Globalization has resulted to integration and interdependency among countries; scientific innovations and inventions of transport and communication networks have made the world a global village. The major setback of globalization is that some countries are prone to benefit than others while some show some elements of suffering (Vandana, 2005). This paper analyses the article The Polarized World of Globalization, by Vandana Shiva.
The article
The writer starts the article by criticizing the views brought about by Thomas Friedman in his article Flat earth hypothesis; in the article, Thomas had claimed that globalization is beneficial to the world; he observed that globalization has assisted the world attain equality in resources distribution and put resources to optimal use.
Shiva is of the opinion that globalization has done more harm than good; she notes that globalization has polarized and divided people along social-economic classes; since the embracement of globalization, there has been an increasing gap between the laborers and the capital owners; she further notes that globalization has resulted to violence’s which she clarified them as; violence of militarized warfare, the violence of “culture wars”, and primitive accumulation for wealth creation.
She sees globalization as s creation of some of the world powerful countries to assist them control the world.
She criticizes Thomas Friedman for looking the world from a micro-angle and only concentrating on the views of the few individuals around his cycle; she laments of increasing poverty and increased dependency that some countries have been exposed to as a result of globalization (Naomi, 1999)
One area that globalization has been blamed is creating unequal distribution of resources; some people stand to benefit while others loss as a result; Shiva blames free trade for social and ecological destruction that the world is experiencing; she is of the opinion that current world trends injure the environment and people suffer silently under the name of globalization.
The erosion of culture and social morals can be blamed on globalization; as people interact, they lack their sense of identity resulting to world with minimal respect to humanity. She notes that cultural and social ties played a crucial role in maintaining order and holding societies together, however globalization has threatened the existence of the ties (Freidman, 2005).
Shiva challenges the idea of multinational corporations operating in developing country; she observes that these organizations are used as tools of re-colonization as powerful governments control their affairs. Some of these corporations have a large control over the economies of the countries they operate, thus when controlled by an external force, then the control can be felt in the country.
She laments the operations of international trade organizations like the World Bank and International Monetary fund where she believes they work for the benefit of some countries (Brooks 2007, 34).
She blames the international bodies of advocating democracy yet they were using their powers to dictate some policies to the world; she gives the examples of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPs) and structural adjustment programs of the 1980s as some of the authoritarian rules made by the international bodies for the benefit of some countries.
Conclusion
Vandana2 Shiva in the article The Polarized World of Globalization, laments the effects globalization; she is of the opinion that globalization has negative social, political and economic effects. Some of the negatives she brings out are increased poverty, inequality in resource distribution and culture erosion among communities.
Reference List
Brooks, Stephen. 2007. Producing Security: Multinational Corporations, Globalization, and The Changing Nature Of Conflict. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Freidman, Thomas. 2005.”Wake Up and Face the Flat Earth.” Yale Global. Web.
Naomi, Klein. 1999. “Rebels in Search of Rules.” New York Times. Web.
Vandana, Shiva. 2005.”The Polarized World of Globalization.” GPF. Web.