S1415 Challenges of Globalization

The economic focus on globalization turned out to be inept to cover its social, political, and cultural effects. Beyond some economies, which are flourishing due to the globalized markets, e.g. some Asian countries and Brasilia, the world at large is still suffering from the financial crisis. Some African societies are trying to cope with negative growth, and are facing an increase of racial and religious conflicts, which are at least partly caused by their economic difficulties. And these are, at least partly, caused by globalization. It seems, that some nations are paying a prize too big for the liberalization of markets.

Economic deficits, caused by globalized markets not only threaten African societies. Yet, African societies exhibit the truth of the meanwhile well-established interdependence of climate change, poverty, and political instability. Globalization and climate change are certainly different causal powers, but wherever they have negative effects they complement each other in the worst possible way.

An almost silently working and unobserved side effect of globalization is ‘land grabbing’ in Africa, South America, Asia, and Eastern Europe. International funds and foreign capital speculatively buy up or rent farmland e.g. for the production of biofuel. Within the last 12 years almost 500 million acre of farmland (e.g., the octuple of the UK) were bought up by financial investors. Smaller farms and peasants are endangered, monocultures and pesticides threaten environments, and fresh waters reserves are exploited.

While there are good reasons to deplore some bad effects of globalization, there are others, which seem to be welcome. The internet, i.e. globalized communications, had and still has its share in the political upheavals in Egypt, e.g., and still gains momentum in political quarrels in other places. Some societies, e.g. China and Iran, realize the power of globalized communication and take control over the internet and their users.

A different type of control of global communication was triggered by post 9-11-terrorism and has since been taken by Intelligence Agencies who allegedly act globally as unlimited and uncontrolled surveillance authorities. Human rights and rights of privacy are touched and at risk.

Human Rights are far from being realized globally. Nevertheless, they are and have been used as arguments for ‘Humanitarian Interventions’ on different occasions, e.g. in the Kosovo-campaign in 1999 or in the Libya-campaign in 2011. It seems as if Human Rights play an ambiguous role in pro-intervention arguments and in overriding the sovereignty of independent states.

The research agenda:

Obviously, the challenges mentioned above are widespread and heterogeneous, too heterogeneous to be treated thoroughly and exhaustively in one term. Yet, it is important to consider the greater set of global challenges comprehensively in order to understand their mutually aggravating effects. Hunger and poverty are, e.g., increased by different causes, by climate change and by land grabbing, and both theses causes are somehow connected with the financial markets.

The research seminar will gather the relevant materials in order to render a full-fledged picture of these causes and their interrelatedness. It will try to identify possible solutions to the challenges of globalization.

Learning Outcomes:

In coping with a confusing array of problems students are asked to train research techniques in order to identify relevant data and publications. These techniques will be useful for further steps of academic qualifications (e.g. doctoral dissertations). Every student is asked to produce an individual reading-list and reading samples for each topic.