 |
|
|
Citizenship in the Global World Globalization has enriched some but left others far behind, who then turn to religious or nationalist ideals. Nation-states have also found their autonomy and influence compromised by increasing global integration. In some ways, international organizations have come to enjoy more clout in defining citizenship than even national governments—particularly in the Third World. Nevertheless, local differences continue to give the globe a strong element of diversity.
International bodies have risen to facilitate global interaction, but they have also encroached on the autonomy of nation-states. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund are the most important world financial institutions, aiding development while exacting promised reforms from borrowing nations. Challenging dictatorial regimes in the 1970s and gaining support from major foundations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) emerged to promote various causes with funds and clout to rival those of national governments. Amnesty International, for example, grew to become the world’s most powerful human rights organization.
Fierce ethnically or religiously charged violence has also become a global concern as in the Balkans. Violence of other sorts—natural disasters and poverty—affects billions. Competition and corruption has led to fierce outbreaks with regional, if not global, implications. Violence in Rwanda, for example, affected many countries in the region. Other societies, seeking healing and progress, have endeavored to investigate past abuses. "Truth" commissions not only legitimize democratic successors to oppressive regimes, they also aim to open the way for peace to blossom rather than vengeance. Democracy and truth are not always bulwarks against violence, however, as shown by the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Religious Foundations of Politics As globalization spreads, religion has produced a way to redefine the nation-state and restore some of its autonomy. In India, Hindu nationalists claim that the secular state has trampled on the rights of the majority Hindu population by coddling the minority Muslims, and they insist on changes that would produce a moral community featuring a social hierarchy with themselves at the top. In the Islamic Middle East, critics of modernity assert Islam as a means of averting crass materialism and individualism. Khomeini’s Iran is just one example. In the United States, fundamentalist Protestant groups also rally against secularization and many of the social changes arising since the 1960s.
Democracy has spread largely due to new political and social movements and has become the standard political model for most world nations. China continues to resist, in spite of the great demonstrations for democratization bloodily crushed by government troops, as in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Government control of information has become increasingly difficult. Many individuals prefer to risk their lives getting smuggled out of their country for a chance at greater opportunities elsewhere. In Mexico, democracy finally triumphed after the Zapatistas rebelled against Mexico City and supra national forces and international news agencies intervened to change world opinion. Embarrassed, Mexico City decided to negotiate and set up elections that swept the ruling party from power.
|
