Globalizaton: a postitive or a negative force?

Shadia Olarte
C09286762
Professor H. Uluorta
Globalization 201
November 22, 2011
Question 7

Globalization: A Positive or a Negative Force?
          Is globalization a positive or a negative phenomenon?   Is it helping humanity or harming it? Should we be in favor of globalization or should we be trying to stop it?  Some believe that it should be stopped, but either way, is a phenomenonthat is unavoidable. But when arguing whether it is a positive or negative force, valid arguments arise on both sides. If we are  only asking and evaluating if globalization is a positive force, then the question is too broad. Globalization affects each issue differently so each issue must be examined separately to come to a conclusion on the character of globalization. We must not only examinean issue separately, but also examine issues through different forms of globalization. Globalization is affecting the world in a myriad of ways, Jan Aart Scholte, author of Globalization, a Critical Introduction, explains five different forms of globalization. This essay will focus on only two forms of globalization and how they affect three issues. The first kind of globalization,Internationalization, has assisted the spread of human rights around the world, while increasing international violence due to increased activity by terrorists and criminals. The second kind, economic globalization, has been able to reduce the amount of state led international violence, but has increased human rights violations and poverty, while in some cases also leading to political instability. Before westart
examining each case though, it is important to form a basic understanding of what internationalization and economic globalization are.
Internationalization is the reason why there is hip hop in Tokyo, sushi in New York, and Oktoberfest in southern Brazil. Jan Aart Scholte, author of Globalization, A Critical Introduction, describes it as, “cross border relations between countries, and agrowth of international exchange and interdependence,” (Scholte, 16). This form of globalization focuses on the growing interconnections of people around the world, in short, the spread of “disease, messages, and ideas,” (Scholte, 16.) The catalyst of this form of globalization has been the increase in travel and communication. With people leaving their home countries and bringing their customs to newplaces, the world becomes increasingly interconnected. The increase in worldwide communication has also promoted internationalization as people can be in constant contact with each other even if they are in opposite hemispheres. This means that organizations such as MNC’s, terrorist groups, or criminal rings, are very capable of spreading themselves worldwide and maintaining efficientorganizations. Internationalization does not just concern individuals or groups but also includes the intensification of relations between states. This means that there are more communications and discussions about different state policies since what one state does will affect another due to our globalized environment. Economic globalization also deals with the intensification of state relationships but somuch so that economic borders start to disappear.
     
Economic globalization, also labeled as liberalization, is a “process of removing state imposed restrictions on movements between countries in order to create an ‘open’ , ‘borderless’ world economy,” (Scholte, 16). The opinion that we are witnessing a deterioration of state’s economic boundaries and moving towards a single world economystems from observing the huge amounts of economic transactions occurring between states. According to John Meyer of the International Journal of Comparative Sociology, these expanded economic exchanges include increases in, “rates of international trade, global production or commodity chains, flows of technology and intellectual property, flows of labor and laborers, and above all else, cross...