In this political cartoon you could see the opinion of some when it comes to economic globalization. This cartoon depicts how the big and wealthy "Corporate American" man is thankful for free trade while hold a whip in one hand with NAFTA labeled above it and a chain with WTO above that. On both sides of the big "Corporate American" man are two smaller men that look miserable, one labeled "U.S. Workers" and the other "Workers Abroad." Each man had a ball and chain attached to them. For the abroad workers the ball and chain was labeled "slave wages, no workers rights" and for the U.S. worker the ball and chain was labeled "massive layoffs vanishing worker rights." This cartoon portrays the negative aspects of economic globalization and the transformation of the international world economy. The U.S. is well know for wanting to spread free trade agreement and as U.S. citizens we are reassured that it is a positive thing for all however this cartoon chose to illustrate some of the more negative consequences. Some consequences including increasing layoffs and outsourcing to outside nations. However this outsourcing may have positive and negative effects on citizens of those nations. Overall this cartoon is depicting how corporate America will ultimately do what will be better for the economy but not necessarily the people.
In the reading "The Architecture of Globalization: State Sovereignty in a Networked Global Economy" by Stephen Kobrin the author emphasizes that as a world we are in the middle of a huge qualitative transformation of the international world economy. By this Kobrin means that with the rapid increase in not only technology but the scale of different technology and their availability in numerous industries there is also a dramatic rise in cost, risk, and complexity. Just as the cartoon portrayed some of the negative affects of free trade and how it could be harmful domestically and internationally Kobrin attempts to show that though we are going towards an open international world economy the re-precautions must be considered as well. Kobrin also explains that the international economic transactions are being changed because of the transnational strategic alliances. These alliances could be military alliances or trade alliances, such as a free trade agreement which would intensify the organization of international markets and hierarchies and move them more towards global networks. This cartoon depicts outcomes of a free trade agreement for every day workers whereas Korbin explains the outcome of a free trade agreement on the organizational of international markets.
Valerie,
ReplyDeleteDo you think that worsening conditions for international laborers and US workers are an inevitable part of globalization or something that has been done within globalization? Could things have been different? Could they be going forward? Or is globalization too much of a force to stop it?
I don't believe that it is an inevitable part of globalization. I think its an inevitable part right now because of the type of global economy we have and the drive of consumerism. I believe globalization should be about the spread of different cultures and ideas, peacefully. And though economic globalization is maybe inevitable, how we globalize isn't.
DeleteValerie, I think this is a very interesting cartoon. It points out how corporate America is able to benefit from free trade at the expense of others. Overtime, these issues have come to head. The Battle at Seattle was a big protest against the WTO because many people felt it enabled environmental abuse, workers rights abuse, etc. Do you think it is possible for the individual workers in the US or abroad to benefit from free trade? Or is it something that can only benefit corporations and larger scale enterprises?
ReplyDeleteI think that this cartoon also shows the growing resentment of many Americans: as globalization is growing, corporate America gets rich while others suffer. However it is important to look at the other side of the cartoon, with the exploited workers. Many Americans get upset about the outsourced jobs, not realizing these people are having their rights abused as well.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned how the differences in technology causes massive costs to implement the technology in certain areas of the world. Startup costs are always inevitably high, but decrease as time goes on. When this happens, do you think there could be a shift to focusing on the rights of the workers around the world?
I do believe their should be a shift to focus on the rights of workers around the world however I also see that there are many other global issues that are more pressing right now that often worker's rights gets forgotten. As sad as that reality is.
DeleteI think this cartoon is interesting because it clearly shows some of the worst effects of globalization, yet it fails to consider the positive effects for most Americans (though not necessarily people outside of the US). With globalization, clearly jobs are outsourced because labor is cheaper and other nations do not have the same basic rights protections that we do in the US. This obviously has a negative effect on workers in other countries and indeed even workers in the US. The net positive, however, for American citizens is goods and products that are much, much cheaper than if they had been produced in the US. What I find interesting about outsourcing jobs is, would American citizens really take the jobs in manufacturing and production if they were still in the United States? I have always equated it to the Bracero Program in the Southwest during the 1950s and 1960s in which there were plenty of jobs in agriculture for Americans, but Americans simply refused to take them and thus the government turned to migratory Mexican labor. To me, it almost seems that as much as Americans complain about outsourcing, the same Americans would likely reject the job if it came back to the US.
ReplyDeleteAs Ross Perot predicted, NAFTA has led to a "sucking sound" as American jobs are lost to Mexico. This leads to American workers being laid off and has led countries such as Mexico and China to become economically dependent on the United States. US manufactures do not have to adhere to strict regulations overseas so they will take their factories to wherever it is cheapest, and pay the workers close to nothing and ignore basic human rights.
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