January 15, 2008
Welcome. I have to do this for class. I live in Pittsburgh. I'm a dual economics and sociology major. I'm going to write about Austria. Wings Hauser is cool.
I like coffee.
January 22, 2008 SOC1435 – Study Questions Ch 1 and 2
1) The first wave of globalization occurred in the late 18th century with the Industrial Revolution. The first wave of globalization was the result of increased production due to new efficient processes in the manufacture of goods. Newer communications and transportations allowed the goods to the sold to regions previously uneconomical to supply. This led to reduced nationalism, an increase in free trade policies, and more standardized means of exchange or globalization.
2) "Deglobalization" is the return to nationalism. This is often achieved by decreasing international trade by changing policies in the international means of exchange that resists international exchange. This occurs due to governments, and/or a nations people, wanting to isolate themselves from the instabilities of the international markets.
3) The "Age of Extremes" was the period of deglobalization in the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century (1880 – 1950). The British Empire was such a superpower in international affairs and trade; nations deterred their influence by remaining nationalistic. The decline of Great Britian at this time, along with WWI and WWII, allow nations a return to nationalism. The US stock market crash of 1929 also reinforced nations to resist globalization, even in the US itself.
4) Hegemony is a state of core-periphery hierarchy in which one core society has domination over all other societies. Neoliberalism refers to a historically specific reemergence of economic liberalism's influence among economic scholars and policy-makers during the 1970s and through at least the late-1990s (wikipedia.org 2007). Neoliberalism is the want to return to the Kenynesian and Adam Smith’s view of economics which is known as “laissez-faire”, in which governments will have only minimal influence onto markets and ownership. They believe that if markets are left alone, they will achieve their natural equilbrium. Neoconservatism is the political philosophy that emerged in the United States from the rejection of social liberalism (wikipedia.org 2007). It is the rejection of the socialist movements of the 1950s and 1960s.
5) Global industrialization based on fossil fuels threatens the biosphere because the mass production of goods using fossil fuels products a vast amount of by-products and waste. One of the by-products and waste from fossil fuels, when burned, is CO2, which has been linked to the increases in CO2 in the atmosphere, which supports life in the biosphere.
6) A level of analysis in sociological research in whether research is global, regional, local, or individual. The level of analysis determines the range of phenomena it covers or to which it applies (Neuman 2004).
7) Research to be pitched at a global level of analysis means that it is designed to answer questions about social phenomena at the global level. For example, how position in world-power related to pollution output (Babones 2006).
8) The two criteria for defining a global social phenomenon are, first that to be considered global, a social phenomena must in some sense be unified as at a global level, and second, a social phenomena that has no, or does not respect, national boundaries.
9) A survey of people’s income changes that were outsourced due to deindustrialization could be studied using the individual unit of analysis. A study of the shift in the economy of Pittsburgh due to deindustrialization could be studied using the regional unit of analysis. The middle class squeeze and deindustrialization in the US could be studied using the country unit of analysis. A study of the difference between North American and South American deindustrialization could be studied using the area unit of analysis. The study of CO2 production of deindustrializing countries could be studied using the world unit of analysis.
10) Biological and atmospheric scientists might be involved in the study of deindustrialization because as countries deindustrialize, the levels of pollution and the types of pollution may change. Atmospheric scientist may want to study the new and old pollutions as the biologist may want to study the effect of the new pollutions on organisms.
SOC1435 Questions CH 12,13 January 29, 2008
1) Moghadam defines globalization as a complex economic, political, cultural, and geographic process in which the mobility of capital, organization, ideas, discourses, and peoples has taken on an increasingly global or transnational form. Moghadam’s approach is that globalization is the latest stage of capitalism and that social-gender effect are variable.
2) Moghadam defines “proletarianization” as the formation of a female working class, different from the entry-level professions. Characterized with low wage and labor intensive.
3) Moghadam defines “professionalization” as the formation of a female professional services class, such as law, banking, accounting, and computing.
4) The levels of women’s labor force participation have increase based on a region’s level of globalization. Unregistered, home-based work is common in low globalized regions. Higher levels of employed women in globalized regions.
5) Globalization has lead to an increase in women unionizing. The US, Australia, and the Nordic countries, all advanced industrialized countries, have shown that women are the largest growing union constituency. The highest union density is found in northern Europe, were women participation is the highest.
6) The transnational feminist networks are women organization and movements that lobby for equally in education, wages, and politics. The groups have been successful in developed countries, such as the US, but in developing and underdeveloped countries these groups continue to struggle with norms and religions beliefs.
7) The anti-corporate globalization movement is like transnational femininism because their main goal is the remove inequality and oppression, whether it is from a female perspective or a sweatshop worker, debted nation, or sanctioned/unsanctioned group’s perspective.
8) Some examples of accomplishments of ACGM are the disruption of the Millennial Round of the WTO. The World Bank and IMF have expanded their policies on debt relief and increased their focus on the mitigation of poverty due to pressures on ACFMs.
9) The main challenges facing the ACGM in the years ahead are decisions whether to seek to transform or terminate the main institutions of globalization. The challenge of the group finding newer, more conventional ways of funding their movement to increase their abilities. The challenge of the movement surviving in a uni-polar us dominated global political economy.
10) Social movements and unions are the answer to the problems of globalization because without a volume of people behind a cause the movement will be ineffective. Durkheim stated that only with moral density and population density could a social action change social norms and behavior.
SOC1435 Ch 4 Questions February 5, 2008
1) According to Sklair, globalization is the emergence of processes and systems of social relations beyond nation-states. It is similar to Moghadam’s definition because she includes ideas and culture transcending borders; however Sklair approach is void of a feminist skew. Globalization, to me, is the erosion of nation-state borders and distinct cultures due to advancing technology, such as computing, communications, and transportation.
2) The world-systems approach to globalization is based on the core, semi peripheral and peripheral model of global hierarchy. This approach is based on the interactions of the societies in the hierarchy and how they are reacting to globalization. The core societies are promoting a division of labor so the lower semi peripheral and peripheral societies are easier controlled. This is mostly an economic based approach.
3) The global culture approach to globalization is based on mass media and the lack of heterogeneity in the ownership of mass media. This approach is concerned with the owners of global mass media manipulating what people see and hear to promote their political, economic, cultural, religious, etc views. This approach is concerned with the owners of mass media eroding distinct cultures, creating one culture created by mass media.
4) The global society approach to globalization is based on the emergence of science, technology, industry, and universal values to create a singular global society that is aware of global happenings, whether positive or negative. Due to technology, people can no longer pled ignorance to issues that do not affect them or have seen directly. Global society is the view of a global consciousness which denounces ignorance.
5) The global capitalism approach to globalization is the based on a Marxist approach in which globalization is a means for capitalist to acquire a greater amount of the means of production. To do so the capitalist must remove boundaries such as nationalism and distinct culture solidarities. Once achieves, a global market will emerge immune to governments and cultural biases.
--Plissken81 (talk) 22:24, 22 January 2008 (UTC)