Globalization Theory: Three Authors, Three Very Different

¶ … Globalization theory: Three authors, three very different views of the effects of globalization Although there is widespread agreement that the world has become 'globalized' in a fashion that is unique and distinct from past eras, the precise meaning of what it means to be 'global' and if this is positive or negative is highly controversial. According to Noble Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz in his book Making Globalization Work, globalization has had few 'victors' and many victims, creating an international system which makes the poor poorer and the rich richer.

Stiglitz notes that "Africa, stripped of its assets, its natural resources," and left with a debt burden beyond its ability to pay" is one of the victims of globalization and even many of its 'winners' like China still has many people living in poverty (Stiglitz 23). Developing countries, because of the economic asymmetries of globalization, effectively become hostage to the World Bank for loans, who controlled how they developed, rather than the voice of the populace, who often suffered economic privations because of austerity measures.

The developing world nations must remake themselves over in the colonialized image demanded of the developed world, into a consumerist model that is often incompatible with their culture and past. In contrast to Stiglitz's 'doom and gloom' scenario, journalist Thomas Friedman paints a far sunnier picture of globalization in his book The World is Flat. Friedman specifically points to technology as a 'flattener' that has connected the world through instantaneous communication and given residents of the developing world unprecedented access to opportunities.

For example, outsourcing and offshoring has enabled businesses to offer goods and services more cheaply, while giving the residents of developing world nations access to new jobs. These relationships have not been exploitative, however -- rather, it is India Friedman calls the new Silicon Valley, as Indians are capitalizing upon and using the new knowledge gained from interfacing with the West to begin their own businesses. On one hand, callers at Indian 'call centers' working for the U.S.

must use Western names; on the other hand workers are able to use their higher incomes to attain a state of middle class comfort their parents could not have dreamed of and even while outsourcing can result in job loss "India's growing economy is creating demand for America's goods and services" (Friedman 23; 29). In the long run, Friedman believes that such sharing of information can only be mutually beneficial to all participants. It will also make the world more peaceful, given the lack of incentive to attack such close trading partners.

Richard Florida's book The Rise of the Creative Class takes a more nuanced view of globalization, rather than seeing it as tale of winners and losers like Stiglitz or mainly winners like Friedman. The most significant impact of globalization is the rise of what Florida calls 'the creative class,' or people who view their primary worth in terms of what they can create with their minds rather than what they can create with their hands.

This new generation of upwardly mobile professionals (who are not only confined to the arts and IT but all fields that prize innovation) gravitate to places that can support their interests and desire for urban, stimulating amenities. Florida believes that the cities of the world (given that young creative have few loyalties and ties to places) that can attract young creatives will be the powerhouses of the future. Globalization has, in effect, created a 'new person.' All of these visions of globalization, of course, have some truth.

A resident of sub-Saharan Africa would be more apt to find resonance with Stiglitz's vision, and that author's focus on social justice. Stiglitz does not ask 'is globalization good' but 'is globalization fair,' and.