Globalization and Workers’ Interests
Does Globalization Harm Workers’ Interests?
Introduction
The term “globalization” has gained a considerable emotive force over the years whereby some people perceive it as a beneficial process with future prospects of economic development. Others view it as a hostile and fearful process which accelerates inequality, threatens humanity, and social injustice between nations and the world in general. Globalization is best viewed to be beneficial to the business people who gain various benefits regarding their business expansion in term of quality labor, business ideas, and access to raw materials. However, it is not obvious that it has to benefit every other person doing business. Various factors determine the impact it may have on a business person, business corporates, and the whole nation. Such factors include the political atmosphere, intensity of cultural beliefs, the laws governing the country, and the global business dynamics (Stiglitz, 2017, p. 63).
Additionally, some countries are privileged to integrate into the global economy faster than others hence experiencing reduced levels of poverty and quick economic developments. For instance, most countries in the Middle East were able to integrate faster into the global market which saw it advancing their economy and the living standards as well as the democratic issues. Contrary, in the 1980s, some African and American countries pursued inward-oriented policies which led to the decline and stagnation of the economic standards, increased levels of poverty, and high inflation rates. However, the emerging markets brought about by globalization come with various risks such as unemployment, threats to the cultural beliefs, social and environmental degradation leading to poverty. Referring to globalization as the integration of economies around the world through financial and trade flows, this thesis features the process as a cause of more harm to the workers’ interests than benefits.