Development and Globalization
- Details
- Hits: 43523
The author is associated with orderwriters.com which is a global custom writing company. If you would like help in custom writing or term paper writing, research paper and essays, you can visit orderwriters.com.
Introduction
Development and globalization are two terms that cannot be separated. Globalization has to do with the relations between countries while development refers to the growth of these countries economically, socially and politically. In dealing with this topic therefore, I will look at what these two terms mean and how they are interrelated. I will try to analyze how development and globalization has led to the classification of countries in terms of economic development. In this paper I am going to highlight how those countries that are considered highly developed relate with those considered less developed countries.
DEVELOPMENT AND GLOBALIZATION
Development is the process of improvement or progressive refinement and realization in economic, social, political and cultural values (Belmont & Judson 2007) Development therefore has to do with growth. A country is said to be developed when it has developed proper economic, social, and political structures. These structures have to work together. We can therefore say that development cannot be measured in only one of these terms but they have to be considered as a whole.
Globalization on the other hand refers to the process of interaction and integration of many economies, cultures and societies into a single one (Belmont & Judson 2007). The relations between countries have led to classification of countries in terms of developed and developing, or third, second or first world countries. The classification of countries in these terms has led to dependence where the so called developing countries have to depend on aid from the so called developed countries. This therefore means that the economic, social and political structures of these so called developing countries are in a great way influenced by the developed partners.
Considering political development countries in the world are categorized by their economic and political developments. A common categorization of countries that was used in the cold war era incorporated government ideology such as capitalism and communism (Ashley & Orenstein 2004). Countries in this categorization are looked at in terms of the rights their citizens are entitled to, the political and financial ideologies adopted by the political class. These ideologies determine how countries relate with each other and the alignments they will take. That is the reason we find that some countries were allied to the communist USSR while others aligned with the western capitalist ideologies.
Countries are also classified in terms of first world, second world and third world countries. This is mostly in terms of their economic development. The term mostly referred to those countries that were democratic, capitalist and industrialized during the cold war. They include the North Atlantic Organization countries and their allies (Ashley & Orenstein 2004).
The Second world countries described the communist-socialist states of Eastern Europe and China (Ashley & Orenstein 2004). These countries followed different economic and political ideologies from the so called first world countries. They were not believed to follow democratic principles.
The third world countries did not align to any of the ideologies, communist or capitalist. They were less economically developed compared to the others. These are countries mostly in Africa, Asia and Latin (Ashley & Orenstein 2004).
Looking at economic development, the Gross National Income (GNI), Human Development Index (HNI) and the Gross National Product (GDP) per capita are used to categorize countries (James & John 2005). Countries in this category are either developed or developing. The economic growth of these countries is used to determine where they fall. Mostly, the developing countries depend on the aid from the developed countries to fund their projects. The standards of living in the developing countries are usually low compared to the developed ones. The structures, economic and political, of these developing countries are considered to be well developed and able to sustain economic growth (James & John 2005). Developing countries have low Gross National Income, low Human Development Index and low per capita income. Some of their characteristics are illiteracy, poor living standards, poorly developed trade and infrastructure, high infant mortality rate and underdeveloped industrial base. Some of the developing countries include Kenya, Afghanistan and Peru (Backhaus & Joseph 2003).
Ways of measuring development.
There are several ways used in measuring development. They include Gross National Product (GNP), Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Human Development Index (HNI). GNP and GDP measure the strength of the economy. GNP is the value of goods and services of a given country by its citizens while GDP is the value of all goods and services produced within the boundaries of a country by citizens and foreigners. These are measured over a period of one year.
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a way of measuring development which works by ranking countries according to their quality of life of their citizens. The Human Development Index is a composite statistics of three variables which are: life expectancy and its regarded as the best measure of a country’s health and safety, education which is obtained by combining adult literacy rates and the average number of years spent at school and lastly the income per capita which is the actual purchasing power that is what an income will actually buy in a country.
Development can either be classified into economic, social, cultural and political. Economic development is relevant in measuring the progress and the quality of financial life of citizens in a country. This can be achieved by improving the agriculture, industrial, transport and trading of a country. Social development involves the improvement of the society in terms of health, education, housing and food. Improvement in them may be indirectly related to economic development because if income increases people can enjoy better health, education, nutritional food and housing. Political development is the improvement of institutions, attitudes and values that form the political power system of a society. Cultural development is the process of integrating and differentiation involving increases in cultural complexity and involves the evolution from primitive ways of life to more advanced and civilized forms (Joseph & Backhaus 2003).
Sociological theories
Sociological theories are complex methodological frameworks and ideas used to explain objects of social study and facilitate organizing sociological knowledge. Sociological theory is constantly evolving and therefore can never be presumed to be complete hence showing development because new sociological theories build upon the work of their predecessors and add to them, though classic sociological theories are still considered important and current. Some of the key developments that have influenced sociological theories are: the rise of individualism, the appearance of the modern state, industrialization, capitalism and globalization. Some of the sociological theories include functionalism, Marxism and feminism
Functionalism is the framework that partakes society as a system whose parts work together to promote stability and solidarity. It sees social structure or the organisation of society as more important than the individual. This approach takes the society to be a large-scale orientation, which is a wide focus on the social structures that develop society as a whole. Functionalism looks at both social functions and social structure. It also views society as a whole in terms of the basic purpose of its constituent elements; traditions, customs and institutions.
Feminism is a collection of movements that are aimed at establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women. It stresses the importance of gender divisions in society and portrays these divisions as working to the overall advantage of men. This approach shows how sexuality both reflects patterns of social inequality and helps to perpetuate them. Feminism, from a social conflict perspective, focuses on gender inequality and links sexuality to the domination of women by men
Marxism theory asserts that the society is dominated by ruling class and that it’s based on conflict between the classes, it focuses on class relations and societal conflict. It foresees a revolution where communism will be introduced and capitalism abolished. (Antony & Philip 2013)
Sociological perspectives
The sociological perspective is a perspective on human behaviour and its connection to society as a whole. It invites us to look for the connections between the behaviour of individual people and the society. Sociological perspective is generally tied to the main paradigms of sociology structures of the society. (Aiken, Chapman, Stephen & Moore 2006)These are:
1. Conflict theory
2. Functionalism
3. Symbolic Interactions
Symbolic Interactions: This perspective focuses on symbols that can be found in society, what those symbols mean to each of us, and how those symbols affect the way we interact with others in our society.
Conflict Theory focuses on how certain parts of our society are in conflict with each other, and how the "elite" members of our society oppressed the lower class for their own gain. (Holborn & Haralambos 2008)
Functionalism explains that each part of the society is dependent on each other.
Modernization and dependency theory
Both modernization and dependency theories were developed to explain the result of underdevelopment. The dependency theory as explored by Eduardo Galeano's Open Veins in America, explains that the causes of underdevelopment came from colonial expansion. Lawrence Harrison explains the modernization theory in Development and Underdevelopment. Both theory authors argue different ideas such as the cause of poverty is due to European powers placing structural restraints on the third world countries.
Galeano explains the structural restraints causing poverty to the third world as unequal exchange. He continues to note that the price of exports from the third world keep on decreasing, while prices from developed countries increase. This creates a circular trap as wages in richer countries are increasing, which cause the price of industrial goods to increase while wages in third world countries are low and the export prices declines. This means underdeveloped countries need to constantly increase their yields and exports for their profits to stay the same. The cause of poverty in third world countries is argued by Harrison to be blamed on their values and cultures; tradition. The authors believe that the problem can be solved if the poor countries can transform from traditional to modern. They also suggest that the traditional society can emulate those who became modern and follow their footsteps (David 2005)
The role of Inter Governmental Organisations
Inter Governmental Organisations are agencies in which countries with widely differing political institutions and at the different stages of economic development may exchange views, share their problems and experiences. They are classified into global, regional, economic, educational and health organizations.
These organisations have played a major role in development which cannot be overemphasized. They have improved security where these countries are able to combine their military to fight a common enemy. An example is NATO.
There are also economic benefits to these organizations. These include free trade agreements that enable these countries to trade without their goods and services being exposed to taxation or minimal taxation.
These organizations also enable the member countries which are considered weak politically to gain political strength. Such countries like Portugal and Netherlands get their strength by the virtue of being members of the European Union. (Marsh et al 2004).
Conclusion
Globalization and development go hand in hand. Factors of globalization determine to a large extent the development of countries. Ideologies adopted by a country determine the alignments the country will take in the global arena.
References
Aiken D, Chapman S, Stephen Moore 2006, Sociology for A2 for AQA, HarperCollins Publishers, London UK.
Antony G & Phillip S 2013, Sociology 7th edition, Polity Press, Cambridge.
Antony G & Philip S 2010, Sociology: Introductory Readings 3rd edition, Polity Press, Oxford UK.
Antony J, Applebaum M, Duneier, Giddens A, Mitchell &Richard H 2005, Introduction to Sociology 6th edition, Pearson Education, Massachusetts USA.
Ashley D & Orenstein DM 2004, Sociological theory: classical Statements 6th edition, Pearson, Boston.
Backhaus K & Joseph, 2003, The Theory of Economic Development, Transaction publishers, New Jersey USA.
Belmont C & Judson R 2007,Sociology: Concepts and Characteristics 7th edition, Belmont CA.
David M. Ment, Feb 2005 "Education, nation‐building and modernization after World War I: American ideas for the Peace Conference," Paedagogica Historica, London UK.