Political Science Essay: Examining Arguments Against Globalisation

This essay delves into the multifaceted opposition to globalisation, examining the viewpoints of individuals and groups who resist its influence. The essay explores the economic consequences, such as job losses due to global market competition, the suppression of local markets by multinational corporations, and the increasing interdependence of economies leading to financial instability and inflation. Social concerns are also addressed, including the erosion of cultural values through the spread of foreign media and lifestyles, the impact on traditional art and entertainment, and the widening gap between skilled and unskilled workers. Politically, the essay highlights the opposition stemming from the imposition of liberal and capitalist ideologies, the influence of powerful nations on smaller ones, and the challenges posed by technology and digital divides. The essay further discusses the impact on rules, regulations and policies, the actions of multinational companies and the resistance of local communities to these changes.

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Political Science

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People Opposing Globalisation
Globalisation is understood to be as the process of interaction and integration among
individuals, firms and governments all around the world. With the advancements in
communication and transportation technology the pace of the globalisation has increased.
Globalisation has favoured many people, individuals and firms and has helped them in
increasing their reach across the borders.1 In economic terms, globalisation includes goods
and services as well as economic resources of technology, data and capital. Politically it
includes making world a global village. In Spite of several benefits that it provides to
everyone there are still many individuals or groups that oppose globalisation. There are
several aspects of looking at this Globalisation.
In terms of economy, people are opposing globalisation as it results in large amount of job
losses. This can be attributed by the fact that because of globalisation market gets open for all
the people from any parts of the world to seek job. This results in the less numbers of people
getting job from the local areas. Companies hire the best of talents at cheapest of cost from
different parts of the world so as to fulfil the talent pool. This is happening all around the
world and hence many protests have been raised by the people in this regards. For example
Multinational IT companies in US are hiring large numbers of talents from the Asia and this
has increased the unemployment among the local American Citizens. Along with this what
globalisation does is to promote bigger companies to do business in different parts of the
World.2 This supresses the local market in terms of two things first the range of products and
second cheapness. This is the reason why most of the time local people protests against the
bigger companies having large amount of resources. They generally utilise their resources to
1 Coker, Globalisation And Insecurity In The Twenty-First Century: NATO And The Management Of
Risk.
2 Lim and Tsutsui, "Globalization And Commitment In Corporate Social Responsibility: Cross-
National Analyses Of Institutional And Political-Economy Effects," 69-98.

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gain competitive advantage over their rivals. Apart from this, the local people are also
concerned about the company utilising their resources too rigorously and it creates a
problems related to sustainability.
In many countries it is also seen that government buys lands from villagers or native people
for giving it to the big business firms so that they can start business on it. This often led to
people raising protest against the globalisation. The case becomes worse when the companies
or governments are not able to give the equivalent amount of compensations to the local
people.3 Many people understand the reason that due to globalisation, the interdependence of
the economies on each other has increased. This increase in the interdependence also leads to
situations where if economic turmoil happens in one part of world gets reflected back in other
part. This takes the autonomous nature of the economy and hence is opposed by people. After
Globalisation it was seen that each country started to help others in terms of the monetary or
relief funds. This made them in debt which they could not weaver may lead to financial crisis.
The perfect example of it is the European Union where each and every support other
countries but at the same time it does not let smaller countries to come up.
Inflation is also caused by the globalisation up to certain extent. This is because there are
many products that are not manufactured in a country but to fulfil their needs they are
importing it from other nations. Import prices certainly depend on the prices of the
commodity in the exporter country and the tax that is applied on that commodity.4 The best
example of it is the petroleum prices. This leads people to raise protests against the increased
prices. Another important aspect of not accepting the globalisation is that it allows products
from outside of the country in huge numbers by the process of import. This becomes a
3 Featherstone, "Towards The Relational Construction Of Militant Particularisms: Or Why The
Geographies Of Past Struggles Matter For Resistance To Neoliberal Globalisation," 250-271.
4 Auer and Mehrotra, "Trade Linkages And The Globalisation Of Inflation In Asia And The Pacific,"
129-151.

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problem when the internal resources of the country or the products that are made inside the
nation are not able to get utilised at the optimum level. The local suppliers or farmers often
get annoyed by this and it reduces the internal production capacity of any nation.
In social context, most of the time, people and groups are concerned about the cultural values
that globalisation brings with itself. Companies generally bring culture of the country from
their parent nation to the host nations. It is not that just companies bring culture with them but
the media also plays a vital role in this. Media creates a sense of lifestyle or fashion that is
adopted by the local people.5 This tends to destroy the original cultural values and practices
that exist in the society. This is very high in the case of fashion as traditional wardrobes have
been replaced by the western ideas. For example most of the countries especially that were
under colonial rule are now following the culture of their colonial ruler. The long term
influence of the outside culture always tends to overcome the local culture. This effect can
also be seen in terms of festivals that were previously celebrated in any country. Changes can
be easily seen in the market especially in the entertainment industry. The art and drama which
has a reflection of the society also tends to change slowly. The western concepts become
superior and the cultural art gets vanished. For example the concepts of Hollywood are now
taking over all the other entertainment industries in various other parts of the world. Due to
this interference, the local touch starts to get vanished or sometimes the art that they portray
also hurts the sentiments of people from other culture and hence leads to conflict.
Globalisation with the help of technology and transportation has empowered companies to do
trade across borders. This has ultimately resulted in making few people highly rich and the
control of the powers have accumulated in these few people only. It is also reducing the
knowledge of the people regarding their tradition customs, practices and values. This is
5 Matusitz and Payano, "Globalisation Of Popular Culture: From Hollywood To Bollywood," 123-
138.

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disturbing the orthodox people living in the society as they were concerned about their
children not growing up like them. Globalisation has been one of the major reasons for
people who are not skilled up to the international standards are not being able to find jobs and
hence lots of jobs cuts are going on and hence increasing unemployment.6 The case of
increasing unemployment can also be seen in terms of the fact that many small local
manufacturers in any area and bigger firms coming from outside their country outshine them.
They grab control on the market. Smaller factories provide larger numbers of employment as
compared to bigger firms as bigger firms generally relies on the automation to get things
done. The result of it is the agitation in the minds of the people. The groups that are making
efforts to save any culture or society always stands oppose the globalisation. Other thing that
globalisation has done is that it has enhanced the mobility of people which is generally
opposed by local people.
Aboriginal people often do not accept globalisation; this is because they are very much
attached with their culture and do not want to change according to some other culture.7
Companies coming in the tribal belts for their establishments are often not welcomed. Tribal
group wants that their interest should not be hampered in the process of business
development hence they often stand against the government.
In political terms, globalisation is being opposed by set of people because it brings liberalism
and capitalism with itself. In the countries that were following communist ideologies
globalisation was opposed form the very start. They said that it tends to further empower the
people with money with more power more outside resource so as to influence the
6 Awad and Youssof, "The Impact Of Economic Globalisation On Unemployment: The Malaysian
Experience," 938-958.
7 Picart and Fox, "Beyond Unbridled Optimism And Fear: Indigenous Peoples, Intellectual Property,
Human Rights And The Globalisation Of Traditional Knowledge And Expressions Of Folklore: Part
I," 319-339.

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environment of the country. Political ideologies have also been affected by the globalisation
as socialist parties which were not supporting capitalism are now supporting it. This makes
the people in fury especially the groups that were standing at the lowest step of the society.
They are losing their political support. When their political voices are not heard they raise
protests against the governments. Due to increasing interest of one country in others, it is
seen that more powerful countries are making the prey of smaller nations and are influencing
them politically in their policy making. Political alliances have become more common
especially in the field of technology transfer and defence. Every country is aiming to gain
their political influence in the other country by the help of strategic partnership with that
country. This is not liked by the local people as they do not like external influences in their
internal affairs. Previously the political alliances were just built in between the neighbouring
nations. After globalisation, countries are trying to find their partners in all the parts of the
world hence creating a situation where due to cultural dissimilarity people often dislike such
partnerships.
Technology and globalisation has complemented each other. Due to globalisation, it is seen
that technology got spread to many parts of the world. The biggest impact can be seen in the
case of automation as technology developed in any part of the world reaches to the other part.
Due to this technology change there are several job cuts made checking the environment
condition in their country.8 There are people that are from diverse cultural backgrounds and
hence their technological knowledge varies. This often leads to staying behind of the
competitors hence they oppose globalisation. It has also been seen that people in the rural
backgrounds often do not get access to the technology while the cities have developed highly
advanced technologies. The digital divide is getting enhance day by day which is frustrating
8 Ha, "Risk Disparities In The Globalisation Of Assisted Reproductive Technology: The Case Of
Asia," 904-925.

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people and are not letting them come up as the other section of the society has edge over the
others.
Globalisation also influences the rules, regulations, and policies in a country. This is
generally not supported by the local people. This is because most of the rules and regulations
made by the external pressure always try to hinder the rights and interests of the people that
are within the country. When their interests get hampered, it will not allow building a positive
environment within the country. It is also seen that governments are under pressure of the
multinational companies to change their policies that could favour them. This often leads to
disruption in the society and more often some of the other social groups come up against the
decisions. It is also found that businesses that are from the local market always has a fear of
losing their grounds whenever any big corporate area gets build up in the locality. Big firms
eat up the smaller ones in a race to excel and take control in the market. This monopoly
strategy is used by the firms to ensure that they have a bigger market share at the same time
at later stage of the expansion they also control the prices.9 Such acts are often not welcomed
by the people. The problem becomes worse when the laws related to labour and other
business elements gets to change. The change of rules such as working hours and incentive
policies has effect on the people and hence they generally do not stand in favour of the
globalisation.
The immigration of people from one part to another also leads to spreading of communicable
diseases. It is because genes transferred from one generation to another and when they get
affected by any particular type of diseases, the chance of getting it spread increases.10 This is
the reason why many intellectuals do not support immigration at larger levels. In Canada,
9 Suwandi and Foster, "Multinational Corporations and The Globalization Of Monopoly Capital:
From The 1960S To The Present," 114.
10 Nah, "Globalisation, Sovereignty And Immigration Control: The Hierarchy Of Rights For Migrant
Workers In Malaysia," 486-508.

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there are large numbers of Indians living in the country. The population of these people are
increasing at such a high speed that the original culture of Canada is getting affected. Their
political power is also increasing and hence the aboriginal people are facing problems in
many ways. This has increased the tussle between the two communities and hence is a perfect
example of the fact that how the globalisation and its elements are affecting the local socio-
cultural environment of the country.
Globalisation is also opposed by the people as it tends to reduce the internal development of
the society as the influence of the external society can be clearly seen. In economic terms
many a times it has been noticed that individuals starts opposing globalisation. This is due to
the fact that their personal growth gets hampered by the globalisation. For example a multi-
national company having large financial strength comes to any region it tends to kill the
entire individual business and hence resulting in their agitation. In the technological era of
business this has become much easier for the multinational firms11. This is the major reason
that there is increase in the inequality as some business reaches to the top of the chart while
the smaller businessman tends to die. It is not that just small businessman gets affected by the
globalisation, sometimes it’s the big local companies that also gets affected by this. For
example Flipkart was one of the most successful e-retailer companies in India. Once Amazon
came to India they used their experience in the international market along with their
operational management strategies. This helped the organisation to emerge on the top of the
market. They almost killed Amazon and hence it sold its shares to another big International
giant Wal-Mart. Now the Indian e-retail market which is one of the biggest markets in the
world is controlled by two western companies. In future it is estimated that more numbers of
people will be going to do online shopping. This is going to influence a whole lot of local
shop owners.
11 Awad and Youssof, "The Impact Of Economic Globalisation On Unemployment: The Malaysian
Experience," 938-958.

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In spite of the fact that tourism has increased due to globalisation as many foreign tourists are
coming to any country but at the same time it has affected the local tourism in two ways. First
it has reduced the number of local tourist coming regularly to any place12. Their numbers
were high previously and constituted the major part of the customer’s numbers but now since
people have options hence they are choosing some other destinations outside the country to
travel. Second is that many bigger companies have taken over the business at the tourist
spots. This has affected the localities who were earning from the business of tourism at that
place. There were more selling the local products and were earning good but now the big firm
have established their units at these spots and are doing business. They generally sell the
things that are manufactured in some other parts of the world but are available at the cheaper
cost. This is generally opposed by the localities. They also tend to destroy the local touch in
the tourism. This is the reason why governments have forced the tourism companies to make
their decisions based on the cultural and traditional aspect of that region13. The sustainable
development plans of the company need to consider the benefits of the local people as well.
One of the major reasons why people oppose globalisation is that the big multinational
companies dump their lower quality products in the countries of lower importance or in the
countries where the anti-dumping laws are not so strong. Dumping also depends on the
market they want to serve in i.e. whether the market will accept the products or not. It is
highly dependent on the society. If the purchasing power of the people is on the lower side
what company does is that it reduces the cost of their product and dumps its lower quality
products in that market14. Due to lower prices people generally purchases it but after a certain
period of time they understand that they have been cheated and hence starts opposing the
12 Coker, Globalisation And Insecurity In The Twenty-First Century: NATO And The Management Of
Risk.
13 Picart and Fox, "Beyond Unbridled Optimism And Fear: Indigenous Peoples, Intellectual Property,
Human Rights And The Globalisation Of Traditional Knowledge And Expressions Of Folklore: Part
I," 319-339.

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companies. Globalisation has been understood as the major reason for this dumping. In food
industry this can have very serious consequences hence anti-dumping laws are made strong in
various parts of the world.
14 Featherstone, "Towards The Relational Construction Of Militant Particularisms: Or Why The
Geographies Of Past Struggles Matter For Resistance To Neoliberal Globalisation," 250-271.

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Asia And The Pacific". Journal Of International Money And Finance 49 (2014): 129-
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The Malaysian Experience". The Journal Of International Trade & Economic
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The Management Of Risk. Abingdon: Routledge, 2014.
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Ha, Jung-Ok. "Risk Disparities In The Globalisation Of Assisted Reproductive Technology:
The Case Of Asia". Global Public Health 8, no. 8 (2013): 904-925.
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To Bollywood". South Asia Research 32, no. 2 (2012): 123-138.
Nah, Alice M. "Globalisation, Sovereignty And Immigration Control: The Hierarchy Of
Rights For Migrant Workers In Malaysia". Asian Journal Of Social Science 40, no. 4
(2012): 486-508.

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Indigenous Peoples, Intellectual Property, Human Rights And The Globalisation Of
Traditional Knowledge And Expressions Of Folklore: Part I". International
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Globalization Of Monopoly Capital: From The 1960S To The Present". Monthly
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