Globalization according to International
Monetary fund defines it as “a historical process involving the increasing
integration of economies around the world, particularly through trade and
financial flows”.
Globalization refers to an extension
beyond national boundaries of age-old market forces; it refers sometimes to the
mobilization of people (Labour) and knowledge (Technology) across international
borders, and besides, it has a broader reference to cultural, environmental,
and political activities with world wide dimensions. Globalization existed to
ensure increase integration of economies around the world especially by way of
trade and financial market on a global scale through modern electronic
communication technology.1
The term Third was coined originally
in the time of cold war, to distinguish those nations that are neither aligned
with the west (NATO) nor with the East, the communist bloc. Today it’s used to
describe the developing countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania.
These countries are described so as a result of their political rights and
civil liberties, in terms of their Gross National Income (GNI), human
developments, in terms of poverty as well as press freedom.2
Globalization was viewed as a means
through which high rate of poverty can be reduced; standard of living
strengthened etc. However, globalization activist argued that globalization
which is an economic integration favours the already wealthy countries than the
developing countries, contradicting the anti-globalization movement claims. For
example, in Sub-Saharan Africa 75% household thought that multinational
corporations had a positive influence on their country compared to only 54% in rich
countries. Of the 38,000 people in 44 nations surveyed, those in the developing
world, generally blamed their local government and not globalization for their
country ills. There is however, no ground for complacency with 12 billion still
living below the poverty line. Dollar says “the world needs more international
and national actions including enhanced market access for developing countries,
improved investment climates and effective delivery of health and education.3
Economically speaking, globalization
entails the integration of world trade and financial market but given that
developing countries are not really catching up with the advanced level of
globalization, the impact of globalization on the third world countries leaves
much to be desired. For instance, in the arena of trade it was noticed that the
share of primary commodities in world, exports of items such as food and raw
materials has declined relatively in recent times. In the area of capital movement,
it is noticed that the net official flows of “aid or development assistance from
the advanced countries to the third world countries have dwindled significantly
since the early 1980s. As a result of that, people moves or migrates form poor
zones to richer zones. For example in Nigeria, it was noticed that there is an
increased in the number of workers who migrates to the developed countries in
search of greener pastures that is a better paying job opportunity; and many
world blame the poor home economic situation on adverse effects of
globalization.4
Indeed, through the existence of
globalization third world countries experienced positive as well as negative
changes in their economy. These changes have helped to raise the standard of
living of the people. On the other hand, it has equally driven the economy of
the people deeper into poverty. This Poverty level made it difficult for the
third world countries to update their technologies. This made it difficult also
for them to compete with the multinational wealthy nations. They are forced to
do business locally importing most of their household goods which helped to
make their economy dwindled and not able to reach their full potentials. Thus,
technological, there are advancement made daily throughout the world, though,
it’s expensive to rapidly make and deliver these advances globally. The
production cost causes the consumers price to be unnecessarily high. Today,
there are many countries in the world that cannot afford to pay such a high
price for the latest technology and by the time they will afford to pay many
more advanced technologies exists. The democratization of technology benefits
mainly the wealthier country(s). And with this happening it makes the poor
countries more poor and the rich richer. For instance, when these wealthier
countries investors invest on the internet, on the telephone and through
facsimile machines the profit of their companies will increase greatly. The
invention of telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 was to allow
information to be sent around the world; considerable more than before, when it
will take days, weeks, months even years to courier documents around the world.
Today, with these technology advances one can communicates, transacts and pass
information to another country within few seconds or minutes.5
Also, globalization has increased
the standard of living of more people of the third world countries higher and
faster than the previous five hundred years. It increased the number of “have –
not” through the dramatic increase of the number of “haves”. It has also driven
the poor further into poverty, making it more and more unlikely that they will
never recover. It equally creates tension for the third world countries that
have skills and resources to compete in the global market and those who do not.
For instance, when internet was first introduced globally, some of the
developing countries of the third world were able to incorporate it into their
economy, while some could not. Some of these countries become richer than the
others while some become poor and these poor countries cannot be able to
compete in the global market. Even when they could be able to buy computers and
pay for internet access, the wealthier countries which were opportune to have
access to the internet first must have been on the profit side as they advanced
forward while the third world countries are new in the system.
In the transportation industries,
technology advances had improved the economy of the developed and developing
countries. When automobile and air plane are produced the advanced countries
benefited because the resource with which is needed to acquire them are there.
Though, by then the third world country could not afford to acquire those
advance transportation technology. This helped to bring distance or to create
gap between the have and the have not. The poor countries could not meet up
with the same number of business returns as the developed countries because
what would have taken three days with the help of modern transportation will
cost them months or weeks with out dated transportation. Also the lack of
modern transportation facilities made the advanced countries not willing to
establish or create their ware house in the developing countries nation.
However, this made the economy of the developing countries to be left with much
to desire. And the level of inexperience and poverty that exists in some of
these developing countries made them be at the mercies of the developed
countries, while these developed countries took it as advantage in order to
enrich them selves.6
Furthermore, in order to ensure that global market
benefited many counties in the world some institutions were created as well as
some polices like IMF, WORLD BANK, TARIFF etc. The creation of these
institutions is good but there are some existing polices with which these
institutions are been run or operated which made many accused it as been
largely responsible for the rather deplorable economic woes and backwardness of
many third world countries Nigeria included. Global market placed needs to be
appropriately controlled by the forces of society and by the state, so as to guarantee
that the basic needs of the whole society are satisfied. Globalization when not
carried out in the right spirit of humane solidarity, could very easily become a
mega bombshell of exploitation of the already economically, technologically and
socially disadvantages third world countries.
Globalization – a new Version of
Colonialism
The
19th century colonialism was the expansion of capitalism accompanied
with industrial revolution, which was aided by the government and armies of the
colonial powers. The countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America were mostly
the victim of invasion of the armies of the colonial masters. The government of
the colonial powers took over administration of the colonial territories.
Colonial powers had to maintain colonial administration, colonial courts,
colonial armies and other tools of oppression and exploitation and therefore
incurred financial expenses. With administrative set-ups, the infrastructural
facilities geared to the exploitation of the natural and manpower resources,
they controlled the movements of the natives and the acquisition of the markets
of the colonial territory. The exploitation of the mineral resources of South
Africa by forced labour was a quoted case of the time. It must be known that
the industrialization process of the powers (colonial masters) was accelerated
by the natural and manpower resource of the colonial territories. The aims and
objectives of globalization are not different from those of 19th
century colonial arrangement. The little difference is that globalization is
expensive while colonialism is exploitative. The national government bears all
the expenses of law keeping and order maintenance7.
Globalization simply exploits the
natural and manpower resources of the developing countries. Globalization which
is the new version of colonialism does not use military force because military
force will cost human life and financial resources. Globalization uses a well
developed, well organized financial and economic, well orchestrated diplomatic
pressures. The main forces and the main attention of globalization new version
of colonialism is Africa. Globalization as the rapid expansion through which
giant multi-national companies of capitalist to several areas of the world refers
to deregulation of global poverty by the North or core countries, and also the
exportation of under development and squalor through multi-national companies.
Globalization fare the embers of African sell-out who connive with the west to
perpetuate modern colonialism. There have been a growing revolt and protect
against globalization especially by Africans. They protest against
globalization as a new wave of colonialism which is still a hook on their neck.
“…. More than fifty thousand people gathered to protest against the loss of
decent paying jobs, proliferation of sweet-shop Labour, growing poverty and
social inequality, mounting environmental devastation, and diminution of
national sovereignty resulting from the W.T.O’s ‘free trade” policies which is
an agent of globalization-----“.8
As globalization have progressed its
living conditions (particularly when measured by broader indicators of well
being) it has improved significantly in virtually all countries. However, the
strongest gains have been made by the advanced countries and only some of the
developing countries were part of the most economic gained countries. Globalization
like Colonialism isolated Africans. The global age introduced a technological
caste system. It makes the third world countries in general impotent in global
reckoning. Globalization like colonialism created some policies which is
difficult for the third world countries but favorable to the advanced
countries. These policies are favorable to the advanced countries being
advanced in their economy, industry as well as technology than some of these
third world countries. They can be able to compete and maintain global market.
Although, some institutions were established such as IMF, World Bank etc to
help the third world countries collect loans in order to meet up in the global
market but it was not favorable to them rather, it make their economy dwindled.
The institutions created policies that made it difficult for these developing
countries to be stable economically and as a result of that it becomes
difficult for them to meet up to the needs of their people.9
Moreover, the third world countries
especially the African are expected to abide on the same policy as it’s also
expected those of advanced countries. They forget that before equality could be
achieved economically, which was the reason for integration-global market, the
developing countries should be at the mercy of the advanced countries. The
invention of technology was as a result of globalization, but it was at the favor
of wealthy countries because they can afford to get them as desired than the
poor or developing countries as well as colonialism. Colonialism brought about
the existence of some infrastructural facilities like roads, railways, ships,
hospitals, schools etc, but it was noticed that these infrastructures were
invented by the colonial powers. The similarities are that the rich or wealthier
countries can afford to invent and as well install and operate them better than
the African counter part. Globalization and colonialism saw to the existence of
many policies economically that affected many countries positively and
negatively as well. The job opportunities or employment globalization brought
can as well be like that provided or obtained during colonialism. The Africans
for instance, were employed to do the hard Labour especially in plantation, railways
and roads construction, mines and in building of bridges while the super powers
who are in charge monitor and supervise. The Africans were not given
opportunity to handle, conduct and supervise. They were not trained in such a
way they can be able to open their own industries, mastermind a contract in a
superior way, that is why today many African countries like Nigeria depends on
many import materials for a finished goods. Another affected part of it is that
in Nigeria for example there are many foreign multi-national companies that
exist. They made good money from the countries resources but had little or
nothing to offer the nation. The citizens of the country are employed only to
work as a servant and not as cooperators of the company. The most investment
made by these multinational companies was based in their mother countries and
not in the residential country.
In Nigeria we are blessed with
natural resources like petroleum but we lack good or better refinery and
knowledge of how to handle our resource for our own advantage. Globalization as
well as colonialism makes it possible for many African countries to unite and
relate with other countries of the world. Also, it was the existence of
colonialism that led to the existence of globalization after the Breton wood
conference held in the 19th century. It was initiated after many
colonial powers lost their colonial territory. Though globalization has been in
existence but was modernized and introduced to some third world countries that
have known about its existence. Globalization especially economic globalization
uses transnational corporations as its instrument. The average per capital
income in the most advanced country is now 58 times that of the least developed
country. Over half of the third world population lives on 5.6 percent of the
world’s income. The inequality continued in health section mortality tables
show 18.1 greater chance of dying before the age of 5 in poor countries and
life expectancy of 54 years compared with 80 years. This is as a result of
inability of the developing countries to have access to modern infrastructures
which can help to improve the peoples’ standard of living. Also, the income gap
between high-income and low income country earners has grown wider and it’s a
concern because the number of the third world’s citizens in abject poverty is
deeply disturbing. But it’s wrong to jump into conclusion that globalization
has caused the divergence, or that nothing can be done to improve the situation.
To the contrary, low income countries have not been able to integrate with the
global economy as quickly as others, partly because of their chosen policies
and partly because of factors outside their control. No country, least of all
the poorest, can afford to remains isolated from the world economy every
country should seek to reduce poverty.10 The international community
should endeavor by strengthening the international financial system, through
trade in order to help the poorest countries integrate into the world economy,
grow more rapidly and reduce poverty. This is the way to ensure that all people
in all countries have access to the benefits of globalization because the
forces of globalization increases both benefits of good polices and the cost of
failures. Countries that can not keep pace with change can be or not hurt by
the process. If globalization cannot work for the poor, then it will be very
harmful to the continent that shelters the poorest of the world’s poor.11
Finally, in the 1950’s and 1960s
most colonized countries and territories across the world threw off the yolk of
colonialism, there was tremendous hope and anticipation that new era of hope,
freedom, independence and self-determination was about to unfold. In most cases
it was of great reluctant that the colonial masters granted independence to their
colonial territory. It’s only means they had generated and held control of
their human and material resources and perpetuate them selves in the
social-economic and political lives of their subjects. For instance, some
African countries like Kenya. Algeria etc, it was with greater violence that its
independence was won. However, this independence had led to the result of many
changes. These colonial masters put in place much mechanism to ensure that the
new created states fail in order to continue to control them; even after their
independence. Thus, relating to the existing economic ties that exist between
the new created countries and their colonial master for instance in Nigeria and
Britain.12 Moreover, as the world continues to experience changes,
newer and more sophisticated yet, more subtle movements are taking over, the
most important of which is globalization becomes the new global colonialism,
based on the historical structure of capitalism and is a process that executes
the objectives of colonialism with greater efficiency and rationalism.
END NOTES
1. Mr. L.E. Egware, ‘Institutional Agents
of globalization
CBN, Economic and financial Review’,
Vol. 36, No. 4.
2. Http://www.Investopedia.com/terms/d/developed
economy asp # ax221leg08010
3. Http:/www.yabeglobal.yale:edu/conent/prov.
Globalization.
4. Albrow Martin and Elisabeth King (ed)
Globalization,
knowledge and society (London 1990), p.92.
5. Levitt, Theodore, the globalization of
market (Harvard
Review,
May – June 1983), p.6
6. Ibid p. 72
7. Awake ‘Globailization-curse or cure?’(May
2000), P.3-4.
8. Harjinder Signh, ‘The Economy of
African’, (Kalinga
publications Delhi, 1992), p.1.
9. Ibid p.6
10. Giddens Anthony, ‘The consequences of modernity’
(Cambridge: Polity press 1990), P. 70-74
11. Http://www.tigweb.org/yourth-media/panorama...
12. Http”//Org.segepub.com/../683.abstract.