POLITICS 109

GLOBALIZATION: SALVATION, SCOURGE OR MYTH?

 

Fall, 2002

 

Instructor: David Skidmore                                                     Office: Meredith 213

Phone: (office) 271-3843                                                        Office Hrs: 

E-mail: david.skidmore@drake.edu                                                     appointments preferred

Meeting Times : TR 12:30-1:45pm                                          Room: Meredith 238

 

Course Description:

 

³Globalization² has become a ubiquitous buzzword in contemporary political and economic discourse and a hot topic of debate. There exists little agreement over the extent, meaning and consequences of globalization. This course will examine three positions in the current debate over globalization: 1. that globalization is a welcome force for peace, prosperity and cultural understanding, 2. that globalization is a destructive source of growing inequality, environmental deterioration and democratic decay, and 3. that both the novelty and the depth of globalization have been exaggerated. We will conclude the course with an examination of alternative paths to global integration, including the concept of ³globalization from below.²

 

Grading:

 

The three exams (see Reading Schedule for dates) will each account for 20% of your overall grade (60% combined total for the exams). Your class portfolio will account for the remaining 40%.

 

Assignments:

 

Each students will maintain a class portfolio. The portfolio will include various items of work for the class, such as short papers, reports on out-of-class interviews, data collection, news clippings, in-class group work, etc. An important element of each portfolio will be the one-minute essays that you do at the end of each class period. Each one-minute essay will summarize the most important concept, idea or piece of information that you took from each class discussion. Your portfolio grade will be based on its thoroughness or completeness (i.e., whether you include all of the expected material) and the overall quality of the written work and other items included.

 

Groups:

 

You will be assigned to a small class discussion group. On most class days, we will spend some time working in our groups. Group members will often be asked to bring information or ideas to report to the group. You are responsible to your group and vice versa. The success of the course will depend crucially on each student¹s willingness to contribute to the group discussions and work.

 


Periodicals:

 

Students are expected to regularly read international political and economic news from one of the following sources: New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com), The Economist (http://www.economist.com), The Financial Times (http://news.ft.com/home/us/), or the Wall St. Journal (http://online.wsj.com/public/us), which are available either in the library or on-line.

 

Required Books:

 

Frank J. Lechner and John Boli (eds.), The Globalization Reader, 2000

Robin Broad (ed.), Global Backlash: Citizen Initiatives for a Just World Economy, 2002

Jeremy Brecher, Tim Costello and Brendan Smith, Globalization from Below: The Power of Solidarity, 2000

Lori Wallach and Michelle Sforza, The WTO: Five Years of Reasons to Resist Corporate Globalization, 1999

Course Reader.

 

Academic Dishonesty:

 

Academic dishonesty includes any situation in which you present other people's ideas or words as your own or use resources that are not approved to complete an assignment.  This may include cheating on in-class exams by copying from classmates or bringing in and copying from notes;  copying homework assignments from friends; copying articles or papers form books, journals or the web and submitting as your own work; handing in a paper that has been written by another student; or presenting another person's words, images or ideas without citation.

 

Penalties for such violations of academic honesty standards range from failure on the assignment to expulsion from school.

 

Reading Schedule:

 

8/27: Introduction to the Course.

 

8/29: Basic Concepts in International Economics

 

Lairson, ³The Economics of International Political Economy² in Course Reader.

 

9/3: The Historical Development of the Global Economy

 

Lairson, ³The Origins of a World Economy² in Course Reader.

 

Walter Rodney, ³How Europe Underdeveloped Africa,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 


9/5: Globalization: An Overview

 

³Measuring Globalization² (from Foreign Policy magazine) in Course Reader.

 

9/10: Globalization: An Overview II

 

Lairson, ³Globalization and the World Economy² in Course Reader.

 

9/12: The Case for Globalization

 

Martin Wolf, ³Why this Hatred of the Market?² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

Peter Martin, ³The Moral Case for Globalization² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

Gary Burtless, et. al., ³Globaphobia: Confronting Fears about Open Trade,² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

9/17: The Case against Globalization

 

Bernard Cassen, ³To Save Society,² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

Benjamin Barber, ³Jihad vs. McWorld,² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

Mark Weisbrot, ³Globalism on the Ropes,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

9/19: The Case that Globalization Has Been Exaggerated

 

Linda Weiss, The Myth of the Powerless State, excerpt, pp. 170-187 in Course Reader.

 

Paul Hirst and Grahame Thompson, ³Globalization and the History of the International Economy,² in Course Reader.

 

9/24: Corporate Globalization Strategies

 

William Greider, ³Wawasan, 2020,² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

Miguel Korzeniewicz, ³Commodity Chains and Marketing Strategies: Nike and the Global Athletic Footwear Industry,² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

Ted C. Fishman, ³The Joys of Global Investment,² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

9/26: First Exam

 

10/1 and 10/3: Globalization and Labor

 

Matthew J. Slaughter and Phillip Swagel, ³Does Globalization Lower Wages and Export Jobs?² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

John Sweeney, ³The New Internationalism,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

Maria Lorean Cook, ³Cross-Border Labor Solidarity,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

Jerome I. Levinson, ³NAFTA¹s Labor Agreement: Lessons,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

Pharis Harvey, Terry Collingsworth and Bama Athreya, ³Developing Effective Mechanisms for Implementing Labor Rights in the Global Economy,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

Edward Graham, Fighting the Wrong Enemy, excerpt, pp. 106-129 in Course Reader.

 

10/8 and 10/10: Globalization and the Power of States

 

Kenichi Ohmae, ³The End of the Nation State,² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw, ³The Commanding Heights: The Battle Between Government and the Marketplace that is Remaking the Modern World,² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

Dani Rodrik, ³Has Globalization Gone Too Far?² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

Geoffrey Garrett, ³Partisan Politics in the Global Economy,² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

John Gray, ³The Passing of Social Democracy,² in Course Reader.

 

Larry Diamond, ³The Globalization of Democracy,² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

10/15 and 10/17: NAFTA Case Study

 

Alberto Arroyo Picard, et. al, ³Balance of NAFTA in Mexico² in Course Reader (We will divide up responsibility for sections of this report within groups and members will report back summaries to rest of grouup.)

 


10/24 and 10/29: Globalization and International Economic Institutions

 

Lori Wallach and Michelle Sforza, The WTO: Five Years of Reasons to Resist Corporate Globalization (entire)

 

World Trade Organization, ³Seven Common Misunderstandings about the WTO,² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

Martin Khor, ³How the South is Getting a Raw Deal at the WTO,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

10/31: International Finance

 

Robin Broad and John Cavanagh, ³The Death of the Washington Consensus?² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

Robin Round, ³Controlling Casino Capital,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

Jubilee South, ³South-South Summit Declaration: Towards a Debt-Free Millennium,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

11/5: Globalization and the Media

 

Lewis A. Friedland, ³Covering the World,² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

John Sinclair, et. al., ³Peripheral Vision,² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

John Tomlinson, ³Cultural Imperialism,² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

11/7: In-class Video: The Commanding Heights

 

11/12: Second Exam

 

11/14 and 11/19: Interview Projects.

 

Reports on student interviews with representatives from business, labor, government and NGO sectors in Des Moines on views about globalization.

 


11/ 21 and 11/26: Anti-Globalization Movements

 

Jeremy Brecher, Tim Costello and Brendan Smith, Globalization from Below: The Power of Solidarity, chapters 2, 4, 7, 8 and 9

 

Zahara Heckscher, ³Long Before Seattle: Historical Resistance to Economic Globalization,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

Joshua Karliner, ³Grassroots Globalization: Reclaiming the Blue Planet² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

Margaret E. Keck and Kathyrn Sikkink, ³Environmental Advocacy Networks,² in Lechner and Boli, The Globalization Reader

 

12/3: Alternatives to Globalization

 

International Forum on Globalization, ³Alternatives to Globalization,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

Mexican Action Network, et. al., ³A Just and Sustainable Trade and Development Initiative for North America,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

³Agreement on the Establishment of a Free Trade Area,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

Walden Bello, ³Toward a Deglobalized World,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

Dani Rodrik, ³After Neoliberalism: What?² in Course Reader.

 

12/5: Regulating Corporate Behavior

 

Rose Benz Ericson, ³The Conscious Consumer: Promoting Economic Justice through Fair Trade,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

Angela Hale, ³What Hope for ŒEthical¹ Trade in the Globalized Garment Industry? ² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

Levi Strauss & Co., ³Business Partner Terms of Engagement and Guidelines for Country Selection,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

Michael Conroy, ³Can Advocacy-Led Certification Systems Transform Global Corporate Practices? ² in Broad, Global Backlash

 


12/10: Sweatshops and Child Labor

 

Suzanne Charle, ³Children of the Looms: Rescuing the ŒCarpet Kids¹ of Nepal, India and Pakistan,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

Scholars against Sweatshop Labor, ³Statement to College and University Presidents,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

Academic Consortium on International Trade, ³Letter to University Presidents Regarding Anti-Sweatshop Campaigns on American Campuses,² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

12/12: Reaching Consensus

 

Jerry Useem, ³Globalization: Can Governments, Companies, and Yes, the Protesters Ever Learn to Get Along? ² in Broad, Global Backlash

 

Final Exam ­ TBA