English Oral Exam Q2: Globalisation
1.) Environment:
Pros:
- Use of renewable resources, recycling, local food and products, and changing consumption behaviour can help reduce environmental impact.
- Speaking up about climate change and participating in movements like Friday for Future can raise awareness and encourage action.
- Public transportation systems, car sharing, and the Paris Agreement can help reduce emissions and greenhouse gases.
- Environmental sustainability is already on the agenda of many governments, which can trigger environmentally friendly technological innovations.
- Transfer of green know-how to countries with low environmental standards can help improve their practices.
Cons:
- Duplication in production processes due to deglobalization can increase local emissions.
- Overexploitation of natural resources, destruction of the environment, deforestation, pollution, loss of biodiversity, heat waves, and extreme weather can cause health risks.
- Running out of fossil fuels, fertilizers and pesticides, and microbeads can also have negative impacts.
- Loss of landscapes due to urbanisation and industrial agriculture, and desertification can also be a concern.
2.) Economy:
Pros:
- Globalisation can create new potential markets and customers.
- Outsourcing can help maximise quality, revenue, and consumer satisfaction.
- Transnational corporations (TNCs) can benefit from cost savings and better adaptation to local markets.
- Globalisation can create new job opportunities for local workers, increasing employment rates.
Cons:
- Overexploitation of natural resources, destruction of the environment, and pollution can have negative impacts on the economy.
- Rising competition and increasing dependencies can also be a concern.
- Uncontrolled money flow and concentration/gain of power of multinational companies can lead to monopolies.
- Enhancement of export infrastructure development in developing countries (due to investments) can lead to trade wars (e.g. US and China), imposing border taxes on each other's goods, which can lead to people in LEDCs being pushed further into poverty.
3.) Politics:
Pros:
- Cooperation through partnerships can lead to better relationships between countries (e.g. due to TNCs).
- Peacekeeping forces (e.g. UN, NATO) can help prevent conflicts and protect human rights.
- Sustainable development goals and NGOs can encourage countries to work together.
- Limitation of nationalism can lead to smaller countries partnering up and gaining more influence globally.
Cons:
- Labour exploitation (e.g. sweatshops) and outflow of wealth (profits are exported to home country) can lead to a widening gap between developed and developing countries.
- Protecting local firms from global competition by making domestic produce cheaper in comparison can lead to poor people being oppressed.
- Only people with some money profit from globalisation (gains from investments), while poor people stay poor.
- Loss of local businesses can also be a concern.
4.) Culture/society:
Pros:
- Developing intercultural competences, getting to know new cultures, learning more languages, and travelling can all be positive outcomes of globalisation.
- Increased mobility and spread of democracy can also be beneficial.
- Access to traditional/cultural products (art, entertainment, education) can help reduce stereotyping and misconceptions.
Cons:
- Racism, discrimination, and conflicts between cultures/religions can be negative outcomes of globalisation.
- Individual cultures may blend into one single global culture, thereby losing all their characteristic features (Dangers of cultural homogenization).
- Forcing western values on foreign nations can also be a concern.
5.) Population:
Pros:
- Better education and gains in life expectancy can be positive outcomes of globalisation.
- Reduction of mortality and reducing death rates can also be beneficial.
Cons:
- Racism, discrimination, and conflicts between cultures/religions can be negative outcomes of globalisation.
- Health risks (e.g. climate change, spread of diseases, loss of food vitality, intoxication due to gases/pesticides) can also be a concern.
- National happiness is declining, with main activities being watching TV and shopping.
- Overpopulation and expected demographic transition (ageing) can also be a concern.
6.) Technology:
Pros:
- Diffusion of new ideas and technologies, increase of communication, and global information network and exchange can all be positive outcomes of globalisation.
- Inventing new technologies and methods, and easier networking and developing of virtual communities can also be beneficial.
Cons:
- Communication between terrorists can be easier due to globalisation.
- Collecting and exploiting users' data, cybercrime risks, and spread of hate speech can all be negative outcomes of globalisation.
- Unsustainable focus on profit, rather than human rights, and unsafe working conditions can also be a concern.
- Fast fashion (cheap, low quality, mass production) can have serious consequences for companies and the environment.
Facts & Figures:
- Fashion industry: reduction in cultural variety can be addressed through more robotized production and media/advertising that promotes contentment with what we have.
- Outsourcing & Transnational corporations: one pair of jeans uses roughly 3480 litres of water and 32 Kg Carbon Dioxide CO2 Emissions.
- Trade: TNCs engage in international production to avoid trade barriers.
- Waste: international trade allows countries to expand markets.
- Environment: global greenhouse gas emissions are projected to increase by 50%, and temperature is projected to increase.
- Food miles: testing environmental impact of food can help reduce carbon footprint.
- Organic food: environmental and animal friendly farming methods can help reduce environmental impact.
- Plastic waste: 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste since 1950s; only 9% is recycled.
- E-waste: goes to Africa and can be toxic/dangerous for workers.
- NGOs: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Red Cross, and United Nations Organisation all work towards positive outcomes of globalisation.
