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Archived Articles
Defining Globalization
2002
Back to Current Articles | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1996-1997 Don’t Fence Us In (October 6, 2002)
This illuminating article challenges the notion that globalization is creating an increasingly “borderless” world. Author Naomi Klein claims people, especially in the developing world, face both physical and intangible barriers to resources they need to improve their lives. (Guardian)Post-Terror Surprises (September/October 2002)
Moises Naim explores changes in the world’s understanding of globalization since September 11th. In discussing the strengths and weaknesses of globalization in economics, culture and politics, Naim outlines the future of this much-debated subject. (Foreign Policy)What Can Business Do to Appease Anti-Globalization Protesters? (Summer 2002)
This Business and Society Review article discusses the clash between “globalizers” and “anti-globalizers” as based on fundamental value differences of “efficiency” versus “justice”. While representing the business argument, the author correctly points out that “no window-dressing will appease” those who seek corporate accountability to basic labor, human rights and environmental standards. This article sheds light on the complexity of globalization and the multiplicity of values that might lead to conflict within the globalizing world.EU Globalization Study (February 13, 2002)
In a comprehensive report, the EU Commission weighs the pros and cons of globalization and proposes policy recommendations. The report looks at crisis prevention and development through global taxes, programs to safeguard the poor, good governance, and development aid. (EU Commission)How to Judge Globalism (January 1, 2002)
Globalization, far from being a new, western-dominated phenomenon, developed a millennium ago under the influence of early eastern cultures. Without advances in mathematics, science and technology made in Asia since 1000 AD, western countries today would be economically and militarily far weaker. (American Prospect)Globalization: The Argument of Our Time (January 2002)
In this lively exchange, leading scholars Paul Hirst and David Held examine several questions central to the globalization debate. What is globalization? Is it new? Are the protestors right? What are the alternatives? (Open Democracy)
2001
Back to Current Articles | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1996-1997 Around Belgium Prime Minister Open Letter (December 12, 2001)
Attac publishes two answers to Guy Verhostadt’s open letter to “anti-globalization movement”. The first letter by Susan George gives an overview of the common grounds, misunderstandings and disagreements. The second one by the Corporate Europe Observatory emphasizes the need to move towards more democratic and ethical policy-making.Financing and Providing Global Public Goods: Expectations and Prospects (December 2001)
This independent study analyzes the policy aspects of, and the financing mechanisms for “Global Public Goods”. The authors try to construct an appropriate conceptual framework to this fuzzy and ambiguous concept. (Ministry for Foreign Affairs Sweden)Governing Globalization (November 29, 2001)
George Monbiot expresses his view on globalization in light of September 11. In an interview conducted by openDemocracy, he criticizes the Bretton Woods institutions, asks for an increasing aid budget and favors Keynes’ self-correcting global economic system for the future.A Corporate Believer's Turnabout (November 25, 2001)
The 1995 book "When Corporations Rule the World" has helped to view globalization as not inevitable. The author, a former conservative, now describes his vision of the future as a network of locally and cooperatively owned businesses.(New York Times)UN Report on Globalization and the State (November 2, 2001)
The impact of globalization raises the need to redefine the nature and the role of the state to take account of the emerging political, economical, and cultural changes.Humanising Globilisation: A Role For Human Rights (October 30, 2001)
High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson calls for the integration of human rights principles in the shaping of globalization: “equality, participation, respect for diversity and international co-operation”.(United Nations)Signs of the Times (October 22, 2001)
Anti-globalization movements must continue in spite of the September 11 attacks, even if it means stopping the targeting of capitalistic symbols. Activists points out there exists more options than just the “economic fundamentalism of ‘McWorld’ and the religious fundamentalism of ‘Jihad.’” (The Nation)Globalization and the Human Rights Framework (October 18, 2001)
Elsa Stamatopoulou, Deputy Director of the New York office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, stresses the need to include human rights law in the shaping of globalization. During the Financing For Development Prep Com, she enounced specific points that will help future thinking and actions. (United Nations)Attacks on US Change Course of Globalization (October 2, 2001)
US attacks make it hard for anti-globalization movements to distance themselves from anti-American feelings. (Inter Press Service)The Paradox of Anti-Globalisation (September 28, 2001)
The current President of the EU, Guy Verhofstadt, expresses his view on globalization. In an open letter, he argues that more globalization is the answer to the problems of the developing world. (Guardian)Globalization Fight Goes On as Capitalism Crown Lies in Ruins (September 14, 2001)
Responding to attempts to link anti-globalization to anti-US movements, famous activists try to dissociate the two. (AFP)Globalization Now, a Sequel of Sorts (August 11, 2001)
Relatively low tariffs and few restrictions on immigration encouraged economic integration in the pre-World War One period, termed an “earlier age of globalization.” The era ended, however, with a “cataclysmic war.” Can history provide indications of how the current period of globalization will turn out? (New York Times)A World of Extremes: Ten Theses on Globalization (July 17, 2001)
Amartya Sen deconstructs ten common myths concerning the process of globalization. (LA Times)Globalization, Cosmopolitanism and Democracy: an Interview (March 11, 2001)
In an interview for the Catalan journal IDEES, David Held, from the London School of Economics, answers questions related to the impact of political and cultural globalization on human rights and democratic politics.Measuring Globalization (February, 2001)
Can you imagine an attempt to measure globalization? Maybe before departing in absurdity, someone should have told both Foreign Policy and A.T. Kearney teams that measuring a phenomena is impossible. (Foreign Policy)
2000
Back to Current Articles | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1996-1997 The Choice is Clear: Globalization for Capital, or for People (September 11, 2000)
Whose globalization is it anyway, Jorge Jorquera asks in the The Age editorial. He rejects a kind of globalization where “capital can roam the globe, [while] most of the world’s people cannot.”Pace of Globalization Quickening (August 22, 2000)
Globalization will shape human societies in the 21st century as dramatically as the rise of democracy did in the 20th, a report by the State of the World Forum suggests. However, the process is itself a very unequal one, affecting different parts of the globe in different ways.The Development Numbers Say Economic Globalism Has Failed (July 4, 2000)
Don’t pin your hopes to the fate of globalism. William Pfaff painfully details the failure of this once promising phenomenon. (International Herald Tribune)Globalization and Its Impact on the Full Enjoyment of Human Rights (June 15, 2000)
This report from the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights undertakes a sweeping account of globalization, both economic and social. It has gained widespread publicity by calling the WTO a nightmare for developing countries. (UN Press Release)Globalization of Capitalism (April 28, 2000)
Dr. Andargachew Tiruneh gives an insightful analysis about "capitalism" being different from "market economy". The operation of the present capitalist system illustrates how it is dedicated to making money to the exclusion of all other interests. There is also a brief reference to Ethiopia. ( Addis Tribune).One World: It's a State of Mind (April 19, 2000)
An editorial from the San Diego Mercury News pondering the question is globalization "Americanization"?Causes Without Borders: Who's in Charge ...? (March 27, 2000)
An editorial from the Christian Science Monitor discusses the rising challenges of global governance. (Christian Science Monitor)Exclusion from Globalization - Greater Threat than Exposure to It (March 1, 2000)
Speaking at a Global Meeting of UNDP Resident Representatives in Glen Cove, New York, the Secretary-General said the most decisive factor differentiating those countries now benefitting from globalization from those who are not, is the quality of national governance.Cyanide Spill: What Globalization Really Means Is ... (February 15, 2000)
Does globalization mean that anyone can go anywhere and do what they want without interference from locals and not be held accountable for their actions? A Chernobyl scale chemical spill, originating from an Austrailian company in Romania, spreads through Hungary and Yugoslavia, begging the question, Is this also an inevitable result of globalization? (Philadelphia Inquirer)The Global Divide, from Davos...(February 1, 2000)
"For many cultures, globalization is the West over the rest." (Boston Globe)The Transnational Capitalist Class and the Discourse of Globalization (2000)
This paper argues that the “Transnational Capitalism Class,” personified by transnational corporation owners, globalizing bureaucrats and elite consumers, uses the discourse of national competitiveness and sustainable development to further the interests of global capital. As a result, the text views globalization not as a “Western” but rather a globalizing capitalism ideology. (Global Site)
1999
Back to Current Articles | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1996-1997 Globalization Needs a Dose of Democracy (October 5, 1999)
An article from the International Herald Tribune contributed by Richard Falk and Andrew Strauss emphasizing democratization considering the increasingly important global dimensions of politics.Looking At Impact of Globalization (May 12, 1999)
Article from the Malaysian New Straits Times that looks at the economic impact of globalization and the Asian Financial Crisis.UN Attacks Growing Gulf Between Rich and Poor (July 12, 1999)
Article that briefly examines the recently published Human Development Report 1999 and some of the UN's critiques of economic globalization.Globalization: An Irresistible Force (June 7, 1999)
Article which claims that globalization is a pervasive facet of contemporary society.The Threat of Globalization (April 1999)
Edward S. Herman's analysis of the ideology of globalization and its failures.The US Perspective on Globalization (April 1999)
Article by Stuart Eizenstat of the Overseas Development Council which presents the US portrayal of the meaning and motivations behind (economic) globalization.The Growing Challenge to Internationalism (March 1, 1999)
Article from the Futurist which argues that growing popular disconent with globalization will force it to become a more accountable process.The Fin de Siecle Debate: Globalization as Epochal Shift (Spring 1999)
Article which argues that capitalism has entered a "transnational phase." In order to be effective, popular struggle will have to embrace this aspect of the new order and engage in "transnational organizing."Globalization Versus Internationalization (1999)
In a speech in Buenos Aires, Herman Daly compares these terms and discusses some of the resulting implications.
1996 - 1997
Back to Current Articles | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1996-1997 Globalization: The Great American Non-Debate (November 1997)
The author, a research fellow at the US Business and Industrial Council Educational Foundation, calls for greater discussion of economic globalization in the US so that decisions may be reached in a more open manner.Is Globalisation Inevitable and Desirable? (May 7, 1997)
A public debate held in London that was organized by Le Monde Diplomatique, the Financial Times, and the European Institute of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Three members of Le Monde Diplomatique and the Financial Times participated in an effort to expand public discussion of globalization.Backlash Grows Against Globalization (December 1996)
Article by Martin Khor points out that criticism of economic liberalization is spreading in both the southern and northern regions of the globe.
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