Globalization and It's Critics

An eight-week discussion course that attempts to define and address broader implications of globalization, a force that is shaping our world, our society, and our local communities.

To its supporters, globalization is an inevitable force that will bring prosperity to Americans and raise the standard of living around the world. With this prosperity will come enhanced human rights in autocratic countries, healthy ecosystems all over the earth, and a world of peace.

To its detractors, globalization is a force supported by a complex structure of international treaties and government subsidies. It threatens ecosystems that support all life, it benefits the holders of capital over the workers of the world, and it facilitates the centralization of power in transnational corporations. It objectifies humans in terms of their utility to the economy – low-cost labor, consumers and investors; natural resources in terms of their utility as raw materials for the industrial process; and the air, oceans, and fresh water as a free dumping place for toxins and pollutants created by economic development.

The first three week sessions address the structural aspects of globalization; and the next five explore how globalization impacts food production, the environment, social equity, public opinion, and cultures.