globlasation

Whats wrong with globalization?Colin SparksCommunication and Media Research Institute

Communication and Media Research Institute*IntroductionDiscuss some problems with globalization theoriesConstruct the globalization paradigm from the main theories10 points underlying the different theoriesDiscuss whether they account for the evidenceWhat do current theories miss out?

Communication and Media Research Institute

Communication and Media Research Institute*The realities of globalizationThere is little point in denying the realities of globalization in the face of massive evidenceThe term is used by politicians, businessmen, journalists and everyone elseAlso used by scholars, and we should be precise about what we mean by a term


Communication and Media Research Institute*Many theoriesMany leading theorists have analyzed globalization in contradictory waysE.g. some say it is generalised modernity, some say it is post-modernity, some say it is something else entirelyMost theorists operate at a very abstract level and do not produce much evidenceNeed to construct the globalization paradigm from the work of leading theoristsNeed to see whether the evidence supports or contradicts the theoryNeed to distinguish between strong theories of globalization, that mean something new and weak theories that are simply versions of the imperialism paradigm in new language


Communication and Media Research Institute*1 - A new kind of theoryGlobalization is a radically different from preceding theoriesIt is strikingly new (Appadurai 1996)The sociological laws operating in the the period of globalization are different from earlier periodsDifferent from capitalism and imperialismDifferent from high modernityDifferent from industrial societyThe act together to make understanding the dynamics of the new society different


Communication and Media Research Institute*2 - Methodological innovationSharp contrast with Marxist theories (e.g. imperialism)Marxism reductivistGlobalization theory recognises irreducible complexity the complexity of the current global economy has to do with certain disjunctures between economy, politics and society (Appadurai 1996)Globalization characterised by various autonomous logics (Beck 2002), for example in culture


Communication and Media Research Institute*3- Theory and practiceEarlier theories we have examined demonstrated a close link between theory and practiceDominant paradigm and policy scienceParticipatory paradigm and social movementsImperialism paradigm and NWICOGlobalization has no such linkThere are no privileged actors in this paradigmDevelopment no longer an issuePerhaps entrepreneurs are the real agents?No practical tests of the theory


Communication and Media Research Institute*4 - Media and communicationNew technologies permit media to operate with a wider scopeGreater importance of symbolic commodities in global economySymbolic commodities less bound by place than are physical onesIt follows that the globalization of human society is contingent on the extent to which cultural arrangements are effective relative to economic and political arrangements (Waters 1995)


Communication and Media Research Institute*5 Growth of supra-national organisationsWestphalian state being weakened from aboveIncreased importance of supra-national organisationsUnited Nations, WTO, European UnionStates no longer able to control media circulating within their bordersDevelopment of global media organisationsDevelopments towards a global culture


Communication and Media Research Institute*6 - The rise of the localStates are being undermined from below by local pressuresFailure to achieve a unified national cultureMovements for autonomy and independenceMany notable European examplesTwo sense of the localThe small placeThe new localities


Communication and Media Research Institute*7 - The absence of a centreThere is no single controlling force in the global worldGlobalization is not the result of the domination of one culture over othersthe United States is no longer the puppeteer of a world system of images. (Appadurai 1996)Existence of many centres of symbolic production


Communication and Media Research Institute*8 - Multiple production centresAudiences almost invariably prefer local productionsUS, however, still the second choice providerMany other centres than Hollywood, for example TV Globo and TelevisaDevelop unique forms Win export successes


Communication and Media Research Institute*9 - Regional marketsThere is not one single uniform world market for media productsRegional markets have developed, South America East AsiaAudiences increasing identify themselves with cultural proximates


Communication and Media Research Institute*10 - Global media productsTo the extent that some media products do circulate globally, they can originate anywhereProduction is now mobilePersonnel are now mobileGlobal media products are not purely US products marketed on a global scaleDisneyCNNThe emergence of hybrid cultural forms


Communication and Media Research Institute*Conclusion: a new paradigmNo single author really fits all of these 10 elementsPerhaps Appadurai comes closestThe elements frame a paradigm within which discussion of the media and globalization take placeThey are open to development into testable propositionWhat is the evidence?


Communication and Media Research Institute*1 - A new epoch in human history?Not something we can answer in advanceOnly when we have seen whether the component elements of theory are valid can we judge how they combineIf a significant number of them are invalid, then the claim is invalidOn the other hand, many of the features that are claimed as new were observed long ago


Communication and Media Research Institute*2 - A new complexityThe claim that there are autonomous logics can be operationalised as:Is culture becoming more independent of economics?Discussion of international communication issues has moved from Unesco to WTONo sign if weakening of organisations like the MPAABroadcasting in many places more dependent on economics today than in the pastBBC, Doordarshan, CCTV


Communication and Media Research Institute*3 - Theory and practiceDifferent practical and political conclusions have been drawn from the paradigmAcceptance of globalizationAttempts to restate the Social-Democratic perspectiveOutright rejection of globalizationAttempts to reshape globalization to benefit the worlds poorNone of these flow logically from the paradigmThey are all more or less personal opinions about society


Communication and Media Research Institute*4 - The scale of symbolic contentWhat is the relative size of media corporations and how far are their products relatively global?Media corporations are large but not significantly larger than the Fordist industries Even in a very open economy and post-industrial economy like the UK:It exported finished manufactured goods (e.g. cars, aircraft petrochemicals and so on) to the value of 101,252m in 2004 It exported services (e.g. royalties, financial services, licenses and so on) to the value of 99,100m Of these services, the royalties and licences earnings of the film and television industry amounted to 6,564m Symbolic products are not more global than material products Cars and television programmes


Communication and Media Research Institute*5 - Withering away of the state?Are states (any states) still viable entities?Max Weber on the monopoly of violenceMilitary spending dipped at the end of the cold war, but is now rising againUSA accounts for 40 per centUSA, Japan, UK, France and China together account for more than 60 per centThe internal coercive power of the state is not withering awayIn 2002, the US government jailed more than 2 million of its citizensMore than 4 times as many as in 1980Border controls have become much tougher since 9/11In the media, the state remains to control of television operationsITC and Ofcom have banned porn channels and Med TV Al Jazeera is a state financed and owned operationChina controls access for satellite channels


Communication and Media Research Institute*6 - Is the local a problemAre local media a new development?There have long be geographically local mediaNewspaper operations in most countries were and remain localChain ownership is usually national rather than globalBroadcasting tends toward the national at the expense of the local if left to itselfThe new localities and their media based on ethnicity are not recent phenomena


Communication and Media Research Institute*7 - A world without a centreSurely this is quite incredible given the preponderance of the USA?Military strength and relative economic weakness Global media companies are in fact overwhelmingly US companies from an economic point of view The USA has challengers, but is still by far the most important


Communication and Media Research Institute*8 - Multiple production centresThere are multiple production centresIn the cinema they are much less significant than HollywoodIn 2002, accounted for more than 70% of film investment In major markets, Hollywood films account for the majority of box office takings Other media have different dynamicsIn TV production, some national centres remain importantIn music, many national centres exist


9 Regional media marketsWhat is the relative proportion of traded media products from different sources?Some evidence of regional specificityKorean wave in East AsiaOn the other hand, Europe dominated by US importsRegional markets still subordinate to global marketCommunication and Media Research Institute*


Communication and Media Research Institute*10 - Global media products?How far can we claim that global products can originate anywhere?The case of Winnie-the-PoohIn order to become global, media products must first be adapted to suit the needs of consumers in the large and wealthy markets


Communication and Media Research Institute*In summary1 - The claim that there are new autonomous logics in culture is false2 - The claim that the globalization paradigm does not lead to practice is correct3 - The claim that media are central to globalization is false, or at best very weakly supported4 - The claim that the state is becoming weaker is false5 - The claims that the local is undermining the national is false6 - The claim that there are multiple production centres is true, but the powerful centres are in the developed world and primarily the USA7 - There are regional markets in TV production, but intra-regional trade is relatively weak compared with imports from the USA8 - Global media products do exist, but the exist only insofar as they are adapted to the tastes of consumers in the rich countries10 - Taken together, there is very little evidence that globalization constitutes a new epoch in human history


Communication and Media Research Institute*Why does this matter?Too many of the claims currently made by theories of globalization are empirically false for us to accept themA false theory leads to a false understanding of the worldGlobalization theorists have concentrated on diasporic audiencesThese experience are importantThey are very visible in the metropolitan centresIn terms of human significance, they are relatively marginalPerhaps 5 million people have come to the UK in the last 20 years, maybe 50 million internationallyMore than 1,000,000,000 have moved inside states from the country to the city


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