Chapter 23: Capitalism and Culture (Week 13)

April 10, 2018

The Acceleration of Globalization: Since 1945

Here is the timeline of events for this time of globalization:

Chapter 23 is titled “The Acceleration of Globalization” and begins with a giant picture of Earth. In my interpretation, this is because all history that takes place happens here on Earth. The Earth also represents unity and togetherness because we see all of the countries in the world on one single sphere. No matter what religion, race, ethnicity, or differences we may have with one another, we all come from the same place and are all here together. Instead of being divided and competitive with one another, we should unite together as humans. This chapter is all about globalization so it is important to understand what exactly that is. I found a definition on a website that states, “Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology.” (Website linked down below).

*http://www.globalization101.org/what-is-globalization/*

Here is the picture that I referred to in the above section:

Economic Globalization:

In the second half of the twentieth century, economic globalization began to occur. The aftermath of World War One, World War Two, and the cold war all unknowingly triggered globalization. Many things contributed to globalization such as technology, stable currency values, etc. Globalization is a process that we do not have to go that far back in history to read about, it can be seen in more recent years. Desperate measures and poor economic status drove the globalizing of these countries. While globalization has done much to improve economies, it also has formed some instability as well as inequality. The instability has been caused by an increase of wealth for many individuals. There have also been stock market crashes and financial crisis’, but nothing as bad as the post war impact on the economy and the Great Depression. Globalization has made the economy thrive and struggle, it has been up and down but has not gotten as low as it was before. There are some specific things that indicate development and we can use those things to assess global development.

Here are two pictures from our textbook that show developments globally:

 

American Exceptionalism- The “American Empire”:

During the process of economic globalization, America gained power and began to influence other countries to follow their lead. They became known as the “American Empire” and represented strong modern developments. America’s high level of production is seen as wealth and power to other countries and this makes them want to globalize economically as well. Not only are Americans seen as powerful because of the economy, but also because of the constant use of military force against others. Both of these things are seen as successful and attract many people around the world, so they end up following our lead in hopes to be as successful.

Here is a map that compares the number of military bases and the number of McDonald’s restaurants to demonstrate indication of globalization:

Globalization Of Feminism:

While countries were developing their economies, they also began developing more modern views and ideas. One of the biggest ones being feminism. Women suffered with a lack of equality for many years and in basically every country in the world. Finally, women’s suffrage gained attention and people began talking about it. Women, and supporters of women began to actively fight for rights and made efforts to change the old and traditional ways. The process of modernization was happening, and this modern idea that women and men are equal caused for many different outcomes, some good, and some bad. Women organized protests and took action steps in hopes to finally make a change. Even today in the postmodern era, we see women being treated as the weaker gender. Equal pay is still an issue in 2018!!!! Women have dealt with their share of unequal treatment for years on end. These women that we are reading about in our textbook helped bring awareness to this issue and made a change. Today us women continue to fight for equal treatment and it is astonishing that this issue is still happening after all this time.