Globalization and Sustainability

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Globalization: the process by which the nations of the world become more interconnected

Major factors leading to globalization

The spread of global trade

• The creation of international conglomerates has made it profitable for products to cross borders
• Advances in transportation make moving things long distances pretty cheap
  • Buy the cheapest cotton in Brazil
  • Use an American factory to turn it into cloth
  • send it off for Xiang Zhang(age 7) to make into a shirt at the Shein factory in China
  • Sell it in France
• Paying fees for crossing borders and transporting it is cheaper than doing the whole thing in one country

The Internet

• I can talk to محمد بن ابدلازيز اشتري شورما مع بابسي in Saudi Arabia right now on social media
• Ideas can spread really fast
  • Ex: محمد بن ابدلازيز اشتري شورما مع بابسي may have never had a democratic thought in his life if he didn’t see that we vote on everything in the US. Now he might want democracy himself instead of Sheikh Muhammad Bin Salman making all the decisions for him
• People care more about whatever they see more of
  • Seeing Ukrainian iphone footage of their house getting exploded makes you care more about it than if you saw it from a news helicopter
• The media is democratic now
  • Tank Man should have never been recorded in its time, but if it happened today there would be 300 videos of it released by everyone around it
  • The mainstream media 1) doesn’t matter anymore 2) can’t push their agenda without someone pointing out they are lying anymore.

Government Policies

Globalization is only possible if governments make it profitable(which it is right now)

• NAFTA
  • “Possibly the worst trade deal in the history of trade deals” - President Trump
  • Makes Mexican labor cheaper than American labor
  • No tariffs on between US-MX-CN
  • Good for MX and CN, not for US
• EU
  • Freedom of movement throughout most of the European Continent
  • Gets rid of continental FOREX by making everyone use the Euro
  • Tries to standardize stuff to make it more convenient(tries) Continue these style of notes, taking notes on this article

World System Theory by Wallerstein

Core-Periphery-Semi-Periphery Structure

• Core: rich countries
  • US CA
  • European Union
  • JP
  • ANZ
• Periphery: “Made in” countries/agricultural countries
  • Eastern Europe
  • China
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
  • Indonesia
• Semi-Periphery: Countries thats aren’t really important to us(usually poor)
  • Africa
  • Central Asia
  • Most of South America

Core-Periphery Terminology

• Developed countries: Industrialized countries with strong economies (criticized for focus on economic growth and assumption of superiority)
• Developing countries: Less industrialized countries with weaker economies (criticized for implication of need for “catching up” to Western ideals)
• Core-periphery model: Emphasizes status and hierarchy among global economies, providing a better understanding of relationships between countries

Sustainability

Definition

• Use of natural resources in a way that does not irreversibly deplete them
• Essential theme in human geography, driving decisions about human interactions with geographic Processes

Sustainable Development

• Development that meets present needs without compromising future generations’ needs
• Examples
• Availability of natural resources
• Innovations for better use of renewable resources
• Reduction of pollution and waste
• Equitable distribution of goals across core, peripheral, and semi-peripheral countries

UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

• 17 goals to promote peace, freedom, and prosperity worldwide, including:
• Elimination of poverty and hunger
• Access to quality education
• Gender equality
• Probably won’t work because the UN doesn’t actually do anything