GE 112 The Contemporary World (Week 10-13) PDF

WORK TEXT IN GE 112 The Contemporary World (WEEK 10-13) PREPARED BY: RICOH JAE U. MATERUM MARK JOSEPH ARIMAS FRANCIS DAVE MABBORANG CESAR F. DE GUZMAN JR.  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD LEARNING OBJECTIVES: After completing this topic, students will be...

WORK TEXT IN GE 112 The Contemporary World (WEEK 10-13) PREPARED BY: RICOH JAE U. MATERUM MARK JOSEPH ARIMAS FRANCIS DAVE MABBORANG CESAR F. DE GUZMAN JR.  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD LEARNING OBJECTIVES: After completing this topic, students will be able to: analyze the different kinds of media in driving global integration; distinguish the role of global media in creating the global village; appreciate the role of media in spreading globalization; and perform a musical presentation that became internationally famous. “Images are active players in the game of establishing and changing values. They are capable of introducing new values into the world and thus of threatening old ones. -J.T Mitchell, 2005. Globalization is a set of multiple, uneven, and sometimes overlapping historical processes, including economics, politics, and culture, combined with the evolution of media technology to create the conditions under which the globe itself can now be understood as “an imagined community.” The concept of “global imaginary,” coined by Manfred Steger, refers to the consciousness of belonging to a global community- a consciousness that has emerged in recent decades with the rapid rise of communication technologies and the decline of nation- based political ideologies. 1  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD The world nowadays is very much different from the world 20 years ago, starting from its economic status, the people’s social life, political practices, and the cultural life of the people. These differences are mainly caused by the rapid changes in people’s way of life, specifically because of the continuous improvement of many countries nowadays, brought about by scientific and electronic discoveries like information technology. We are living in a world where technology is oneof the most important aspects of life. We use technology to make our lives easier and our work faster. We rely on technology to be updated on issuesworldwide; thus, television, cellphones, radios, and social media groups were created to reach wider and larger audiences and make one feel connected. Globalization necessitates the blowout of different cultures, and media is a great instrument of this. Movies from the USA like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt entitled Mr. and Mrs. Smith are known in the USA and even in many other countries. Korean novelas and dances like “Endless Love and Bam Bam” fever are felt here in the Philippines. Knowledge and ideas are also being shared globally through the help of social media. The concept of accepting the rights of the lesbian, gays, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities became known to the world through social media, books, andany other means of communication. As well as religious organizations use media as a means of proclaiming their teachings and proliferation. Today, media play a great role in helping globalization spread global cultures, knowledge, and ideas. Jack Lule was then right, asking, “Could global trade have evolved without a flow of information on markets, prices, commodities, and more? Could empires have stretched across the world without communication throughout their borders? Could religion, 2  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD music, poetry, film, fiction, cuisine, and fashion develop without intermingling media and cultures? (Claudio et.al 2018) We are living in a world where technology is one of the most important aspects of life. We use technology to make our lives easier and our work faster. We rely on technology to be updated on issues worldwide; thus, television, cellphones, radios, and social media groups were created to reach wider and larger audiences and make one feel connected. MEDIA AND ITS FUNCTIONS As previously said, media plays a significant influence in the global dissemination of civilizations. There are numerous definitions for media; however, we must first remember that media is the plural form of medium. Lule defined media as “a means of conveying something such as a channel of communication.” Bloggers define media as a communication channel through which we disseminate news, music, movies, education, messages, and data, which arethe means of mass communication like print media, broadcast media, and digital media. Given that the media effectively affects change in our community, it is critical to understand their role in our lives and society. We have to consider that media can be informativeor provide entertainment to a large audience. According to J. V. Vil’anilam in the Journal of Kerala Media Academy, there are six primary functions of state these are: Surveillance of the environment; Correlation of parts of society and interpretation of events and issues; Socialization and transmission of the cultural heritage; Entertainment; Mobilization; and Democratic Participation as well as minor functions such as publicity and public relations; advertisement; and, 3  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD Surveillance refers to the collection and distribution of information by the media. For example, Filipino citizens become aware of changing the Government structure into Federalism from a centralized form of government because of news from television, radio, newspaper, and any means of social media. Correlation of parts of society and interpretation of events and issues refers to the interpretation and analysis of media and its activities. Like for example, citizens know from the television broadcast on the possible drought due to the weather forecast of El Niño Transmission of the social heritage refers to the media’s ability to communicate traditional societies’ norms, values, and behavior through drama, songs, novels, and many others that society can appreciate. Entertainment refers to the ability of the media to divert attention and give amusement to the audience Mobilization refers to the ability of media to encourage a community to participate in a common goal with the use of social media. Democratic participation refers to how media influence the people’s freedom to freely air their ideas on what they perceive as right or wrong in a particular issue. Publicity and public relations refer to the media’s capacity to educate the public on a subject, an individual, or an activity. Advertisement refers to how media share and promote new ideas, products, and others to the public. 4  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD THE GLOBAL VILLAGE AND CULTURAL IMPERIALISM “Cultural imperialism involved, among many other things, exploration, missionary and humanitarian missions, travel and the use of education and publishing to disseminate European ideas - GEORGE RITZER. McLuhan examines the impact of electronic media byusing his analysis of technology. He analyzes that television brought social changes wherein this television can make “a global village.” This means that people can create the same perception of what they watch as they sit and see in front of their televisions watching the same programs. Other media scholars believe that the global media could homogenize our culture. They believe that when global media spread, people from different parts of the world would begin to watch, listen, and read the same things. This began when America’s culture began to spread all over the world. When this was combined with the global media brought about by colonization, the “cultural imperialism form where American culture became superior over other cultures of the world. 5  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD Herbert Schiller (1976) argued that not only did the world’s cultures become Americanized, but it also helped the American “capitalist values” like consumerism begin to spread. Similarly, John Tomlinson believes cultural globalization fosters “homogenized, westernized, consumer culture.” Additionally, Robert Mc Chesney believes that “economic and cultural globalization arguably would be impossible without a global commercial media system to promote global markets and to encourage consumer values.” These intellectuals who criticized cultural imperialism have a top-down view of the media, as Claudio and Abinales(2018) believe that they are more concerned with the broad structures of the media content. These intellectuals had neglected other flows of information that media can provide because of their focus on America. However, cultural imperialism theory has, thus, still subject to important critique. Globalization and cultural hegemony vis-a-vis impacted each other positively and negatively. The positive impact of globalization will lead to diverse cultures maintaining their diversity and coexisting in this globalized arena. Globalization will aid in bringing the cultures together. This will lead to a convergence of world cultures. In other words, we will move to an era of “cultural hybridity” and “creolization.” The negative impact is that globalization will lead to the domination of one culture over another culture. We will see “cultural imperialism, “cultural hegemony,” and obsolescence of weak cultures. (Gupta, 2009). We are moving towards a world in which people are practicing monoculture, losing their own cultural identity. 6  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD LEARNING OBJECTIVES: After completing this topic, students will be able to: Distinguish the relationship of religion and globalization; Examine how globalization affects religious practices and belief; Recognize the role of globalization of religion in bringing global peace and solving global conflict Discuss the future of religion in the globalized world, and; Appreciate how globalization improves religion. “The essence of all religions is one. Only their approaches are different.” -Mahatma Gandhi In this topic, the relationship between globalization and religion will be discussed. It seeks to understand how globalization affects religions of the world the same trough with how these religions respond to the process of globalization in resolving global conflict and restoring global peace. Religion is a system of beliefs and practices, while globalization refers to expanding and intensifying social relations and consciousness across world-time and world-space (Steger). Religion and globalization persistently engage with one another in order to flourish and thrive while at the same time being affected by the other. 7  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD Religion is a system of beliefs and practices, while globalization refers to the expansion and intensification of social relations and consciousness across world-time and across world-space (Steger). Religion and globalization persistently engage with one another in order to flourish and thrive while at the same time being affected by the other. Globalization serves as an instrument for societies to be free from theconstraints of their nation-states but, in return, destroys their culture; on theother hand, religion aims to arrange and develop the broken culture of societies by giving answers on social conflict to economic disadvantages to even personal happiness. Today, globalization is being measured by material means, while religion is an immaterial means of living. However, despite their differences, religion uses globalization to extend religious teachings from corners of the world with the help of television channels, radio broadcasting, and even Facebook and other social media. However, globalization also brings religious tensions as Others view globalization as a “throw-away culture and suffocate hope and increase threats and risk.” Thus, we must examine how globalization impacts religion, how religion responds to globalization, and what religion’s future holds in a globalized world. 8  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD The relationship between religion and globalization is much more complicated. According to Peter Berger, the “contemporary world is furiously religious. There are veritable explosions of religious fervor in most of the world, occurring in one form or another in all the major religious traditions. The most known religions worldwide are Christianity with 2.2 billion followers; Islam with 1.57 milliard followers; Hinduism with 811 million adherents; Buddhism with 380 million adherents; and others. Religion has entered the “information age” where it became globalized, accelerating its methods and processes in disseminating teaching and belief systems. The continuous improvement of information technology has helped religion to enter globalization. In reality, religion nowadays serves as the foundation of many societies bringing people together; in other ways, religion becomes the foundation of modern government. Others use religion to become aggressive in power and popularity. Many tools are being used in uniting humans worldwide on a religious basis: books, movies, cell phone apps, social networks, charity funds, special internet sites, and religious schools. Through different technological tools, religion epitomizes the definition of globalization because it can be spread more efficiently than ever before. Religion has become globalized because holy scriptures, religious practices, and teachings can be acquired easily using our smartphones on our Facebook account, Twitter, and even broadcast on television; hence, this was known by a large number of the audience throughout the world. It is now probable for any religion to spread beyond national borders, allowing even small new religious movements to engage in overseas activities and leading to new unseen religious developments. Even celebrities nowadays are advocating smallreligious movements that are following and advertising them. 9  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD More likely, two of the world’s old religions- Christianity and Islam- used globalization to expand their mission, serving as a great force to reach more communities and help many people save their souls. Unfortunately, globalization comes with materialism which is taboo for the objectives of religious lifelike; for example, materialism goes with the acquisition of communication means essential for further dissemination. The rise of ISIS or the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and the movement of the Born-Again Christians indicates their defense against the globalization of materialism. These actions of religious groups show that globalization can be a sort of expanding religion or taking advantage of one another. The idea of bringing the nations close together through globalization also provides tensions to some religions like Islam. They view globalization as an instrument to spread western values, culture, and beliefs, which may displace Islam and contradict their teachings. The World Council of Churches also criticized the materialism brought about by globalization. (Claudio, 2018) Despite the blessings brought about by globalization like economic progress, communication improvement, and religious dissemination, it also manifested its curse. Today, it sees globalization as the root cause of injustices and violence within the society like: (1) a fast-expanding gap between rich andpoor, (2) the public making this gap widely evident, (3) a disturbingly fast rate of cultural interpenetrations, (4) worldwide availability of modern weapons, (5) lack of effective laws to control ruthless international 10  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD concomitants of mass production/distribution, and (6) fear of macro- ecological catastrophes due to excessive increases in population and per- capita consumption and waste. Hence, it cannot be denied that terrorism’s reasons for provoking are due to globalization’s effect on the culture, social, economic, and political life of many countries. Indeed, that media paved the way for the spread of globalization in many cultures having different cultures and perceptions of what is found in our environment. The media and its functions significantly affect our interconnections, which became part of our daily life, making us more active in participating in issues around us related to our social, political, economic, and cultural part of life. This topic opens our eyes to anew horizon on what media can bring us, either positive or negative. It seems that media can create a global village or an imagined community with a monoculture. More likely, media creates divisions, especially for those societies that emphasize the interactions using technology as a means of greater communication and information dissemination. However, with the continuing fast changes of global technology that creates unintentional consequences on the life of the people, our society will never be ready for it. Henceforth, we as consumers of technology and social media users must take the right step forward in dealing with these changes brought about by global media. Let us be open with changes because changes are permanent; let us be brave enough in facing these changes but wise enough in our actions that will bring responsibility, accountability, and ethics to our society. The culture of our globalization has a significant impact on religion. As people and cultures move across the globe, religious globalization will continue as ideas are mobilized and transported by media technology. It has its blessings and curses. People should survive with the flow of information and choose their own and peaceful way. Religion became our life’s basis and our guiding principles for living in this world. The rise of globalization brought about changes in our beliefs or even the way we treat them. It affects our economic, social, political, and cultural life but let us be responsible for accepting globalization rightly. Let us not use globalization as a reason to forget our moral and ethical life thought to us by religion. Hence let us usereligion to prosper thru globalization, not a reason to reject the proliferation of faith worldwide. 11  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD Religion and Globalization: New Possibilities, Furthering Challenges by Daniel Globiewski. Film: PBS Frontline: “The Rise of ISIS” (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/riseof-isis/) REFERENCES: Golebiewski, Daniel (2014), Religion and Globalization: New Possibilities, Furthering Challenges. E-International Relations. https://www.e-ir.info/2014/07/16/religion-and-globalization- new-possibilities-furthering-challenges/ Steger, Manfred B. , Paul Battersby, and Joseph M. Siracusa, eds. 2014. The SAGE Handbook of Globalization. Two volumes. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications. Abinales, Patricio and Claudio, Lisandro, “The Contemporary World.”,.(C & E Publishing, Inc.2018): 72-81. http://college.cengage.com/history/ayers_primary_sources/creati on_cyberghet to1998.htm https://www.google.com/search?q=cyber+ghettos&source=lnms &tbm=isch&s a=X&ved=0ahUKEwjG46O3xv7gAhXZAIgKHZJkAvsQ_AUI DigB&biw=1 306&bih=638 https://mediamagazine.in/content/major-and-minor-functions- media https://www.encyclopedia.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs- transcriptsand-maps/functions-media https:// www.researchgate.net Steger, Manfred B. , Paul Battersby, and Joseph M. Siracusa, eds. 2014. The SAGE Handbook of Globalization. Two volumes. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications. Abinales, Patricio and Claudio, Lisandro, “The Contemporary World.”,.(C & E Publishing, Inc.2018): 62-70. Lindley et.al; “Current Links between Globalization and Violence”, Journal of American Sciences. 3(1), 2007. Film: PBS Frontline: “The Rise of ISIS” (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/riseof-isis/) 12  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD Lesson Objectives: Identify the attributes of a global city. Analyze how cities serve as engines of globalization A city is not gauged by its length and width but by the broadness of its vision and the height of its dream. It is barely surprising that the idea of “global city” emerged in social science. Literature in the 1980s, shortly after the concept of globalization, captured the social scientific imagination, becoming one of its powerful notional gravitational pulls. However, the idea of a global city was hardly known at the time. As a phenomenon, global cities, either as centers of imperial powers or free cities at the crossroads of International merchant routes, have existed since ancient times. Global City that serves as a hub within a globalized economic system. The term has its origins in research on cities carried out during the 1980s, which examined the common characteristics of the world’s most important cities. However, with increased attention being paid to processes of globalization during subsequent years, these world cities came to be known as global cities. Linked with globalization was the idea of spatial reorganization and the hypothesis that cities were becoming key loci within global production, finance, and telecommunications networks. In some formulations of the global city thesis, such cities are seen as the building blocks of globalization. Simultaneously, these cities were becoming newly privileged sites of local politics within the context of a broader project to reconfigure state institutions. 13  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD WHAT IS “GLOBAL CITY”? A global city is characterized by its strength in shaping economic, social, and cultural links to the rest of the world, including its ability to influence the flow of resources, capital, innovations, and knowledge. The effects of global city and reasons why we want to live in a global city are: The world’s top influential cities: London, New York, Paris, Singapore, Tokyo, Hongkong, Dubai, Beijing. A global city is a city that has the power to affect global issues and change the global outlook. It can be done through various systems from politics to military and economic control and adapt the global economy’s route. A world city is a city that is a major center for finance, trade, business, politics, culture, science, Information gathering, and mass media. It serves the whole world and can be considered an important multinational city. The safest cities worldwide are; Toronto, Canada, Melbourne, Australia, Amsterdam, Sydney, Stockholm, Sweden, Hongkong, Zurich, Switzerland, Frankfurt, Germany. A global city is also called a world city, alpha city, or world center. The main characteristic of a global city is economic power. It is, therefore, correct that economic power determines which among the cities are considered a global city. New York may have the largest stock market, and Shanghai may have the smallest stock market but 14  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD plays a vital role in the global economic chain since China became the manufacturing center of the world. Economic opportunities in a global city make it very attractive to people across the world. Filipino nurses, engineers, IT programmers, etc., prefer to work in other countries due to better pay, better benefits, and a better work environment. Saskia Sassen, a leading urban theorist, emphasizes the importance of creating new conceptual resources for making sense of urban systems and their global networks -- a new conceptual architecture, as she calls it (28). She argues for seven fundamental hypotheses about the modern global city: 1. The geographic dispersal of economic activities that marks globalization, along with the simultaneous integration of such geographically dispersed activities, is a key factor feeding the growth and importance of central corporate functions. 2. These central functions become so complex that the headquarters of large global firms increasingly outsource them: they buy a share of their central functions from highly specialized service firms. 3. Those specialized service firms engaged in the most complex and globalized markets are subject to agglomeration economies. 4. The more headquarters outsource their most complex, unstandardized functions, particularly those subject to uncertain and changing markets, the freer they can opt for any location. 5. These specialized service firms need to provide a global service which has meant a global network of affiliates and a strengthening of cross-border city-to-city transactions and networks. 6. The economic fortunes of these cities become increasingly disconnected from their broader hinterlands or even their national economies. 7. One result of the dynamics described in hypothesis six, is the growing informalization of a range of economic activities which find their effective demand in these cities, yet have profit rates that do not allow them to compete for various resources with the high- profit making firms at the top of the system. (28-30) Three key tendencies seem to follow from these structural facts about global cities. One is a concentration of wealth in the hands of owners, partners, and professionals associated with the high-end firms in this 15  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD system. Second is a growing disconnection between the city and its region. And third is the growth of a large marginalized population that has a very hard time earning a living in the marketplace defined by these high-end activities. Rather than constituting an economic engine that gradually elevates the income and welfare of the whole population, the modern global city funnels global surpluses into the hands of a global elite dispersed over a few dozen global cities. These tendencies seem to line up well with several observable features of modern urban life throughout much of the world: a widening separation in quality of life between a relatively small elite and a much larger marginalized population; a growth of high-security gated communities and shopping areas; and dramatically different graphs of median income for different socioeconomic groups. New York, London, and Hong Kong/Shanghai represent a huge concentration of financial and business networks, and the concentration of wealth that this produce is manifest: “Inside countries, the leading financial centers today concentrate a greater share of national financial activity than even ten years ago, and internationally, cities in the global North concentrate well over half of the global capital market. (33)” This mode of global business creates a tight network of supporting specialist firms that are likewise positioned to capture a significant level of wealth and income: “By central functions I do not only mean top level headquarters; I am referring to all the top level financial, legal, accounting, managerial, executive, planning functions necessary to run a corporate organization operating in more than one country. (34)” These global city economic system features imply a widening set of inequalities between elite professionals and specialists and the larger urban population of service and industrial workers. They also imply a widening set of inequalities between North and South. Sassen believes that communications and Internet technologies have the effect of accelerating these widening inequalities: “Besides their impact on the spatial correlates of centrality, the new communication technologies can also be expected to have an impact on inequality between cities and inside cities. (37)” 16  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD REFERENCES: Saskia Sassen (2013), The Global City. Understanding Society. https://understandingsociety.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-global-city- saskia-sassen.html Charnock, Greig (2007), Global City. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/global-city Mendoza, et. al. (2019) Worktext in the Contemporary World. Nieme Publishing House. Quezon City, Philippines, Page 71-73. Global City: Encyclopedia of Urban Studies The Contemporary World by Lisandro E. Claudio and Patricio N. Abinales The Contemporary World by Prince Kennex Reguyal Aldama 17  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD Lesson Objectives: Explain Demographic transition as it affects global population. Identify the effects of aging and overpopulation. “As we encounter each other, we see our diversity- belief – and how we handle that diversity will have much to say about whether we will in the end be able to rise successfully to the great challenges we face today.” -Dan Smith- In this topic you will learn about the theory of demographic transition which is a model used to study and predict population changes. It explains the mortality and fertility rates of each country, what causes its increase and its decline. 18  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD Differences in family determine economic and social policies that countries dexterity regarding their respective population. Having a child is a manifestation of a complete family, but how many children should you bear? Having a child or no child is motivated by economics. Will the child be an asset or a liability to the family, community, or nation? In the rural areas, some families have more children because their mentality is that their children are their wealth, there will bemore to work in the fields, and there might be one of them who will succeed and change their economic life. In the cities, they have fewer children because they have to be sure of their children’s education, and there is a high standard of living in the cities; therefore, they consider how far their income can go. “Population change over time.” The growth or decline of a population can affect the quality of life for people within that population. Demography is the statistical study of the population based on age, race, and sex factors. Governments, corporations, and non- government organization use demographics to learn more about a population’s characteristics for many purposes, including policy development and economic market research. Substantial definitions of demography, types of demographics, trends, and patterns will be discussed. Different views and data will be presented. The students will be expected to report their findings on global demography. Why is it important to study global demography? 19  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD The UNICEF estimates the all around the world; an estimate 353,000 babies are born each year. That is approximately 4.3 babies being a boomin every second. Ten years from now, you might be contributing to the world’s increasing population yourself. You may have started your own family ot procreation and oven-built a private townhouse. Future plans that may further fuel your desire to do well in school and earn a degree or two. In some highly developed nations, married couples choose to have one or two children since they spend most of their energy-saving money on their children’s requirements, leaving fewer children would ensure that the majority, if not all, of their demands, are satisfied satisfactorily. An ideal number of progenies may have also come into your mind as prices of essential commodities seem to increase steadily for the past years. Demography looks into the different elements of a population like size, mortality rates, income, the incidence of diseases, and fertility rates, for these directly relate to the quality of society’s complex makeup. Are there consequences if global demography is not checked and controlled? Is having a majority of the old population beneficial for society? Is an increased influx of migrants a sign of a booming economy? These are but a few of the questions that we intend to shed light on with this chapter. Theory of Demographic Transition It is basically a population change model that demographers can use to review how a population has changed in the past as well as how to make predictions about the future of the population. Stage 1 Birth rate and death rate are both high and about same. In this stage, population growth rate is very low. Stage 2 The gap between birth and death rate curves increases as population growth rate is much higher than death rate. Stage 3 Birth rate goes down, and curves of both birth and death rate come very close—population growth is very low. Stage 4 Birth rate curve goes down more than death rate curve. Net population of the region decreases. 20  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD Global Demographic Issues Uneven population growth worldwide. There is a converse relationship between the economic level of a country and its population. In poor countries, birth rates lean towards being high whilst in rich countries, birth rates tend to decline. Demographic Pressures on the Environment. The Demographic Pressures Indicator considers pressures upon the state deriving from its population or environment. For example, the Indicator measures population pressures related to the food supply, access to safe water, and other life-sustaining resources or health, such as the prevalence of disease and epidemics. The Indicator considers demographic characteristics, such as pressures from high population growth rates or skewed population distributions, such as a “youth or age bulge,” or sharply divergent rates of population growth among competing communal groups, recognizing that such effects can have profound social, economic, and political effects. Slum Urbanization Slums come in all shapes and sizes and have various names, yet they all mean the same: a crowded residential urban area characterized by below-standard housing, poor basic services, and squalor. Most of the world’s largest slums seem to be located across the developing world, and as urbanization increases, so does inequality. In the future, slums won’t just be an inevitable challenge, and they will start to become obstacles in the way of achieving sustainable development goals. Spread of Diseases Generation and spread of Diseases and other terminal illnesses, like HIV/AIDS, also hasten to keep pace with globalization. However, international aids and programs have been organized to extend help and contain the further circulate and create an epidemic. The study of demography is important as it allows us to study the nature in which our population changes over time, and this is important as it allows us to study how changes to 21  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD the population, such as the aging population phenomenon, can lead to a decrease in GDP and an increase in the mechanization of jobs and production in developed countries. In Malthusian theory of population claims that in poor countries,” population grows faster than food supply.” There are many reasons why this occurrence happens in poor countries. Rapid growth of population could be due to: A. lack or absence of adequate knowledge of the people regarding natural and safe methods or measures on family planning B. insufficient fund to finance the cost of information-dissemination C. inability of parents to send their children to school for functional education and training On the other hand, it should be understood that a large population is not at all bad or disadvantageous. Some countries experience a shortage of human resources to work that is why they encourage other nationalities to come and work and stay with them. A recent study will tell us that there are three babies born every minute; demographers predict that by the middle of this century, there will be countries that will double if not triple their population if it is left unchecked. Demographers also predict that the world population can still be stabilized. “The FAO, Food and Agriculture Organization warns that in order for countries to mitigate the impact of population growth, food production must increase to 70%.” They, therefore, enjoin governments to keep theirmarkets open and move eventually towards a global trading system that isfair and competitive and that contributes to a dependable market for food. Different versions of family life determine the economic and social policies that each country formulates regarding its population. Development planners can picture urbanization or industrialization as an 22  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD indicator of a developing society, but they disagree on the role of population growth. There should be a promotion of global population control to reduce the growth rate. By reducing the population, essential resources can be utilized for economic progress and not waste more mouths. That’s why the government should create policies to combat population explosion. 23  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD “Theory of Demographic Transition : Three Centuries of Fundamental change” by Ronald Lee. “An Essay on the Principles of Population by Thomas Malthus. REFERENCES: The Contemporary World by Lisandro e. Claudio and Patricio N. Abinales “The Demographic Transition: Three Centuries of Fundamental Change” by Ronald Lee “The Unfolding Story of the Second Demographic Transition” by Ron Lesthaeghe “Journal of Economic Perspectives”, by Ronal Lee Mendoza, et. al. (2019) Worktext in the Contemporary World. Nieme Publishing House. Quezon City, Philippines, Page 79-82. Urbanisation and Rise of Slum Housing. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.habitatforhumanity.org.uk/blog/2018/09/urbanisation- slum-housing/ Demographic Pressures. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://fragilestatesindex.org/indicators/s1/ Demography – the study of human populations. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.suda.su.se/education/what-is-demography 24  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD Lesson Objectives: Demonstrate an understanding of the global migration Discuss the causes and effects of global migration Discuss the effects of global migration on the economic well-being of the states. “Migration powers economic growth, reduces inequalities, and connects diverse societies. Yet it is also a source of political tensions and human tragedies.” Antonio Guteres In this topic, Global Migration can be understood as a cause and effect relationship, though the causes are just as numerous as their effects. People move across international borders for a variety of reasons. Some of the reasons that trigger global migration can be explained by what is known as the Push- Pull factor. Pull factors are factors in the destination country that attract the individual or group to leave their home. A Push factor refers to the condition which forces people to leave their homes. Whether individuals migrate due to push or pull factors, there are undeniable benefits of adapting to a new country. Global migration is debated just about as often as it is misunderstood. However, the reasons why people migrate differ depending on an individual situation. Moreover, in this topic, we will explore what global migration is, dissect its current state, highlight some of the factors that cause global migration, and study the pros and cons of global migration. 25  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD Migration is the movement of people from one place to another. It may be within a particular place or outside a particular place. There are groups of people who move to a particular place due to the following reasons; Those who move to another country permanently Those who move to work as contract workers Those who move illegally Those who move because they were petitioned Those who move to seek asylum Those who were unable to move because they had a fear of persecution. There are two types of migration: internal migration, which refers to people moving from one area to another within one country; and international migration, in which people across borders of one country to another. Records will show that there were people who are currently living outside their birthplace due to economic reasons; they seek a greener pasture. 26  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD The influx of migrants has been the problem of receiving countriesbecause they are not sure if they will be an asset or a liability to the government. Government should have an existing policy on how they cancontrol the flooding of migrants. There are cases wherein countries are faced with issues on the entrance of illegal migrants wherein there were attempts to build walls to control the entrance and exits of people. For this, the government does not have a choice but to generate jobs for skilled workers because their presence will increase their grossdomestic product. Moreover, because of these, different countries will do the same by sharing resources. The only fear is that there will be an influx of illegal migrants who do illegal things in receiving countries. Does migration improve the quality of life? Whether individuals migrate due to push or pull factors, there are undeniable benefits of adapting to a new country. Somebenefits are simply fun and exciting: learning a new culture and experiencing new opportunities, such as tasting new foods and getting to know a different approach to communication, or immersing yourself in the new cultural activities, can be exciting and enriching. Other benefits, namely personal freedoms, are essential. People may leave their home countries searching for safety and religious, academic, or political freedom in their new countries. It’s estimated that around 11 million Syrians have fled their homes since the outbreak of the civil war in March 2011; many fleeing for their safety in search of a better quality of life for their families. In this example, migration can improve peoples’ lives drastically. Potential Drawbacks for Global Migration Migration can present a great variety of challenges ranging from simple discomfort to profound shifts in mental health. Migrating to a new place where the diet or the local culture is largely unfamiliar may be quite jarring. Imagine moving from the US where drinking coffee or tea in the 27  GE 112 THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD mornings are the cultural norm to living in Central Asia, where in some parts, drinking salty yak butter tea is the norm. Culture shock is a predictable culprit for migratory challenges: changes in language, diet, politics, religion, and environment are immediately visible. For example, those who migrate from the Middle East or Africa are aware of the difficulties of adjusting to colder temperatures in Scandinavia. However, what might not be as obvious is the challenge of adjusting to extremely short daylight hours in the winter, making seasonal affective disorder an unanticipated hurdle for many immigrants. Furthermore, the act of leaving a home country can be emotionally difficult, especially for those who may never be able to return and/or were forced out by situations that they couldn’t control. Having to emigrate as a refugee from a war-torn Syria breaks up families and can destabilize immigrants’ sense of self, leading to depression. These challenges obviously should not be taken lightly – help and support are key. “International Migration at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century: Global Trends and Issues.” REFERENCES: “International Migration At The Beginning of the Twenty-First Century: Global Trends And Issues” by Stephen Castles “Differentiating Sedimented from Modular Transnationalism: The View from East Asia.” Asian and Pacific Migration Journal by Filomeno Aguilar Saskia Sassen: ‘The Global City: A New Frontier The Contemporary World by Lisandro e. Claudio and Patricio N. Abinales The Contemporary World by Prince Kennex Reguyal Aldama Mendoza, et. al. (2019) Worktext in the Contemporary World. Nieme Publishing House. Quezon City, Philippines, Page 87-92. Blackman, Tim (2017), “What is Global Migration?” Bromberg Blog. https://www.brombergtranslations.com/what-is-global-migration/ Global Migration (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.umcjustice.org/what-we- care-about/civil-and-human-rights/global-migration 28