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9. Globalization

1900-2001

9.1-9.3 Technology

Communication

Radio

1980s: Guglielmo Marconi developed wireless telegraph (radio)

developed for military in WWI; popular with public for news/entertainment by 1920s

1930s famous broadcasts:

Hindenburg Disaster (German aircraft combusted in New Jersey)

War of the Worlds (nonfiction dystopian drama)

Fireside Chats (Roosevelt would discuss social security/lift morale during Great Depression)

Cellular

1973: first cell phone prototype developed

1979: 1G network launched in Japan

1983: Motorola launched first commercially-available cell phone in U.S.

“the Brick”

weighed 2lbs

30m of talk time

10h charge

$3995

1990s: Wireless Revolution began

SMS

MMS

1991: 2G network launched in Finland

2001: 3G launched

2002: Blackberry smartphone

2008: first iPhone

Internet

1960s: computers were mainframe systems owned by universities, corporations, governments

militaries and governments wanted computer networks that would function with portions removed

universities interested in networks to share data and research

1969: ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) created

first use: UCLA student logged into mainframe at Stanford (system crashed)

by 1970s, many universities and government computers joined the network

1983: ARPANET divided into two networks, civilian and military; collectively called the internet

Transportation

Shipping containers

standardized shipping containers to carry by boat, train, truck

promoted widespread movement of goods

Suez Canal (1869) and Panama Canal (1904) shortened travel times

Airplanes

widespread movement of people

1950s-1960s: air travel was expensive luxury for the Jet Set

1970s: falling fares made air travel a more common experience

The Concorde: first supersonic commercial jet

cruised at Mach 2

discontinued due to operational costs and noise (supersonic boom)

High-speed rails

required specially-built trains and tracks

Germany, U.S., Britain, France raced to produce high-speed trains

train development paused during WWII

after WWII, Japan took lead in high-speed rails

Shinkansen rail lines reach speeds of 200-275mph

MagLev trains reach speeds of 375mph

Agriculture

Green Revolution (1966-1985)

Norman Borlaug

father of Green Revolution

worked with farmers in Mexico, India, Pakistan

inventions:

disease-resistant varieties of wheat

high-yield grains

GMO seeds

synthetic fertilizers/pesticides

irrigation

increased global food production to help alleviate world hunger

criticisms:

massive population growth

poor diets due to mostly eating grains

pesticide increase poisoned local water sources, fish, wildlife

monoculture over biodiversity

soil depletion and damage due to chemicals

small family farmers could not compete with large farms

Green Belt Movement (1977)

Professor Wangari Maathai in Kenya

grassroots organization to address global deforestation and impact on women

connected marginalization and poverty of women to environmental degradation

empowered women; planting of trees to control environment

Energy

Petroleum

first used as source for for kerosene (paraffin oil); highly-flammable

gasoline created as byproduct of extracting kerosene from crude oil

internal combustion engine increased demand for gasoline

oil conglomerates manipulated supply to control profits

1870-1911: Standard Oil held monopoly in U.S.

1960-present: Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has 13 members

problems:

non-renewable

contributor to global warming and climate change

competition for limited resource leads to conflict

Nuclear power

ability to control nuclear reaction and harness its energy to power cities

1955: first nuclear power plant in Idaho; technology expanded rapidly in 1970s-1980s

benefits:

no greenhouse gases

sustainable energy source

drawbacks:

threat to people

expensive compared to alternatives

disasters:

1979: Three Mile Island (U.S.) from cooling malfunction

1986: Chernobyl (USSR) from safety test gone wrong

2011: Fukushima (Japan) caused by earthquake and tsunami

Environmental limitations

Population growth

Population growth

Year

Population

1900

1.5 billion

1950

2.5 billion

2000

6 billion

(2050)

(9 billion)

There are no rows in this table

⁠

increasing population leads to:

demand for more croplands → deforestation, soil depletion

habitat destruction, extinction of species

Water scarcity

by 2025: half of world’s population will lack safe drinking water

women and children bear unequal burden of water collection

Climate change

most pollution produced by industrialized nations; most affected are non-industrialized

1997: Kyoto Protocol

international agreement to reduce carbon emissions

U.S. refused to ratify

2015: Paris Agreement

international treaty on climate change

Trump pulled U.S. out of agreement in 2017

climate activism

1962: Silent Spring (Rachel Carson)

1971: GreenPeace Movement

2019: Greta Thunberg is Time Magazine’s Person of the Year

Medical advances

Vaccines

1796: Edward Jenner created first vaccine against smallpox

1952: Jonas Salk created first polio vaccine

vaccines prevented an estimated 3 million deaths per year

anti-vax movement leading to increase in diseases we thought eradicated

Antibiotics

1928: Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered penicillin (wonder drug)

by WWII, penicillin widely used to treat wounded soldiers

overuse of antibiotics created resistant bacteria; led to inevitable immunity

Birth control

1960: creation of “the pill”

hormonal birth control, compared to barrier birth control

fertility rates declined; reshaped gender roles

problems:

rural, impoverished areas struggle with access

many nations still require prescription for hormonal contraception

Medical limitations

Epidemics

tuberculosis (TB): lung disease

associated with poverty and close-quarters-living

can be treated with antibiotics

TB is developing immunity

malaria: spread via mosquito bite

primarily in tropical areas

combated with insecticide and mosquito netting

HIV/AIDS: weakens immune system; contracted by exchange of bodily fluids

84 million globally infected; 40 million died

treatment created in 1990s for antiretroviral drugs; not cure; very expensive

ebola: causes extensive bleeding and organ failure

2014: massive outbreak in West Africa

Longevity diseases

heart’s disease: associated with lifestyle and genetics

Alzheimer’s: form of dementia causing patients to progressively lose memory

diabetes: tied to genetics, sedentary lifestyles, excess weight

9.4, 9.7, 9.8 Global economics; resistance to globalization

Free market economics

review

capitalism developed during Industrial Revolution

laissez-faire, invisible hand

socialism, communism were direct reactions against capitalist abuses

governments took more active role in economies during Great Depression (1930s)

Neoliberal capitalism/free market economics (1970s-1980s)

returned to free market capitalism; away from socialism

reduction in government spending, taxes, regulation

privatized state-owned industries

led to widening gap between social classes

Name

Information

Country

Positive impact

Negative impact

Reaganomics

trickle-down economics

United States

decrease in unemployment and inflation

increase in debt and trade barriers

Thatcherism

United Kingdom

revised UK economy

widened social inequalities

Deng Xiaoping

Four Modernizations

China

massive sustained economic growth

remained politically commuinst

Augusto Pinochet

Chile

economic growth (Miracle of Chile)

huge economic inequality

There are no rows in this table

⁠

Modern economies

Production economies

based on production of physical goods and products

e.g. Vietnam, Bangladesh, Mexico, Honduras

e.g. Ford trucks assembled in Mexico; not designed there

Asian Tigers

East Asian countries saw massive economic growth in 1990s

e.g. South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong

Knowledge economies

based on human capital and knowledge-intensive activities

e.g. U.S., Finland, Japan

U.S. designed iPhone; not produced there

Changes and continuities

changes

then: mother countries did manufacturing

now: former colonies are manufacturing

continuities

former colonies provide raw materials

former colonies at economic disadvantage

workers in former colonies mistreated

New economic institutions

Multinational corporations

large corporation that produces and sells in many different countries

worldwide activities controlled by parent company

Global economic institutions

1944: Bretton Woods Agreement

created international currency exchange; lasted until 1970s

nations pegged currency to U.S. dollar; U.S. dollar pegged to price of gold

minimized exchange rate volatility; helped international trade

International Monetary Fund (IMF): international monetary cooperation

World Bank: provides loans to countries that were devestated by WWII

World Trade Organization (WTO): uses trade to improve lives

Regional trade agreements

group of countries that decided to reduce/eliminate trade barriers (free trade)

1957: European Economic Community; later became European Union (EU)

1967: Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

1994: North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

Resistance to globalizations

many groups; fighting for different goals

multinationals hold too much political power

trade agreements benefit larger economies over smaller ones

globalization has big impact on environment

1988: IMF/World Bank protests

debt cancellation for third world countries

end to poverty

1989: World Fair Trade Organization

better prices

decent working conditions for farmers/workers in developing countries

1999: WTO Protest (Seattle)

one of first major international mobilizations to be coordinated over internet

protested worker rights, sustainability, environmental issues

non-violent protest turned violent (Battle of Seattle)

9.5 Calls for reform

Global human rights movement

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

United Nations; 1948

chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt (former First Lady)

outlined 30 rights and freedoms that belong to all humans

adopted by UN in response to atrocities committed in WWII

Modern genocides, ethnic cleansings

1992: Bosnia

Yugoslavia broke apart at end of Cold War

ethnic and religious rivalries emerged

sparked civil war and genocide between Serbs and Muslims

1994: Rwanda

Hutu majority massacred Tutsi minority

UN and Western nations did nothing

2003: Darfur

Arab-controlled government targeted Black-African villages in Sudan

2016: Rohingya

persecutions/killings of Muslim Rohingya by Myanmar military

current: Uyghurs

persecution of Muslim Turkic speaking minority in Northwest China

Civil rights movements

1954-1968: American civil rights movements

equal rights

end to segregation∂9160s: Aboriginal rights movement

for equal rights

against assimilation policies

Stolen Generation: aboriginal children removed from indigenous communities