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Unleashing Globalization As obstacles to international integration dissolved, most states moved to stimulate "agents" of globalization, thus increasing contact but also widening inequities.
Pulling back from formal management of money, state leaders turned to policy that called for unrestricted, deregulated markets and profits rather than the welfare-oriented Keynesian approach. This made it easier for investors to transact business in the international financial sector. In the 1980s, Latin American nations, defaulting on IMF loans, widely opened domestic markets and initiated a boom in international finance which other countries followed. The Internet has allowed rapid movement of money. Globalization has stimulated commercial interdependence as goods move around the globe. Trade has also shifted the division of labor as manufacturing spread internationally and economic growth accelerated in places like Asia. Fearing competition, regional open-trade blocs such as NAFTA and the European Union have arisen. As changes occur, new goods have risen in importance, including services, computers, and pharmaceuticals. Information-based production has risen dramatically in wealthy nations while knowledge remains scarce in poorer nations.
The movement of people has also increased integration as individuals and families leave poor countries to seek opportunities in wealthier ones. Ironically, migrants frequently follow the tracks of vacating imperialist powers. Even as corporations locate their factories in poorer nations, laborers there often prefer migration and the lowest wages in richer nations. International migration has been accompanied by regional and national migration from poor rural areas to urban centers, as in Nigeria. Migration is often viewed as temporary, particularly since it is difficult to integrate into European or Japanese society. Nevertheless, labor shortages often require these temporary migrant workers, who, establishing homes, become targets of exclusion and violence. The United States has had less trouble integrating migrants coming from places like Mexico or Asia, and migration has transformed the ethnic composition of cities, particularly Los Angeles. As the number of migrant workers has increased, nations have had to grapple with relative integration and the ethnic makeup of political communities. While most migrants move voluntarily, many are still forced to move as a result of violence. Africa hosts the largest concentration of such migrants.
While American culture’s popularity and spread is largely responsible for the rise of a global entertainment culture, it takes its cues increasingly from other parts of the world. Thus, on a global scale there is less diversity, but from the perspective of an individual there is opportunity for much more. New Media: Cassettes and CDs, television, films, and even international cable networks have helped distribute culture around the globe. Sports have became an international industry, as evidenced by Michael Jordan’s popularity and the impressive support of international sporting events like the World Cup. Global Culture: Migration has allowed cultures to spill into new areas and take root or generate completely new genres. Often music or TV serials, for example, have become tied to youth or ethnic cultures trying to express dissatisfaction with the political status quo. Governments do not ignore these challenges and sometimes seek to resist "Americanization." At the same time, American culture has expanded to embrace other non-American performers. Local Culture: Local cultural developments do not merely imitate global cultural norms, but they have often created expressions based on local or national cultural icons. Culture has also adapted to local tastes and rules that tend to reward the "fittest" only. In China this means dealing with censors, while elsewhere it means dealing with unions or simply the demands of the market. Competition has opened the way for blacks, women, and homosexual performers. Globalization has led to an increasingly homogenized world culture, yet has also stimulated local cultures that have become increasingly diverse.
Advanced communications in the form of telecommunications, computers, and the World Wide Web have greatly increased the trend toward globalization. New opportunities for wealth creation over international boundaries have produced some of the world’s richest people. Indian, Mexican, and Taiwanese firms produce computers and educate fleets of computer programmers. As communication opportunities expand, the gap between rich and poor has become increasingly determined by who can get online and who cannot. In short, globalization has led to integration, but also to wider economic disparities. >> Continue to the next part of the Summary: Characteristics of the New Global Order
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