Sociology: Globalisation and Social Change - Q/A

CHAPTER 6
 

GLOBALISATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE

Q1. What is globalization? (2/4)

Ans. Globalization refers to the growing interdependence between people, regions and countries in the world as social and economic relationships come to stretch world-wide.

Q2. Define Liberalisation. (2)

Ans. Liberalisation refers to the process whereby state controls over economic activities are relaxed and left to the market forces to decide. In general, a process of making laws more permissive and liberal.

Q3. How did the state try to protect and develop the Indian market and business? (4)

Ans.

1.     The state after independence put in place a large number of laws that ensured that, the Indian market and Indian indigenous business were protected from competition of the wider world.

2.     Liberalisation of the economy meant the steady removal of the rules that regulated Indian trade and finance regulations.

3.     Since 1991, the Indian economy witnessed a series of reforms in all major sectors of the economy (agriculture, industry, trade, foreign investment and technology, public  sector,  financial  institutions  etc) As Greater integration into the global market would be beneficial to Indian economy.

4.     The process of liberalization also involved taking of loans from institutions such as

International Monetary Fund (IMF), given on certain conditions.

Q4. What are transitional corporation? (2)

Ans. Transitional Corporations (TNCs) are companies that produce goods or market services in more than one country. This maybe relatively small firms with one or two factories outside the country or these could be gigantic international ones whose operations criss-cross the globe. For e.g.: Coca Cola, General Motors, Colgate-Palmolive, Kodak, and Mitsubishi

Q5. What are the implications of an electronic economy? (2)

Ans. Banks, corporations, fund managers and individual investors are able to shift funds internationally with the click of a mouse. In India, this is often discussed with reference to rising stock markets where foreign investors buys stocks, earns profit and then sell them off.

Q6. What is knowledge economy/ Weightless economy?

Ans.

1.     In weightless economy products have their base in information, as in the case with software, media and entertainment products and internet based services. For e.g. event managers.

2.     A knowledge economy is the one in which much of the worforce is involved not in the physical production or distribution of materia goods, but in their design, technology, marketing, development etc.

3.     It can range from the neighbourhood catering service to large organisations involved in providing a host of services for both professional meets like conferences to family events like weddings.

Q7.What is implied by Globalisation of finance? (2)

Ans. Due to the information technology revolution, a globalisation of finance, takes place. Globally integrated financial markets undertake billions of dollars worth transactions within seconds in the electronic circuits. There is a 24-hour trading in capital and security markets.

For Example, Cities such as New York, Tokyo and London are the key centers for financial trading.

Q8. What kind of digital divide is faced by our country today? (2/4)

Ans.

1.     DIGITAL DIVIDE exists in situations where some homes and many offices have multiple links due to technology with the outside world but some may not have due to lack of access to the features of technology.

2.     India had 3 million Internet subscribers and 15 million users by 2000. According to a CNN-IBN poll broadcast on August 15, 2006, about 7% of the country’s youth had access to the Internet while only 3% had computers to home. The figures themselves indicate the digital divide that continues to prevail in the country inspite of the rapid spread of computers. Cyber connectivity had largely remained an urban phenomenon but widely accessible through the cybercafés. But the rural areas with their erratic power supply widespread illiteracy and lack of infrastructure like telephone connections still remain largely unconnected.

Q9. How has telecommunications, especially cellular telephony developed over time? (4)

Ans.

1.   Cellular telephony has also grown enormously and cell phones are part of the self for most urban-based middle class youth. This has been a tremendous growth in the usage of cell phones and a marked change in how its use is seen.

2.   In 1988, the Indian Home Ministry banned the open sale of pre-paid cash cards for mobile telephones, arguing that a number of criminals were using these pre-paid cash cards.In 1998 the Indian Income tax Department decreed that anyone owning a mobile telephone must submit their income tax. This decree was premised on the notion that if an individual could afford a “luxury” item such as a mobile telephone, the individual earned enough to file a tax return.

3.   Mobile services were commercially launched in August 1995 in India. In the initial 5-6 years the average monthly subscribers additions were around 0.05 to 0.1 million only. The number of mobile phones added throughout the country by 2005 were 32 million.

4.    By 2006, India has become the country with the fourth largest usage of cell phones.

Q10. Explain International division of labour with Suitable examples. (4)

Ans.

1.   A new international division of labour has emerged in which more and more routine manufacturing production and employment is done in the Third World cities.—outsourcing.

2.   For Example, Nike shoes founder Phil Knight imported shoes from Japan and sold them at athletics meetings.

3.   The company grew to a multinational enterprise, a transnational corporation.As costs increased, production shifted to Thailand and Indonesia then to India in the 1990s.

4.   Instead of mass production of goods at a centralised location (Fordism), we have moved to a system of flexible production at dispersed locations (post-Fordism).

Q11. Has globalization been able to generate better employment? Discuss. (4)

Ans.

1.   There is uneven impact of globalisation on employment. For the middle class youth from urban centers, globalisation and the IT revolution has opened up new career opportunities.

2.   For example, Instead of routinely picking up BSc/BA/BCom degree from colleges, they are learning computer languages at computer institutes or taking up jobs at call centers or Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies.

3.   However, according to the ILO report, the largest number of poor people lives in South Asia. The poverty rate is particularly high in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

4.   There has been employment gap’ in the Asia region. The creation of new jobs has failed to keep pace with the region’s impressive economic growth. Between 2003 and 2004, employment in Asia and the Pacific increased by a ‘disappointing’ 1.6 per cent, compared to the strong economic growth rate of over 7 per cent.

Q12.What political development has taken place in the face of globalization? (4)

Ans.       Political developments that accompanied globalisation were:

1.       The collapse of the erstwhile socialist world that hastened globalisation.

2.       The growth of international and regional mechanisms for political collaboration.

Eg: The European Union (EU), the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), South Asian Regional Conference (SARC) and South Asian Federation of Trade Association (SAFTA)

3.       The rise of International Governmental Organisations. (IGOs) and International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs)

4.       INGOs differ from intergovernmental organisations in that they are not affiliated with government institutions, they are independent organisations, which make policy decisions and address international issues. Some of the best known INGOs arc Greenpeace, The Red Cross and Amnesty International, Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors without Borders).