Psychology assignment.

GLOBALIZATION !

Question 8 from from Lectures and Today’s Globalization (related to question 7)

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Question 8 What forces gave rise to the weakening and breaking of the social safety net/social contract in the period from the 1980s and 1990s to the present? What do we call this new period?

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Affects of Globalization ■ Qualitative change of globalization included

– Economic interdependence – Communication revolution – Reformation of the role of the nation state – Diffusion of western culture – Growth of transnational movements – Movement organizations quasi government organizations – Neo-liberalism policies

■ When globalization became a powerful force, it broke the social contact

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Weakening of Social Contract ■ From the 1980s to the present forces have continually displaced the working class and

attempted to eliminate the people’s access to services and life necessities through unemployment and inflation

■ Forces that gave rise to the weakening of social contracts – World Bank (WB) – International Monetary Fund (IMF) – Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) – Rapid rise in technology – Use of Neo-liberal philosophy

■ Globalization and capitalism brought the weakening of the social safety net

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1980s ■ Period of extreme technological advancements (i.e. computer processing power

increased) ■ Computer technology changed labor relations because corporations no longer need

large amounts of human physical or mental labor – Increased unemployment

■ People cannot afford to pay for goods and services ■ Technology benefited companies but hurt the middle and working class workers who

needed wages and income to survive ■ Developing countries could not pay off debts due to capitalist policies, such as

privatization ■ Structural Adjustment Programs are detrimental to developing countries because they

are based on maximizing profits to pay down debts to the WB and IMF instead of supporting programs to help its citizens

■ General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) focused on reducing tariffs

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1990s-2000s ■ World Trade Organization served as forum for international trade agreements ■ Laborers increased their output but did not receive an adequate increase in wages ■ Third world countries are unable to support their impoverished populations ■ North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)-allow free trade between Canada, the US and

Mexico without tariff barriers ■ United States becomes a debtor nation ■ Increase of Americans living in poverty ■ Global corporations continue to increase their political and economic power ■ The top 10% of the world continue to get rich while the rest of the world gets poorer

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