What is CONTEMPORARY WORLD?
Refers to circumstances
and ideas of the present age, where it deals with problems and
issues related to environment, population, wealth, power,
tensions and conflicts.
What is the main idea of contemporary world?
Using the various disciplines of the social sciences, it examines
the economic, social, political, technological and other
transformations that have created an increasing awareness of
the interconnectedness of peoples and places around the
globe.
What are the topics of contemporary world?
The Contemporary World program is part of the Social Sciences.
It deals with problems and issues related to the environment,
population, wealth, power and tensions and conflicts.
What is contemporary world and example?
The contemporary world refers to the circumstances and ideas
of our current time. From costly conflicts to tremendous political
developments to a global pandemic, it is safe to say that the 21st
century has been quite chaotic.
Why is it important to understand the contemporary world?
Students interpret a contemporary world problem associated with
each of the themes studied. By interpreting these problems,
students learn to recognize the interests of different actors and
international power relations. This helps them to grasp the
nature of the issues on which they have to take a position.
What is contemporary world in globalization?
The term globalization is widely used and names the shape of our
contemporary world. It means we are now living in a deeply and
increasingly interconnected, mobile, and hasty society
driven by tech- nology.
What are the characteristics of contemporary world?
Definitions and Characteristics of Modernity
● Rise of the nation state.
● Growth of tolerance as a political and social belief.
● Industrialization.
● Rise of mercantilism and capitalism.
● Discovery and colonization of the Non-Western world.
● Rise of representative democracy.
● Increasing role of science and technology.
● Urbanization.
Course Outline:
Weeks 1-2 Introduction to Globalization - Defining globalization
Weeks 3-5: The Structures of Globalization - The Global
Economy - Market Integration - The Global Interstate System -
Contemporary Global Governance
Weeks 6-8: A World of Regions - Global Divides: The North and
the South - Asian
The Structure Of Globalization
THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
INTRODUCTION
United Nations- address different kinds of problems occur in the world
8 Millennium Development Goals (1990s)
1st: Eradication of Extreme Poverty and Hunger
Achieving Universal Primary Education
Promoting Gender Equality and Women Empowerment
Reducing Child Mortality
Improving Maternal Health
Combating disease like HIV/ AIDS and Malaria
Ensuring environment sustainability
Global partnership with development
There are different standards of living in the world.
¬ Poverty Line/ Poverty Threshold
¬ Extreme poverty – characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs.
Eliminate by
2030
¬ UN (2015) reported that 1.9 billion down to 836 million extreme poverty.
¬ World Bank by 2030 predicted down to less than 400 million
¬ People who lifted out from extreme poverty still considered to be poor.
ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION AND GLOBAL TRADE
Economic Globalization
- The increasing interdependence of world economies as a result of cross-border
scale trade of commodities and services, flow of international capital, and wide
and rapid spread of technologies. It reflects the continuing expansion and
mutual integration of market frontiers, and is an irreversible trend for the
economic development in the whole world in the turn of millennium.’
(Shangquan, 2000)
2 TYPES OF ECONOMIES
1. Trade Protectionism- usually comes in the forms of quotas and tariffs.
Tariffs – are required fees on import/export
Great Depression of 1929- marked the peak of protectionism
2. Trade liberalization/ Free Trade- it means goods and services moves around the
world more easily than ever. It is more on innovations and ideas, Jeffrey Sachs, an
economist mobiles phones are the “single most transformative technology” when
it comes to developing the world.
× Leapfrogging – the idea that countries can skip straight to more efficient & cost
effective technologies that were not available in the past.
× Fair Trade- concern for the social, economic, and environmental well-being of
marginalized small producers. It aims for a more moral and equitable global
economic system.
ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
× Sustainable Development- is the development of our world today by using
earth’s resources and the preservation of such sources for the future.
× The relationship between globalization and sustainability is multi-dimensional -
it involves economic, political, and technological aspects.
× Positive effects of development put our environment at a disadvantage such as
climate change and global inequality.
Environmental Degradation
× Efficiency- finding the quickest possible way of producing large amounts of a
particular product.
× This cycle harms the planet in a number of ways.
× Ecological Modernization theory sees globalization as a process that can both
protect and enhance the environment.
Food Security
× Global food security means delivering sufficient food for the entire world
population. The sustainability of the society such as population growth, climate
change, water scarcity, and agriculture.
× The challenges to food security can be traced to the protection of the
environment.
Major Environmental problems:
• Destruction of the natural habitats
• Deforestation
• Industrial Fishing
• Decline in the availability of fresh water and water supply
• Pollution
• Greenhouse gases
• GLOBAL WARMING – poses a threat to the global supply of food as well as to
human health.
Global Income Inequality
Economic Inequality- the unequal distribution of income and opportunity
between groups in society.
Two types of Economic Inequality
× Wealth Inequality- Speaks about distribution of assets
× Income Inequality- New earnings are being distributed that values flow of
goods and services
× Wealth- Refers to the net worth of a country which is also the abundances of
resources in a specific country.
× Income- New earnings that are constantly being added to the pile of a country’s
wealth .
The Third World and the Global South
× First world (Global North)- (US, Canada, Western Europe)- Western capitalist
country.
× Second World (North-South)- The Soviet union and its allies (Albania, Hungary,
Poland and Romania)
× Third world (Global South)- Caribbean, Latin America, South America, Africa,
some part of Asia
Theories of Global Stratification
× Modernization Theory- One of the main explanation for global stratification
is the modernization theory. This theory frames global stratification as a
function of technological and cultural differences between nations.
Walt Rostow’s Four Stages of Modernization
1. Traditional Stage- refers to societies that are structured around small, local
communities with production typically being done in family setting.
2. Take-off Stage- people begin to use their talents and skills. This innovations
creates new markets for trade.
3. The drive to technological maturity- nations in this phase typically push for
social change
along with economic change.
4. High mass Consumption- your country is big enough that production becomes
more about wants rather than needs.
The Modern World System
× Core- high-income nations of the world economy. A manufacturing base of
the planet where resources funnel in to become the technology and wealth.
× Semi-Periphery- middle-income countries, due to their closer ties to the global
economic core
× Periphery- Low Income countries, whose natural resources and labor support
the wealthier countries.
MARKET INTEGRATION
Market Integration
∙ Occurs when prices among different locations or related goods follow similar
patterns over a long period of time.
In any given economy, production typically splits into three sectors:
1) Primary Sector
2) Secondary/Manufacturing Factor
3) Tertiary/Service Sector
HISTORY OF GLOBAL MARKET INTEGRATION
-The Agricultural Revolution and the Industrial Revolution
-Capitalism and Socialism
-The Information Revolution
-Global Corporations
THE BRETTON WOODS SYSTEM
Five Key Elements
1) The expression of currency in terms of gold or gold value to establish a
par value. (Boughton, 2007)
2) The official monetary authority in each country would agree to exchange its
own currency for those of other countries at the established exchange rates, plus
or minus a one-percent margin. (Boughton, 2007, pp 106-107)
3) The establishment of an overseer for these exchange rates, the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) was founded.
4) Eliminating restrictions on the currencies of member states in the int’l trade.
5) The U.S. dollar became the global currency.
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
Responsible for trade in services, non-tariff-related barriers to trade, and
other broader areas of trade liberalization.
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF)
WORLD BANK
ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD)
ORGANIZATION OF PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES (OPEC)
EUROPEAN UNION (EU)
NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (NAFTA)
Positive Consequences
-if lowered prices by removing tariffs, opened up new opportunities for small and
medium sized business to establish a name for itself, quadrupled trade between
the 3 countries, and created five million U.S jobs.
Negative Consequences
-include excessive pollution, loss of more than 682,000 manufacturing jobs,
exploitation of workers in Mexico, and moving Mexican farmers out of business.
