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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
Year
Population
1
1900
1.5 billion
2
1950
2.5 billion
3
2000
6 billion
4
(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
1
Reaganomics
trickle-down economics
United States
decrease in unemployment and inflation
increase in debt and trade barriers
2
Thatcherism
United Kingdom
revised UK economy
widened social inequalities
3
Deng Xiaoping
Four Modernizations
China
massive sustained economic growth
remained politically commuinst
4
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
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