A Level Religious Studies - Globalisation Revision Sheet

What is Globalisation?

Globalisation is a process of global integration of economies, politics, products, ideas and other aspects of culture. This interconnectedness has grown massively over recent decades as a result of improved transport links and trade deals, as well as legislation.

Advantages of globalisation

·       Globalisation has the potential to make the world a better place for people to live in, giving the unemployed jobs and through trying to eliminate poverty.

·       It provides developing countries with capital and technology meaning the likelihood that they will develop increases. This creates conditions where democracy and respect for human rights can flourish.

·       Socially, we have become more open, accepting and tolerant towards one another.

·       Transnational companies that invest in plants in other countries will provide employment for the people in those countries which can help them get out of poverty.

·       Globalisation increases the free trade between countries. This has allowed investors in well developed nations to invest in developing countries. Huge corporations from developed nations have great flexibility to operate in other countries.

·       The increased flow of communication has allowed vital information to be shared between individuals, businesses and nations around the world. It has contributed to a greater speed and ease of transporting goods and people.

·       It helps countries with labour shortages fill important posts. For example, the UK needed to recruit nurses from the Far East to fill shortages.

·       Production is increasingly specialised. Globalisation enables goods to be produced in different parts of the world. This greater specialisation enables lower average costs and lower prices for consumers.

Disadvantages of globalisation

·       Globalisation can lead to inequalities in income and wealth. For example, the rural-urban divide in countries such as China, India and Brazil. This can then lead to tensions between some locations and instability in communities.

·       Firms move to countries where they can get cheaper workers which causes unemployment in developed, industrialized countries.

·       Globalisation uses non-renewable resources. It contributes to global warming. Firms outsource production to places where environmental standards are less strict.

·       It has led to increased economic and cultural hegemony. There is therefore less cultural diversity.

·       Some countries find it difficult to hold onto their best workers due to the free movement of people between nations.

Case studies

nike

Nike’s global headquarters is located in Beaverton, Oregon, USA Nike employs more than 700,000 contract workers in over 700 factories worldwide. The list includes 124 plants in China, 73 in Thailand, 35 in South Korea and 34 in Vietnam. More than 75% of the workforce is based in Asia.

Nike subcontracts or uses independently owned factories in different countries to produce its products. Often this takes place in less economically developed countries (LEDCs) where labour costs are lower than in MEDCs. Nike say they are in the business of "marketing" their products, not making them.

They have been criticized for the working conditions and low wages at these factories, with many critics accusing the company of profiting from sweatshop labour. There have been numerous controversies and investigations into this matter. While Nike has made efforts to improve conditions, many rights groups still push for higher wages and greater change.

marks and spencer

M&S has a plan (“Plan A”) and is praised by reformers for pushing forward without waiting from a crisis. It is known for its stability, as well as long term and positive relationships with suppliers. It is the only major retailer to ensure its suppliers are able to pay workers a living wage in developing countries – Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka – by 2015. Campaigners said they don’t yet know what M&S considers a living wage to be. They also want to see less emphasis on making garment workers more productive in return for better wages, and more emphasis just on better wages.

bangladesh factory collapse in 2013

On April 24th 2013, the Rana Plaza building in Savar, near Dhaka, in Bangladesh collapsed.  On 24 April 2013, the Rana Plaza building came crashing down, killing 1,134 people and leaving thousands more injured. People all across the world looked on in shock and horror as media reports poured in revealing the true extent of the human toll. There were harrowing stories of survival, of people who had no choice but to amputate their own limbs in order to be freed from the rubble and survive.

The collapse of Rana Plaza brought worldwide attention to death-trap workplaces within the garment industry. The public interest and media attention has resulted in more political pressure than ever before to effect change and has led to significant ground-breaking approaches to prevention and remedy, with the establishment of the binding Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh and the Rana Plaza Arrangement involving all major stakeholders, meant to compensate the survivors and the families of the killed workers.

The building had several factories which manufactured garments for around 28 brands. One of these factories was supplying Primark.

Immediately after the disaster Primark worked with local partners in Bangladesh to give financial support and food aid to the victims and their families. At the time, they also committed to providing long-term compensation. In total Primark has paid $14m in aid and in both short and long-term compensation to the victims and their families of Primark supplier, New Wave Bottoms.

In 2015, they launched the Pashe Achi project. The project aims to improve the capabilities and self-confidence of the most vulnerable recipients so that they are able to retain access to, and control of, their financial compensation in order to support their well-being. They have also been part of the industry's response to begin steps to make garment manufacturing in Bangladesh safer in future. Primark has a dedicated team of experts based in Dhaka to work with the factories on safety, providing in-depth training for factory management and workers to ensure safety requirements are met.

Kantian ethics and Utilitarianism

utilitarianism

The creation of the greatest good can be understood in global terms. The World Bank has calculated that 800 million Chinese people have been relieved of poverty since China opened up its economy in 1978 – mostly due to globalisation. The good globalisation does massively outweighs the bad – as proved by the extremely small number of countries that keep trade barriers to block globalisation and protect their businesses from global competition.

Some utilitarians may say that globalisation deepens global inequalities. It may not be doing the greatest good and western countries wanting less developed countries to open their markets to western goods at the lowest price – it is merely a way of gaining more profit.

kantian ethics

Kant argued everyone should have the same degree of freedom. He accepted governments would restrict freedoms but only to ensure everyone had the same freedom. Without it – humans would be out of control. Kant’s view on equality would clash with the inequality generated by globalisation and tolerated by those who benefit from it. The impacts of globalisation appear to be the strong imposing their will on the weak – super-rich on the ‘dirt poor’.

People are often used as a means to an end which isn’t good. Companies use cheap labour in overseas countries in order to maximise profits.

Bowie (Business Ethics: A Kantian Perspective, 1999) suggests Kantian thinking can inform businesses on how to organise meaningful work. The Kantian idea of meaningful work is:

·       W0rk freely chosen that provides opportunities for the worker to exercise autonomy on the job.

·       Work that supports the autonomy and rationality of human begins – if it reduces autonomy it is irrational.

·       Work should provide a salary sufficient to exercise independent living and ensure well-being and satisfaction for some of the worker’s wishes.

·       Work should not undermine a worker’s moral development.

Kant would expect the firm should:

·       Consider all affected stakeholders when decision-making

·       Ensure no one stakeholder takes priority in any decision

·       Not consider the number of stakeholders affected  when the interests of one group must be set against another (e.g. deciding redundancies)

·       Ensure profit-making has some duty of benefit (done for the good of others)

·       Ensure relations with stakeholders are governed by rules of justice

scholars and quotes

“Globalisation, more than anything else, has reduced the number of extreme poor in India by two hundred million and in China by three hundred million since 1990.” Jeffrey Sachs, The End of Poverty, 2005.

“Globalisation has brought prosperity and development to many countries, but also financial crises to Asia, Latin American and Russia, and increasing poverty and marginalisation.” Anna Lindh

“Globalisation is about homogenising differences in the worlds’ markets, cultures and traditions. It’s about giving big business access to a global market.” Zac Goldsmith

“Globalisation will make our societies more creative and prosperous, but also more vulnerable.” George Robertson

Does globalisation encourage or discourage the pursuit of good ethics as the foundation of good business?

Encourage	Discourage
Helps less economically developed countries develop which is good.	Encourages the manipulation of tax laws and taxes to pay less to the government and hire children – bad ethics.
Helps reach a larger customer amount which makes more people happy if the business satisfies their needs – utilitarians may believe this is ethically good.	Use people as means to an end – bad ethics.
Provides jobs for people in less developed countries which can help them get out of poverty which is good ethics.	Promotes inequality between developed and developing countries as workers in developing countries are exploited for cheap labour costs whereas the developed are the ones who profit. Unfair and bad ethics.