weaker scores this year

in Cultural Interaction indicators such as Number of World-Class Cultural Events Held and Livability indicators like Variety of Retail Shops....