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Globalization and its Critics FACT SHEET

Globalization and its Critics
A Nine-Session Course for the Workplace, Faith Center or Home

PURPOSE

To understand the institutions, processes and effects of globalization.
To examine how personal choices affect globalization.
To explore a variety of possible future visions and how they can be cultivated.

SESSION THEMES

Globalization Overview: “Globalization” is a term that is frequently used but seldom defined. Since World War II, why has the global economy grown so rapidly? How is it affecting the environment, local economics, and social and cultural customs throughout the world?

Questioning Free Trade: “Free trade” proponents call for the elimination of all barriers to trade between countries (like tariffs) and for the World Trade Organization (WTO) to settle all trade disputes. The more exporting and importing the better. What are the positive and negative impacts of free trade?

Transnational Corporations: Globalization encourages the growth of transnational corporations, like Wal-Mart, that purchase or manufacture goods and sell them around the world. How does this trend affect workers, consumers, and communities?

Food and the Global Marketplace: The local grocery store is now a global marketplace with food from many countries. The products travel a great distance, and local growers and processors must compete with far away suppliers. What are the long-term consequences?

Globalization and the Environment: Some people argue that globalization disregards the needs of the natural systems on which it relies. Others believe that concern for the environment is not pertinent to trade and should be addressed in other forums. What are the implications of this latter approach?

Social Equity: Proponents say that economic globalization will “lift all boats.” Critics argue that the gap between rich and poor is widening and the real beneficiaries are the captains of industry and wealthy investors. Is social equity relevant to trade issues?

Shaping Opinion: Corporations seek to shape opinion through techniques that are invisible to most of us. What are the implications of school curriculum prepared by corporations, news reports prepared by public relations firms, and “educational” organizations set up by industry groups?

Homogenization of Cultures: Free trade, with its attendant introduction of western products and outlets, is changing local cultures throughout the world. What is gained and lost through the homogenization of cultures?

GLOBALIZATION AND ITS CRITICS
COURSE READINGS

I. GLOBALIZATION OVERVIEW
“Framework for Globalization” by Chris Frost • “The Global and the Local” by Ed Ayres • Excerpts from The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas Friedman • “The Post-Corporate World” by David Korten • “A Civic Economy” by Jonathan Rowe

II. QUESTIONING FREE TRADE
“The 'Evolution' of the WTO” by Debi Barker and Jerry Mander • “No, We Have Plenty of Bananas” by Daniel Kraker and David Morris • “Ten Benefits of the WTO System” condensed from the WTO Web site • “Free Trade and Globalization vs. Environment and Community” by Herman Daly
• “The Free-Trade Fix” by Tina Rosenberg • Excerpts from This Place on Earth by Alan Durning

III. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS
Excerpt from When Corporations Rule the World by David Korten • “Tipping the Scale” by Steven Gorelick • “Corporate Cash” chart • “Selling U.S. Products Abroad” by Mark Satin • “The Benefits of Local Ownership” by Stacy Mitchell • Excerpts from “Economic Democracy” by David Korten
• “Socially Responsible Investing Comes of Age” by Steve Fahrer

IV. FOOD AND THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE
Excerpts from “Where Have All the Farmers Gone?” by Brian Halweil • “Small Is Bountiful” by Peter Rosset
• “Stuff of Life” by Vandana Shiva • “The Problem with Genetic Engineering” by John Grogan and Cheryl Long • “Consumer Power Reforms Chicken Factories” by Donella Meadows • Excerpts from “Reclaiming Our Food” by Helena Norberg-Hodge

V. GLOBALIZATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT
“Just So Much and No More” by Donella Meadows • “World Trade: Not Easy Being Green” by Bob Adams
• “Economic Globalization and the Environment” by Jerry Mander • “Leasing the Rain” by William Finnegan
• “Fleurs Du Mal” by Niala Maharaj and Donovan Hohn • “The Winds of Corporate Change” by Jennifer McCullough

VI. SOCIAL EQUITY
Excerpts from “Eyes of the Heart” by Jean-Bertrand Aristide • “Global Income Distribution” diagram • Excerpt from “Poverty—The Child of Progress” by Teddy Goldsmith • “The Discarded Factory” by Naomi Klein • “Two Cheers for Sweatshops” by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn • “Community Investing” by Hal Brill, Jack A. Brill, and Cliff Feigenbaum

VII. SHAPING OPINION
“War on Truth” by Derrick Jensen • Excerpt from “Learning to Serve the Global Market” by Steven Gorelick • “The Corporate Curriculum” by Steven Manning • “Secrecy and Science” by Eyal Press and Jennifer Washburn • “Schools Expel Channel One” by Keith Ervin

VII. HOMOGENIZATION OF CULTURES
Excerpts from “The March of the Monoculture” by Helena Norberg-Hodge • “TV and the Cloning of Culture,” an interview with Jerry Mander • “Another World Is Possible” by Jay Walljasper • Excerpts from “The Buck Starts and Stops Here” by Stacy Mitchell • Excerpts from “Small Is Still Beautiful” by David Morris • “The End of Growth” by Bill McKibben

If you are interested in starting a Globalization course, contact VEI:

Brattleboro:        Maria Echevarría              257-5609        mbechevarria@hotmail.com
Burlington:          Leah Wittenberg              343-1956        veicoordinator@yahoo.com
Montpelier:         Nicole DiDomenico         279-2371          ndidomen@yahoo.com
Rutland:               Mike O’Brien                438-6170         skyobrien@adelphia.net
Statewide:           Barbara Duncan               333-3664         vei@valley.net
Upper Valley:     Deborah Hawthorn          436-18181       deb.hawthorn@valley.net

For more information contact:
Vermont Earth Institute (VEI) P. O. Box 466, Norwich, VT 05055
(802) 333-3664 vei@valley.net www.vtearthinstitute.org

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