Contrary to Its Promises of Integration, Inclusion and Prosperity.Globalization Creates Marginalization, Exclusion and a Reinforcement of Inequality How Would You Account for This Apparent Contradiction.

Contrary to its promises of integration, inclusion and prosperity.Globalization creates marginalization, exclusion and a reinforcement of inequality how would you account for this apparent contradiction.

Globalization was imposed on the world with a promise of integration, inclusion and prosperity but instead we are faced with rampant inequality, exclusion and marginalization at a scale that we have never seen before. It is said that not only has the quest for integration, prosperity and inclusion for the third world been elusive whatever little benefits that we in the third world have been given in previous years is quickly disappearing. In the news we see that hunger deaths have started to occur in countries such as Argentina and Chile where hunger was never a problem, and “starvation has returned to countries like India which had driven away famine like the one of 1942 which killed 2 million people under colonial, and provided food security through public policy shaped by the democratic process of an independent and sovereign country.” Globalization has clearly failed to improve the well being of citizens or countries and is as a result of the rise of the Multi National Corporation, Neo libertarian principles coupled with pressures on the world system by international institutions.

The role of the Multi National Corporation in the last quarter century has increased dramatically as well as their size and scope of business due to the processes of globalization.Today, it is quite the norm for these MNC’s to have their base in New York, their manufacturing plant in Thailand, their assembly line in Nigeria and their sales hub in Colombia. According to the world bank ,“their number increased seven-fold within 25 years: an enormous expansion. No less than 30 per cent of present world exports consists of transactions within these companies. Even the commodity trade in the countries of the South is now concentrated in the hands of about 15 transnational companies.”These non state actors now have more say in world politics more than ever as they have proved to be major players financially as well as politically. Using the conglomerate Wal-Mart, to paint a vivid picture, hires more people in its operations than the whole population of Trinidad and Tobago. They also trade annually in over 30 billion dollars in goods with China which is up to 30 times the budget for some Caribbean islands. With these figures in mind it is not difficult to understand why countries are constantly competing and fighting to let them have their manufacturing plant in their countries by offering them huge tax incentives and special “free zones”.

This whole process leads to the reinforcement of inequality as these large companies do not use their financial prowess to develop the economies that they have a presence in. Instead they choose to exploit the country for its labour and raw materials. In 2002 a report done by the BBC news corporation uncovered a child labour ring that Nike used to produce its sneakers in Thailand where the employees were treated like slaves and had were forced to work in unsanitary conditions. On top of that they worked for a little over 0.50 cents a day. This shows the huge inequality that globalization has brought with it as it is the norm for factory workers in developed countries to be paid over $5 an hour.

While all these processes that I am talking about have gone on for hundreds and even thousands of years, the pace has picked up noticeably in the last few decades. This is changing the nature of globalization as it is happening alot faster than most of us can comprehend, creating new opportunities and new tensions.

Multinational corporations have not only begun the colonization process that is sure to exploit the economies of today but they have been working for numerous years on the process of colonizing the future. This is cleverly being done by “laying claims on tomorrows output”. The ability to take out patents and trademarks and copyrights and the ability to enforce them have made all of this possible.This is easily achieved by taking out patents on everything that they have invented so in the future when the items are being made they will have full control over use of the technology and the price at which it is being sold. In 1995 235,440 patent applications were filed by the United States whereas in some of the poorer nations less than one hundred patent applications were filed. This colonization the future has been seen in media reports in Africa as the Multi National Corporations have held back the use of genetically modified crops from Africa because the people could not pay for the seeds which would produce far more nutritious fruits and vegetables that would prove to be far more resilient to arid African conditions .This resulted in mass protests and hunger strikes. Another example of this was seen more recently in Brazil as the Government could not afford the high cost of HIV/Aids medication for its population and could not resort to the generic version due to patent infringements.

Neo liberalist principles have also led to the marginalization, exclusion and increased inequality in the Caribbean in more ways than one. The cornerstone of neo liberalism is based on the principle of free trade and the market controlling the economy and the free flow of goods through the process of demand and supply.This neo liberalism drive that has been taking place as a result of globalization has seen the Caribbean and Central America become more marginalized in recent years through the removal of sugar quotas and preferential trade agreements

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