Global Divides: The North And The South PDF

THE GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH The Contemporary World THE GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH This section enables the learners to know the concepts of the Global South and how this is seen in both affluent and impoverished countries. THE GLOBAL DIVID...

THE GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH The Contemporary World THE GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH This section enables the learners to know the concepts of the Global South and how this is seen in both affluent and impoverished countries. THE GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH Since the process of globalization is uneven, it follows that there is an imbalance in the socio- economic and political categories of the world. The world is divided into north and south, and first, second, and third. Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Europe, Australia, and America tend to see the big difference between the ways of living in the Philippines and in Western countries. Some of them come home as “one- day millionaires” giving our presents to their family, relatives, neighbors, and friends. THE GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH Although their incomes are relatively higher than if they work in the Philippines, they realize that life is still tough despite the remittances they send to their families and the taxes that the country gains from these. Furthermore, they cannot escape the reality that their occasional vacations in the Philippines are temporary because they would need to go back to work in order to continue making a living in another country. This is a reflection of the global divide between the north and the south as experienced by these Filipinos. THE GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH The term Global South is a metaphor for interstate inequality and a product of Western imagination (Claudio, 2014). Historically, there had been divisions and labeling among the different nations of the world. Countries that were colonized by the Spaniards in the southern part of the American continent are collectively called Latin America. By virtue of the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, the newly discovered lands outside Europe were divided into two – the West belonging to the Crown of Castile (now part of Spain) and the East belonging to the Portuguese Empire. THE GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH From these divisions, the Global South refers to the socio – economic and political divide primarily focused on the southern hemisphere of the 1569 – designed Mercatorian map. It also includes the regions of Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. It connotes developing countries as opposed to rich, industrialized, and wealth nations. On the contrary, the Global North is the home of all members of the Group of Eight – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, Russia, and the United States of America. It is also the abode of the four powerful permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. It also refers to the developed countries in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. THE GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH Although usually associated with developing nations, the Global South is also found in developing countries. Economically poor families, underprivileged individuals, unfair labor practices, and suppression of human rights, and other violation of basic rights in Europe, Australia, US, and Canada are the pieces of evidence that people from developed countries also share similar experiences with people from developing countries. THE GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH By now, one can say that the terms Global South and Third World are conceptually the same. But the term Third World is the antecedent of Global South (Claudio, 2014). The classification of nations as First World or Third World emerged during the Cold War. The term “Third World” historically, was coined by Alfred Sauvy in 1952 in an article entitled “Three Worlds, One Planet” (Andrews, 2018). In this original context, the First World included the United States and its capitalist allies in places such as Western Europe, Japan and Australia. The Second World consisted of the communist Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellites. THE GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH The Third World, meanwhile, encompassed all the other countries that were not actively aligned with either side in the Cold War. These were often impoverished former European colonies, and included nearly all the nations of Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia. To illustrate, India was considered a Third World country for it was a colony of the United Kingdom. Later, the category was used to refer to countries that were neither capitalist nor socialist. Since many countries were impoverished, the term was also used to refer to the poor world. These countries were considered to be non – industrialized and newly industrialized. They lacked the standard systems in banking, finance, and trade. THE GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH Hence, it is outdated to say that countries in Southeast Asia belong to the Third World for the term has ended its usage after the Cold War. These countries may be classified as the Global South though some of their citizens experience the Global North within their territories.  ASIAN REGIONALISM Among all the continents, Asia has the biggest population of at least two – thirds of the world’s inhabitants – with China being a home of more than 1.4 billion people based on the 2018 population projection of the United Nations which makes it country as one of the economic super giants of the world. Asia is most probably one of the biggest because the continent comprises one – third of the world’s land mass. ASIAN REGIONALISM  ASIAN REGIONALISM In terms of economy, emerging and developing Asian countries and the Associations of Southeast Asian Nations 5 or the ASEAN 5 (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand) had an average of 6.3% and 5.1% GDP growth, respectively, compared to the world average growth of 3.5% as of 2016 (Obiols, 2017). In 2016, China was the world’s leading exporter of goods valued at $1.99 trillion, followed by the United States with $1.45 trillion (Dillinger, 2018).  ASIAN REGIONALISM Since the European Union is in its mature state of regionalism, the world is now focused on Asia. Most countries want to have collaborations with East Asian countries and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members because economic and political growths in these regions have started to shape up. As a result, the United States strategically takes care of its allies in Asia to maintain and further enhance its supply of raw materials, human technological skills, and even its military force. At the same time, Europe keeps its strong relationship with Asian countries to expand its growing business in the field of medical science and research. It cannot be denied that Asia is gaining worldwide attention.  ASIAN REGIONALISM The terms regionalization and globalization are both related to integration. However, while globalization refers to the expansion and intensification of social relations and consciousness across world – time and world – space;  ASIAN REGIONALISM regionalization, on the other hand, is the “growth of societal integration within a region and to the often undirected process of social and economic interaction”. In terms of scope, it is clear that globalization happens around the world while regionalization happens only in a specific geographical region. Social and economic reciprocal actions of regionalization are undirected because of diversity – which comes in different levels of development (from the rich Singapore to the poor Laos), politics (from democracy to dictatorship and everything in between), economics (from free markets to capitalism and more), and religion (Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, and more)  ASIAN REGIONALISM Another concept commonly confused with regionalization is regionalism. Regionalism refers to regional concentration of economic flows and also pertains to the process of intergovernmental collaborations between two or more states, while regionalization refers to a political process by economic policy if cooperation and coordination are present among countries.  ASIAN REGIONALISM Asian regionalism is a new concept among the continental communities. New to cooperation and collaboration goals, it has the 50 – year – old ASEAN group and the failed East Asia Economic Group (EAEG). The ASEAN community is comprised of three pillars – political security community, economic community, and socio – cultural community.  ASIAN REGIONALISM The political security community gives importance to human rights, drugs, foreign relations, defense, law, and transnational crimes. The association adheres to significant roles of monitoring – economic ministers, finance ministers, central bank governors, free trade area, investment area, agriculture and forestry, transport ministers, telecommunications and information technology ministers, science and technology, energy, minerals, tourism, free trade agreements with dialogue partners, and sectoral bodies in the arena of economic community. In the socio – cultural community, there is an avenue for cooperation among the ministers responsible for culture and arts, sports, disaster management, education, environment, health, information, labor, rural development and poverty eradication, women, youth, and civil service matters.  ASIAN REGIONALISM ASEAN has also partnered with three East Asian countries – China, Japan, and South Korea. It is called the ASEAN +3. Its goal is to address the 1997 Asian financial crisis and help each other cope with the crisis. In this context, ASEAN has concretized regionalism in the Asian region.  ASIAN REGIONALISM In facing the challenges brought about by globalization, Asian countries have responded with regional alternatives as big group, small group and local communities. As a big group, Asian countries established their own Asian Development Bank (ADB) that is more focused on Asia and the Pacific as a reaction to global economic integration. Asian nations work in the form of loans, grants, and information sharing on topics such as terrorism and regional security.  ASIAN REGIONALISM The establishment of the ASEAN is also another initial reaction to globalization. It fosters the spirit of regionalism and oneness of Asian nations. As a group, it sets out in the ASEAN Declaration the following aims and purposes: 1. To accelerate economic growth, social progress, and cultural development in the region; 2. To promote regional peace and stability; 3. To promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest; 4. To provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research facilities;  ASIAN REGIONALISM 5. To collaborate more effectively for the greater utilization of their agriculture and industries; 6. To expand trade, improve their transportation and communications facilities, and raise the living standards of the people; 7. To promote Southeast Asian Studies; and 8. To maintain close and beneficial cooperation.  ASIAN REGIONALISM Reaction to globalization (and the West) also gave rise to terror groups, like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) which has spread to the Muslim communities in Southern Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. To combat global terrorism, these countries made use of their available resources to minimize and ultimately stop the effects of civilian – victims such as displacement and suffering. More so, they reached military multilateral agreements to address this common problem.  ASIAN REGIONALISM To conclude, globalization and regionalization are the same for they refer to integration. Their difference lies on the scope. Globalization is worldwide, while regionalization focuses on a specific geographical region. As a response to world homogenization and division, regionalism that comes in various forms of regional alternatives to globalization spawned within and among regions in Asia. Asian integration did not happen based only on one historical event for there were different factors that led to this alliance.