Contemporary World FINAL

UNIT
1
The Structures
of Globalization
This unit will introduce you to the various drivers of
the globalization process, with specific focus on
economics and politics. Although it emphasizes that you
experience globalization on an “everyday” level, you must
also realize that there are big institutions that create
large-scale changes. This unit will first trace the
emergence of these institutions historically. It will then
move on to explain how they affect the countries and
people today.
The major learning outcomes of this unit are to:

 analyze the various contemporary drivers of
globalization; and
 describe the emergence of global economic

and political systems.
LESSON
1
What is
Globalization?
I. Learning Outcomes/Objectives
At the end of this lesson, the student must have:
1. agreed on a working definition of globalization for the course;

2. differentiated the competing conceptions of globalization; and
3. narrated a personal experience of globalization.
II. Subject Matter: What is globalization?

a. References: The Contemporary World, Claudio & Abinales, C & E Publishing
2018, 1-12
b. Value Focus: Global harmony, open-mindedness
III. Learning Content

A Story: Gio, Latif: and the Laksa
When Gio was a second-year international affairs student in a university in

Cebu City, he obtained funding to join the school team participating in an
international Model UN competition in Sydney, Australia. At the height of the
competition, Gio made plenty of new friends and became particularly close to Latif
from the Malaysian team. The two first started talking when Latif asked Gio where he
was from. Upon discovering that the Gio was from the Philippines, Latif lit up and
declared that he was a big fan of Filipino actors Jericho Rosales and Kristine
Hermosa. Gio was pleasantly surprised to learn that Latif had seen every episode of
the ABS-CBN telenovela Pangako 50 'Yo (The Promise"). The show had aired on
Malaysian TV a few years back, and its two stars had developed a modest following.
Ashamed that he did not know as much about Malaysia as Latif knew about
the Philippines, Gio asked Latif what his country was like. Latif, he discovered, was
from a Malaysian University in Kuala Lumpur. Gio asked him what he liked best about
living in "KL," and Latif immediately mentioned the food. Latif explained that in Kuala
Lumpur, one can find Chinese, Indian, and Malay cuisines. He told Gio that this
assortment of foodways was the result of assortment of foodways was the result of
how the British reorganized Malaysian society during the colonial times. The British
did little to change the way of the Malays who were the original residents, but
brought in Chinese laborers to work in the rubber plantations and tin mines, and
What is Globalization? | 3
Indians to help manage the bureaucracy and serve as the initial professional core of
potential middle class. One of the ways that these ethnic groups were identified was
through their foodways.
According to Latif, Malaysia eventually became famous for these cuisines

which can be found in the various “hawker centers” across the nation's cities and
towns. These food stands are located in outdoor food parks where locals and tourists
taste the best of Malaysia, from nasi lemak to laksa.
Gio interrupted Latif and asked, “What is laksa?” He felt more ashamed at his
lack of knowledge. ”Ahh...Let me show you what it is and how it is prepared!" replied
Latif.
The next day, Latif took Gio to a Malaysian restaurant a few blocks away from
the university. Gio was surprised to discover that Malaysian food was readily available
in Sydney. Having noticed this, Latif explained to his Filipino friend that, over the
years, as more and more Malaysian students moved to Sydney to study, Malaysian
restaurants followed suit. Soon after, they were catering not only to these students,
but to Australia-born “Sydneysiders” as well, whose culinary tastes were becoming
more and more diverse.
Gio finally had his first taste of laksa—a rice noodle soup in a spicy coconut
curry sauce. He found the flavors intense since, like most Filipinos, he was not used
to spicy food. However, in deference to his friend, he persisted and eventually found
himself enjoying the hot dish.
After the meal, Gio and Latif went to a nearby cafe and ordered “flat whites”—
an espresso drink similar to latte, which is usually served in cafes in Australia and
New Zealand. Both knew what flat whites were since there were Australian-inspired
cafes in both Kuala Lumpur and Cebu.
The new friends promised to stay in touch after the competition, and added
each other on Facebook and Instagram. Over the next two years, they exchanged e-
mails and posts, congratulated each other for their achievements, and commented on
and liked each other‟s photos. Latif sent his mother‟s recipe to Gio and the latter
began cooking Malaysian food in his home.
A few years after graduation, Gio moved to Singapore, joining many other
overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the city-state. The culture was new to him, but
one thing was familiar: the food served in Singapore was no different from the
Malaysian food he had discovered through Latif. He would later learn from
Singaporean colleagues that the island country was once part of the British colony
of Malay and the postwar independent Federation of Malaysia. Singapore, however,
separated from the Federation in August 1965 and became a nation-state. Today,
they may be two distinct countries in this part of the world, but Singapore and
Malaysia still share the same cuisine.
After he settled down in his apartment, Gio sought out and found a favorite
laksa stall in Newton Hawker Center. He would spend his weekends there with
friends eating laksa and other dishes.
One Saturday, while Gio was checking his Facebook feed along the very busy
Orchard Road—Singapore‟s main commercial road-he noticed that Latif had just
posted something 5 minutes earlier. It was a picture from Orchard Road. Surprised
but also excited, Gio sent Latif a private message. Latif replied immediately saying
that he too had moved to Singapore and was, at that moment, standing in front a
department store just a few blocks away from where Gio was. The two friends met
up, and after a long hug and quick questions as to what each was up to, they
ducked into a café and renewed their international friendship…by ordering a pair of
flat whites.
Global Experiences
Gio and Latif‟s story is fictional but very plausible since it is, in fact, based on the real-
life experience of one of the authors. It was through such friendships that one was able to
appreciate the meaning and impact of globalization.
We begin our definition of globalization with this narrative to illustrate how concrete the
phenomenon is. The story shows how globalization operates at multiple, intersecting levels. The
spread of Filipino TV into Malaysia suggests how fast this popular culture has proliferated and
criss-crossed all over Asia.
The Model UN activity that Gio and Latif participated in is an international competition
about international politics. Gio met Latif (a Malaysian involved in the model UN) in Sydney, a
global city that derives its wealth and Influence from the global capital that flows through it.
Sydney is also a metropolis of families of international immigrants or foreigners working in the
industries that also sell their products abroad. After the two had gone back to their home
countries, Gio and Latif kept in touch through Facebook, a global social networking site that
provides instantaneous communication across countries and continents. They preserved their
friendship online and then rekindled this face-to-face in Singapore, another hub for global
commerce, with 40 percent of the population being classified as “foreign talents.”
What other hints of globalization did you find in the story?
Some Description
Our discussion should begin with this intuitive sense that something is happening, and it
is not affecting everyone in the same way. Gio‟s story is a very privileged way of experiencing
global flows, but for other people, the shrinking of the world may not be as exciting and
edifying. For example, it is very common for young women in developing countries to be
recruited in the internet as “mail-order brides” for foreign men living in other countries. After
being promised a good life once married to a kind husband in a rich city, they end up becoming
sexual and domestic servants in foreign lands. Some were even sold off by their “husbands” to
gangs which run prostitute rings in these cities. Like Gio, they too have experienced the
shrinking of the world, albeit negatively.
Governments that decide to welcome the foreign investments on the belief that they
provide jobs and capital for the country offer public lands as factory or industrial sites. In the
process, poor people living in these lands, also called “urban poor communities,” are being
evicted by the government. The irony is that these people forcibly removed from their “slums"
are also the labor force sought by foreign companies. They had to be kicked out of their homes,
and then told that they could take an hour or two of bus travel from their relocated
communities back to the “old home” for minimum-wage work.
Because different people encounter globalization in a variety of ways, it is deemed

useful to ask simple questions like: “Is globalization good or bad? Is it beneficial or
detrimental?” The discussion begins with two premises. First, globalization is a complex
phenomenon that occurs at multiple levels. Second, it is an uneven process that affects people
differently.
Globalization: A Working Definition

Most accounts view globalization as primarily an economic process. When a newspaper
reports that nationalists are resisting “globalization,” it usually refers to the integration of the
national markets to a wider global market signified by the increased free trade. When activists
refer to the “anti-globalization” movement of the 1990, they mean resisting the trade deals
among countries facilitated and promoted by global organizations like the World Trade
Organization.
Globalization scholars do not necessarily disagree with people who criticize unfair
international trade deals or global economic organizations. In fact, many are sympathetic to the
critique of economic globalization. Academics differ from journalists and political activists,
however, because they see globalization in much broader terms. They view the process through
various lenses that consider multiple theories and perspectives. Academics call this an
interdisciplinary approach, and it is this approach used by the general education (GE) courses
that you will be taking alongside this one.
The best scholarly description of globalization is provided by Manfred Steger who

described the process as “the expansion and intensification of social relations and
consciousness across world-time and across world-space.” Expansion refers to “both the
creation of new social networks and the multiplication of existing connections that cut across
traditional political, economic, cultural, and geographic boundaries.” These various connections
occur at different levels. Social media example, establish new global connections between
people, while international groups of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are networks that
connect a more specific group-social workers and activists from different corners of the globe.
In the story, Gio was able to join a Model UN competition because his university was part of an
international network.
Intensification refers to the expansion, stretching, and acceleration of these networks.

Not only are global connections multiplying, but they are also becoming more closely-knit and
expanding their reach. For example, there has always been a strong financial market
connecting London and New York. With the advent of electronic trading, however, the volume
of that trade increases exponentially, since traders can now trade more at higher speeds. The
connection is thus accelerating. Apart from this acceleration, however, as the world becomes
more financially integrated, the intensified trading network between London and New York may
expand and stretch to cover more and more cities. After China committed itself to the global
economy in the 1980s, for example, Shanghai steadily returned to its old role as a major trading
post.
It is not only in financial matters that you can find these connections. In 2012, when the
monsoon rains flooded much of Bangkok, the Honda plant making some of the critical car parts
temporarily ceased production. This had a strong negative effect on Honda-USA which relied
heavily on the parts being imported from Thailand. Not only was it unable to reach the sales
targets it laid out, but the ability of the service centers nationwide to assist Honda owners also
suffered. As a result, the Japanese car company‟s global profits also fell.
The final attribute of this definition relates to the way people perceive time and space.
Steger notes that “globalization processes do not occur merely at an objective, material level
but they also involve the subjective plane of human consciousness.” In other words, people
begin to feel that the world has become a smaller place and distance has collapsed from
thousands of miles to just a mouse-click away. One can now e-mail a friend in another country
and get a reply instantaneously, and as a result, begins to perceive their distance as less
consequential. Cable TV and the internet has also exposed one to news from across the globe,
so now, he/she has this greater sense of what is happening in other places.
Steger posits that his definition of globalization must be differentiated with an ideology
he calls globalism. If globalization represents the many processes that allow for the expansion
and intensification of global connections, globalism is a widespread belief among powerful
people that the global integration of economic markets is beneficial for everyone, since it
spreads freedom and democracy across the world. It is a common belief forwarded in media
and policy circles. In the next lesson, you will realize why it is problematic.
For now, what is crucial to note is that when activists and journalists criticize
“globalization,” they are, more often than not, criticizing some manifestations of globalism.
Often, these criticisms are warranted. Nevertheless, it is crucial to insist that “globalization” as a
process refers to a larger phenomenon that cannot simply be reduced to the ways in which
global markets have been integrated.
Conclusion: Globalization from the Ground Up

All this talk of large, intersecting processes may be confusing. Indeed, it may be hard to
assess globalization or comment on it because it is so diffuse and almost fleeting. Some
scholars have, therefore, found it simpler to avoid talking about globalization as a whole.
Instead, they want to discuss "multiple globalizations" instead of just one process.
For anthropologist Arjun Appadurai, different kinds of globalization occur on multiple and
intersecting dimensions of integration that he calls “scapes.” An "ethnoscape," for example,
refers to the global movement of people, while a “mediascape” is about the flow of culture. A
“technoscape” refers to the circulation of mechanical goods and software; a “financescape”
denotes the global circulation of money; and an “ideoscape” is the realm where political ideas
move around. Although they intersect, the various scapes have differing logics. They are thus
distinct windows into the broader phenomenon of globalization.
Appadurai's argument is simple: there are multiple globalizations. Hence, even if one
does not agree that globalization can be divided into the five “scapes,” it is hard to deny
Appadurai‟s central thrust of viewing globalization through various lenses.
Depending on what is being globalized, a different dynamic (or dynamics) may emerge.
So while it is important to ask “What is globalization?” it is likewise important to ask “What
is/are being globalized? “ Depending on what is being globalized, the vista and conclusions
change.
The structure of the lessons that follow will reflect this multidimensional understanding
of globalization. Each of the lessons will focus on a particular kind of globalization. Every one of
them will be about different networks and connections that are expanding and intensifying in
the contemporary world.
Treat each lesson not as an end in itself but as window to the broader phenomenon of
globalization.
IV. Learning Task
Name: ____________________ Year & Sec: ________________ Score: _________
Learning Task No.: _________ Lesson Title: _____________________________________
Direction:
1. Make an inventory of your possession or essential things (Ex. Shoes, bags, clothes).
2. Organize your inventories in two categories
A.
Things Made in Phil Foreign Brand/ Country

1.
3.
4.
5.
B. APPLIANCES
A. Living Room Made in Phil Foreign Country/Brand

1.
2
3.
B. Dining Area
1.
2.
3.
C. Kitchen
1.
2.
3.
V. Evaluation
Evaluation No.: _________ Lesson Title: _____________________________________
Part I.
Direction: List down the items/ situations in the story where there is a hint of
globalization. (10 items)
Part II.
Direction: Answer the questions briefly.
1. What is globalization?
2. What is globalism?
LESSON
2
The Globalization of
World Economics
1. defined economic globalization

2. identified the actors that facilitate economic globalization
3. narrated a short history of global market integration in the twentieth century; and
4. articulated your stance on global economic integration.
II. Subject Matter: The Globalization of World Economics

a. References: The Contemporary World, Claudio & Abinales, C & E Publishing 2018,
13-24
b. Value Focus: Industry, creativity

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) regards “economic globalization” as a historical
process representing the result of human innovation and technological progress. It is
characterized by the increasing integration of economies around the world through the
movement of goods, services, and capital across borders. These changes are the products of
people, organizations, institutions, and technologies. As with all other processes of globalization,
there is a qualitative and subjective element to this definition. How does one define “increasing
integration”? When is it considered that trade has increased? Is there a particular threshold?
Even while the IMF and ordinary people grapple with the difficulty of arriving at precise
definitions of globalization, they usually agree that a drastic economic change is occurring
throughout the world. According to the IMF, the value of trade (goods and services) as a
percentage of world GDP increased from 42.1 percent in 1980 to 62.1 percent in 2007.8
Increased trade also means that investments are moving all over the world at faster speeds.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the amount
of foreign direct investments flowing across the world was US$ 57„billion in 1982. By 2015, that
number was $1.76 trillion. These figures represent a dramatic increase in global trade in the
span of just a few decades. It has happened not even after one human lifespan!
Apart from the sheer magnitude of commerce, we should also note the increased speed
and frequency of trading. These days, supercomputers can execute millions of stock purchases
The Globalization of World Economics | 11
and sales between different cities in a matter of seconds through a process called high-
frequency trading. Even the items being sold and traded are changing drastically. Ten years
ago, buying books or music indicates acquiring physical items. Today, however, a “book” can be
digitally downloaded to be read with an e-reader, and a music “album” refers to the 15 songs
on mp3 format you can purchase and download from iTunes.
This lesson aims to trace how economic globalization came about. It will also assess this
globalization system, and examine who benefits from it and who is left out.
International Trading Systems
The Silk Road was central to the economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between
these regions from the 2nd century BCE to the 18th century.
International trading systems are not new. The oldest known international trade route
was the Silk Road—a network of pathways in the ancient world that spanned from China to
what is now the Middle East and to Europe. It was called as such because one of the most
profitable products traded through this network was silk, which was highly prized especially in
the area that is now the Middle East as well as in the West (today‟s Europe). Traders used the
Silk Road regularly from 130 BCE when the Chinese Han' dynasty opened trade to the West
until 1453 BCE when the Ottoman Empire closed it.
However, while the Silk Road was international, it was not truly “global” because it had
no ocean routes that could reach the American continent. So when did full economic
globalization begin? According to historians Dennis O. Flynn and Arturo Giraldez, the age of
globalization began when "all important populated continents began to exchange products
continuously—both with each other directly and indirectly via other continents—and in values
sufficient to generate crucial impacts on all trading partners.” Flynn and Giraldez trace this back
to 1571 with the establishment of the galleon trade that connected Manila in the Philippines and
Acapulco in Mexico.” This was the first time that the Americas were directly connected to Asian
trading routes. For Filipinos, it is crucial to note that economic globalization began on the
country‟s shores.
The galleon trade was part of the age of mercantilism. From the 16th century to the
18th century, countries, primarily in Europe, competed with one another to sell more goods as a
means to boost their country‟s income (called monetary reserves later on). To defend their
products from competitors who sold goods more cheaply, these regimes (mainly monarchies)
imposed high tariffs, forbade colonies to trade with other nations, restricted trade routes, and
subsidized its exports. Mercantilism was thus also a system of global trade with multiple
restrictions.
Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European
states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail.
A more open trade system emerged in 1867 when, following the lead of the United
Kingdom, the United States and other European nations adopted the gold standard at an
international monetary conference in Paris. Broadly, its goal was to create a common system
that would allow for more efficient trade and prevent the isolationism of the mercantilist era.
The countries thus established a common basis for currency prices and a fixed exchange rate
system-all based on the value of gold.
Despite facilitating simpler trade, the gold

standard was still a very restrictive system, as it
compelled countries to back their currencies with
fixed gold reserves. During World War I, when
countries depleted their gold reserves to fund
their armies, many were forced to abandon the
gold standard. Since European countries had low
gold reserves, they adopted floating currencies
that were no longer redeemable in gold.
Returning to a pure standard became

The gold standard was proven to be a more difficult as the global economic crisis called
very restrictive form of trade. the Great Depression started during the 19205 and
extended up to the 19303, further emptying
government coffers. This depression was the worst and longest recession ever experienced by
the Western world. Some economists argued that it was largely caused by the gold standard,
since it limited the amount of circulating money and, therefore, reduced demand and
consumption. If governments could only spend money that was equivalent to gold, its capacity
to print money and increase the money supply was severely curtailed.
Economic historian Barry Eiechengreen argues that the recovery of the United States
really began when, having abandoned the gold standard, the US government was able to free
up money to spend on reviving the economy. At the height of World War II, other major
industrialized countries followed suit.
Though more indirect versions of the gold standard were used until as late as the 1970s,
the world never returned to the gold standard of the early 20th century. Today, the world
economy operates based on what are called fiat currencies—currencies that are not backed by
precious metals and whose value is determined by their cost relative to other currencies. This
system allows governments to freely and actively manage their economies by increasing or
decreasing the amount of money in circulation as they see fit.
The Bretton Woods System

After the two world wars, world
leaders sought to create a global economic
system that would ensure a longer-lasting
global peace. They believed that one of
the ways to achieve this goal was to set
up a network of global financial institutions
that would promote economic
interdependence and prosperity. The
Bretton Woods system was inaugurated in
1944 during the United Nations Monetary
and Financial Conference to prevent the
catastrophes of the early decades of the
century from reoccurring and affecting
international ties.
The Bretton Woods Conference was the

The Bretton Woods system was largely
influenced by the ideas of British economist John
gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 Allied nations at
Maynard Keynes who believed that economic
the Mount Washington Hotel, to regulate the
international monetary and financial order after the
crises occur not when a country does not have
conclusion of World War II.
enough money, but when money is not being
spent and, thereby, not moving. When economies slow down, according to Keynes,
governments have to reinvigorate markets with infusions of capital. This active role of
governments in managing spending served as the anchor for what would be called a system of
global Keynesianism.
Delegates at Bretton Woods agreed to create two financial institutions. The first was the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, or World Bank) to be
responsible for funding postwar reconstruction projects. It was a critical institution at a time
when many of the world‟s cities had been destroyed by the war. The second institution was the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), which was to be the global lender of last resort to prevent
individual countries from spiraling into credit crises. If economic growth in a country slowed
down because there was not enough money to stimulate the economy, the IMF would step in.
To this day, both institutions remain key Players in economic globalization.
Shortly after Bretton Woods, various countries also committed themselves to further
global economic integration through the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in
1947. GATT‟s main purpose was to reduce tariffs and other hindrances to free trade.
Neoliberalism and Its Discontents

The high point of global Keynesianism came in the mid-1940s to the early 19703. During
this period, governments poured money into their economies, allowing people to purchase more
goods and, in the process, increase demand for these products. As demand increased, so did
the prices of these goods. Western and some Asian economies like Japan accepted this rise in
prices because it was accompanied by general economic growth and reduced unemployment.
The theory went that, as prices increased, companies would earn more, and would have more
money to hire workers. Keynesian economists believed that all this was a necessary trade-off
for economic development.
In the early 19705, however, the prices of oil rose sharply as a result of the Organization
of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries‟ (OAPEC, the Arab member-countries of the Organization
of Petroleum Exporting Countries or OPEC) imposition of an embargo in response to the
decision of the United States and other countries to resupply the Israeli military with the needed
arms during the Yom Kippur War. Arab countries also used the embargo to stabilize their
economies and growth. The “embargo” affected the Western economies that were reliant on oil.
To make matters worse, the stock markets crashed in 19731974 after the United States
stopped linking the dollar to gold, effectively ending the Bretton Woods system. The result was
a phenomenon that Keynesian economics could not have predicted a phenomenon called
stagflation, in which a decline in economic growth and employment (stagnation) takes place
alongside a sharp increase in prices (inflation).
Around this time, a new form of economic thinking was beginning to challenge the
Keynesian orthodoxy. Economists such as Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman argued that the
governments‟ practice of pouring money into their economies had caused inflation by increasing
demand for goods without necessarily increasing supply. More profoundly, they argued that
government intervention in economies distort the proper functioning of the market.
Economists like Friedman used the economic turmoil to challenge the consensus around
Keynes‟s ideas. What emerged was a new form of economic thinking that critics labeled
neoliberalism. From the 19805 onward, neoliberalism became the codified ' strategy of the
United States Treasury Department, the World 'Bank, the IMF, and eventually the World Trade
Organization (WTO)-a new organization founded in 1995 to continue the tariff reduction under
the GATT. The policies they forwarded came to be called the Washington Consensus.
The Washington Consensus dominated global economic policies from the 19805 until the
early 20003. Its advocates pushed for minimal government spending to reduce government
debt. They also called for the privatization of government-controlled services like water, power,
communications, and transport, believing that the free market can produce the best results.
Finally, they pressured governments, particularly in the developing world, to reduce tariffs and
open up their economies, arguing that it is the quickest way to progress. Advocates of the
Washington Consensus conceded that, along the way, certain industries would be affected and
die, but they considered this “shock therapy” necessary for long-term economic growth.
The appeal of neoliberalism was in its simplicity. Its advocates like US President Ronald
Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher justified their reduction in government
spending by comparing national economies to households. Thatcher, in particular, promoted an
image of herself as a mother, who mined in overspending to reduce the national debt.
The problem with the household analogy is that governments are not households. For
one, governments can print money, while households cannot. Moreover, the constant taxation
systems of governments provide them a steady flow of income that allows them to pay and
refinance debts steadily.
Despite the initial success of neoliberal politicians like Thatcher and Reagan, the defects
of the Washington Consensus became immediately palpable. A good early example is that of
post-communist Russia. After Communism had collapsed in the 19905, the IMF called for the
immediate privatization of all government industries. The IMF assumed that such a move would
free these industries from corrupt bureaucrats and pass them on to the more dynamic and
independent private investors. What happened, however, was that only individuals and groups
who had accumulated wealth under the previous communist order had the money to purchase
these industries. In some cases, the economic elites relied on easy access to government funds
to take over the industries. This practice has entrenched an oligarchy that still dominates the
Russian economy to this very day.
The Global Financial Crisis and the Challenge to Neoliberalism

Russia‟s case was just one example of how the “shock therapy” of neoliberalism did not
lead to the ideal outcomes predicted by economists who believed in perfectly free markets. The
greatest recent repudiation of this thinking was the recent global financial crisis of 2008-2009.
Neoliberalism came under significant strain during the global financial crisis of 2007
2008 when the world experienced the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression.
The crisis can be traced back to the 19805 when the United States systematically removed
various banking and investment restrictions.
The scaling back of regulations continued until the 20003, paving the way for a brewing
crisis. In their attempt to promote the free market, government authorities failed to regulate
bad investments occurring in the US housing market. Taking advantage of “cheap housing
loans,” Americans began building houses that were beyond their financial capacities.
To mitigate the risk of these loans, banks that were lending houseowners‟ money pooled
these mortgage payments and sold them as "mortgage-backed securities” (MBSs). One MBS
would be a combination of multiple mortgages that they assumed would pay a steady rate. '
Since there was so much surplus money circulating, the demand for M385 increased as
investors clamored for more investment opportunities. In their haste to issue these loans,
however; the banks became less discriminating. They began extending loans to families and
individuals with dubious credit records-people who were unlikely to pay their loans back. These
high-risk mortgages became known as sub-prime mortgages.
Financial experts wrongly assumed that, even if many of the borrowers were individuals
and families who would struggle to pay, a majority would not default. Moreover, banks thought
that since there were so many mortgages in just one MBS. a few failures would not ruin the
entirety of the investment.
Banks also assumed that housing prices would continue to increase. Therefore, even if
homeowners defaulted on their loans, these banks could simply reacquire the homes and sell
them at a higher price, turning a profit.
Sometime in 2007, however, home prices stopped increasing as supply caught up with
demand. Moreover, it slowly became apparent that families could not pay off their loans. This
realization triggered the rapid reselling of MBSS, as banks and investors tried to get rid of their
bad investments. This dangerous Cycle reached a tipping point in September 2008, when major
investment banks like Lehman Brothers collapsed, thereby depleting major investments.
The crisis spread beyond the United States since many investors were foreign
governments, corporations, and individuals. The loss of their money spread like wildfire back to
their countries.
These series of interconnections allowed for a global multiplier effect that sent ripples
across the world. For example, Iceland‟s banks heavily depended on foreign capital, so when
the crisis hit them, they failed to refinance their loans. As a result of this credit crunch, three of
Iceland‟s top commercial banks defaulted. From 2007 to 2008, Iceland‟s debt increased more
than seven-fold.
Until now, countries like Spain and Greece are heavily indebted (almost like Third World
countries), and debt relief has come at a high price. Greece, in particular, has been forced by
Germany and the IMF to cut back on its social and public spending. Affecting services like
pensions, health care, and various forms of social security, these cuts have been felt most
acutely by the poor. Moreover, the reduction in government spending has slowed down growth
and ensured high levels of unemployment.
The United States recovered relatively quickly thanks to a large Keynesian-style stimulus
package that President Barack Obama pushed for in his first months in office. The same cannot
be said for many other countries. In Europe, the continuing economic crisis has sparked a
political upheaval. Recently, far-right parties like Marine Le Pen‟s Front National in France have
risen to prominence by unfairly blaming immigrants for their woes, claiming that they steal jobs
and leech off welfare. These movements blend popular resentment with utter hatred and
racism. We will discuss their rise further in the final lesson.
Economic Globalization Today

The global financial crisis will take decades to resolve. The solutions proposed by certain
nationalist and leftist groups of closing national economies to world trade, however, will no
longer work. The world has become too integrated. Whatever one‟s opinion about the
Washington Consensus is, it is undeniable that some form of international trade remains
essential for countries to develop in the contemporary world.
Exports, not just the local selling of goods and services, make national economies grow
at present. In the past, those that benefited the most from free trade were the advanced
nations that were producing and selling industrial and agricultural goods. The United States,
Japan, and the member-countries of the European Union were responsible for 65 percent of
global „exports, while the developing countries only accounted for 29 percent. When more
countries opened up their economies to take advantage of increased free trade, the shares of
the percentage began to change. By 2011, developing countries like the Philippines, India,
China, Argentina, and Brazil accounted for 51 percent of global exports while the share of
advanced nations including the United States-had gone down to 45 percent.15 The WTO-led
reduction of trade barriers, known as trade liberalization, has profoundly altered the dynamics
of the global economy.
In the recent decades, partly as a result of these increased exports, economic

globalization has ushered in an unprecedented spike in global growth rates. According to the
IMF, the global per capita GDP rose over five-fold in the second half of the 20th century. It was
this growth that created the large Asian economies like Japan, China, Korea, Hong Kong, and
Singapore.”
And yet, economic globalization remains an uneven process, with some countries,
corporations, and individuals benefiting a lot more than others. The series of trade talks under
the WTO have led to unprecedented reductions in tariffs and other trade barriers, but these
processes have often been unfair.
First, developed countries are often protectionists, as they repeatedly refuse to lift
policies that safeguard their primary products that could otherwise be overwhelmed by imports
from the developing world. The best example of this double standard is Japan‟s determined
refusal to allow rice imports into the country to protect its farming sector. Japan‟s justification is
that rice is “sacred.” Ultimately, it is its economic muscle as the third largest economy that
allows it to resist pressures to open its agricultural sector.
The United States likewise fiercely protects its sugar industry, forcing consumers and
sugar-dependent businesses to pay higher prices instead of getting cheaper sugar from
plantations of Central America.
Faced with these blatantly protectionist measures from powerful countries and blocs,
poorer countries can do very little to make economic globalization more just. Trade imbalances,
therefore, characterize economic relations between developed and developing countries.
The beneficiaries of global commerce have been mainly transnational corporations

(TNCs) and not governments. And like any other business, these TNCs are concerned more with
profits than with assisting the social programs of the governments hosting them. Host
countries, in turn, loosen tax laws, which prevents wages from rising, while sacrificing social
and environmental programs that protect the underprivileged members of their societies. The
term “race to the bottom” refers to countries‟ lowering their labor standards, including the
protection of workers‟ interests, to lure in foreign investors seeking high profit margins at the
lowest cost possible. Governments weaken environmental laws to attract investors, creating
fatal consequences on their ecological balance and depleting them of their finite resources (like
oil, coal, and minerals).
Localizing the Material
Many Philippine industries were devastated by unfair trade deals under the GATT
and eventually the WTO. One sector that was particularly affected was Philippine
agriculture. According to Walden Bello and a team of researchers at Focus on the Global
South, the US used its power under the GATT system to prevent Philippine importers from
purchasing Philippine poultry and pork-even as it sold meat to the Philippines.
Although the Philippines expected to make up losses in sectors like meat with gains
in areas such as coconut products, no significant change was realized. In 1993, coconut
exports amounted to $1.9 billion and after a slight increase to $2.3 billion in 1997, it
returned to $1.9 billion in 2000.
Most strikingly, Bello and company noted that the Philippines became a net food
importer under the GATT. In 1993, the country had an agricultural trade surplus of $292
million. It had a deficit of $764 million in 1997 and $794 million in 2002.
Conclusion
International economic integration is a central tenet of globalization. In fact, it is so
crucial to the process that many writers and commentators confuse this integration for the
entirety of globalization. As a reminder, economics is just one window into the phenomenon of
globalization; it is not the entire thing.
Nevertheless, much of globalization is anchored on changes in the economy. Global

culture, for example, is facilitated by trade. Filipinos would not be as aware of American culture
if not for the trade that allows locals to watch American movies, listen to American music, and
consume American products. The globalization of politics is likewise largely contingent on trade
relations. These days, many events of foreign affairs are conducted to cement trading relations
between and among states.
Given the stakes involved in economic globalization, it is perennially important to ask

how this system can be made more just. Although some elements of global free trade can be
scaled back, policies cannot do away with it as a whole. International policymakers, therefore,
should strive to think of ways to make trading deals fairer. Governments must also continue to
devise ways of cushioning the most damaging effects of economic globalization, while ensuring
that its benefits accrue for everyone.
IV. Learning Task

Direction: Write an essay discussing the role of mass media in the global economic
activity. How does it affect economics in the Philippines?
V. Evaluation
Evaluation Task No.: ________ Lesson Title: _____________________________________
Direction: Answer the following questions briefly.
1. What is economic globalization?
2. Who are the actors that facilitate economic globalization?
3. How the following affect globalization?

c. Silk Road
d. Galleon Trade
e. IMF/World Bank
4. When was the commencement of the age of globalization?
5. How the following countries protect their industry?

a. Japan (rice industry)
b. USA (sugar industry

LESSON
A History of Global
3 Politics: Creating an
International Order
1. Identified the key events in the development of international relations;

2. differentiated internationalization from globalization;
3. defined the state and the nation;
4. distinguished between the competing conceptions of internationalism; and
5. discussed the historical evolution of international politics.
II. Subject Matter: A History of Global Politics: Creating an

International Order
26-37
b. Value Focus: Industry, creativity, peace, world order

The world is composed of many countries or states, all of them having different forms of
government. Some scholars of politics are interested in individual states and examine the
internal politics of these countries. For example, a scholar studying the politics of Japan may
write about the history of its bureaucracy. Other scholars are more interested in the interactions
between states rather than their internal politics. These scholars look at trade deals between
states. They also study political, military, and other diplomatic engagements between two or
more countries. These scholars are studying international relations. Moreover, when they
explore the deepening of interactions between states, they refer to the phenomenon of
internationalization.
Internationalization does not equal globalization, although it is a major part of

globalization. As we explained in Lesson 1, globalization encompasses a multitude of
connections and interactions that cannot be reduced to the ties between governments.
Nevertheless, it is important to study international relations as a facet of globalization, because
states/governments are key drivers of global processes. In this lesson, we will examine
internationalization as one window to view the globalization of politics. Although this course is
about the contemporary world, we cannot avoid history. What international relations are today
is largely defined by events that occurred as far back as 400 years ago. Don‟t worry; we will
eventually discuss contemporary world politics. But to do that, we need first to work backward.
A History of Global Politics: Creating an International Order | 22
This lesson will begin with identifying the major attributes of contemporary global politics and
then proceed to ask: How did this system emerge? In doing so, you will have a solid foundation
to understand the major issues of global governance in the next lesson.
The Attributes of Today’s Global System

World politics today has four key attributes. First, there are countries or states that are
independent and govern themselves. Second, these countries interact with each other through
diplomacy. Third, there are international organizations, like the United Nations (UN), that
facilitate these interactions. Fourth, beyond simply facilitating meetings between states,
international organizations also take on lives of their own. The UN, for example, apart from
being a meeting ground for presidents and other heads of state, also has task-specific agencies
like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
What are the origins of this system? A good start is by unpacking what one means when
he/she says a “country,” or what academics also call the nation-state. This concept is not as
simple as it seems. The nation-state is a relatively modern phenomenon in human history, and
people did not always organize themselves as countries. At different parts in the history of
humanity, people in various regions of the world have identified exclusively with units as small
as their village or their tribe, and at other times. They see themselves as members of larger
political categories like “Christendom” (the entire Christian world).
The nation-state is composed of two non-interchangeable terms. Not all states are
nations and not all nations are states. The nation of Scotland, for example, has its own flag and
national culture, but still belongs to a state called the United Kingdom. Closer to home, many
commentators believe that the Bangsamoro is a separate nation existing within the Philippines
but, through their elites, recognizes the authority of the Philippine state. Meanwhile, if there are
states with multiple nations, there are also single nations with multiple states. The nation of
Korea is divided into North and South Korea, whereas the “Chinese nation” may refer to both
the People‟s Republic of China (the mainland) and Taiwan.
What then is the difference between nation and state?
In layman‟s terms, state refers to a country and its government, i.e., the government of
the Philippines. A state has four attributes. First, it exercises authority over a specific
population, called its citizens. Second, it governs a specific territory. Third, a state has a
structure of government that crafts various rules that people (society) follow. Fourth and the
most crucial, the state has sovereignty over its territory. Sovereignty here refers to internal and
external authority. Internally, no individuals or groups can operate in a given national territory
by ignoring the state. This means that groups like churches, civil society organizations,
corporations, and other entities have to follow the laws of the state where they establish their
parishes, offices, or headquarters. Externally, sovereignty means that a state‟s policies and
procedures are independent of the interventions of other states. Russia or China, for example,
cannot pass laws for the Philippines and vice versa.
On the other hand, the nation, according to Benedict Anderson, is an “imagined

community.” It is limited because it does not go beyond a given “official boundary,” and
because rights and responsibilities are mainly the privilege and concern of the citizens of that
nation. Being limited means that the nation has its boundaries. This characteristic is in stark
contrast to many religious imagined communities. Anyone, for example, can become a Catholic
if one chooses to. In fact, Catholics want more people to join their community; they refer to it
as the call to discipleship. But not everyone can simply become a Filipino. An American cannot
simply go to the Philippine Embassy and „convert" into a Philippine citizen. Nations often limit
themselves to people who have imbibed a particular culture, speak a common language, and
live in a specific territory.
Calling it “imagined” does not mean that the nation is made-up. Rather, the nation
allows one to feel a connection with a community of people even if he/she will never meet all of
them in his/her lifetime. When you cheer for a Filipino athlete in the Olympics, for example, it is
not because you personally know that athlete. Rather, you imagine your connection as both
members of the same Filipino community. In a given national territory like the Philippine
archipelago, you rest in the comfort that the majority of people living in it are also Filipinos.
Finally, most nations strive to become states. Nation-builders can only feel a sense of fulfillment
when that national ideal assumes an organizational form whose authority and power are
recognized and accepted by “the people.” Moreover, if there are communities that are not
states, they often seek some form of autonomy within their “mother states.” This is why, for
example, the nation of Quebec, though belonging to the state of Canada, has different laws
about language (they are French-speaking and require French language competencies for their
citizens). It is also for this reason that Scotland, though part of the United Kingdom, has a
strong independence movement led by the Scottish Nationalist Party.
Nation and state are closely related because it is nationalism that facilitates state
formation. In the modern and contemporary era, it has been the nationalist movements that
have allowed for the creation of nation-states. States become independent and sovereign
because of nationalist sentiment that clamors for this independence.
Sovereignty is, thus, one of the fundamental principles of modern state politics.
Understanding how this Became the case entails going back as far as 400 years ago.
The Interstate System

The origins of the present-day
concept of sovereignty can be traced
back to the Treaty of Westphalia, which
was a set of agreements signed in 1648
to end the Thirty Years‟ War between
the major continental powers of Europe.
After a brutal religious war between
Catholics and Protestants, the Holy
Roman Empire, Spain, France, Sweden,
and the Dutch Republic designed a
system that would avert wars in the
future by recognizing that the treaty
signers exercise complete control over
their domestic affairs and swear not to The Treaty of Westphalia is the collective name for two peace treaties
meddle in each other‟s affairs. signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and
Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War and brought peace to the
The Westphalian system Holy Roman Empire.
provided stability for the nations of
Europe, until it faced its first major challenge by Napoleon Bonaparte. Bonaparte believed in
spreading the principles of the French Revolution-liberty, equality, and fraternity-to the rest of
Europe and thus challenged the power of kings, nobility, and religion in Europe. The Napoleonic
Wars lasted from 1803-1815 with Napoleon and his armies marching all over much of Europe.
In every country they conquered, the French implemented the Napoleonic Code that forbade
birth privileges, encouraged freedom or religion, and promoted meritocracy in government
service. This system shocked the monarchies and the hereditary elites (dukes, duchesses, etc.)
of Europe, and they mustered their armies to push back against the French emperor.
Anglo and Prussian armies finally defeated Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815,
ending the latter‟s mission to spread his liberal code across Europe. To prevent another war and
to keep their systems of privilege, the royal powers created a new system that, in effect,
restored the Westphalian system. The Concert of Europe was an alliance of “great powers”--the
United Kingdom, Austria, Russia, and Prussia-that sought to restore the world of monarchical,
hereditary, and religious privileges of the time before the French Revolution and the Napoleonic
Wars. More importantly, it was an alliance that sought to restore the sovereignty of states.
Under this Metternich system (named after the Austrian diplomat, Klemens von Metternich, who
was the main architect). The Concert‟s power and authority lasted from 1815-1914, at the dawn
of World War I.
Despite the challenge of Napoleon to the Westphalian system and the eventual collapse
of the Concert of Europe after World War I, present-day international system still has traces of
this history. Until now, states are considered sovereign, and Napoleonic attempts to violently
impose systems of government in other countries are frowned upon. Moreover, like the Concert
system, “great powers” still hold significant influence over world politics. For example, the most
powerful grouping in the UN, the Security Council, has a core of five permanent members, all
having veto powers over the council‟s decision-making process.
Internationalism
The Westphalian and Concert systems divided the world into separate, sovereign
entities. Since the existence of this interstate system, there have been attempts to transcend it.
Some, like Bonaparte, directly challenged the system by infringing on other states‟ sovereignty,
while others sought to imagine other systems of governance that go beyond, but do not
necessarily challenge, sovereignty. Still, others imagine a system of heightened interaction
between various sovereign states, particularly the desire for greater cooperation and unity
among states and peoples. This desire is called internationalism.
Internationalism comes in different forms, but the principle may be divided into two
broad categories: liberal internationalism and socialist internationalism.
The first major thinker of liberal internationalism was the late 18th century German
philosopher Immanuel Kant. Kant likened states in a global system to people living in a given
territory. If people living together require a government to prevent lawlessness, shouldn‟t that
same principle be applied to states? Without a form of world government, he argued, the
international system would be chaotic. Therefore, states, like citizens of countries, must give up
some freedoms and “establish a continuously growing state consisting of various nations which
will ultimately include the nations of the world.” In short, Kant imagined a form of global
government.
Writing in the late 18th century as well, British philosopher Jeremy Bentham (who
coined the word “international” in 1780), advocated the creation of “international law” that
would govern the inter-state relations. Bentham believed that objective global legislators should
aim to propose legislation that would create “the greatest happiness of all nations taken
together.”
To many, these proposals for global government and international law seemed to
represent challenges to states. Would not a world government, in effect, become supreme? And
would not its laws overwhelm the sovereignty of individual states?
The first thinker to reconcile nationalism with liberal internationalism was the 19th
century Italian patriot Giuseppe Mazzini. Mazzini was both an advocate of the unification of the
various Italian-speaking mini-states and a major critic of the Metternich system. He believed in
a Republican government (without kings, queens, and hereditary succession) and proposed a
system of free nations that cooperated with each other to create an international system. For
Mazzini, free, independent states would be the basis of an equally free, cooperative
international system. He argued that if the various Italian mini-states could unify, one could
scale up the system to create, for example, a United States of Eur0pe. Mazzini was a nationalist
internationalist, who believes that free, unified nation-states should be the basis of global
cooperation.
Mazzini influenced the thinking of United States

president (1913-1921) Woodrow Wilson, who became one
of the 20th century‟s most prominent internationalists.
Like Mazzini, Wilson saw nationalism as a prerequisite for
internationalism. Because of his faith in nationalism, he
forwarded the principle of self-determination—the belief
that the world‟s nations had a right to a free, and
sovereign government. He hoped that these free nations
would become democracies, because only by being such
would they be able to build a free system of international
relations based on international law and cooperation.
Wilson, in short, became the most notable advocate for
the creation of the League of Nations. At the end of World
War I in 1918, he pushed to transform the League into a
venue for conciliation and arbitration to prevent another
war. For his efforts, Wilson was awarded the Nobel Peace
th
28 United States president Woodrow Prize in 1919.
Wilson was the most prominent advocate
for the establishment of the League of The League came into being that same year.
Nations Ironically and unfortunately for Wilson, the United States
was not able to join the organization due to strong
opposition from the Senate. The League was also unable to hinder another war from breaking
out. It was practically helpless to prevent the onset and intensification of World War II. On one
side of the war were the Axis Powers—Hitler‟s Germany, Mussolini‟s Italy, and Hirohito‟s
Japan—who were ultra-nationalists that had an instinctive disdain for internationalism and
preferred to violently impose their dominance over other nations. It was in the midst of this war
between the Axis Powers and the Allied Powers (composed of the United States, United
Kingdom, France, Holland, and Belgium) that internationalism would be eclipsed.
Despite its failure, the League gave birth to some of the more task-specific international
organizations that are still around until today, the most popular of which are the World Health
Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). More importantly, it
would serve as the blueprint for future forms of international cooperation. In this respect,
despite its organizational dissolution, the League of Nations‟ principles Survived World War II.
The League was the concretization of the concepts of liberal internationalism. From
Kant, it emphasized the need to form common international principles. From Mazzini, it
enshrined the principles of cooperation and respect among nation-states. From Wilson, it called
for democracy and self-determination. These ideas would re-assert themselves in the creation
of the United Nations in 1946 (see next lesson).
One of Mazzini‟s biggest critics was German socialist philosopher Karl Marx who was also
an internationalist, but who differed from the former because he did not believe in nationalism.
He believed that any true form of internationalism should deliberately reject nationalism, which
rooted people in domestic concerns instead of global ones. Instead, Marx placed a premium on
economic equality; he did not divide the world into countries, but into classes. The capitalist
class referred to the owners of factories, companies, and other “means of production.” In
contrast, the proletariat class included those who did not own the means of production, but
instead, worked for the capitalists.
Marx and his co-author, Friedrich Engels, believed that in a socialist revolution seeking
to overthrow the state and alter the economy, the proletariat “had no nation.” Hence, their now
famous battle cry, “Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains.”
They opposed nationalism because they believed it prevented the unification of the world‟s
workers. Instead of identifying with other workers, nationalism could make workers in individual
countries identify with the capitalists of their countries.
Marx died in 1883, but his followers soon sought to make his vision concrete by
establishing their international organization. The Socialist International (SI) was a union of
European socialist and labor parties established in Paris in 1889. Although shot-lived, the SI‟s
achievements included the declaration of May 1 as Labor Day and the creation of International
Women‟s Day. Most importantly, it initiated the successful campaign for an 8-hour workday.
The SI collapsed during World War I as the member parties refused or were unable to
join the internationalist efforts to fight for the war. Many of these sister parties even ended up
fighting each other. It was a confirmation of Marx‟s warning: when workers and their
organizations take the side of their countries instead of each other, their long-term interests are
compromised.
As the SI collapsed, a more radical version emerged. In the so-called Russian Revolution
of 1917, Czar Nicholas II was overthrown and replaced by a revolutionary government led by
the Bolshevik Party and its leader, Vladimir Lenin. This new state was called the Union of the
Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR. Unlike the majority of the member parties of the SI the
Bolsheviks did not believe in obtaining power for the working class through elections. Rather,
they exhorted “vanguard” parties to lead the revolutions across the world, using methods of
terror if necessary. Today, parties like this are referred to as Communist parties.
To encourage these socialist revolutions

across the world, Lenin established the Communist
International (Comintern) in 1919. The Comintern
served as the central body for directing Communist
parties all over the world. This International was not
only more radical than the Socialist International; it
was also less democratic because it followed closely
the top-down governance of the Bolsheviks.
Many of the world‟s states feared the

Comintern, believing that it was working in secret to The Comintern was founded by Vladimir Lenin
stir up revolutions in their countries (which was true). A to propagate socialist revolutions
problem arose during World War II when the Soviet
Union joined the Allied Powers in 1941. The United States and the United Kingdom would, of
course, not trust the Soviet Union in their fight against Hitler‟s Germany. These countries
wondered if the Soviet Union was trying to promote revolutions in their backyards. To appease
his allies, Lenin‟s successor, Joseph Stalin, dissolved the Comintern in 1943.
After the war, however, Stalin re-established the Comintern as the Communist
Information Bureau (Cominform). The Soviet Union took over the countries in Eastern Europe
when the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain divided the war-torn Europe into
their respective spheres of influence. The Cominform, like the Comintern before it, helped direct
the various communist parties that had taken power in Eastern Europe.
With the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, whatever existing thoughts
about communist internationalism also practically disappeared. The SI managed to re-establish
itself in 1951, but its influence remained primarily confined to Europe, and has never been
considered a major player in international relations to this very day.
For the postwar period, however, liberal internationalism would once again be
ascendant. And the best evidence of this is the rise of the United Nations as the center of global
governance.
Conclusion
This lesson examined the roots of the international system. In tracing these roots, a
short history of internationalism was provided. Moreover, internationalism is but one window
into the broader phenomenon of globalization. Nevertheless, it is a very crucial aspect of
globalization since global interactions are heightened by the increased interdependence of
states. This increased interdependence manifests itself not just through state-to-state relations.
Increasingly, international relations are also facilitated by international organizations that
promote global norms and policies. The most prominent example of this organization, of course,
is the United Nations.
IV. Learning Task

Imaginary Interview
Direction: Conduct an imaginary interview with the following people. (Choose only one.) After you
have selected your figure answer the guide questions below.
1. Woodrow Wilson
2. Karl Marx
3. Giuseppe Mazzini
Guide Questions
1. What do you think of Nationalism?

2. What is necessary for the development of an international order?
3. What do you think of the League of Nations?
V. Evaluation
Evaluation No.: ________ Lesson Title: _____________________________________
Direction: Direction: Briefly explain or give the meaning of the following.
1. Internal relations
2. Internationalization
3. Attributes of today‟s global system
4. Nation
5. State
6. Treaty of Westphalia
7. Napoleonic Code
8. International Law
9. Principle of self-determination
10. League of Nations

LESSON
The United Nations
4 and Contemporary
Global Governance
1. defined global governance;

2. identified the votes and functions of the United Nations; and
3. determined the challenges at global governance in the twenty-first century.
II. Subject Matter: The United Nations and Contemporary Global

Governance
39-46
b. Value Focus: Peace, security

Although many internationalists like Bentham and Kant imagined the possibility of a
global government, nothing of the sort exists today. There is no one organization that various
states are accountable to. Moreover, no organization can militarily compel a state to obey
predetermined global rules. There is, however, some regularity in the general behavior of
states. For example, they more or less follow global navigation routes and, more often than not,
respect each other's territorial boundaries. Moreover, when they do not—like when Russia
invaded Crimea in 2014—it become a came for global concern and debate. The fact that states
in an International order continue to adhere to certain global norms meant that there is a
semblance of world order despite the lack of a single world government. Global governance
reins to the various intersecting processes that create this order.
There are many sources of global governance. States sign treaties and form
organizations, in the process legislating public international law (international rules that govern
interactions between states as opposed to, say, private companies). International non-
governmental organizations (N605), though not having formal state power, can lobby individual
states to behave in a certain way (for example, an international animal protection NGO can
pressure governments to pass animal cruelty laws). Powerful transnational corporations can
likewise have tremendous effects on global labor laws, environmental legislation, trade policy,
etc. Even ideas such as the need for “global democracy” or the clamor for “good governance”
can influence the ways international actors behave.
The United Nations and Contemporary Global Governance | 31
One lesson will not be able to cover the various ways global governance occurs. As
such, this lesson will only examine how global governance is articulated by intergovernmental
organizations. It will focus primarily on the United Nations (UN) as the most prominent
intergovernmental organization today.
What is an International Organization?

When scholars refer to groups like the UN or institutions like the IMF and the World
Bank (see Lesson 2), they usually call them international organizations (IOs). Although
international NGOs are sometimes considered as IOs, the term is commonly used to refer to
international intergovernmental organizations or groups that are primarily made up of member-
states.
One major fallacy about international organizations is that they are merely
amalgamations of various state interests. In the 1960s and 1970s, many scholars believed that
IOs were just venues where the contradicting, but sometimes intersecting, agendas of countries
were discussed—no more than talk shops. What has become more evident in recent years,
however, is that IOs can take on lives of their own. For example, as seen in Lesson 2, the IMF
was able to promote a particular form of economic orthodoxy that stemmed mainly from the
beliefs of its professional economists. IOs can thus become influential as independent
organizations. International relations scholars Michael N. Barnett and Martha Finnemore listed
the following powers of IOs.
First, IOs have the power of classification. Because IOs can invent and apply categories,
they create powerful global standards.” For example, it is the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) that defines what a refugee is (see Lesson 10 for more). And since states
are required to accept refugees entering their borders, this power to establish identity has
concrete effects.
Second, IOs have the power to fix meanings. This is a broader function related to the
first. Various terms like “security” or “development” need to be well-defined. States,
organizations, and individuals view IOs as legitimate sources of information. As such, the
meanings they create have effects on various policies. For example, recently, the United
Nations has started to define security as not just safety from military violence, but also safety
from environmental harm.
Finally, IOs have the power to diffuse norms. Norms are accepted codes of conduct that
may not be strict law, but nevertheless produce regularity in behavior. IOs do not only classify
and fix meanings; they also spread their ideas across the world, thereby establishing global
standards. Their members are, as Barnett and Finnemore emphasized, the “missionaries” of our
time. Their power to diffuse norms stems from the fact that IOs are staffed with independent
bureaucracies, who are considered experts in various fields. For example, World Bank
economists come to be regarded as experts in development and thus carry some form of
authority. They can, therefore, create norms regarding the implementation and
conceptualization of development projects.
Because of these immense powers, IOs can be sources of great good and great harm.
They can promote relevant norms like environmental protection and human rights. But, like
other entrenched bureaucracies, they can become sealed-off communities that fail to challenge
their beliefs. For example, the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz famously criticized
the IMF for using a “one-size-fits-all” approach when its economists made recommendations to
developing countries.
The United Nations

Having examined the powers, limitations,
and weaknesses of IOs, the spotlight will now fall
on the most prominent IO in the contemporary
world, the United Nations (UN). After the collapse
of the League of Nations at the end of World War
II, countries that worried about another global war
began to push for the formation of a more lasting
international league. The result was the creation of
the UN. Although the organization is far from
perfect, it should be emphasized that it has so farm
achieved its primary goal of averting another global
The flag of the United Nations war. For this reason alone, the UN should be
considered a success.
The UN is divided into five active organs. The General Assembly (GA) is UN‟s “main
deliberative policymaking and representative organ.” According to the UN charter: “Decisions on
important questions, such as those on peace and security, admission of new members, and
budgetary matters, require a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly. Decisions on other
questions are done by simple majority. Annually, the General Assembly elects a GA President to
serve a one-year term of office.” All member states (currently at 193) have seats in the GA. The
Philippines played a prominent role in the GA‟s early years when Filipino diplomat Carlos P.
Romulo was elected GA president from 1949-1950.
The member countries of the Permanent 5
Although the GA is the most representative organization in the UN, many commentators
consider the Security Council (SC) to be the most powerful. According to the UN, this body
consists of 15 member states. The GA elects ten of these 15 to two-year terms. The other
five—sometimes referred to as the Permanent 5 (P5)—are China, France, Russia, the United
Kingdom, and the United States. These states have been permanent members since the
founding of the UN, and cannot be replaced through election. The SC takes the lead in
determining the existence of a threat to the peace or an act of aggression. It calls upon the
parties to a dispute to settle the act by peaceful means and recommends methods of
adjustment or terms of settlement. In some cases, it can resort to imposing sanctions or even
authorizing the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security. Because of
these powers, states that seek to intervene militarily in another state need to obtain the
approval of the SC. With the SOS approval, a military intervention may be deemed legal. This is
an immense power.
Much attention has been placed on the SC‟s P5 due to their permanent seats and
because each country holds veto power over the council‟s decisions. It only takes one veto vote
from a P5 member to stop an SC action dead in its tracks. In this sense, the SC is heir to the
tradition of “great power” diplomacy that began with the Metternich/Concert of Europe system
(see the previous lesson). It is especially telling that the P5 consists of the major Allied Powers
that won World War II. The Security Council will be further discussed in the next section.
The third UN organ is the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which is “the principal
body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue, and recommendations on social and
environmental issues, as well as the implementation of internationally agreed development
goals.” It has 54 members elected for three-year terms. Currently, it is the UN‟s central platform
for discussions on sustainable development.
The fourth is the International Court of Justice whose task “is to settle, in accordance
with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by states and to give advisory opinions
referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.” The major cases of
the court consist of disputes between states that voluntarily submit themselves to the court for
arbitration. The court, as such, cannot try individuals (international criminal cases are heard by
the International Criminal Court, which is independent of the UN), and its decisions are only
binding when states have explicitly agreed to place themselves before the court‟s authority. The
SC may enforce the rulings of the ICJ, but this remains subject to the P5‟s veto power.
Did you know that Filipinos played a significant role in the creation of human
rights arbitration rules in the United Nations? In the late 1960s, the diplomat
Salvador P. Lopez was chairman of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
Lopez and other Filipinos helped design the system whereby any citizen of any state
may petition the UN to look into human rights violations in a country. That system
exists until today. Human rights, therefore, are not foreign impositions. They are part
of our national heritage.
Finally, the secretariat consists of the “Secretary-General and tens of

thousands of international UN staff members who carry out the day-to-day work of
the UN as mandated by the General Assembly and the organization‟s other principal
organs.” As such, it is the bureaucracy of the UN, serving as a kind of international
civil service. Members of the secretariat serve in their capacity as UN employees and
not as state representatives.
Challenges of the United Nations

Given the scope of the UN‟s activities, it naturally faces numerous challenges. Chief
among these are the limits placed upon its various organs and programs by the need to respect
state sovereignty. The UN is not a world government, and it functions primarily because of
voluntary cooperation from states. If states refuse to cooperate, the influence of the UN can be
severely circumscribed. For example, the UN Council on Human Rights can send special
rapporteurs to countries where alleged human rights violations are occurring. If a country does
not invite the rapporteur or places conditions on his/her activities, however, this information-
gathering mechanism usually fails to achieve its goals.
However, perhaps the biggest challenge of the United Nations is related to issues of
security. As mentioned, the UN Security Council is tasked with authorizing international acts of
military intervention. Because of the PS‟s veto power, it is tough for the council to release a
formal resolution, much more implement it. This became an issue, for example, in the late
1990s when the United States sought to intervene in the Kosovo war. Serbian leader Slobodan
Milošević was committing acts of ethnic cleansing against ethnic Muslim Albanians in the
province of Kosovo. Hundreds and thousands of Albanians were victims of massacres, mass
deportations, and internal displacement. Amid this systematic terror, members of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, see Lesson 5), led by the United States, sought SC
authorization to intervene in the Kosovo war on humanitarian grounds. China and Russia,
however, threatened to veto any action, rendering the UN incapable of addressing the crisis. In
response, NATO decided to intervene on its own. Though the NATO intervention was largely a
success, it, nevertheless, left the UN ineffectual.
Today, a similar dynamic is evident in Syria, which is undergoing a civil war. Russia has
threatened to veto any SC resolution against Syria; thus, the UN has done very little to stop
state-sanctioned violence against opponents of the government. Since Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad is an ally of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, the latter has shied away from any policy
that could weaken the legitimacy of the former. As a result, the UN is again ineffectual amid a
conflict that has led to over 220,000 people dead and 11 million displaced.
Despite these problems, it remains important for the SC to place a high bar on military
intervention. The UN Security Council has been wrong on issues of intervention, but it has also
made right decisions. When the United States sought to invade Iraq in 2001, it claimed that
Iraq‟s Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) that threatened the world.
However, UN members Russia, China, and France were unconvinced and vetoed the UN
resolution for intervention, forcing the United States to lead a small “coalition of the willing”
with its allies. It has since been discovered that there were no weapons of mass destruction,
and the invasion of Iraq has caused problems for the country and the region that last until
today.
Conclusion
Global governance is such a complex issue that one can actually teach an entire course
in itself. This lesson has focused on the IOs and the United Nations in particular. International
organizations are highlighted because they are the most visible symbols of global governance.
The UN, in particular, is the closest to a world government. What is important to remember is
that international institutions like the UN are always in a precarious position.
On the one hand, they are groups of sovereign states. On the other, they are
organizations with their own rationalities and agendas. It is this tension that will continue to
inform the evolution of these organizations.
However, note that there are many institutions, groups, and ideas that hold international
and global politics together. In your own time, you may want to explore these topics on your
own.
IV. Learning Task
Name: _______________________ Year & Sec.: ____________ Score: ________________
Learning Task No.: __________ Title: ____________________________________________
Direction: Compare and contrast the League of Nations and United Nations.
V. Evaluation
Direction: Explain the following.
1. Global governance
2. Identify the role and function of the United Nations.
3. What is international organization?
4. What is the global problem at this time? Explain its impact on the lives of the people and
the country as a whole.
LESSON
5 A World of Regions
I. Learning Outcomes / Objectives:

1. differentiated between regionalization and globalization;
2. explained how regions are formed and kept together;
3. discussed the advantages and disadvantages of regionalism; and
4. identified the factors leading to a greater integration of the Asian region.
II. Subject Matter: A World of Regions

2018, 50-58
b. Value Focus: Unity, global acceptance, peace

Governments, associations, societies, and groups form regional organizations and/or
networks as a way of coping with the challenges of globalization. Globalization has made people
aware of the world in general, but it has also made Filipinos more cognizant of specific areas
such as Southeast Asia. How, for instance, did the Philippines come to identify itself with the
Southeast Asian region? Why is it part of a regional grouping known as the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)?
While regionalism is often seen as a political and economic phenomenon, the term
actually encompasses a broader area. It can be examined in relation to identities, ethics,
religion, ecological sustainability, and health.” Regionalism is also a process, and must be
treated as an “emergent, socially constituted phenomenon.” It means that regions are not
natural or given; rather, they are constructed and defined by policymakers, economic actors,
and even social movements.
This lesson will look at regions as political entities and examine what brings them
together as they interlock with globalization. The other facets of regionalism will then be
explored, especially those that pertain to identities, ethics, religion, While regionalism is often
seen as a political and economic phenomenon, the term actually encompasses a broader area.
It can be examined in relation to identities, ethics, religion, ecological sustainability, and
health.” Regionalism is also a process, and must be treated as an “emergent, socially
A World of Regions| 39
constituted phenomenon.” It means that regions are not natural or given; rather, they are
constructed and defined by policymakers, economic actors, and even social movements.
This lesson will look at regions as political entities and examine what brings them
together as they interlock with globalization. The other facets of regionalism will then be
explored, especially those that pertain to identities, ethics, religion, ecological sustainability, and
health. The lesson will conclude by asking where all these regionalisms are bringing us as
members of a nation and as citizens of the world.
Countries, Regions, and Globalization

Edward D. Mansfield and Helen V. Milner state that economic and political definitions of
regions vary, but there are certain basic features that everyone can agree on. First, regions are
“a group of countries located in the same geographically specified area” or are “an
amalgamation of two regions [or] a combination of more than two regions” organized to
regulate and “oversee flows and policy choices.” Second, the words regionalization and
regionalism should not be interchanged, as the former refers to the “regional concentration of
economic flows” while the latter is “a political process characterized by economic policy
cooperation and coordination among countries.”
Countries respond economically and politically to globalization in various ways. Some are
large enough and have a lot of resources to dictate how they participate in processes of global
integration. China, for example, offers its cheap and huge workforce to attract foreign
businesses and expand trade with countries it once considered its enemies but now sees as
markets for its goods (e.g., the United States and Japan). Other countries make up for their
small size by taking advantage of their strategic location. Singapore and Switzerland
compensate for their lack of resources by turning themselves into financial and banking hubs.
Singapore developed its harbor facilities and made them a first-class transit port for ships
carrying different commodities from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and mainland Southeast
Asia to countries in the Asia-Pacific. In most cases, however, countries form a regional alliance
for—as the saying goes—there is strength in numbers.
Countries form regional associations for several reasons. One is for military defense. The
most widely known defense grouping is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) formed
during the Cold War when several Western European countries plus the United States agreed to
protect Europe against the threat of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union responded by creating
its regional alliance, the Warsaw Pact, consisting of the Eastern European countries under
Soviet domination. The Soviet Union imploded in December 1991, but NATO remains in place.
NATO is an
intergovernmental
military alliance
between 30 North
American and
European countries.
Countries also form regional organizations to

pool their resources, get better returns for their
exports, as well as expand their leverage against
trading partners. The Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) was established in 1960
by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela to
regulate the production and sale of oil. This regional
alliance flexed its muscles in the 1970s when its
member countries took over domestic production and
dictated crude oil prices in the world market. In a
world highly dependent on oil, this integration
OPEC’s symbol
became a source of immense power. OPEC‟s success
convinced nine other oil-producing countries to join it.
Moreover, there are countries that form regional blocs to protect their independence
from the pressures of superpower politics. The presidents of Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia,
and Yugoslavia created the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in 1961 to pursue world peace and
international cooperation, human rights, national sovereignty, racial and national equality,
nonintervention, and peaceful conflict resolution. It called itself non-is the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) formed during the Cold War when several Western European countries
plus the United States agreed to protect Europe against the threat of the Soviet Union. The
Soviet Union responded by creating its regional alliance, the Warsaw Pact, consisting of the
Eastern European countries under Soviet domination. The Soviet Union imploded in December
1991, but NATO remains in place.
Finally, economic crisis compels countries to come together. The Thai economy
collapsed in 1996 after foreign currency speculators and troubled international banks demanded
that the Thai government pay back its loans. A rapid withdrawal of foreign investments
bankrupted the economy. This crisis began to spread to other Asian countries as their
currencies were also devalued and foreign investments left in a hurry. The International
Monetary Fund (IMF) tried to reverse the crisis, but it was only after the ASEAN countries along
with China, Japan, and South Korea agreed to establish an emergency fund to anticipate a crisis
that the Asian economies stabilized.
The crisis made ASEAN more “unified and coordinated.” The Association has come a
long way since it was formed as a coalition of countries which were pro-American and
supportive of the United States intervention in Vietnam. After the Vietnam War, ASEAN
continued to act as a military alliance to isolate Vietnam after it invaded Cambodia, but there
were also the beginnings of economic cooperation.
Non-State Regionalism
It is not only states that agree to work together in the name of a single cause (or
causes). Communities also engage in regional organizing. This “new regionalism” varies in form;
they can be “tiny associations that include no more than a few actors and focus on a single
issue, or huge continental unions that address a multitude of common problems from territorial
defense to food security.” Organizations representing this “new regionalism” likewise rely on the
power of individuals, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and associations to link up with
one another in pursuit of a particular goal (or goals). Finally, “new regionalism” is identified with
reformists who share the same values, norms, institutions, and system that exist outside of the
traditional, established mainstream institutions and systems.
Their strategies and tactics likewise vary. Some organizations partner with governments
to initiate social change. Those who work with governments (“legitimizers”) participate in
“institutional mechanisms that afford some civil society groups voice and influence [in]
technocratic policy-making processes.” For example, the ASEAN issued its Human Rights
Declaration in 2009, but the regional body left it to member countries to apply the declaration‟s
principles as they see fit. Aware that democratic rights are limited in many ASEAN countries,
“new regionalism” organizations used this official declaration to pressure these governments to
pass laws and regulations that protect and promote human rights.
In South America, left-wing governments support the Hemispheric Social Alliance‟s

opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), while members of the Mesa
de Articulación de Asociaciones Nacionales y Redes de ONGs de América Latina y El Caribe
(Roundtable of National Associations and Networks and NGOs in Latin America and the
Caribbean) participate in “forums, summits, and dialogues with presidents and ministers.”
Likewise, a group called the Citizen Diplomacy Forum tries to influence the policies and
programs of the Organization of American States. In Southeast Asia, the organization of an
ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights was in part the result of non-government
organizations and civil society groups pushing to “prevent discrimination, uphold political
freedom, and promote democracy and human rights throughout the region."
Other regional organizations dedicate themselves to specialized causes. Activists across

Central and South America established the Rainforest Foundation to protect indigenous peoples
and the rainforests in Brazil, Guyana, Panama, and Peru. Young Christians across Asia, Africa,
the Middle East, the Americas, and the Caribbean formed Regional Interfaith Youth Networks to
promote “conflict prevention, resolution, peace education, and sustainable development.” The
Migrant Forum in Asia is another regional network of NGOs and trade unions “committed to
protecting and promoting the rights and welfare of migrant workers.”
These organizations‟ primary power lies in their moral standing and their ability to
combine lobbying with pressure politics. Unfortunately, most of them are poorly financed, which
places them at a disadvantage when dealing with their official counterparts who have large
state funds. Their impact in global politics is, therefore, limited.
New regionalism differs significantly from traditional state-to-state regionalism when it

comes to identifying problems. For example, states treat poverty or environmental degradation
as technical or economic issues that can be resolved by refining existing programs of state
agencies, making minor changes in economic policies, and creating new offices that address
these issues. However, new regionalism advocates such as the NGO Global Forum see these
issues as reflections of flawed economic development and environmental models. By “flawed,”
they mean economic development plans that are market-based, profit-driven, and hardly
concerned with social welfare, especially among the poor.
Another challenge for new regionalists is the discord that may emerge among them. For
example, disagreements surface over issues like gender and religion, with pro-choice NGOs
breaking from religious civil society groups that side with the Church, Muslim imams, or
governments opposed to reproductive rights and other pro-women policies. Moreover, while
civil society groups are able to dialogue with governments, the latter may not be welcoming to
this new trend and set up one obstacle after another. Migrant Forum Asia and its ally, the
Coordination of Action Research on AIDS (CARAM), lobbied ASEAN governments to defend
migrant labor rights. Their program of action, however, slowed down once countries like
Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand refused to recognize the rights of undocumented migrant
workers and the rights of the families of migrants.
Contemporary Challenges to Regionalism

Today, regionalism faces multiple challenges, the most serious of which is the
resurgence of militant nationalism and populism. The refusal to dismantle NATO after the
collapse of the Soviet Union, for example, has become the basis of the anti-NATO rhetoric of
Vladimir Putin in Russia. Now, even the relationship of the United States—the alliance‟s core
member—with NATO has become problematic after Donald Trump demonized the organization
as simply leeching off American military power without giving anything in return.
Perhaps the most crisis-ridden regional organization of today is the European Union. The
continuing financial crisis of the region is forcing countries like Greece to consider leaving the
Union to gain more flexibility in their economic policy. Anti-immigrant sentiment and a populist
campaign against Europe have already led to the United Kingdom voting to leave the European
Union in a move the media has termed the “Brexit.”
ASEAN members continue to

disagree over the extent to which
member countries should sacrifice
their sovereignty for the sake of
regional stability. The Association‟s
link with East Asia has also been
problematic. Recently, ASEAN
countries also disagreed over how to
relate to China, with the Philippines
unable to get the other countries to
support its condemnation of China‟s
occupation of the West Philippine
Sea. Cambodia and Laos led the
opposition favoring diplomacy over
The 10 member countries of the ASEAN confrontation, but the real reason was
the dramatic increase of Chinese
investments and economic aid to these countries. Moreover, when some formerly authoritarian
countries democratized, this “participatory regionalism” clashed with ASEAN‟s policy of non-
interference, as civil society groups in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand demanded that
the other countries democratized adopt a more open attitude towards foreign criticism.
A final challenge pertains to differing visions of what regionalism should be for. Western
governments may see regional organizations not simply as economic formations but also as
instruments of political democratization. Non-Western and developing societies, however, may
have a different view regarding globalization, development, and democracy. Singapore, China,
and Russia see democracy as an obstacle to the implementation and deepening of economic
globalization because constant public inquiry about economic projects and lengthy debate slow
down implementation or lead to unclear outcomes. Democracy‟s tedious procedures must,

therefore, give way to efficiency.
Conclusion
Official regional associations now cover vast swaths of the world. The population of the
countries that joined the Asia Pacific Economic Council (APEC) alone comprised 37 percent of
the world‟s population in 2007. These countries are also part of “smaller” organizations that
include the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the
North American Free Trade Agreement, the Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, and the
Union of South American Nations. Even “isolationist” North Korea is part of the Regional Forum,
which discusses security issues in the region.
In the same way the countries will find it difficult to reject all forms of global economic
integration, it will also be hard for them to turn their backs on their regions. Even if the UK
leaves the EU, it must continue to trade with its immediate neighbors and will, therefore, be
forced to implement many EU rules. None of this is to say that regional organizations will
remain unaltered. The history of regionalism shows that regional associations emerge as new
global concerns arise. The future of regionalism will be contingent on the immense changes in
global politics that will emerge in the 21st century.
IV. Learning Task
Direction: List down three changes in the Philippines brought by each of the following
countries.
Spain
1.
2.
3.
USA
1.
2.
3.
Japan
1.
2.
3.
V. Evaluation:
Direction: Answer the following questions.
1. Compare and contrast regionalization and globalization.
2. How regions are formed and kept together?
3. What are advantages and disadvantages of regionalism?
4. Give examples of regional organization and its member countries.

UNIT
2
A World of Ideas:
Cultures of
Globalization
This second unit focuses on how the globalization
structures discussed in Unit 1 affect various forms of life.
“Culture” is used here in the broadest possible sense,
referring to the daily practices of people. Thus, if the first
unit focused on a “large” form of globalization, this unit
will zero in on everyday globalizations in the realms of
religion, culture, and city life.
The major learning outcome of this unit is to explain

the role of global processes in everyday life.
LESSON
6
The Globalization of
Religion
1. Explained how globalization affects religious practices and beliefs;

2. identified the various religious responses to globalization; and
3. discussed the future of religion in a globalized world.
II. Subject Matter: The Globalization of Religion

2018, 50-58
b. Value Focus: Faith, respect of one‟s belief

Religion, much more than culture, has the most difficult relationship with globalism
(remember the distinction between “globalization” and “globalism” in Lesson 1). First, the
two are entirely contrasting belief systems. Religion is concerned with the sacred, while
globalism places value on material wealth. Religion follows divine commandments, while
globalism abides by human-made laws. Religion assumes that there is “the possibility of
communication between humans and the transcendent.” This link between the human and
the divine confers some social power on the latter. Furthermore, “God,” “Allah,” or “Yahweh”
defines and judges human action in moral terms (good vs. bad). Globalism‟s yardstick,
however, is how much of human action can lead to the highest material satisfaction and
subsequent wisdom that this new status produces.
Religious people are less concerned with wealth and all that comes along with it
(higher social status, a standard of living similar with that of the rest of the community.
exposure to “culture,” top-of-the-line education for the children). They are ascetics precisely
because they shun anything material for complete simplicity—from their domain to the
clothes they wear, to the food they eat, and even to the manner in which they talk (lots of
parables and allegories that are supposedly the language of the divine).
A religious person‟s main duty is to live a virtuous, sin-less life such that when he/she
dies, he/she is assured of a place in the other world (i.e., heaven).
The Globalization of Religion | 48
On the other hand, globalists are less worried about whether they will end up in
heaven or hell. Their skills are more pedestrian as they aim to seal trade deals, raise the
profits of private enterprises, improve government revenue collections, protect the elites
from being excessively taxed by the state, and, naturally, enrich themselves. If he/she has a
strong social conscience, the globalist sees his/her work as contributing to the general
progress of the community, the nation, and the global economic system. Put another way,
the religious aspires to become a saint; the globalist trains to be a shrewd businessperson.
The religious detests politics and the quest for power for they are evidence of humanity‟s
weakness; the globalist values them as both means and ends to open up further the
economies of the world.
Finally, religion and globalism clash over the fact that religious evangelization is in
itself a form of globalization. The globalist ideal, on the other hand, is largely focused on the
realm of markets. The religious is concerned with spreading holy ideas globally, while the
globalist wishes to spread goods and services.
The “missions” being sent by American Born-Again Christian churches, Sufi and Shiite
Muslim orders, as well as institutions like Buddhist monasteries and Catholic, Protestant, and
Mormon churches are efforts at “spreading the word of God” and gaining adherents abroad.
Religions regard identities associated with globalism (citizenship, language, and race) as
inferior and narrow because they are earthly categories. In contrast, membership to a
religious group, organization, or cult represents a superior affiliation that connects humans
directly to the divine and the supernatural. Being a Christian, a Muslim, or a Buddhist places
one in a higher plane than just being a Filipino, a Spanish speaker, or an Anglo-Saxon.
These philosophical differences explain why certain groups “flee” their communities
and create impenetrable sanctuaries where they can practice their religions without the
meddling and control of state authorities. The followers of the Dalai Lama established Tibet
for this purpose, and certain Buddhist monasteries are located away from civilization so that
hermits can devote themselves to prayer and contemplation. These isolationist justifications
are also used by the Rizalistas of Mount Banahaw, the Essenes during Roman-controlled
Judea (now Israel), and for a certain period, the Mormons of Utah. These groups believe that
living among “non-believers” will distract them from their mission or tempt them to abandon
their faith and become sinners like everyone else.
Communities justify their opposition to government authority on religious grounds.

Priestesses and monks led the first revolts against colonialism in Asia and Africa, warning
that these outsiders were out to destroy their people‟s gods and ways of life. Similar
arguments are being invoked by contemporary versions of these millenarian movements that
wish to break away from the hold of the state or vow to overthrow the latter in the name of
God. To their “prophets,” the state seeks to either destroy their people‟s sacred beliefs or
distort religion to serve non-religious goals.
Realities
In actuality, the relationship between religion and globalism is much more
complicated. Peter Berger argues that far from being secularized, the “contemporary world
is...furiously religious. In most of the world, there are veritable explosions of religious fervor,
occurring in one form of another in all the major religious traditions-Christianity, Judaism,
Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and even Confucianism (if one wants to call it a religion)-and in
many places in imaginative syntheses of one or more world religions with indigenous faiths.”
Religions are the foundations of modern republics. The Malaysian government places
religion at the center of the political system. Its constitution explicitly states that “Islam is the
religion of the Federation,” and the rulers of each state was also the “Head of the religion of
Islam.” The late Iranian religious leader, Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, bragged about the
superiority of Islamic rule over its secular counterparts and pointed out that “there is no
fundamental distinction among constitutional, despotic, dictatorial, democratic, and
communistic regimes?” To Khomeini, all secular ideologies were the same-they were flawed-
and Islamic rule was the superior form of government because it was spiritual. Yet, Iran calls
itself a republic, a term that is associated with the secular.
Iranian politician, revolutionary, and cleric Ayatollah Ruholla

Khomeini
Moreover, religious movements do not hesitate to appropriate secular themes and

practices. The moderate Muslim association Nahdlatul Ulama in Indonesia has Islamic
schools (pesantren) where students are taught not only about lslam but also about modern
science, the social sciences, modern banking, civic education, rights of women, pluralism,
and democracy. In other cases, religion was the result of a shift in state policy. The Church
of England, for example, was “shaped by the rationality of modern democratic (and
bureaucratic) culture.” King Henry VIII broke away from Roman Catholicism and established
his own Church to bolster his own power. In the United States, religion and law were fused
together to help build this “modern secular society.” It was observed in the early 18003 by
French historian and diplomat Alexis de Tocqueville who wrote, “not only do the Americans
practice their religion out of self-interest but they often even place in this world the interest
which they have in practicing it.” Jose Casanova confirms this statement by noting that
“historically, religion has always been at the very center of all great political conflicts and
movements of social reform. From independence to abolition, from nativism to women‟s
suffrage, from prohibition to the civil rights movement, religion had always been at the
center of these conflicts, but also on both sides of the political barricades.” It remains the
case until today with the power the Christian Right has on the Republican Party.
Religion for and against Globalization

There is hardly a religious movement today that does not use religion to oppose
“profane” globalization. Yet, two of the so-called “old world religions”—Christianity and
Islam—see globalization less as an obstacle and more as an opportunity to expand their
reach all over the world. Globalization has “freed” communities from the “constraints of the
nation-state,” but in the process, also threatened to destroy the cultural system that bind
them together. Religion seeks to take the place of these broken “traditional ties” to either
help communities cope with their new situation or organize them to oppose this major
transformation of their lives. It can provide the groups “moral codes” that answer problems
ranging from people‟s health to social conflict to even “personal happiness.” Religion is thus
not the “regressive force” that stops or slows down globalization; it is a “pro-active force”
that gives communities a new and powerful basis of identity. It is an instrument with which
religious people can put their mark in the reshaping of this globalizing world, although in its
own terms.
Religious fundamentalism may dislike globalization‟s materialism, but it continues to

use “the full range of modem means of communication and organization” that is associated
with this economic transformation.” It has tapped “fast long distance transport and
communications, the availability of English as a global vernacular of unparalleled power, the
know-how of modern management and marketing” which enabled the spread of “almost
promiscuous propagation of religious forms across the globe in all sorts of directions.” It is,
therefore, not entirely correct to assume that the proliferation of “Born-Again” groups, or in
the case of Islam, the rise of movements like Daesh (more popularly known as ISIS, or
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) signals religion‟s defense against the materialism of
globalization. It is, in fact, the opposite. These fundamentalist organizations are the result of
the spread of globalization and both find ways to benefit or take advantage of each other.
While religions may benefit from the processes of globalization, this does not mean
that its tensions with globalist ideology will subside. Some Muslims view “globalization” as a
Trojan horse hiding supporters of Western values like secularism, liberalism, or even
communism ready to spread these ideas in their areas to eventually displace Islam. The
World Council of Churches-an association of different Protestant congregations has criticized
economic globalization‟s negative effects. It vowed that “we as churches make ourselves
accountable to the victims of the project of economic globalization,” by becoming the latter‟s
advocates inside and outside “the centers of power.” The Catholic Church and its dynamic
leader, Pope Francis, likewise condemned globalization‟s “throw-away culture” that is “fatally
destined to suffocate hope and increase risks and threats.” The Lutheran World Federation
10th Assembly‟s 292-page declaration message included economic and feminist critiques of
globalization, sharing the voices of members of the Church who were affected by
globalization, and contemplations on the different “pastoral and ethical reflections” that
members could use to guide their opposition.“ It warns that as a result of globalization: “Our
world is split asunder by forces we often do not understand, but that result in stark contrasts
between those who benefit and those who are harmed, especially under forces of
globalization. Today, there is also a desperate need for healing from „terrorism,‟ its causes,
and fearful reactions to it. Relationships in this world continue to be ruptured due to greed,
injustices, and various forms of violence.”
These advocacies to reverse or mitigate economic globalization eventually gained the

attention of globalist institutions. In 1998, the World Bank brought in religious leaders in its
discussions about global poverty, leading eventually to a “cautious, muted, and qualified”
collaboration in 2000. Although it only yielded insignificant results (the World Bank agreed to
support some faith-based anti-poverty projects in Kenya and Ethiopia), it was evident
enough that institutional advocates of globalization could be responsive to the “liberationist,
moral critiques of economic globalization” (including many writings on “social justice”)
coming from the religious.
With the exception of militant Islam, religious forces are well aware that they are in
no position to fight for a comprehensive alternative to the globalizing status quo. What
Catholics call “the preferential option for the poor” is a powerful message of mobilization but
lacks substance when it comes to working out a replacement system that can change the
poor‟s condition in concrete ways. And, of course, the traditionalism of fundamentalist
political Islam is no alternative either. The terrorism of ISIS is unlikely to create a “Caliphate”
governed by justice and stability. In Iran, the unchallenged superiority of a religious
autocracy has stifled all freedom of expressions, distorted democratic rituals like elections,
and tainted the opposition.
Conclusion
For a phenomenon that “is about everything,” it is odd that globalization is seen to
have very little to do with religion. As Peter Bayer and Lori Beaman observed, “Religion, it
seems, is somehow „outside‟ looking at globalization as problem or potential.” One reason for
this perspective is the association of globalization with modernization, which is a concept of
progress that is based on science, technology, reason, and the law. With reason, one will
have “to look elsewhere than to moral discourse for fruitful thinking about economic
globalization and religion.” Religion, being a belief system that cannot be empirically proven
is, therefore, anathema to modernization. The thesis that modernization will erode religious
practice is often called secularization theory.
Historians, political scientists, and philosophers have now debunked much of

secularization theory. Samuel Huntington, one of the strongest defenders of globalization,
admits in his book, The Clash of Civilizations, that civilizations can be held together by
religious worldviews. This belief is hardly new. As far back as the 15th century, Jesuits and
Dominicans used religion as an “ideological armature” to legitimize the Spanish
empire.“ Finally, one of the greatest sociologists of all time, Max Weber, also observed the
correlation between religion and capitalism as an economic system. Calvinism, a branch of
Protestantism, believed that God had already decided who would and would not be saved.
Calvinists, therefore, made it their mission to search for clues as to their fate, and in their
pursuit, they redefined the meaning of profit and its acquisition. This “inner-worldly
asceticism”—as Weber referred to this Protestant ethic-contributed to the rise of modern
capitalism.
It was because of “moral” arguments that religious people were able to justify their
political involvement. When the Spaniards occupied lands in the Americas and the
Philippines, it was done in the name of the Spanish King and of God, “for empire comes from
God alone.” Then over 300 years later, American President William McKinley claimed “that
after a night of prayer and soul-searching, he had concluded that it was the duty of the
United States to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by
God‟s grace do the very best we could by them." Finally, as explained earlier, religious
leaders have used religion to wield influence in the political arena, either as outsiders
criticizing the pitfalls of pro-globalization regimes, or as integral members of coalitions who
play key roles in policy decision-makings and the implementation of government projects.
In short, despite their inflexible features-the warnings of perdition (“Hell is a real

place prepared by Allah for those who do not believe in Him, rebel against His laws, and
reject His messengers”), the promises of salvation (“But our citizenship is in Heaven”), and
their obligatory pilgrimages (the visits to Bethlehem or Mecca)—religions are actually quite
malleable. Their resilience has been extraordinary that they have outlasted secular ideologies
(e.g., communism). Globalists, therefore, have no choice but to accept this reality that
religion is here to stay.
IV. Learning Task
Learning Task No.: ________ Lesson Title: _____________________________________
Direction: Choose one religion (Ex. Buddhism, Christianity-Catholicism) then describe the
following.
1. History and important facts

2. Belief
V. Evaluation
Evaluation No.: ________ Lesson Title: _____________________________________
Direction: Answer the following.
1. Compare and contrast religion and globalism.
2. Explain how globalization affects religious practices and beliefs.
3. Identify the various religious practices to globalization.

LESSON
7
Media and
Globalization
1. Analyzed how various media drive different forms of global integration;

2. Compared the social Impacts of different media on the processes of
globalization;
3. Explained the dynamic between local and global cultural production; and
4. Defined responsible media consumption.
II. Subject Matter: Media and Globalization

2018, 1-12
b. Value Focus: Nationalism, global understanding, creativity

Globalization entails the spread of various cultures. When a film is made in Hollywood, it is
shown not only in the United States, but also in other cities across the globe. South Korean
rapper Psy‟s song “Gangnam Style” may have been about a wealthy suburb in Seoul, but its
listeners included millions who have never been or may never go to Gangnam. Some of them
may not even know what Gangnam is. Globalization also involves the spread of ideas. For
example, the notion of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)
communities is spreading across the world and becoming more widely accepted. Similarly, the
conservative Christian Church that opposes these rights moves from places like South America
to Korea and to Burundi in Africa.
People who travel the globe teaching and preaching their beliefs in universities, churches,
public forums, classrooms, or even LS guests of a family play a major role in the spread of
culture and ideas. But today, television programs, social media groups, books, movies,
magazines, and the like have made it easier for advocates to reach larger audiences.
Globalization relies on media as its main conduit for the spread of global culture and ideas. Jack
Lule was then right to ask, “Could global trade have evolved without a flow of information on
markets, prices, commodities, and more? Could empires have stretched across the world
Media and Globalization | 56
without communication throughout their borders? Could religion, music, poetry, film, fiction,
cuisine, and fashion develop as they have without the intermingling of media and cultures?”
There is an intimate relationship between globalization and media which must be unraveled
to further understand the contemporary world.
Media and Its Functions

Lule describes media as “a means of conveying something, such as a channel of
communication.” Technically speaking, a person‟s voice is a medium. However, when
commentators refer to “media” (the plural of medium), they mean the technologies of mass
communication. Print media include books, magazines, and newspapers. Broadcast media
involve radio, film, and television. Finally, digital media cover the internet and mobile mass
communication. Within the category of internet media, there are the e-mail, internet sites,
social media, and internet-based video and audio.
While it is relatively easy to define the term “media,” it is more difficult to determine
what media do and how they affect societies. Media theorist Marshall McLuhan once declared
that “the medium is the message.” He did not mean that ideas (“messages”) are useless and do
not affect people. Rather, his statement was an attempt to draw attention to how media, as a
form of technology, reshape societies. Thus, television is not a simple bearer of messages; it
also shapes the social behavior of users and reorients family behavior. Since it was introduced
in the 1960s, television has steered people from the dining table where they eat and tell stories
to each other, to the living room where they silently munch on their food while watching
primetime shows. Television has also drawn people away from other meaningful activities such
as playing games or reading books. Today, the smart phone allows users to keep in touch
instantly with multiple people at the same time. Consider the effect of the internet on
relationships. Prior to the cellphone, there was no way for couples to keep constantly in touch,
or to be updated on what the other does all the time. The technology (medium), and not the
message, makes for this social change possible.
McLuhan added that different media simultaneously extend and amputate human
senses. New media may expand the reach of communication, but they also dull the users‟
communicative capacities. Think about the medium of writing. Before people wrote things down
on parchment, exchanging stories was mainly done orally. To be able pass stories verbally from
one person to another, storytellers had to have retentive memories. However, papyrus started
becoming more common in Egypt after the fourth person‟s voice is a medium. However, when
commentators refer to “media” (the plural of medium), they mean the technologies of mass
communication. Print media include books, magazines, and newspapers. Broadcast media
involve radio, film, and television. Finally, digital media cover the internet and mobile mass
communication. Within the category of internet media, there are the e-mail, internet sites,
social media, and internet-based video and audio.
Something similar can be said about cellphones. On the one hand, they expand people‟s
senses because they provide the capability to talk to more people instantaneously and
simultaneously. On the other hand, they also limit the sense: because they make users easily
distractible and more prone to multitasking. This is not necessarily a bad thing; it is merely
change with a trade-off.
The question of what new media enhance and what they amputate was not a moral or
ethical one, according to McLuhan. New media are neither inherently good nor bad. The famous
writer was merely drawing attention to the historically and technologically specific attributes of
various media.
The Global Village and Cultural Imperialism

McLuhan used his analysis of technology to examine the impact of electronic media.
Since he was writing around the 1960s, he mainly analyzed the social changes brought about
by television. McLuhan declared that television was turning the world into a “global village.” By
this, he meant that, as more and more people sat down in front of their television sets and
listened to the same stories, their perception of the world would contract. If tribal villages once
sat in front of fires to listen to collective stories, the members of the new global village would sit
in front of bright boxes in their living rooms.
In the years after McLuhan, media scholars further grappled with the challenges of a
global media culture. A lot of these early thinkers assumed that global media had a tendency to
homogenize culture. They argued that as global media spread, people from all

If cultural globalization merely entails the spread of a Western
monoculture, what explains the prevalence of regional cultural trends? For
example, the regionalization of culture was a boon to Filipino telenovelas. From
2000 to 2002, ABS-CBN aired Pangako 50 'Yo starring Jericho Rosales and
Kristine Hermosa. The show soon became a hit in Singapore and Malaysia, and
its two stars became household names. In 2013, Cambodian TV even purchased
the rights to produce its own version of the show. Until now, Filipino telenovelas
like Be Careful with My Heart find audiences across Southeast Asia.
over the world would begin to watch, listen to, and read the same things. This thinking arose at
a time when America‟s power had turned it into the world„s cultural heavyweight.
Commentators, therefore, believed that media globalization coupled with American hegemony
would create a form of cultural imperialism whereby American values and culture would
overwhelm all others. In 1976, media critic Herbert Schiller argued that not only was the world
being Americanized, but that this process also led to the spread of “American” capitalist values
like consumerism." Similarly, for John Tomlinson, cultural globalization is simply a euphemism
for “Western cultural imperialism" since it promotes “homogenized, Westernized, consumer
culture."
These scholars who decry cultural imperialism, however, haw a top-down view of the
media since they are more concerned with the broad structures that determine media content.
Moreover, their focus on America has led them to neglect other global flows of information that
the media can enable. This medial cultural imperialism theory has. therefore. been subject to
significant critique.
Critiques of Cultural Imperialism

Proponents of the idea of cultural Imperialism Ignored the fact that media messages are
not just made by producers, they are also consumed by audiences. In the 1980,. media
scholars began to pay attention to the ways In which audiences understood and interpreted
media messages. The field of audience emphasizes that media consumers are active
participants in the meaning-making process who view media “texst.” (In media studies, a “text”
simply refers to the content of any medium) through their own cultural lenses. In 1985,
Indonesian cultural critic Ien Ang studied the ways in which different viewers in the Netherlands
experienced watching the American soap opera Dallas. Through letters from 42 viewers, he
presented a detailed analysis of audience-viewing experiences. Rather than simply receiving
American culture in a “passive and resigned way,” she noted that viewers put “a lot of
emotional energy” into the process and they experienced pleasure based on how the program
resonated with them.”
In 1990, Elihu Katz and Tamar Liebes decided to push Ang's analysis further by
examining how viewers from distinct cultural communities interpreted Dallas. They argued that
texts are received differently by varied interpretive communities because they derived different
meanings and pleasures from these texts.” Thus, people from diverse cultural backgrounds had
their own ways of understanding the show. Russians were suspicious of the show‟s content,
believing not only that it was primarily about America, but that it contained American
propaganda. American viewers believed that the show, though set in America, was primarily
about the lives of the rich.
Apart from the challenge of

audience studies, the cultural
imperialism thesis has been belied
by the renewed strength of regional
trends in the globalization process.
Asian culture, for example, has
proliferated worldwide through the
globalization of media. Japanese
brands—from Hello Kitty to the
Marlo Brothen to Pokémon—are now
an indelible part of global popular
culture. The same can be said for
Korean pop (K-pop) and Korean
telenovelas, which are widely
successful regionally and globally.
The observation even applies to
culinary tastes. The most obvious
case of globalized Asian cuisine is
sushi. And while it is true that
McDonald‟s has continued to spread
across Asia, it is also the case that
Asian brands have provided stiff
competition. The Philippines‟ Jollibee
claims to be the number one choice
K-Pop and Korean telenovelas are proofs of South Korea‟s influence over
global culture
for fast food in Brunei.
Given these patterns, it is no longer tenable to insist that globalization is a unidirectional

process of foreign cultures overwhelming local ones. Globalization, as noted in Lesson 1, will
remain an uneven process, and it will produce inequalities. Nevertheless, it leaves room for
dynamism and cultural change. This is not a contradiction; it is merely a testament to the
phenomenon‟s complexity.
Social Media and the Creation of Cyber Ghettoes

By now, very few media scholars argue that the world is becoming culturally
homogenous. Apart from the nature of diverse audiences and regional trends in cultural
production, the internet and social media are proving that the globalization of culture and ideas
can move in different directions. While Western culture remains powerful and media production
is still controlled by a handful of powerful Western corporations, the internet, particularly the
social media, is challenging previous ideas about media and globalization.
As with all new media, social media have both beneficial and negative effects. On the
one hand, these forms of communication have democratized access. Anyone with an internet
connection or smart phone can use Facebook and Twitter for free. These media have enabled
users to be consumers and producers of information simultaneously. The democratic potential
of social media was most evident in 2011 during the wave of uprisings known as the Arab
spring. Without access to traditional broadcast media like TV activists opposing authoritarian
regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya used Twitter to organize and to disseminate information.
Their efforts toppled their respective governments. More recently, the “women‟s march” against
newly installed US President Donald Trump began with a tweet from a Hawaii lawyer and
became a national, even global, movement.
However, social media also have their dark side. In the early 20005, commentators
began referring to the emergence of a “splinternet” and the phenomenon of
“cyberbalkanization” to refer to the various bubbles people place themselves in when they are
online. In the United States, voters of the Democratic Party largely read liberal websites, and
voters of the Republican Party largely read conservative websites. This segmentation, notes an
article in the journal Science, has been exacerbated by the nature of social media feeds, which
leads users to read articles, memes, and videos shared by like-minded friends." As such, being
on Facebook can resemble living in an echo chamber, which reinforces one‟s existing beliefs
and opinions. This echo chamber precludes users from listening to or reading opinions and
information that challenge their viewpoints, thus, making them more partisan and closed-
minded.
This segmentation has been used by people in power who are aware that the social
media bubbles can produce a herd mentality. It can be exploited by politicians with less than
democratic intentions and demagogues wanting to whip up popular anger. The same
inexpensiveness that allows social media to be a democratic force likewise makes it a cheap tool
of government propaganda. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has hired armies of social media
“trolls” (paid users who harass political opponents) to manipulate public opinion through
intimidation and the spreading of fake news. Most recently, American intelligence agencies
established that Putin used trolls and online misinformation to help Donald Trump win the
presidency—a tactic the Russian autocrat is likely to repeat in European elections he seeks to
influence.
In places across the world, Putin imitators replicate his strategy of online trolling and
disinformation to clamp down on dissent and delegitimize critical media. Critics of the
increasingly dictatorial regime of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are threatened by
online mobs of pro-government trolls who hack accounts and threaten violence. Some of their
responses have included threats of sexual violence against women.
As the preceding cases show, fake information can spread easily on social media since
they have few content filters. Unlike newspapers, Facebook does not have a team of editors
who are trained to sift through and filter information. If a news article, even a fake one, gets a
lot of shares, it will reach many people with Facebook accounts.
This dark side of social media shows that even a seemingly open and democratic media
may be co-opted towards undemocratic means. Global online propaganda will be the biggest
threat to face as the globalization of media deepens. Internet media have made the world so
interconnected that a Russian dictator can, for example, influence American elections on the
cheap.
As consumers of media, we must remain vigilant and turn how to distinguish fact from
falsehood in a global media that allows politicians to peddle what President Trump‟s senior
advisers now call "alternative facts.” Though people must remain critical of mainstream media
and traditional journalism that may also operate based on vested interest, we must elm Insist
that some sources are more credible than others. A newspaper story that is written by a
professional journalist and vetted by professional editors is still likely to be more credible than a
viral video produced by someone in his/her bedroom, even if both will have their biases. People
must be able to tell the difference.
Conclusion
This lesson showed that different media have diverse effects on globalization processes.
At one point, it seemed that global television was creating a global monoculture. Now. it seems
more likely that social media will splinter cultures and ideas into bubbles of people who do not
interact. Societies can never be completely prepared for the rapid changes in the systems of
communication. Every technological change, after all, creates multiple unintended
consequences. Consumers and users of media will have a hard time turning back the clock.
Though people may individually try to keep out of Facebook or Twitter, for example, these
media will continue to engender social changes. Instead of fearing these changes or entering a
state of moral panic, everyone must collectively discover ways of dealing with them responsibly
and ethically.
IV. Learning Task
Direction: Pick one (1) Asian musical artist or group that became internationally famous
(Ex. Psy, BTS, BLACKPINK, Red Velvet, EXO, etc.) and answer the following questions.
1. Where did the musical artist originate?
2. In which countries did the artist become famous?
3. How did the artist become famous?
4. Why do you think the artist became famous?

V. Evaluation
Direction: Write an essay of not less than 150 words on how mass media influenced
globalization or global integration.
LESSON
8 The Global City
1. explained why globalization Is a spatial phenomenon;

2. identified the attributes of a global city; and
3. analyzed how cites serve as engines of globalization.
II. Subject Matter: The Global City

p. 83-93
b. Value Focus: Creativity, patience, brotherhood, harmony

If you had the chance, would you move to New York? Tokyo? How about Sydney? Chances
are many of you would like to move to these major cities. And if not, you would probably like to
visit them anyway. Some of you might have already traveled to these cities as tourists or
temporary residents. Or maybe you have heard stories about them. You may have relatives
living there who have described buzzing metropolises, with forests of skyscrapers and train lines
that zigzag on top of each other. You may likewise have an idea of what these cities look like
based on what you have seen in movies or TV. Do you remember when downtown Manhattan
in New York was destroyed in a confrontation between the Avengers (Iron Man, Thor, Captain
America, the Hulk, etc.) and aliens?
Not all people have been to global cities, but most know about them. Their influence
extends even to one‟s imagination. What are these places? Why are they important? And how
are they relevant to you?
Why Study Global Cities?

So far, much of the analysis of globalization in the previous lessons has looked at how
ideas of internationalism shaped modern world politics. We also examined cultural movements
like K-pop and how they spread through media like the internet. What this lesson will
emphasize, However, is that globalization is spatial. This statement means two things.
The Global City | 64
First, globalization is spatial because it occurs in physical spaces. You can see it when
foreign investments and capital move through a city, and when companies build skyscrapers.
People who are working in these businesses—or Filipinos working abroad—start to purchase or
rent high-rise condominium units and better homes. As all these events happen, more poor
people are driven out of city centers to make way for the new developments.
Second, globalization is spatial because what makes it move is the fact that it is based in
places. Los Angeles, the home of Hollywood, is where movies are made for global consumption.
The main headquarters of Sony is in Tokyo, and from there, the company coordinates the sale
of its various electronics goods to branches across the world. In other words, cities act on
globalization and globalization acts on cities. They are the sites as well as the mediums of
globalization. Just as the internet enables and shapes global forces, so too do cities.
Many movie studios such as Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. are founded
in Los Angeles
In the years to come, more and more people will experience globalization through cities.
In 1950, only 30 percent of the world lived in urban areas. By 2014, that number increased to
54 percent. And by 2050, it is expected to reach 66 percent. This lesson studies globalization
through the living environment of a rapidly increasing number of people.
Defining the Global City

Sociologist Saskia Sassen popularized the term
“global city” in the 1990s. Her criteria for what
constitutes a global city were primarily economic. In
her work, she initially identified three global cities:
New York, London, and Tokyo, all of which are hubs
of global finance and capitalism. They are the
homes, for instance, of the world's top stock
exchanges where investors buy and sell shares in
major corporations. New York has the New York
Stock Exchange (NYSE), London has the Financial
Times Stock Exchange (FTSE), and Tokyo has the
Nikkei. The amount of money traded in these
Saskia Sassen is a Dutch-American
markets is staggering. The value of shares traded in the sociologist noted for her analyses of
NYSE, for example, is $19,300 billion, while that of the globalization and international
human migration.
shares in the Philippine Stock Exchange is only $231.3 billion.
Limiting the discussion of global cities to these three metropolises, however, is proving
more and more restrictive. The global economy has changed significantly since Sassen wrote
her book, and any account of the economic power of cities today must take note of the latest
developments. Recent commentators have expanded the criteria that Sassen used to determine
what constitutes a global city. Though it is not as wealthy as New York, movie-making mecca
Los Angeles can now rival the Big Apple‟s cultural influence. San Francisco must now factor in
as another global city because it is the home of the most powerful internet companies-
Facebook, Twitter, and Google. Finally, the growth of the Chinese economy has turned cities
like Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou into centers of trade and finance. The Chinese
government reopened the Shanghai Stock Exchange in late 1990, and since then, it has grown
to become the fifth largest stock market in the world.
Others consider some cities “global” simply because they are great places to live in. In
Australia, Sydney commands the greatest proportion of capital. However, Melbourne is
described as Sydney‟s rival “global city” because many magazines and lists have now referred to
it as the world‟s “most livable city”—a place with good public transportation, a thriving cultural
scene, and a relatively easy pace of life.
Defining a global city can thus be difficult. One way of solving this dilemma is to go
beyond the simple dichotomy of global and non-global. Instead of asking whether or not one
city is a global city (a yes or no question), it is better to ask: In what ways are cities global and
to what extent are they global?
Indicators for Globality

So what are the multiple attributes of the global city? The foremost characteristic is
economic power. Sassen remains correct in saying that economic power largely determines
which cities are global. New York may have the largest stock market in the world but Tokyo
houses the most number of corporate headquarters (613 company headquarters as against 217
in New York, its closest competitor). Shanghai may have a smaller stock market compared to
New York and Tokyo, but plays a critical role in the global economic supply chain ever since
China has become the manufacturing center of the world. Shanghai has the world‟s busiest
container port, moving over 33 million container units in 2013.
Economic opportunities in a global city make it attractive to talents from across the
world. Since the 1970s, many of the top IT programmers and engineers from Asia have moved
to the San Francisco Bay Area to become some of the key figures in Silicon Valley‟s technology
boom. London remains a preferred destination for many Filipinos with nursing degrees.
To measure the economic competitiveness

of a city, The Economist Intelligence Unit has
added other criteria like market size, purchasing
power of citizens, size of the middle class, and
potential for growth. Based on these criteria, “tiny”
Singapore is considered Asia‟s most competitive
city because of its strong market, efficient and
incorruptible government, and livability. It also
Washington DC
houses the regional offices of many major global corporations.
Global cities are also centers of authority. Washington DC may not be as wealthy as
New York, but it is the seat of American state power. People around the world know its major
landmarks: the White House, the Capitol Building (Congress), the Supreme Court, the Lincoln
Memorial, and the Washington Monument. Similarly, compared with Sydney and Melbourne,
Canberra is a sleepy town and thus is not as attractive to tourists. But as Australia‟s political
capital, it is home to the country‟s top politicians, bureaucrats, and policy advisors.
The cities that house major international organizations may also be considered centers
of political influence. The headquarters of the United Nations is in New York, and that of the
European Union is in Brussels. An influential political city near the Philippines is Jakarta, which is
not just the capital of Indonesia, but also the location of the main headquarters of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Powerful political hubs exert influence on their
own countries as well as on international affairs. The European Central Bank, which oversees
the Euro (the European Union‟s currency), is based in Frankfurt. A decision made in that city
can, therefore, affect the political economy of an entire continent and beyond.
Finally, global cities are centers of higher learning and culture. A city‟s intellectual
influence is seen through the influence of its publishing industry. Many of the books that people
read are published in places like New York, London, or Paris. The New York Times carries the
name of New York City, but it is far from being a local newspaper. People read it not just across
America, but also all over the world. One of the reasons for the many tourists visiting Boston is
because they want to see Harvard University-the world‟s top university. Many Asian teenagers
are moving to cities in Australia because of the leading English-language universities there.
Education is currently Australia‟s third largest export, just behind coal and iron ore, and
significantly ahead of tourism. In 2015, the Australian government reported that it made as
much as 19.2 billion Australian dollars (roughly 14 billion US dollars) from education alone.
We have already explained why Los Angeles, the center of the American film industry,
may be considered a global city. A less obvious example, however, is Copenhagen, the capital
of Denmark. It is so small that one can tour the entire city by bicycle in thirty minutes. It is not
the home of a major stock market, and its population is rather homogenous. However,
Copenhagen is now considered one of the culinary capitals of the world, with its top restaurants
incommensurate with its size. As the birthplace of “New Nordic” cuisine, Copenhagen has set
into motion various culinary trends like foraging the forests for local ingredients. Similarly,
Manchester, England in the 1980s was a dreary, industrial city. But many prominent post-punk
and New Wave bands—Joy Division, the Smiths, the Happy Mondays—hailed from this city,
making it a global household name. In Southeast Asia, Singapore (again) is slowly becoming a
cultural hub for the region. It now houses some of the region‟s top television stations and news
organizations (MTV Southeast Asia and Channel News Asia). Its various art galleries and
cinemas also show paintings from artists and filmmakers, respectively, from the Philippines and
Thailand. It is, in fact, sometimes easier to watch the movie of a Filipino indie filmmaker in
Singapore than it is in Manila!
It is the cultural power of global cities that ties them to the imagination. Think about
how many songs have been written about New York (Jay Z and Alicia Keys‟s “Empire State of
Mind,” Frank Sinatra's “New York, New York,” and numerous songs by Simon and Garfunkel)
and how these references conjure up images of a place where anything is possible—“a concrete
jungle where dreams are made of,” according to Alicia Keys.
Today, global cities become culturally diverse. In a global city, one can try cuisines from
different parts of the world. Because of their large Turkish populations, for example, Berlin and
Tokyo offer some of the best Turkish food one can find outside of Turkey. Manila is not very
global because of the dearth of foreign residents (despite the massive domestic migration), but
Singapore is, because it has a foreign population of 38%.
The Challenges of Global Cities

Global cities conjure up images of fast-paced, exciting, cosmopolitan lifestyles. But such
descriptions are lacking. Global cities also have their undersides. They can be sites of great
inequality and poverty as well as tremendous violence. Like the broader processes of
globalization, global cities create winners and losers. In this section, we list some “pathologies"
of the global city, based on the research of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
Cities can be sustainable because of their density. As Richard Florida notes: “Ecologists
have found that by concentrating their populations in smaller areas, cities and metros decrease
human encroachment on natural habitats. Denser settlement patterns yield energy savings;
apartment buildings, for example, are more efficient to heat and cool than detached suburban
houses.” Moreover, in cities with extensive public transportation systems, people tend to drive
less and thereby cut carbon emissions. It is no surprise to learn that, largely because of the
city‟s extensive train system, New Yorkers have the lowest per capita carbon footprint in the
United States) In Asia, dense global cities like Singapore and Tokyo also have relatively low per
capita carbon footprints.
Not all cities, however, are as dense as New York or Tokyo. Some cities like Los Angeles
are urban sprawls, with massive freeways that force residents to spend money on cars and gas.
And while cities like Manila, Bangkok, and Mumbai are dense, their lack of public transportation
and their governments‟ inability to regulate their car industries have made them extremely
polluted.
More importantly, because of the sheer size of city populations across the world, it is not
surprising that urban areas consume most of the world‟s energy. Cities only cover 2 percent of
the world‟s landmass, but they consume 78 percent of global energy. Therefore, if carbon
emissions must be cut to prevent global warming, this massive energy consumption in cities
must be curbed. This action will require a lot of creativity. For example, many food products
travel many miles before they get to major city centers. Shipping this food through trains,
buses, and even planes increases carbon emissions. Will it be possible to grow more food in
cities instead? Solutions like so-called “vertical farms” built in abandoned buildings (as is
increasingly being done in New York) may lead the way towards more environmentally
sustainable cities. If more food can be grown with less water in denser spaces, cities will begin
to be greener.
The major terror attacks of recent years have also targeted cities. Cities, especially those
with global influence, are obvious targets for terrorists due to their high population and their
role as symbols of globalization that many terrorists despise. The same attributes that make
them attractive to workers and migrants make them sites of potential terrorist violence. Only by
looking from this perspective will we be able to understand the 9/11 attack that at brought
down the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, and the November 2015
coordinated attacks in Paris by zealots of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL.). Now
that real estate magnate Donald Trump is the president of the United States, security experts
believe that properties around the world that carry his name may be targets of terror attacks.
There are Trump Towers, for example, in places like Istanbul and Manila.
The Global City and the Poor

We have consistently noted that economic globalization has paved the way for massive
inequality. This phenomenon is thus very pronounced in cities. Some large cities, particularly
those in Scandinavia, have found ways to mitigate inequality through state-led social
redistribution programs. Yet many cities, particularly those in the developing countries, are sites
of contradiction. In places like Mumbai, Jakarta, and Manila, it is common to find gleaming
buildings alongside massive shantytowns. This duality may even be seen in rich, urban cities.
Slums of Manila
In the outskirts of New York and San Francisco are poor urban enclaves occupied by
African-Americans and immigrant families who are often denied opportunities at a better life.
Slowly, they are being forced to move farther away from the economic centers of their cities. As
a city attracts more capital and richer residents, real estate prices go up and poor residents are
forced to relocate to far away but cheaper areas. This phenomenon of driving out the poor in
favor of newer, wealthier residents is called gentrification.
In Australian cities, poor aboriginal Australians have been most acutely affected by this
process. Once living in public urban housing, they were forced to move farther away from city
centers that offer more jobs, more government services, and better transportation due to
gentrification. In France, poor Muslim migrants are forced out of Paris and have clustered
around ethnic enclaves known as banlieue.
In most of the world‟s global cities, the middle class is also thinning out. Globalization
creates high-income jobs that are concentrated in global cities. These high earners, in turn,
generate demand for an unskilled labor force (hotel cleaners, nannies, maids, waitresses, etc.)
that will attend to their increasing needs. Meanwhile, many middle-income jobs in
manufacturing and business process outsourcing (call centers, for example) are moving to other
countries. This hollowing out of the middle class in global cities has heightened the inequality
within them. In places like New York, there are high-rolling American investment bankers
whose children are raised by Filipina maids. A large global city may thus be a paradise for
some, but a purgatory for others.
Conclusion
Global cities, as noted in the lesson, are sites and mediums of globalization. They are,
therefore, material representations of the phenomenon. Through them, we see the best of
globalization; they are places that create exciting fusions of culture and ideas. They are also
places that generate tremendous wealth. However, they remain sites of great inequality, where
global servants serve global entrepreneurs. The question of how globalization can be made
more just is partly a question of how people make their cities more just.
IV. Learning Task
Direction: Search for a film or documentary about New York, Tokyo, and London then
answer the following guide questions.
Guide Questions
1. What makes a city a “global city?”
2. List down your observations of the characteristics of the cities.
New York London London
3. What are their kind of homes, buildings and other related things in the cities?
4. What kind of people did you noticed (dress, occupation, entertainment)?
5. What are the similarities of these three cities? (3 items)

V. Evaluation
Direction: Identification. Write the answer on the space provided
_________1. Who popularized the word “global city”?
_________2. What are the foremost characteristics of global city?
_________3. What state is the seat of US state power?
_________4-6. What are the indicators of Globality?
_________7. What paved the way for massive inequality in global cities?
_________8-10. What are the indicators of globality?

UNIT
3
Movement and
Sustainability
This final unit will discuss various impacts of
globalization on human populations and the environment.
At its core, it will go back to one of the basic questions of
social sciences: How do people interact with their
surroundings? These interactions, as you will see, are
increasingly being molded by the globalization processes
discussed in the previous lessons.
The major learning outcome of this unit is to explain

the interconnections among the population, migration,
and environmental sustainability.
LESSON
9 Global Demography
I. Learning Outcomes/Objectives:
1. Discussed the relationship between population and economic welfare;

2. identified the effects of aging and overpopulation; and
3. differentiated between contrasting positions over reproductive health.
II. Subject Matter: Global Demography

p. 96-107
b. Value Focus: Industry, self-preservation, harmony, open -mindedness

When couples are asked why they have children, their answers are almost always about
their feelings. For most, having a child is the symbol of a successful union. It also ensures that
the family will have a successor generation that will continue its name. The kinship is preserved,
and the family‟s story continues. A few, however, worry how much strain a child can bring to
the household as he/she “competes” for the parents‟ attention, and, in reverse, how much
energy the family needs to shower its love to an additional member. Viewed from above,
however, having or not having children is mainly driven by economics. Behind the laughter or
the tears lies the question: Will the child be an economic asset or a burden to the family?
Rural communities often welcome an extra hand to help in crop cultivation, particularly
during the planting and harvesting seasons. The poorer districts of urban centers also tend to
have families with more children because the success of their “small family business” depends
on how many of their members can be hawking their wares on the streets. Hence, the more
children, the better it will be for the the farm or the small by-the-street corner enterprises.
Urbanized, educated, and professional families with two incomes, however, desire just one
or two progenies. With each Partner tied down, or committed to his/her respective professions,
neither has the time to devote to having a kid, much more to parenting. These families also
have their sights on long-term savings plans. They set aside significant parts of their incomes
for their retirement, health care, and the future education of their child/children.
Global Demography | 74
Rural families view multiple children and large kinship networks as critical investments.
Children, for example, can take over the agricultural work. Their houses can also become the
“retirement homes” of their parents, who will then proceed to take care of their grandchildren.
Urban families, however, may not have the same kinship network anymore because couples live
on their own, or because they move out of the farmlands. Thus, it is usually the basic family
unit that is left to deal with life‟s challenges on its own.
These differing versions of family life determine the economic and social policies that
countries craft regarding their respective populations. Countries in the “less developed regions
of the world” that rely on agriculture tend to maintain high levels of population growth. The
1980 United Nations report on urban and rural population growth states that “[t]hese areas
contained 85 percent of the world rural population in 1975 and are projected to contain 90
percent by the end of the [20th] century.”
Since then, global agricultural population has declined. In 2011, it accounted for over 37
percent of the total world population, compared to the statistics in 1980 in which rural and
urban population percentages were more or less the same. The blog site “Nourishing the
Planet,” however, noted that even as “the agricultural population shrunk as a share of total
population between 1980 and 2011, it grew numerically from 2.2 billion to 2.6 billion people
during this period.”
Urban populations have grown, but not necessarily because families are having more
children. It is rather the combination of the natural outcome of significant migration to the cities
by people seeking work in the “more modern” sectors of society. This movement of people is
especially manifest in the developing countries where industries and businesses in the cities are
attracting people from the rural areas.108 This trend has been noticeable since the 19503, with
the pace accelerating in the next half-a-century. By the start of the let century, the world had
become “44 percent urban, while the corresponding Figures for developed countries are 52
percent to 75 percent.”
International migration also plays a part. Today, 191 million people live in countries
other than their own, and the United Nations projects that over 2.2 million will move from the
developing world to the First World countries (more on this in Lesson 11).Countries welcome
immigrants as they offset the debilitating effects of an aging population, but they are also
perceived as threats to the job market because they compete against citizens for jobs and often
have the edge because they are open to receiving lower wages. Voters‟ pressure has often
constrained their governments to institute stricter immigration policies.
The “Perils” of Overpopulation

Development planners see urbanization and industrialization as indicators of a
developing society, but disagree on the role of population growth or decline in modernization.
This lengthy discussion brings back ideas of British scholar Thomas Malthus who warned in his
1798 “An Essay on the Principle of Population” that population growth will inevitably exhaust
world food supply by the middle of the 19th century.” Malthus‟ prediction was off base, but it
was revived in the late 1960s when American biologist Paul R. Ehrlich and his wife, Anne, wrote
The Population Bomb, which argued that overpopulation in the 1970s and the 1980s will bring
about global environmental disasters that would, in turn, lead to food shortage and mass
starvation. They proposed that countries like the United States take the lead in the promotion of
global population control in order to reduce the growth rate to zero. Their recommendations
ranged from the bizarre (chemical castration) to the

policy-oriented (taxing an additional Child and luxury
taxes on child-related products) to monetary incentives
(paying off men who would agree to be sterilized after
two children) to institution-building (a powerful
Department of Population and Environment).
There was some reason for this fear to persist.

The rate of global population increase was at its highest
between 1955 and 1975 when nations were finally able
to return to normalcy after the devastations wrought by
World War II. The growth rate rose from 1.8 percent per
year from 1955 to 1975, peaking at 2.06 percent annual
growth rate between 1965 and 1970.
By limiting the population, vital resources could

be used for economic progress and not be “diverted”
and “wasted” to feeding more mouths. This argument became the basis for government
population control programs worldwide. In the mid-20th century, the Philippines, China, and
India sought to lower birth rates on the belief that unless controlled, the free expansion of
family members would lead to a crisis in resources, which in turn may result in widespread
poverty, mass hunger, and political instability. As early as 1958, the American policy journal,
Foreign Affairs, had already advocated “contraception and sterilization” as the practical
solutions to global economic, social, and political problems. While there have been criticisms
that challenged this argument (see the next section), it persists even to this very day. In May
2009, a group of American billionaires warned of how a “nightmarish” explosion of people was
“a potentially disastrous environmental, social, and industrial threat” to the world.'
This worry is likewise at the core of the economist argument for the promotion of
reproductive health. Advocates of population control contend for universal access to
reproductive technologies (such as condoms, the pill, abortion, and vasectomy) and, more
importantly, giving women the right to choose whether to have children or not)” They see these
tools as crucial to their nation‟s development. Thus, in Puerto Rico, reproductive health
supporters regard their work as the task of transforming their “poor country” into a “modern
nation.”
Finally, politics determine these “birth control” programs. Developed countries justify
their support for population control in developing countries by depicting the latter as
conservative societies. For instance, population experts blamed the “irresponsible fecundity” of
Egyptians for that nation‟s run-on population growth, and the Iranian peasant‟s “natural”
libidinal tendencies for the same rise in population. From 1920 onwards, the Indian government
“marked lower castes, working poor, and Muslims as hypersexual and hyper-fecund and hence
a drain on national resources.” These policy formulations lead to extreme policies like the forced
sterilization of twenty million “violators” of the Chinese government‟s one-child policy. Vietnam
and Mexico also conducted coercive mass sterilization.
It’s the Economy, Not the Babies!

The use of population control to prevent economic am; has its critics. For example,
Betsy Hartmann disagrees with the advocates of neo-Malthusian theory and accused
governments of using population control as a “substitute for social justice and much-needed
reforms—such land distribution, employment creation, provision of mass education and health
care, and emancipation.” Others pointed out that the population did grow fast in many
countries in the 1960s, and this growth “aided economic development by spurring technological
and institutional innovation and increasing the supply of human ingenuity.” They acknowledged
the shift in population from the rural to the urban areas (52 percent to 75 percent in the
developing world since the 1950s). They likewise noted that while these “megacities” are now
clusters in which income disparities along with “transportation, housing, air pollution and, waste
management” are major problems, they also have become, and continue to be, “centers of
economic growth and activity.”
The median of 29.4 years for females and 30.9 for males in the cities means a young
working population. With this median age, states are assured that they have a robust military
force. According to two population experts:
“As a country‟s baby-boom generation gets older, for a time it constitutes a large
cohort group of working-age individuals and, later a large cohort of elderly people...ln all
circumstances, there are reasons to think that this very dynamic age structure will have
economic consequences. A historically high proportion of working-age individuals in a
population means that, potentially, there are more workers per dependent than
previously. Production can therefore increase relative to consumption, and GDP capita
can receive a boost.”
The productive capacities of this generation are especially high in regions like East Asia
as “Asia‟s remarkable growth in the past half century coincided closely with demographic
change in the region. As infant mortality fell from 181 to 34 per 1,000 births between 1950 and
2000, fertility fell from six to two children per woman. The lag between falls in mortality and
fertility created a baby-boom generation: between 1965 and 1990, the region‟s working-age
population grew nearly four times faster than the dependent population. Several studies have
estimated that this demographic shift was responsible for one-third of East Asia‟s economic
growth during the period (a welcome demographic dividend).”
Population growth has, in fact, spurred “technological and institutional innovation” and
increased “the supply of human ingenuity.” Advances in agricultural production have shown that
the Malthusian nightmare can be prevented. The “Green Revolution” created high-yielding
varieties of rice and other cereals and, along with the development of new methods of
cultivation, increased yields globally, but more particularly in the developing world. The global
famine that neo-Malthusians predicted did not happen. Instead, between 1950 and 1984, global
grain production increased by over 250 percent, allowing agriculture to keep pace with
population growth, thereby keeping global famine under control.
Lately, a middle ground emerged between these two extremes. Scholars and
policymakers agree with the neo-Malthusians but suggest that if governments pursue
population control programs, they must include “more inclusive growth” and “greener economic
growth.”
Women and Reproductive Rights

The character in the middle of these debates—women—is often the subject of these
population measures. Reproductive rights supporters argue that if population control and
economic development were to reach their goals, women must have control over whether they
will have children or not and when they will have their progenies, if any. By giving women this
power, they will be able to pursue their vocations-be they economic, social. or political-and
contribute to economic growth.
This serial correlation between fertility, family, and fortune has motivated countries with
growing economies to introduce or strengthen their reproductive health laws, including
abortion. High-income First World nations and fast-developing countries were able to sustain
growth in part because women were given the power of choice and easy access to reproductive
technologies. In North America and Europe, 73 percent of governments allow abortion upon a
mother‟s request. Moreover, the more educated a woman is, the better are her prospects of
improving her economic position. Women can spend most of the time pursuing either their
higher education or their careers, instead of forcibly reducing this time to take care of their
children.
Most countries implement reproductive health laws because they worry about the health
of the mother. In 1960, Bolivia‟s average total fertility rate (TFR) was 6.7 children. In 1978, the
Bolivian government put into effect a family planning program that included the legalization of
abortion (after noticing a spike in unsafe abortion and maternal deaths). By 1985, the TFR rate
went down to 5.13 and further declined to 3.46 in 2008. A similar pattern occurred in Ghana
after the government expanded reproductive health laws out of the same concern as that of the
Bolivian government. As a result, “fertility declined steeply...and continued to decline [after]
1994.” Such examples seemed to draw the attention of other countries. Thus, in 2014, the
United Nations report noted that the proportion of countries allowing abortion to preserve the
physical health of a woman increased from 63 percent to 67 percent, and those to preserve the
mental health of a woman increased from 52 percent to 64 percent.
Opponents regard reproductive rights as nothing but a false front for abortion. They
contend that this method of preventing conception endangers the life of the mother and must
be banned. The religious wing of the anti-reproductive rights flank goes further and describes
abortion as a debauchery that sullies the name of God; it will send the mother to hell and
prevents a new soul, the baby, to become human. This position was a politically powerful one
partly because various parts of the developing world remain very conservative. Unfailing
pressure by Christian groups compelled the governments of Poland, Croatia, Hungary,
Yugoslavia, and even Russia to impose restrictive reproductive health programs, including
making access to condoms and other technologies difficult. Muslim countries do not condone
abortion and limit wives to domestic chores and delivering babies. Senegal only allows abortion
when the mother‟s life is threatened. The Philippines, with a Catholic majority, now has a
reproductive health law in place, but conservative politicians have enfeebled it through budget
cuts and stalled its implementation by filing a case against the law in the Supreme Court.
A country being industrialized and developed, however, does not automatically assure
pro-women reproductive regulations. In the United States, the women‟s movement of the
19603 was responsible for the passage and judicial endorsement of a prochoice law, but
conservatives controlling state legislatures have also slowly undermined this law by imposing a
restriction on women‟s access to abortion. While pro-choice advocates argue that abortion is
necessary to protect the health of the mother, their conservative rivals shift the focus on the
death of the fetus in the mother‟s womb as the reason for reversing the law. This battle
continues to be played out in all the political arenas in the United States.
The Feminist Perspective

Feminists approach the issue of reproductive rights from another angle. They are,
foremost, against any form of population control because they are compulsory by nature,
resorting to a carrot-and-stick approach (punitive mechanisms co-exist alongside benefits) that
actually does not empower women. They believe that government assumptions that poverty
and environmental degradation are caused by overpopulation are wrong. These factors ignore
other equally important causes like the unequal distribution of wealth, the lack of Public safety
nets like universal health care, education, and gender equality programs. Feminists also point
out that there is very little evidence that point to overpopulation as the culprit behind poverty
and ecological devastation.
Governments have not directly responded to these criticisms, but one of the goals of
1994 United Nations International Conference on Population and Development suggests
recognition of this issue. Country representatives to that conference agreed that women should
receive family planning counseling on abortion, the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases,
the nature of human sexuality, and the main elements of responsible parenthood. However, the
conference also left it to the individual countries to determine how these recommendations can
be turned into programs. Hence, globally, women‟s and feminist arguments on reproductive
rights and overpopulation are acknowledged, but the struggle to turn them into policy is still
fought at the national level. It is the dilemma that women and feminist movements face today.
Population Growth and Food Security

Today‟s global population has reached 7.4 billion, and it is estimated to increase to 9.5
billion in 2050, then 11.2 billion by 2100. The median age of this population is 30.9 years, with
the male median age at 29.4 years and female, 30.9 years. Ninety-five percent of this
population growth will happen in the developing countries, with demographers predicting that
by the middle of this century, several countries will have tripled their population. The opposite
is happening in the developed world where populations remain steady in general, but declining
in some of the most advanced countries (Japan and Singapore). However, this scenario is not a
run-off that could get out of control. Demographers predict that the world population will
stabilize by 2050 to 9 billion, although they warn that feeding this population will be an
immense challenge.
The decline in fertility and the existence of a young productive population, however,
may not be enough to offset this concern over food security. The Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) warns that in order for countries to mitigate the impact of population
growth, food production must increase by 70 percent; annual cereal production must rise to 3
billion tons from the current 2.1 billion; and yearly meat production must go up to 200 million
tons to reach 470 million. The problem here is that the global rate of growth of cereals had
declined considerably—from 3.2 percent in 1960 to just 1.5 percent in 2000.
The FAO recommends that countries increase their investments in agriculture, craft
long-term policies aimed at fighting poverty, and invest in research and development. The UN
body also suggests that countries develop a comprehensive social service program that includes
food assistance, consistent delivery of health services, and education especially for the poor. If
domestic production is not enough, it becomes essential for nations to import. The FAO,
therefore, enjoins governments to keep their markets open, and to eventually “move towards a
global trading system that is fair and competitive, and that contributes to a dependable market
for food.”
The aforementioned are worthy recommendations but nation-states need the political
will to push through these sweeping chances in population growth and food security. This will
take some to happen given that good governance is also a goal that many nations, especially in
the developing world, have yet to attain.
Conclusion
Demography is a complex discipline that requires the integration of various social
scientific data. As you have seen, demographic changes and policies have impacts on the
environment, politics, resources, and others. Yet, at its core, demography accounts for the
growth and decline of the human species. It may be about large numbers and massive effects,
but it is ultimately about people. Thus, no interdisciplinary account of globalization is complete
without an accounting of people. The next lesson will continue on this theme of examining
people, and will focus particularly on their global movement.
IV. Learning Task
Direction: Make your own family tree based on an interview with each of your parents.
V. Evaluation
Direction: Explain in not less than 100 words.
Question: how can technology and interventions in development offset the pressures
of population growth.
LESSON
10 Global Migration
I. Learning Outcomes /Objectives:

1. Identified the reasons for the migration of people;

2. explained why states regulate migration; and
3. discussed the effects of global migration on the economic well-being of states.
II. Subject Matter: Global Migration

109-115
b. Value Focus: Resilience, discipline, harmony, patience

This lesson will look at global migration and its impact on both the sending and receiving
countries. Although we will cite numerous challenges relating to migration, migration should not
be considered a “problem.” There is nothing moral or immoral about moving from one country
to another. Human beings have always been migratory. It is the result of their movements that
areas get populated, communities experience diversity, and economies prosper. Thus, rather
than looking at migration in terms of a simplistic good vs. bad lens, treat it as a complex social
phenomenon that even predates contemporary globalization.
What is Migration?
There are two types of migration: internal migration, which refers to people moving
from one area to another within one country; and international migration, in which people cross
borders of one country to another. The latter can be further broken down into five groups. First
are those who move permanently to another country (immigrants). The second refers to
workers who stay in another country for a fixed period (at least 6 months in a year). Illegal
migrants comprise the third group, while the fourth are migrants whose families have
“petitioned” them to move to the destination county. The fifth group are refugees (also known
as asylum-seekers), i.e., those “unable or unwilling to return because of a well-founded fear of
persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or
political opinion.”
Global Migration | 83
Demographers estimate that 247 million people are currently living outside the countries
of their birth. Ninety percent of them moved for economic reasons while the remaining 10
percent were refugees and asylum-seekers. The top three regions of origin are Latin America
(18 percent of global total), followed by Eastern Europe and Central Asia (16 percent), and the
Middle East and North Africa (14 percent). On a per country basis, India, Mexico, and China are
leading, with the Philippines, together with Afghanistan, only ranking 6th in the world. The top
10 country destinations of these migrants are mainly in the West and the Middle East, with the
United States topping the list.
Fifty percent of global migrants have moved from the developing countries to the
developed zones of the world and contribute anywhere from 40 to 80 percent of their labor
force. Their growth has outstripped the population growth in the developed countries (3
percent versus only 0.6 percent), such that today, according to the think-tank McKinsey Global
Institute, “first-generation immigrants constitute 13 percent of the population in Western
Europe, 15 percent in North America, and 48 percent in the GCC countries.” The majority of
migrants remain in the cities. The percentages of migrants in cities are 92 percent in the United
States, 95 percent in the United Kingdom, and 99 percent in Australia. Once settled, they
contribute enormously to raising the productivity of their host countries.
The migrant influx has led to a debate in destination countries over the issue whether
migrants are assets or liabilities to national development. Anti-immigrant groups and
nationalists argue that governments must control legal immigration and put a stop to illegal
entry of foreigners.” Many of these anti-immigrant groups are gaining influence through political
leaders who share their beliefs. Examples include US President Donald Trump and UK Prime
Minister Theresa May, who have been reversing the existing pm immigration and refugee-
sympathetic policies of their states. Most recently, Trump attempted to ban travel into the
United States of people from majority-Muslim countries, even those with proper documentation.
He also continues to speak about his election promise of building a wall between the United
States and Mexico.
The wisdom of these government actions has been consistently belied by the data. A
2011 Harvard Business School survey on the impact of immigration concluded that the
“likelihood and magnitude of adverse labor market effects for native from immigration are
substantially weaker than often perceived.” The fiscal impact of immigration on social welfare
was noted to be "very small.” Furthermore, the 2013 report on government welfare spending by
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) clearly shows that native-born
citizens still receive higher support compared to immigrants.
The massive inflow of refugees from Syria and Iraq has raised alarm bells once again,
but has not proved to be as damaging as expected. The International Monetary Fund predicted
that the flow of refugees fleeing the war in Syria and Iraq would actual grow Europe‟s GDP,
albeit “modestly.” In Germany, the inflow of refugees from the Middle East has not affected
social welfare program, and had very little impact on wages and employment In fact, they have
brought much-needed labor to the economy instead.
Benefits and Detriments for the Sending Countries

Even if 90 percent of the value generated by migrant workers remains in their host
countries, they have sent billions back to their home countries (in 2014, their remittances
totaled $580 billion). In 2014, India held the highest recorded remittance ($70 billion), followed
by China ($62 billion), the Philippines ($28 billion), and Mexico ($25 billion). These remittances
make significant contributions to the development of small and medium-term industries that
help generate jobs.166 Remittances likewise change the economic and social standing of
migrants, as shown by new or renovated homes and their relatives‟ access to new consumer
goods. The purchasing power of a migrant‟s family doubles and makes it possible for children to
start or continue their schooling.
Yet, there remain serious concerns about the economic sustainability of those reliant on
migrant monies. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) observes that in countries like the
Philippines, remittances “do not have a significant influence on other key items of consumption
or investment such as spending on education and health care.” Remittances, therefore, may
help in lifting “households out of poverty…but not in rebalancing growth, especially in the long
run.”
More importantly, global migration is “siphoning…qualified personnel, [and] removing

dynamic young workers.” This process has often been referred to as “brain drain.” According
again to the McKinsey Global Institute, countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia have lost one-
third of their college graduates. Sixty percent of those who moved to OECD destinations were
college graduates, compared to just 9 percent of the overall population in the country. Fifty-two
percent of Filipinos who leave for work in the developed world have tertiary education, which is
more than double the 23 percent of the overall Filipino population.
Furthermore, the loss of professionals in certain key roles, such as doctors, has been
detrimental to the migrants‟ home countries. In 2006, some 15 percent of locally trained
doctors from 21 sub-Saharan African countries had emigrated to the United States or Canada;
the losses were particularly steep in Liberia (where 43 percent of doctors left), Ghana (30
percent), and Uganda (20 percent).”
Governments are aware of this long-term handicap, but have no choice but to continue
promoting migrant work as part of state policy because of the remittances‟ impact on GDP.
They are equally “concerned with generating jobs for an under-utilized workforce and in getting
the maximum possible inflow of worker remittances.” Governments are thus actively involved in
the recruitment and deployment of works, some of them setting up special departments like the
Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training in Bangladesh; the Office of the Protector of
Emigrants within the Indian Labor Ministry; and the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency
(POEA). The sustainability of migrant-dependent economies will partially depend on the
strength of these institutions.
The Problem of Human Trafficking

On top of the issue of brain drain, sending
states must likewise protect migrant workers. The
United States Federal Bureau of Investigation lists
human trafficking as the third largest criminal
activity worldwide. In 2012, the International
Labour Organization (ILO) identified 21 million men,
women, and children as victims of “forced labor,”
an appalling three out every 1,000 persons
worldwide. Ninety percent of the victims (18.7
million) are exploited by private enterprises and
entrepreneurs; 22 percent (4.5 million) are sexually
abused; and 68 percent (14.2 million) work under
compulsion in agricultural, manufacturing,
infrastructure, and domestic activities. Human
trafficking has been very profitable, earning
syndicates, smugglers, and corrupt state officials
profits of as high as $150 billion a year in 2014.
Governments, the private sector, and civil society
groups have worked together to combat human
trafficking, yet the results remain uneven.
Integration
A final issue relates to how migrants interact with their new home countries. They may
contribute significantly to a host nation‟s GDP, but their access to housing, health care, and
education is not easy. There is, of course, considerable variation in the economic integration of
migrants. Migrants from China, India, and Western Europe often have more success, while
those from the Middle East, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa face greater challenges in
securing jobs. In the United States and Singapore, there are blue-collar as well as white-collar
Filipino workers (doctors, engineers, even corporate executives), and it is the professional,
white-collar workers that have oftentimes been easier to integrate.
Democratic states assimilate immigrants and their children by granting them citizenship
and the rights that go with it (especially public education). However, without a solid support
from their citizens, switching citizenship may just be a formality. Linguistic difficulties, customs
from the “old country,” and, of late, differing religions may create cleavages between migrants
and citizens of receiving countries, particularly in the West. The latter accuse migrants of
bringing in the culture from their home countries and amplifying differences in linguistic and
ethnic customs. Crucially, the lack of integration gives xenophobic and anti-immigrant groups
more ammunition to argue that these “new citizens are often not nationals (in the sense of
sharing the dominant culture).”
Migrants unwittingly reinforce the tension by “keeping among themselves.” The first-
time migrant‟s anxiety at coming into a new and often “strange” place is mitigated by “local
networks of fellow citizens” that serve as the migrant‟s safety net from the dislocation of
uprooting oneself. For instance, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of California
provides initial support for new Chinese migrants, guiding them in finding work or in setting up
their small businesses (restaurants and laundromats) in the state and elsewhere.” The
drawback of these networks is that instead of facilitating integration, they exacerbate
differences and discrimination.
Governments and private businesses have made policy changes to address integration
problems, like using multiple languages in state documents (in the case of the United States,
Spanish and English). Training programs complemented with counseling have also helped
migrant integration in Hamburg, Germany, while retail merchants in Barcelona have brought in
migrant shopkeepers to break down language barriers while introducing Chinese culture to
citizens. Whether these initiatives will succeed or not remains an open question.
Conclusion
Global migration entails the globalization of people. And like the broader globalization
process, it is uneven. Some migrants experience their movement as a liberating process. A
highly educated professional may find moving to another country financially rewarding. At the
other end, a victim of sex trafficking may view the process of migration as dislocating and
disempowering.
Like globalization, moreover, migration produces different and often contradictory

responses. On the one hand, many richer states know that migrant labor will be beneficial for
their economies. With their aging populations, Japan and Germany will need workers from
demographically young countries like the Philippines. Similarly, as working populations in
countries like the United States move to more skilled careers, their economies will require
migrants to work jobs that their local workers are beginning to reject. And yet, despite these
benefits, developed countries continue to excessively limit and restrict migrant labor. They do
so for numerous factors already mentioned. Some want to preserve what they perceive as local
culture by shielding it from newcomers. Other states use migrants as scapegoats, blaming them
for economic woes that are, in reality, caused by government policy and not by foreigners.
Yet, despite these various contradictions, it is clear that different forms of global
interdependence will ensure that global migration will continue to be one of the major issues in
the contemporary world. Countries whose economies have become entirely dependent on
globalization and rely on foreign labor to continue growing (e.g., Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and
even protectionist Japan) will actively court foreign workers. Likewise, countries like the
Philippines with an abundance of labor and a need for remittances will continue to send these
workers.
Hence, it is inevitable that countries will have to open up again to prevent their
economies from stagnating or even collapsing. The various responses to these movements—
xenophobia and extreme nationalism in the receiving countries; dependency in the sending
countries—will continue to be pressing issues.
IV. Learning Task
Direction: Interview. Look for a family of migrants living around your area and conduct an
interview.
Guide Questions
1. What is the history or background of their family?
2. What are their reasons for migrating to the area?
3. Ask the migrants to compare life before and after migration.
4. What are the problems encountered in the new residence?
5. In what ways the problems were resolved?

V. Evaluation
Direction: Answer the following questions.
1. Identify five (5) reasons for the migration of people.
2. Explain why states regulate migration.
3. Discuss the effects of global migration on the economic well-being of states.

LESSON
Environmental Crisis
11 and Sustainable
Development
1. Discussed the origins and manifestations of global environmental crises;

2. related everyday encounters with pollution, global warming, desertification,
ozone depletion, and many others with a larger picture of environmental
degradation; and
3. examined the policies and programs of governments around the world that
address the environmental crisis.
II. Subject Matter: Environmental Crisis and Sustainable

Development
2018, 1-12
b. Value Focus: Discipline, obedience, patience

If you live in Metropolitan Manila and travel to school or to work, every day, the moment
you step out of your home, you are already exposed to the most serious problem humanity
faces today: the deteriorating state of the environment. As you walk out of the gate, the fetid
smell of uncollected garbage hits you and you go near the trash bin, curious about what is
causing the smell. You see rotting vegetables, a dead rat, and a bunch of whatnot packed in
plastic. These three “wastes” are already indicative of some environmental problems-the
vegetables ought to be added to a compost pile; the rat either buried or burned (to also get rid
of the lice that might jump into the hair of the children playing nearby); and the plastics
washed and recycled because, unlike the other two wastes, it cannot decompose.
You hop on the first bus and as it approaches Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), the
traffic slows down considerably. It is the normal Manila morning traffic where, as the joke goes,
the turtle can outpace even the fastest of motor vehicles. You look out of the window and see
the smoke coming out of diesel vehicle, and as you lift your head up to the sky, you see nothing
but smog, courtesy of the cars and buses, as well as the coal plant and several industrial sites
located alongside the Pasig River. You notice the oil spots on the river, not to mention the tons
Environmental Crisis and Sustainable Development | 90
of effluents (human and non-human wastes) floating alongside each other. In the city you live
in, there is a dying river, an increasingly poisonous sky, an enormous amount of waste, and a
declining quality of life.
It is at this point that you recognize the ecological crisis happening around you, and how
the deterioration of the environment has destabilized populations and species, raising the
specter of extinction for some and a lesser quality of life for the survivors and their offspring.
The World’s Leading Environmental Problems
The Conserve Energy Future website lists the following environmental challenges that
the world faces today.
1. The depredation caused by industrial and transportation toxins and plastic in the
ground; the defiling of the sea, rivers, and water beds by oil spills and acid rain; the
dumping of urban waste
2. Changes in global weather patterns (flash floods, extreme snowstorms, and the spread
of deserts) and the surge in ocean and land temperatures leading to a rise in sea levels
(as the polar ice caps melt because of the weather), plus the flooding of many lowland
areas across the world
3. Overpopulation (see Lesson 9)
4. The exhaustion of the world‟s natural non-renewable resources from oil reserves to
minerals to potable water
5. A waste disposal catastrophe due to the excessive amount of waste (from plastic to food
packages to electronic waste) unloaded by communities in landfills as well as on the
ocean; and the dumping of nuclear waste
6. The destruction of million-year-old ecosystems and the loss of biodiversity (destruction

of the coral reefs and massive deforestation) that have led to the extinction of particular
species and the decline in the number of others
7. The reduction of oxygen and the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because
of deforestation, resulting in the rise in ocean acidity by as much as 150 percent in the
last 250 years
8. The depletion of the ozone layer protecting the planet from the sun‟s deadly ultraviolet
rays due to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the atmosphere
9. Deadly acid rain as a result of fossil fuel combustion, toxic chemicals from erupting
volcanoes, and the massive rotting vegetables filling up garbage dumps or left on the
streets
10. Water pollution arising from industrial and community waste residues seeping into
underground water tables. rivers, and seas
11. Urban sprawls that continue to expand as a city turns into a megalopolis, destroying
farmlands, increasing traffic gridlock, and making smog cloud a permanent urban fixture
(see Lesson 8)
12. Pandemic: and other threats to public health arising {tom wastes mixing with drinking
water. polluted environments that become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and
disease-carrying rodents, and pollution
13. A radical alteration of food systems because of genetic modifications in food production
Many of these problems are caused by natural changes. Volcanic eruptions release toxins in
the atmosphere and lower the world‟s temperature. The US Geological Survey measured the
gas emissions from the active Kilauea volcano in Hawaii and concluded “that Kilauea has been
releasing more than twice the amount of noxious sulfur dioxide gas (SO2) as the single dirtiest
power plant on the United States mainland.” The 15 million tons of sulfur dioxide that were
released when Mount Pinatubo erupted on June 15, 2001 created a "hazy layer of aerosol
particles composed primarily of sulfuric acid droplets” that brought down the average global
temperature by 0.6 degrees Celsius for the next 15 months. Volcanologists at the University of
Hawaii added that Pinatubo had released “15 to 20 megaton...of [sulfur dioxide] into the
stratosphere…to offset the present global warming trends and severely impact the ozone
budget.”
Man-made Pollution
Humans exacerbate other natural environmental problems. In Saudi Arabia, sandstorms
combined with combustion exhaust from traffic and industrial waste has lead the World Health
Organization (WHO) to declare Riyadh as one of the most polluted cities in the world) It is this
“human contribution' that has become an immediate cause of worry. Coal fumes coming out of
industries and settling down in surrounding areas
contaminated 20 percent of China‟s soil, with the rice
lands in Hunan and Zhuzhou found to have heavy
metals from the mine, threatening the food supply."
Greenpeace India reported that in 2015, air

pollution in the country was at its worst, aggravated by
the Indian government‟s inadequate monitoring system
(there are only 17 national air quality networks
covering 89 cities across the continent!). Furthermore, 94 percent of Nigeria‟s population is

exposed to air pollution that the WHO warned as reaching dangerous levels, while Gaborone,
the capital of Botswana, is the 7lh most polluted city in the world. The emission of aerosols and
other gases from car exhaust, burning of wood or garbage, indoor-cooking, and diesel-fueled
electric generators, and petrochemical plants are projected to quadruple by 2030.
Waste coming out of coal, copper, and gold mines flowing out into the rivers and oceans
is destroying sea life or permeating the bodies of those which survived with poison (mercury in
tuna, prominently). The biggest copper mine in Malanjkhand in India discharges high levels of
toxic heavy metals into water streams, while in China, the “tailings” from the operations of the
Shanxi Maanqiao Ecological Mining Ltd., producing 12,000 tons of gold per year, “have caused
pollution and safety problems.”190 Conditions in China have become very critical as the “toxic
byproducts of production processes...are being produced much more rapidly than the Earth can
absorb.” Meanwhile, for over a century, coal mines in West Virginia have pumped “chemical-
laden wastewater directly into the ground, where it can leech into the water table and turn
what had been drinkable...water into a poisonous cocktail of chemicals.” The system “goes back
generations and could soon render much of the state‟s water undrinkable.”
Pollution in West Africa has affected “the atmospheric circulation system that controls
everything from wind and temperature to rainfall across huge swathes of the region.” The Asian
monsoon, in turn, had become the transport of polluted air into the stratosphere, and scientists
are now linking Pacific storms to the spread of pollution in Asia. Aerosol is tagged the culprit in
changing rainfall patterns in Asia and the Atlantic Ocean. These climatic disruptions have
similarly caused drought all over Asia and Africa and accelerated the pace of desertification in
certain areas. Twenty years ago, there were over 50,000 rivers in China. In 2013, as a result of
climate change, uncontrolled urban growth, and rapid industrialization, 28,000 of these rivers
had disappeared.
People's health has been severely compromised. An archived article in the journal
Scientific American blamed the pollution for “contributing to more than half a million premature
deaths each year at the cost of hundreds of billions of dollars." The International Agency for
Research on Cancer blamed air pollution for 223,000 lung cancer deaths in 2010. In Indonesia
and Malaysia, the link between forest fires and mortality had been well-established. The
aforementioned coal mining in West Virginia (mentioned above) has also made people sick,
some with “rare cancers, little kids with kidney stones [and] premature deaths,” and children
born with congenital disabilities and adults having shorter life expectancy.
It has been the poor who are most severely affected by these environmental problems.
Their low income and poverty already put them at a disadvantage by not having the resources
to afford good health care, to live in unpolluted areas, to eat healthy food, etc. In the United
States, a Yale University research team studying areas with high levels of pollution observed
that the “greater the concentration of Hispanics, Asians, African-Americans, or poor residents in
an area, the more likely that dangerous compounds such as vanadium, nitrates, and zinc are in
the mix of fine particles they breathe.” In India, studies on adults health revealed that 46% in
Delhi and 56% of in Calcutta have “impaired lung function” due to air pollution. In China, the
toxicity of the soil has raised concerns over food security and the health of the most vulnerable,
especially the peasant communities and those living in factory cities. In 2006, 160 acres of land
in Xinma, China was badly poisoned by cadmium. Two people died and 150 were known to be
poisoned; the entire village was abandoned. Hong Kong faces the same problem.
In Metropolitan Manila, 37 percent (4 million people) of the population live in slum

communities, areas where “the effects of urban environmental problems and threats of climate
change are also most pronounced...due to their hazardous location, poor air pollution and solid
waste management, weak disaster risk management, and limiting coping strategies of
households.” Marife Ballesteros concludes that this unhealthy environment “deepens poverty,
increases the vulnerability of both the poor and non-poor living in slums, and excludes the slum
poor from growth.”
One of the major ironies of urban pollution is that the necessities that the poor has
access to are also the sources of the problem. The main workhorse of the public transport
system is the bus. However, because it runs mainly on diesel fuel, it is now considered “one of
the largest contributors to environmental pollution problems worldwide?” This problem is
expected to worsen as the middle classes and the elites buy more cars and as the road systems
are improved to give people more chance to travel.
The other mode of transportation that the poor can afford is the motorbike (also called
the two and three-wheeled vehicles). According to the Centre for Science and Environment in
Delhi, India, “two-wheelers form a staggering 75%-80% of the traffic in most Asian cities.”
Motorbikes burn oil and gasoline and “emit more smoke, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and
particulate matter than the gas-only four-stroke engines found in newer motorcycles?” Finally,
adding to this predicament is the proliferation of diesel-run cars. These vehicles usually
command a lower price because of their durability and low operating cost, and hence affordable
to the middle class. However, they also release four times the toxic pollution as the buses?
"Catching Up”
These massive environmental problems are difficult to resolve because governments
believe that for their countries to become fully developed, they must be industrialized,
urbanized, and inhabited by a robust middle class with access to the best of modern amenities.
A developed society, accordingly, must also have provisions for the poor-jobs in the industrial
sector, public transport system, and cheap food. Food depends on a country‟s free trade with
other food producers. It also relies on a “modernized” agricultural sector in which toxic
technologies (such as fertilizers or pesticides) and modified crops (e.g., high-yielding varieties
of rice) ensure maximized productivity.
The model of this ideal modern society is the United States, which, until the 1970s, was
a global economic power, with a middle class that was the envy of the world. The United
States, however, did not reach this high point without serious environmental consequences. To
this very day, it is “the worst polluter in the history of the world,” responsible for 27 percent of
the world‟s carbon dioxide emissions. Sixty percent of the carbon emission comes from cars and
other vehicles plying American highways and roads, the rest from smoke and soot from coal
factories, forest fires, as well as methane released by farms and breakdown of organic matter,
paint, aerosol, and dust?
These ecological consequences, however, are far from the mind of countries like China,
India, and Indonesia, which are now in the midst of a frenzied effort to achieve and sustain
economic growth to catch up with the West. In the “desire to develop and improve the standard
of living of their citizens, these countries will opt for the goals of economic growth and cheap
energy,” which, in turn, would “encourage energy over-consumption, waste, and inefficiency
and also fuel environmental pollution.” With their industrial sector still having a small share of
the national wealth, these countries will be using first their natural resources like coal, oil, forest
and agricultural products, and minerals to generate a national kitty that could be invested in
industrialization.
These “extractive” economies, however, are “terminal” economies. Their resources,

which will be eventually depleted, are also sources of pollution. In Nigeria, Niger Delta oil
companies have “caused substantial land, water, and air pollution.” Nigeria is caught in a bind.
If it wants “to maintain its current economic growth path and sustain its drive for poverty
reduction, [the very polluting] oil exploration and production will continue to be a dominant
economic activity.” If the United States lets its environment suffer to achieve modernity and
improve the lives of its people, developing countries see no reason, therefore, why they could
not sacrifice the environment in the name of progress.
This issue begs the question: How is environmental sustainability ensured while
simultaneously addressing the development needs of poor countries?
Climate Change
Governments have their own environmental problems to deal with, but these states‟
ecological concerns become worldwide due to global warming, which transcends national
boundaries. Global warming is the result of billion of tons of carbon dioxide (coming from coal-
burning power plants and transportation), various air pollutants, and other gases accumulating
in the atmosphere. These pollutants trap the sun‟s radiation causing the warming of the earth‟s
surface. With the current amount of carbon dioxide and other gases, this “greenhouse effect”
has sped up the rise in the world temperature. There is now a consensus that the global
temperature has risen at a faster rate in the last 50 years and it continues to go up despite
efforts by climate change deniers that the world had cooled off in and around 1998.
The greenhouse effect is responsible for recurring heat waves and long droughts in
certain places, as well as for heavier rainfall and devastating hurricanes and typhoons in others.
Until recently, California had experienced its worst water shortage in 1,200 years due to global
warming. This changed recently when storms brought rain in the drought-stricken areas. The
result, however, is that the state is having some of its worst flashfloods in the 21st century. In
India and Southeast Asia, global warming altered the summer monsoon patterns, leading to
intermittent flooding that seriously affected food production and consumption as well as
infrastructure networks. Category 4 or 5 typhoons, like the Super Typhoon Haiyan that hit the
central Philippines in 2013, had “doubled and even tripled in some areas of the (Southeast
Asian) basin. Scientists claim that there will be more [of such] typhoon; in the coming years.”
In the eastern United States, the number of storms had also gone up, with Hurricane Katrina
(2005) and Hurricane Sandy (2012) being the worst.
Glaciers are melting every year since 2002, with Antarctica losing 134 billion metric of
ice. There is coastal flooding not only in the United States eastern seaboard but also in the Gulf
of Mexico. Coral reefs in the Australian Great Barrier Reef are dying, and the production
capacities of farms and fisheries have been affected. Flooding has allowed more breeding
grounds for disease carriers like the Aedes aegypti mosquito and the cholera bacteria. The
melting of the polar ice caps illustrates the reality of man-made climate change.
Since human-made climate change threatens the entire world. it is possibly the greatest
present risk to humankind.
Combating Global Warming

More countries are now recognizing the perils of global warming. In 1997, 192 countries
signed the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gases, following the 1992 United Nations Earth
Summit where a Framework Convention for Climate Change was finalized. The protocol set
targets but left it to the individual countries to determine how best they would achieve these
goals. While some countries have made the necessary move to reduce their contribution to
global warming, the United States—the biggest polluter-in the world is not joining the effort.
Developing countries lack the funds to implement the protocol‟s guideline as any of them need
international aid to get things moving. A 2010 World Bank report that concluded that the
protocol only had slight impact on reducing global emissions, in part became of the non-binding
nature of the agreement.
The follow up treaty to the Kyoto Protocol is the Paris Accord, negotiated by 195
countries in December of 2015. It seeks to limit the increase in the global average temperature
based on targeted goal: as recommended by scientists. Unlike the Kyoto Protocol which has
predetermined CO2 emission limit per country, the Paris Accord provides more leeway for
countries to decide on their national targets. It largely passed as international legislation
because it emphasizes consensus-building, but it is not clear whether this agreement will have
any more success than the Kyoto Protocol.
Social movements, however, have had better success working together, with some
pressure on their governments to regulate global warming. In South Africa, communities
engage in environmental activism to pressure industries to reduce emissions and to lobby
parliament for the passage of pro-environment laws. Across the Atlantic, in El Salvador, local
officials and grassroots organizations from 1,000 communities push for crop diversification, a
reduction of industrial sugar cane production, the protection of endangered sea species from
the devastating effects of commercial fishing, the preservation of lowlands being eroded by
deforestation up in rivers and Inconsistent release of water from a nearby dam. Universities
also partner with governments in producing attainable programs of controlling pollution. The
University of Chicago‟s Energy Policy Institute sent teams to India to work with government
offices, businesses, and communities in coming up with viable ground-level projects that “strike
a balance between urgently needed economic growth and improved air quality.”
When these local alliances between the state, schools, and communities are replicated
at the national level, the success becomes doubly significant. In Japan, population pressure
forced the government to work with civil society groups, academia, and political parties to get
the parliament to pass “a blizzard of laws—... 14 passed at once—in what became known as the
Pollution Diet of 1970.” These regulations did not eliminate environmental problems, but today,
Japan has some of the least polluted cities in the world.
The imperative now is for everyone to set up these kinds of coalitions on a global scale.
For at this point, when governments still hesitate in fully committing themselves to fight
pollution and when international organizations still lack the power to enforce anti-pollution
policies, social coalitions that bring in village associations, academics, the media, local and
national governments, and even international aid agencies together may be the only way to
reverse this worsening situation.
Conclusion
Perhaps no issue forces people to think about their role as citizens of the world than
environmental degradation. Every person, regardless of his/her race, nation, or creed, belongs
to the same world. When one looks at an image of the earth, he/she will realize that, he/she
belongs to one world—a world that is increasingly vulnerable. In the fight against climate
change, one cannot afford to simply care about his/her own backyard. The CO2 emitted in one
country may have severe effects on the climate of another. There is no choice but to find global
solutions to this global problem.
IV. Learning Task

Direction: Go around your neighborhood and list the different kinds of pollutants that
you see. Widen your observation by looking the areas surrounding your neighborhood.
Make a list of pollutants and check which ones can be recycled and which ones need
to be put together for the garbage men to collect. With the recycled ones, list the possible
things that you can do to make them usable and explain this in a report. Do not simply limit
yourself to what you can do with the recyclables. Your report must include suggestions to
the neighborhood, the barangay and the municipal local government unit.
V. Evaluation
Direction: Answer the questions briefly.
1. How do you define sustainable development?
2. What are the major environmental problems you are exposed to? Write some
suggestions to resolve these problems.
Conclusion: The Global Filipino | 99
Conclusion:
The Global Filipino
In this book, you have seen how your lives have always been tied to global processes.
These connections have become more pronounced in recent years. Today, the Philippine
economy depends largely on incomes from jobs with global connections. The first is migrant
labor. In 2015, the Department of Labor and Employment reported that the number of Filipinos
leaving the country to work overseas rose from 4,018 in 2010 to 6,092 in 2015, a 51-percent
increase in the span of five years. In 2016, there were 2.4 million Filipinos leaving and/or
working outside of the country. They sent back $25.8 billion in 2015, roughly 8.5 percent of the
country‟s gross domestic product.230 The second is business process outsourcing (BPO) that
the Philippines provides for foreign clients. In 2015, BPO operations yielded $24 billion.
Combined, these two economic activities have plowed over $51 billion into the country‟s
national coffers.
The third source of national income is comprised of exports. The Philippines exports
machinery, semiconductors, wood, cars, export crops and fruits, minerals (gold and copper),
ships, and vehicles to other Asian countries, Europe, and North America. In 2016, these exports
earned $56.3 billion. The fourth largest source of income is tourism, which reached about $6.05
billion by the end of 2016.233 Added to the $51 billion from OFW and BPO earnings, the total
revenue of $113.35 billion makes the Philippines the 36th largest economy in the world.
Again, if you take these export products from the equation, only rice is left in the
Philippines. While it is the 8th largest rice producer in the world, the country is also one of the
largest importers of this basic staple.
Politically, there has never been a time in the long life of the Philippines that it existed in
isolation from the Asian region as well as the world. Historians have shown that communities in
the islands of the archipelago were engaged in extensive trade with China and maritime
Southeast Asia in the pre-colonial period. The Philippines became a colony of two empires-the
Spanish and then the American-existing in a region where other Western powers and Japan had
extended their reach. When the Philippines became independent, it took sides in a global Cold
War between the capitalist United States and the communist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
In the 19605, when the United States intervened in the civil war in Vietnam, the Philippines
helped form the anti-communist regional body, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
(SEATO), created by the American hegemon to “contain” the alleged spread of communism in
the region. Even the informal economy of the country survived because of its regional and
global connections. Guns, drugs, merchandise, and illegal immigrants flowed between the
Philippine south, Borneo, Sabah, Singapore, and southern China. Colonial powers and postwar
republics tried to contain these illegal networks but failed. These networks persist to this day.
Finally, despite passionate nationalist warnings about the corrupting influence of

Western culture, Filipinos continue to hold the West in high regard. English is now the other
largely spoken lingua franca of the country, and American popular culture-from basketball to
fashion to hip-hop-remains the model of modernity. The 2014 Pew Research Center survey, for
instance, showed that 92% of Filipinos are pro-American.
Conclusion: The Global Filipino | 100
Yet, the cultures imported to the Philippine shores are not just American. The country
has adopted Japanese, Korean, and even Mexican popular culture, notable in teenage boy/girl
bands as well as the now ubiquitous telenovelas. Returning OFWs or migrant families also bring
back some of the practices and customs of the countries they have lived in. Filipinas working in
Japan alter their clothing styles to look and act more like Japanese. Oddly, it is in the diaspora
that there is a greater attempt to “preserve” Filipino culture. Filipino-American artists, for
example, have “revived” the use of the kulintang, an instrument associated with the Moms of
Mindanao. This peculiar “preservation” of “tribal (sic) Filipino arts” indicates a “reverse flow” in
which the local is now transposed overseas.” Again, these are indicative of global connections.
Filipinos really have very little choice but to accept this globalized state as a country and
a people. Globalization‟s impact has, admittedly, been uneven and often does not benefit most
Filipinos. Yet, there is some movement; there is progress when the Philippines at the end of the
20th century is analyzed. And part of that is because—right or wrong—Philippine political
leaders decided to open up the country to the world. The next step now is to make sure that
the imbalance from globalization‟s benefits is corrected to allow more Filipinos to live a better
life.

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UNIT

The major learning outcomes of this unit are to:

 describe the emergence of global economic

1. agreed on a working definition of globalization for the course;

II. Subject Matter: What is globalization?

III. Learning Content

When Gio was a second-year international affairs student in a university in

According to Latif, Malaysia eventually became famous for these cuisines

What other hints of globalization did you find in the story?

Because different people encounter globalization in a variety of ways, it is deemed

Globalization: A Working Definition

The best scholarly description of globalization is provided by Manfred Steger who

Intensification refers to the expansion, stretching, and acceleration of these networks.

Conclusion: Globalization from the Ground Up

IV. Learning Task

Name: ____________________ Year & Sec: ________________ Score: _________

Learning Task No.: _________ Lesson Title: _____________________________________

Things Made in Phil Foreign Brand/ Country

A. Living Room Made in Phil Foreign Country/Brand

Evaluation No.: _________ Lesson Title: _____________________________________

Direction: Answer the questions briefly.

1. defined economic globalization

II. Subject Matter: The Globalization of World Economics

III. Learning Content

International Trading Systems

Despite facilitating simpler trade, the gold

Returning to a pure standard became

The Bretton Woods System

The Bretton Woods Conference was the

Neoliberalism and Its Discontents

The Global Financial Crisis and the Challenge to Neoliberalism

Economic Globalization Today

In the recent decades, partly as a result of these increased exports, economic

The beneficiaries of global commerce have been mainly transnational corporations

Localizing the Material

Nevertheless, much of globalization is anchored on changes in the economy. Global

Given the stakes involved in economic globalization, it is perennially important to ask

IV. Learning Task

Learning Task No.: _________ Lesson Title: _____________________________________

Evaluation Task No.: ________ Lesson Title: _____________________________________

Direction: Answer the following questions briefly.

1. What is economic globalization?

2. Who are the actors that facilitate economic globalization?

3. How the following affect globalization?

4. When was the commencement of the age of globalization?

5. How the following countries protect their industry?

b. USA (sugar industry

1. Identified the key events in the development of international relations;

II. Subject Matter: A History of Global Politics: Creating an

III. Learning Content

Internationalization does not equal globalization, although it is a major part of

The Attributes of Today’s Global System

What then is the difference between nation and state?

On the other hand, the nation, according to Benedict Anderson, is an “imagined

The Interstate System

Mazzini influenced the thinking of United States

To encourage these socialist revolutions

Many of the world‟s states feared the

Name: ____________ Year & Sec: Score: _

Learning Task No.: _ Lesson Title: _____________________________

Evaluation No.: _ Lesson Title: _____________________________

Learning Task No.: _ Lesson Title: _____________________________

Evaluation Task No.: Lesson Title: _____________________________

Learning Task No.: _ Lesson Title: _____________________________

Evaluation No.: Lesson Title: _____________________________

Name: _______ Year & Sec.: Score:

Learning Task No.: Title: __________________________________

Evaluation No.: _ Lesson Title: _____________________________

Name: ____________ Year & Sec: Score: _

Learning Task No.: _ Lesson Title: _____________________________

Name: ____________ Year & Sec: Score: _

Evaluation No.: _ Lesson Title: _____________________________

Name: ____________ Year & Sec: Score: _

Learning Task No.: Lesson Title: _____________________________

Name: ____________ Year & Sec: Score: _

Evaluation No.: Lesson Title: _____________________________