Globalisation 
EQ1: What are the causes of globalisation and why has it 
accelerated in recent decades 
Globalisation refers to the widening and deepening of global connections, interdependence and flows 
 
● Economic Globalisation: Refers to increasing interdependence of national economies across the world 
through the cross border movements of goods, services, technologies and capital 
○ Capital refers to money flows through the world’s stock markets 
○ Commodities refer to raw materials (fossil fuels, food etc) being traded between nations 
● Social Globalisation: Refers to how population structures change due to migration, immigration and 
emigration as well as improvements to health and education 
○ The growth of budget airlines have brought distant places within easy reach of tourists from 
MEDCs 
○ Most governments embrace trade flows but attempt to resist migrant flows unless there is a 
special need 
● Cultural Globalisation: refers to the transmission of ideas, meanings and values 
○ The internet has brought real time communication between distant places 
○ Social media has ballooned in size and influence 
● Political Globalisation refers to the growth of trade blocs, NGOs, and movement towards free trade 
agreements between countries 
● Environmental Globalisation refers to holistic approach to natural problems and issues 
 
The ​widening​ of connections refers to connections between people and places further away (bottled water from 
Fiji) 
The ​deepening​ of connections refer to being more integrated and connected to other people and places in morea 
areas of our lives 
 
Developments in transport and trade in the 19th century (railways, telegraph, steamships) accelerated in the 20th 
century (jet aircraft, containerisation), contributing to a ‘shrinking world’ 
 
The Shrinking World Effect 
 
 
● The Time Space Compression refers to how 
connectivity has changed our perception of 
time,distance and barriers to migration of people, 
goods, capital and information 
● As travel times decrease due to inventions, 
different places approach in ‘space time, beginning 
to feel closer and together than in the past. This is 
called the shrinking world effect 
   
 

Changes in transport 
 
● 19th century  
○ Railways 
■ Steam powered trains moved goods and armoires quickly along trade routes. 
■ Britain become the leading supower in the 19th Century using steam technology 
■ Trans-siberian Railway connects Moscow to China and Japan 
○ Telegraph 
■ Telephone cables in the Atlantic in the 1860s replaced a 3 week junior y with 
instantaneous communication 
○ Steam-ships 
■  
● 20th century  
○ Jet aircraft 
■ The arrival of intercontinental Boeing 747 in the 1960s made international travel more 
common place. More people could fly for a cheaper price 
■ Expansion of budget airlines (such as EasyJet) has brought it to the masses as the 
reduction of prices have made cities more connected 
■ Long haul flights have increases the widening of connections. The cost per item has 
reduced 
○ Containerisation 
■ Contaisation is the system of transporting goods in containers that can carry up to 
25000 kg in weight of goods 
● They reduced the unit cost of international transport as well as increasing speeds 
and reduce theft and losses due to breakages 
■ Sea transport unit costs have fallen by 70%, boosting trade flows as transport costs 
have decreases 
■ 200 million individual container movements occur each year 
 
Changes to technology (ICT and mobile communication) 
 
The 21st century has been dominated by rapid development in ICT and mobile communication, lowering 
communication costs and contributing to time-space compression 
 
● 21st Century 
○ Mobile Phones 
■ 70% of Africans now own a mobile phone 
■ People in towns and cities can use phones to make transactions - payments for school 
fees, utility bills etc. 
■  
○ Internet 
■ Aided social globalisation as jobs can be posted online, information about visas, flight 
tickets 
■ Cultural traits, ideas and meanings can be transferred through the internet, especially 
Youtube 
○ Social Networking 
■ Connectivity between people has grown exponentially as social media has grown - 
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram  
■ Facebook has 2 billion active users as of 2018 
■ Aided social globalisation as it can maintain long distance relationships 
■ Skype has provided a free way for migrants to maintain a strong link with family 
 

■ Give voices to people to express the political freedom, raise awareness of issues and to 
fight for change on a global scale 
■ ISIS have used social media to spread its message of terror globally and to gain recruits 
○ Electronic Banking 
■ Aided economic globalisation as TNCs can sell their products 
■ Sets up financial infrastructure for the global flow of goods, capital and services 
○ Fibre Optics 
■ The advent of broadband internet in the 1980s meant large amounts of data could be 
moved quickly through the cyberspace 
■ Flows of data are conveyed across the ocean floor, by fibre optic cables 
 
Politics and economics of globalisation 
 
International political and economic organisations such as WTO, IMF and World Bank have contributed to 
globalisation through the promotion of free trade policies and foreign direct investment (FDI). 
 
● Neoliberalism (also known as free market liberalization)​ refers to a political philosophy of free markets, 
free trade, privatisation. The role of business is increased (whilst decreasing the influence of 
government). By making trade easier, there will more of it, meaning more wealth and reduction of poverty 
as it becomes reinvested into society 
○ It is thought that this would improve the efficiency of the business and lead to innovation 
○ Thatcher oversaw a programme of deregulation and privatisation, including BT, British Gas, British 
Rail etc. 
● Free​ ​trade​ is a policy where there are limited tariffs (a tax imposed on imports) and quotas (a limit on the 
quantity of a good a country allows into a country) and the government does not interfere with imports or 
exports.  
● Privatization​ refers to the transferring of ownership of a public service into private ownership run for 
profit 
● Protectionism​ refers to the policies to protect business by restricting regulating trade with foreign 
nations 
 
The IMF and World Bank was set up to prevent the protectionist conditions that led to two world wars. 
 
IMF  World Bank  WTO 

● Channels loans from rich  ● The World Bank lend money  ● Replaced the GATT 
countries to help poor  on a global scale  (General Agreement on 
countries  headquartered in  Trade and Tariffs in 1995 
● Loans are given under  Washington  ● Advocates trade 
conditions, in promise of  ● Provide money for debt  liberalisation especially for 
the running of free market  relief (especially after  manufactured goods 
economies that are open to  natural disasters)   ● Asks countries to abandon 
outside investment (FDI),  ● Aims to reduce the number  protectionist principles as 
allowing TNCs to enter  of people living in abject  adopt free market policies - 
these countries more  poverty  in favor of untaxed goods 
easily  ● Gives direct grants to  ● Didn’t stop developed 
● The US exerts  developing countries to  countries from subsidizing 
disproportionate influence  fund projects  their own farmers which 
as its it the biggest source  ● The funds have  was harmful to farmers of 
of aid to the organisation  concessions - through their  developing countries 
● Countries may be forced to  structural management 
cut public spending on  programmes 
 

education, health housing  ● All World Presidents have 

etc.  been American 
 
How does free trade work? 
 
1. Governments remove barriers to make trade easier 
2. As costs are reduced, TNCs will see a profit and invest 
3. TNCs will bring new ideas, products, cultures to a new nation 
4. TNCs generate wealth 
5. The wealth will increase the standard of life and demand for foreign products 
6. As an economy has more TNCS, they become more interdependent each other 
 
Global Flows may be viewed as threats because 
● Imports can threaten a nation’s own industries 
● Migrants can bring cultural change and religious diversity - which may not always be welcomed 
● Information could be spread, which the governments may find threatening 
 
FDI or Foreign Direct Investment refers to influx of capital (money), skills and technology which could boost 
economic growth of another country. 
 
FDI can take various forms 
 
● Offshoring 
○ TNCs build own factories “offshore” in low wage countries. - e.g. the offshoring of call centres to 
Bangalore, India. 
● Foreign Mergers 
○ Two firms in different countries join forced to create a single business (EE - Orange, a french TNC, 
and T Mobile, a german TNC merged its two business. 
○ It can increase revenues and leads to growth of new markets 
● Foreign Acquisitions 
○ When a TNC takes over a company in another country - e.g Kraft (US TNC) bought Cadbury (UK 
TNC) 
● Transfer Pricing 
○ TNCs channel their profits through a subsidiary company in a low tax country such as Ireland 
○ Starbucks paid no corporation tax in the UK as it transferred its profits to a Dutch sister company 
in royalty payments, maximising profits 
 
Governments can encourage FDI and globalisation by 
 
● Low tax zones (called special economic zones such as Shenzhen) where corporations pay lower tax 
○ Indonesia set up a SEZ where american and european TNCS were attracted to Indonesia. The 
World Bank lend funds to speedy the modernisation of its roads, power supplies and ports 
● Tax breaks 
● Free or subsidised land 
● Subsidies for infrastructure spending or Research & Development 
● The UK government approached Chinese and middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds to help fund 
infrastructure projects 
Trade Blocs 
 
 

● A trade block is an intergovernmental agreement, where barriers to trade are reduced or removed among 
the participant states 
 
Benefits of Trade Blocs  Costs of trade blocs  

● Access to a bigger market - the EU has a  ● Loss of sovereignty - The EU controls rules 
market of 500 million, which is a bigger market  and regulations as well as allowing for the free 
for TNCs to sell to and reduce prices. They can  movement of people, goods and ideas. This 
source their goods at the best price within the  can lead to loss of “tradition” 
28 countries  ● Foreign firms may gain domestic market share 
● TNCs can compete with each other resulting in  at the expense of local companies. 
lower priced goods for customers through  ● Interdependence does not always have to be 
economies of scale  good as seen with the Euro when Greece’s 
● Can protect against foreign competition and  economy suffered after over spending. A 
leads to political stability - the EU blocked  crisis in one country will affect another 
£50 million of Chinese made clothes from  ● The neoliberal nature of trade blocs means 
entering the UK as the annual quota had  that it is private corporations that benefit 
already been filled  rather than the population, which in some 
● Shared currency (e.g. the Euro) makes  cases such as ASEAN can increase relative 
business, travelling or moving easier   poverty, inequality etc. 
● Free movement of labour can fill in labour 
shortages - e..g in the service sector, where 
Eastern Europeans filled low paying but much 
needed service jobs 
 
EU  
 
● Trade bloc which has become a multi governmental organisation with its own currency and some shared 
political legislation 
● 28 members 
● EU structural Funds can help develop their economies, whilst agriculture producers in the region benefit 
from the farm subsidies provided through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 
● Setup to increase political unity and economic interdependence to decrease the chance of another world 
war 
● National borders were mostly removed with the Schengen AGreement 
 
ASEAN 
 
● Stands of Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including Indonesia, Laos, PHilippines, Singapore  
● Aims to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development 
● Benefits includes the free flow goods, investment and capital 
● It also supports and promotes peace and stability - as its members have pledged to not have nuclear 
weapons 
 
Countries can undergo liberalisation of their economies - such as China in 1970s and India in the 1990s where 
financial deregulation occurs. Special economic zones and government subsidies were set up 
 
   
 

 
China’s open door policy 
 
● Until 1978, China was poor and politically isolated from the global economy 
● Deng Xiaoping brought radical change to the Chinese economy in 1978 called the Open Door Policy 
● It allows China to embrace globalisation whilst still being under one party authoritarian rule 
● 300 million people left rural areas in search of better conditions in the cities. 
● Initially low wages factories which gave China the nickname workshop of the world drove economic 
growth 
● TNCS wer able to establish branch plants or trade relationships with Chinese owned factories such as 
Foxconn 
● Coastal special economic zones were set up - such as Shenzhen 
○ By 2015, many workers were making $40 a day or more making quality goods such as iPhones 
○ TAx incentives were used to attract more business 
○ The corporations got access to cheap labour 
○ Investment poured in - $30 billion was pouring in to build roads, factories and container ports 
● 400 million people have managed to escape poverty 
 
However it is not truly or fully globalised 
 
● Google or Facebook have little to no access in China’s market 
● China’s government has strict quotas on only 34 foreign films being screened in cinemas each year 
 
 
Measuring Globalisation 
 
AT Kearney Index  KOF Index 

● Uses business acitcity, human capital, cultural  ● Measures the extent to which countries are 
experience and political engagement to rank  politically, socially and economically linked to 
cities for commerce  each other 
● Data includes TNC headquarters, museums  ● It includes measures of political globalisation 
and foreign embassies eetc  ○ E.g. involvement in UN peacekeeping 
● Covers 84% of the world population  missions 
● Allows for reliable comparison over time  ● Merit to using multiple (24) factors to 
● No objective way to measure cultural trends  measure a concept (e.g. TV ownership) 
● Places importance to FDI and internet users  ● Does not have data for some countries as its 
(value doubled) which may result in  unavailable 
overrepresentation of some countries  ● Small countries are overrepresented - 
distance to neighbours make foreign travel 
easier e.g. Belgium; there are few places to 
visit - e.g. Luxemburg) 
● Newspaper industry is declining yet the index 
does not reflect this 
● Does not include income for the informal 
economy 
 
 
 
 
   
 

The role of TNCs 

 
● TNCs are said to be the ‘architects’ of globalisation, helping to build bridges between nations 
● TNC’s bolt together economies and societies through supply chains and marketing strategies 
● Some parts of the world have benefited much more from TNC investment than others. 
○ Not all places are suitable for TNC investment (including physical factors - accessibility, natural 
resources and human factors - government policies, education levels 
● TNCs can forge business relations with companies in other countries - through ​outsourcing  
○ TNCS contract another country to produce its goods and services rather than doing it themselves 
● Offshoring ​ refers to when a company moves in operations to another country as labour costs are lower 
or because it has more favorable economic situation (lower taxes) 
● The spatial division of labour refers to how TNCS move its low skilled work abroad to places with low 
labour costs 
○ Important skilled management jobs are retained at the TNC’s headquarters in its country of origin 
● Globalisation refers to the design of products to meet local tastes or laws, often to enter new markets 
○ McDonald’s offer more vegetarian and curry based food in India 
○ MTV avoids overtly sexual material in the Middle East 
○ LEGO has not had to globalise its products as it exports identical products with genuine global 
appeal 
Positive impacts  Negative Impacts 

● Provide jobs and income raising living  ● Tax Avoidance - Not all TNCs pay tax and so 
standards.   revenue can be kept within a TNC (through 
● Technology transfer allows new practises and  transfer pricing) rather than be reinvested into 
technology to be transferred to the host  a country 
nation, helping to accelerate economic  ● Growing inequality. TNCs have clustered 
development in emerging economies  around eastern rather than western China, 
leaving rural china behind. 
○ A Haitian worker receives only 7 cents 
for producing a tshirt which is later 
sold at $12 
○ Some employees as on food stamps 
and make $8/hr whilst the CEO makes 
$248 per minute 
● Environmental Degradation - TNCS can exploit 
the more lenient laws in developing countries. 
○ Many labours work as much as 70 
hours per week in Haiti in awful 
conditions 
○ The average factory is hot, crowded 
and poorly ventilated 
● Unemployment in TNC’s original location 
through outsourcing and offshoring 
 
● Disney has a great influence over the media as its TV channels broadcast 24 hours a day in Africa, Middle 
East, Europe 
● The US government enforced copyright protection for disney. The French government had to pay $2 
billion towards EuroDisney 
● Company’s revenue stood at $52.4 billion making it the 80th largest economy by GDP, drawfing LEDCs 
such as Zimbabwe (14 billion) and even MEDCs such as Iceland ($19 billion) 
   
 

Switched off places refer to o=places that lack strong flows of trade and investment 
 
● Physical/Environmental 
○ Accessibility may be poor (mountainous region) or wilderness (desert/tundra environment) 
○ Lack of raw materials to export - ie lack of energy or mineral deposits 
○ Lack of coastline to export goods 
● Political 
○ Corruption and organised crime/terrorist groups 
■ Resources may controlled by a small elite 
○ Civil or tribal conflict and weak commitment of the government to development 
■ E.g. tax incentives 
○ Exclusion from trade blocs 
● Economic 
○ High level of government debt 
○ Weak market 
■ Wages are not high enough and so TNCS cannot sell their goods 
○ Weak education levels and poor workforce skills 
○ Poor infrastructure and telecommunications 
 
 
The Sahel Region 
 
● Poverty affect an overwhelming majority 
● Mismanagement of natural resources 
● Countries may lack a coastline, such as Chad 
● Arid conditions give rise to further development challenges 
● Conflict ridden due to terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda 
● Somalia has a literacy rate of 37% 
 
   
 

EQ2: What are the impacts of globalisation for countries, 

different groups of people and cultures and the physical 
environment? 
Global Shift of manufacturing to China 
 
● Global shift refers to the international relocation of industrial activity (especially manufacturing). 
Manufacturing jobs are now thriving in Asia and South America 
● Global shift stems from offshoring, outsourcing and new business set ups in emerging economies 
 
 
China 
 
● China became known as the workshop of the world 
● Cities like Shenzhen brough foreign investors a massive pool of low cost migrant labour 
○ In early years, workers were exploited in sweatshops. Many lost fingers or limbs due to the 
dangerous conditions 
● Wages in China have continued to improve and increase - Honda employees bow earn $300 a month 
● China has shifted its manufacturing base into more high tech goods. Less desirable sweatshop jobs 
have migrated to Bangladesh where labour costs remain much lower 
 
 
Outsourcing of services to India 
 
● English is the most commonly spoken second language in India - a legacy of the British Rule 
● Broadband capacity is very high, especially in cities like Bangalore,  
● Costs are low are products are generally high quality - 40% of the cost in the USa of hiring someone in 
the IT sector 
● India has good infrastructure in terms of energy, transport and banking systems 
● India offers legal protection for IP rights 
● The government is stable and India is the world’s largest democracy 
● Call centre workers say they are exploited 
● Despite overall growth, the gap between the rich and poor has increased. India has more billionaires than 
the UK yet 270 million people still live in poverty 
 
 
Benefits  Costs 

● Investment  ● Loss of productive land 

○ Infrastructure development has taken  ○ Forested land has been sacrificed for 
off, resulting in high speed rails,  urbanisation, logging and cash 
modern motorways, airports  cropping 
● Waged work  ○ Since 1990, Nigeria has lost half its 
○ There is a growing middle class, driving  trees 
mainly by working people in Asia who  ○ In Indonesia, and degradation and 
have escaped rural poverty  biodiversity loss are widespread, 
○ By 2030, it is predicted that Asia will 
 

be home to 3 billion middle class  Room is being created for palm oil 
people  plantations and mining operations.  
○ In 1990, South Korea per capita  ● Unplanned settlements 
income was $6000, by 2015, it rose to  ○ Rapid urbanisation often leads to poor 
$29,000  people swatting in poor quality homes 
○ India’s call centre workers earn good  ○ The proportion of people living in slums 
middle class wages for Indian  has risen to 60% in Mumbai 
standards  ○ Mumbai’s Dharavi is cramped and 
● Poverty reduction  chaotic with families living off less 
○ 1 billion people have been lifted from  than £200 a month 
abject poverty (less than $1.25 a day)  ● Environmental and resource pressure 
since 1990  ○ Air pollution has worsened reducing 
● Education  life expectancy in China by 5 years. 
○ As revenues soaked in South Korea  Beijing’s pollution levels regularly 
after foreign investment, it started to  exceed WHO limits 
increase spending on education and  ○ Poverty and unemployment, poor 
health and is now an OECD member  public health and poor educational 
with the world’s 11th largest economy  standards have also arose. 
○ China alone has awarded 30,000 PhDs  ● Effects to human wellbeing due to relaxed 
in 2012 and Asian countries play a  environmental laws  
leading role in the quaternary sector  ○ In china, workers were poisoned by 
especially in biotechnology and  chemicals used to treat the glass for 
pharmaceuticals 
iphones. 
● Training 
○ In the Ivory Coast, thousands of 
○ Transfer of technology has helped 
local companies adopt technologies  people have suffered ill health after 
bought to CHina by TNCs.  toxic wastes alleged to produce 
○ Chinese banks are now some of the  hydrogen sulfide bumped by a ship by 
world’s largest TNCs  a European TNC 
○ China is developing its own products - 
e.g. OnePlus or Oppo Phones 
 
 
Impacts of globalisation in developed countries 
 
● Deindustrialization refers to the decline of manufacturing 
industries - either in terms of production or workforce 
numbers 
● During the 1970s, many European and American factory 
workers lost their jobs 
○ In Detroit, there was a thriving car industry however 
economic restructuring kick started a cycle of 
deprivation 
○ Declining population and production led the city to be 
declare bankruptcy in 2013 
● Offshoring (the spatial division of labour) occurred as Asia 
became the focus of global manufacturing 
● Particular challenges that arose include: 
○ Dereliction 
■ Baltimore has lost ⅓ of its population leaving 20,000 abandoned properties 
■ Those who stay are trapped in a state of negative equity as their home is worth much less 
than what they paid for 
■  
 

○ Contamination 
○ Depopulation 
■ Middle class citizens have migrated out of failing neighbourhoods 
■ Detroit has lost 1 million residents since the 1950s 
■ In the US, depopulation has become linked with race where outmigration has left districts 
mainly populated by African Americans 
■  
○ Crime 
■ Rising gun crime in US has been attributed to higher unemployment rate 
■ In low income US urban districts, life expectancy is 30 years lower than in affluent areas 
■ Drug related crimes have increases as illegal global flows of drugs and people trafficking 
have increased 
■ Detroit has the highest murder rate of any US city 
○ High unemployment 
■ Loss of manufacturing jobs leads to high unemployment rate 
■ Detroit has yet to replace large numbers of jobs due to the disappearance of the city’s 
automobile industries 
 
Migration 
 
Rural-Urban Migration and the growth of megacities 
 
● Urbanisation refers to the movement and increase in portion of people living in urban areas 
● 50% of people now live in urban areas globally 
● By 2050, this figure will increase to 75% 
● A megacity refers to a city with a population of 10 million people 
 
Case Study: Mumbai 
 
● Home to 22 million people 
● People are moving from deprived areas such as Bihar 
● Big global TNCs such as Starbucks and Hilton are present bring jobs 
● Very wealthy people such as Bollywood stars and senior management are billionaires 
● Their spending has driven up land prices 
● Dharavi is a slum housing area where over 5000 people are employed in the recycling industries 
 
 
What drives rural urban migration 
 
● Urban Pull factors 
○ Healthcare and education may be better, for themselves or for their children, making cities a good 
place for young migrants 
○ Employment - FDI by TNCS in urban areas provide work opportunities with the companies and 
their supply chain 
■ Urban areas promise promotion and advancement that are non existent in rural areas 
● Rural push factors 
○ Poverty, made worse by population growth as there aren't enough jobs 
○ Agricultural modernisation requires fewer people to work in labour jobs 
● Intervening Obstacles 
○ Reduce due to shrinking world technology 
■ Mobile phones means that knowledge is shared 
 

■ Budget airlines mean that more people can fly at affordable prices 
■ Transport improvements have removed the intervening obstacles 
 
Social Challenges  Environmental Challenges 

● Provision of social housing as overcrowding  ● Water pollution from untreated sewage 

becomes an issue  ● Air pollution from industry and car exhausts 
○ Slums have grown in size. Dwellers  results in smog concentrations increase 
have limited education, and have little   
access to healthcare 
○ Overcrowding leads to pressure on 
electricity, water, transport etc 
● Healthcare and educational services are 
strained 
● Increased rate of crime (especially if 
unemployment is high) 
● Homelessness increases 
● Increased traffic as car numbers increase 
 
International migration​ has increased in global hub cities and regions, deepening interdependence between regions 
- elite migration ( Russian oligarchs to London) and mass low wage economic migration ( India to UAE) 
 
A global hub refers to a globally connected city, or a regional home to a large, globally connected community - eg. 
New York, Tokyo, London. 
Unlike a megacity, a global hub is recognised by its influence rather than its population size 
Two main movements have driven the growth of global hubs 
● Elite migrants 
○ E.g. Russian Oligarchs to London 
■ HIghly skilled, affluent or socially influential individuals who move to another region 
■ Their wealth may be inherited or from their profession 
■ These people face few barriers as their immigration is considered beneficial for economic 
growth by governments 
■ In the UK, Tier 1 migrants are for high value immigrants (earning the 75 points needed for a 
visa) 
■ A significant number have bought property in the wealthiest boroughs of London 
● Consequently, London house prices have increased by 29% 
● UK tax loopholes allow Russians to locate assets offshore and only pay tax on the 
money they bring in Britain 
● Low waged economic migration 
○ India to UAE 
■ Low waged jobs in kitchens, construction or as domestic cleaners 
■ UAE is a relatively safe country 
■ Over 2 million migrants live in the UAE, making up to 30% of the total population 
■ $15 billion is returned to india through remittances 
 
Interdependence has occurred due to migration 
● The UK’s economy is dependent on eastern european labour and eastern europe is reliant on migrant 
remittances from the UK. After the global crisis, when constructions projects halted and immigrants 
stopped spending money home, Estonia’s GDP shrank by 13% 
● The arrival of Indian population in the UK has deepened the friendship between India   
 

Migration has economic, social, political and environmental costs and benefits for both host and source locations. 
 
Benefits for source location  Costs for source location 

● Gain money through remittances  ● Skill shortages in key areas 

○ For Nepal, it makes 25% of their GDP  ● This leads to reduce economic growth as 
● Returning migrants brings skills, knowledge  consumption falls 
and experience  ● Demographic imbalance due to reduce birth 
●   rate and high dependency in the future 
● May lead to devolution and the effects that 
brings (redundancy, nightclubs closing) 

Benefits for host location  Costs for host location 

● Migrants pay tax and contribute to the  ● Leads to overcrowding 

economy through consumption  ○ Many in the UAE living in poor working 
○ Migrants are more likely to start  conditions and there is restrictions on 
businesses than natives (IZA study)  freedom and sometimes non payment 
○ The UAE has grown from 500,000 to  of salaries as well as their passports 
9 million so businesses have more  being taken away 
customers to sell too  ● May lead to increase in crime 
● Work in essential public services that were  ○ There are many accusations of sexual 
otherwise unfilled  assault of women employed as 
○ Unskilled immigrants are paid $4 a day  servants 
○ Large numbers work in jobs that  ○ Smuggling of alcohol 
Emiratis would not work in  ● May lead to political tension between groups 
○ Skilled workers can fill shortages in  ○ E.g. the rise of UKIP and NF in France 
current skills gasps - e.g. doctors,  ● Strain on public services such as housing, 
engineers, teachers  education, healthcare 
○ Indian doctor arrived in the UK in the  ● High dependency on foreign labour 
1950s as there was shortage after the 
war 
● May offset the effects of an aging population 
 
The emergence of a global culture 
 
● Culture is dynamic as it evolves over time as its passed from generation to generation 
● There is a growth of a global culture, often called Americationisation if the influence is from the USA or 
westernization if the influence is from European and North American countries 
● The idea that a westernised global culture is merging due to cultural erosion is called hyperglobalization 
 
Cultural diffusion refers to the spread of ideas thoughts and values. 
 
● Cultural diffusion occurs as result of globalisation. This can be facilitated by  
○ TNCS 
■ Result n spreading of food, clothes and goods which help shape a common culture 
■ Globalisation could be considered a form of cultural imperialism 
○ Global media corporations  
■ Media giants such as Disney, ABC, HBO have exported stories - e.g. of superheros, values 
of casual sex and history 
■ Christmas and Halloween are increasingly shown in films 
■ Some places are given American and British culture directly (e.g. everyone sees the same 
Game of Thrones episodes) 
■ Reality shows however tends to be filmed for different markets (e.g. India’s got talent 
 

■ There are non western influence s including TV channels such as Russia Today and Qatar’s 
Al Jazeera 
○ Tourism 
■ Introduce cultural change to distant places they visit 
○ Migration 
■ Bring language, food, clothing and customs with them 
■ Culture does not have to be universal. Britain took language and cricket to many places 
but had limited effects on religion. US values of baseball and American football have 
struggled to take off in other regions 
 
The spread of a global culture has also led to new awareness of opportunities for disadvantaged groups  
 
● FIFA represents football federation around the world, As well as promoting the sport it promotes 
anti-discrimination policies eg FIFA’s #SayNoToRacism campaign 
● The global media has turned the Paralympic Games into one of the world's biggest sporting events 
celebrating the physical achievements of elite athletes with disabilities 
● The success of Paralympic movements show how globalisation can create new opportunities for 
disinvited groups 
 
The effects of a westernised global culture and its impacts of the environment and people 
 
● Language 
○ Some countries have a single national language, but English is becoming a common second 
language 
■ English has dominated internet communications  
■ Become language of commerce, technology and education  
● Traditional Food 
○ National dishes and diets reflect the crops and herbs available locally but globalisation has meant 
changing diets 
■ Changing diets in Asia 
● Traditional diets used to be low in meat and high in vegetable 
● More meat and fast food is being consumed amongst the emerging middle classes, 
especially in China 
● Livestock farming has becoming the new focus of Asian acrilustre, leading to 
increase in methane emissions 
● Crops are imported from across the world to feed China 
● Forests have been cleared to make soya cultivation to feed cattle 
● Rising affluence puts pressure on particular plants and animal species - e.g. shark 
fin soup is important bu expensive. As incomes have risen, the number of sharks 
killed have also risen 
● Clothing 
○ National and local transitions may reflect adaptations of climate (fur in polar climate) or religious 
teachings (conservative clothing) 
● Religion 
○ There are several main religions but may be highly resistant to change 
● Traditions 
○ Refer Manners that are transmitted from generation to generation 
   
 

 
Case Study: Loss of tribal lifestyles in Papua New Guinea 
 
● There are over 7000 cultural groups in Papua NEw GUinea 
● People typically live in villages and rely on sustenance farming 
● Under colonial rule, Papua New Guinea experienced political, social and economic integration 
● Missionaries suppressed tribal warfare  
○ Villages were integrated into the colonial economy as plantation worker 
○ Intermarriage between cultures meant that couples failed to pass on their native language to 
their children 
○ Many new guineans wear modern, westernised clothing - t-shirt has become 
uniquitaousInedous people are starting to hunt endangered species to sell such as the Tree 
Kangaroo 
 
 
Attitudes to globalisation 
 
Pro attitudes  Against attitudes 

● Optimistic hyperglobalizers think globalisation  ● After the US and UK invasion of IRaq, anti 
can bring positive change on a worldwide scale  american sentiment grow 
● Local culture can still be preserved through  ● Anti globalisation protests often occur at G8 
World Heritage Site List - policies can be  or G20 summits 
established that protect these important  ● Pessimistic hyperglobalists believe languages 
places from too much change  are disappearing as English continues to 
● Some point to evidence that absolute poverty  spread 
has decreased - 1 billion people have escaped  ● The French government is supportive french 
poverty ($1.25 dollars a day)  filmmakers and subsidised work filmed in 
●   french language 
○ Under content law, 40% of TV output 
must be French 
● China has strict quotes against foreign films, 
allowing only 34 each year 
● Environmentalist believe globalisation 
promotes negative externalities in the pursuit 
of economic growth 
○ Amnesty International have caused 
Shell and Exxonmobil of destroying the 
environment in Nigeria  
○ Indian consumers have campaigned 
against US soft drink TNCs against 
drawing too much groundwater to the 
point local areas suffer 
● Marxists may oppose globalisation believing it 
exploits the proterliart giving money to the 
boirgiouse 
○ Oxfam argued that the richest 1% own 
99% of the global wealth 
● Feminist may oppose globalisation believing it 
leads to exploitation of women - e.g. in sex 
trafficking, position 
● Nationalist critique - globalization leads to 
erosion of nation states of sovereignty. 
 

Homogenized culture is perceived as negative 

concept. The integration of cultures is harmful 
to national identity and national growth 
 
   
 

EQ3: What are the consequences of globalisation for global 

development and the physical environment and how should 
different players respond to its challenges? 
 
Measuring development 
 
● Economic 
○ GDP per capita 
■ Gross domestic product divided by the population 
■ I.e the value of output of goods and services inside a nation’s borders 
■ It can be adjusted for PPP (purchasing power parity) to factor the cost of living 
○ Economic Sector Balance 
■ Looks at percentage share of different sectors - agriculture, manufacturing, services and 
quaternary 
● Social 
○ HDI 
■ Human Development Index 
■ Composite measure that ranks according to economic criteria (GDP per capita) and social 
criteria (life expectancy, literacy rate) 
○ Gender Inequality Index 
■ Gender equality reflects reproductive health (mortality rate), empowerment (seats held by 
females) and labour force participation 
 
● Environmental Quality  
○ Air pollution indices 
■ Environmental quality tends to be poor in developing and emerging economies 
■ Usually improves as economic and social development occurs 
■ Environmental Performance Index - EPI 
● Produced by Yale University which ranked IReland highly and Bangladesh last 
● Looks at pollution levels outdoors and the quality of air inside a person's home 
● Lower income countries poor low due to use of wood burning stoves indoors 
 
The GINI Coefficient measures the inequality faced by people 
 
● Absolute poverty refers to when human basic needs can't be 
met possible leading to hunger or homelessness.  
● Relative poverty refers to when a person’s income is too low 
to match the standard of living in a particular society. 
● The Lorenz conve shows the distribution of population and 
income 
● The further the lorene verne from the line of equality, the 
greater in the inequality 
● The GINI coefficient shows a mathematical interpretation of 
inequality where 1 means the greatest inequality 
 
   
 

Global trends in inequality - winners and losers 

 
● Average incomes have risen in all continents, mainly in Europe and North America 
● Incomes in Africa have stayed close to the poverty line. 
○ There is internal differences 
○ Large income gains have been made in Tunisia and ALgeria as those places are far more switched 
on 
○ Coastal hubs (such as LAgos and Cape Town) have seen huge growth 
○ POverty remains a problem in sub saharan countries - e.g. Central African republic where a lack of 
coastline, poverty, and political extremism has led to failing life expectancy due to conflict 
● There has been a widening of the world’s wealthiest and poorest countries 
● Absolute poverty has failed globally, 
● Some countries (e.g. Brazil) have fallen into the middle income trap where they have maintained their 
middle income status since the 1970s 
● There is growing inequality within nations.  
● In absolute terms, people in China, are better off than previous generations as their income has risen. 
However, economically they are worse off in relation with the richest members of society 
● 40% of terrestrial surface has been converted into agricultural land leading to habitat loss 
● Biodiversity continues on a continental scale 
● Globalisation has led to groundwater depletion, the removal of coastal areas and antrophegic climate 
change 
● Changes to equality have occurred due to globalisation, deregulation and information technology 
revolution as well as expansion of trade and global supply chains. 
○ New technology has pushed up the demand for well educated people, boosting income for skilled 
workers 
 
Social, environmental and political tensions caused by globalisation 
 
Open borders, deregulation and encouragement of foreign direct investment has created culturally mixed 
societies and thriving migrant diasporas in some locations, but tensions have resulted elsewhere  
 
● Many migrant diasporas have made the UK a multicultural 
○ After the World War, the UK received 500,000 migrants from Caribbean, called the Windrush 
Generation 
○ The UK desperately needed people to full the labour shortage and to rebuild its industry 
○ Vista restriction did not apply to countries in the Commonwealth so there was limited intervening 
obstacles 
○ Push factors included poverty from the Caribbean associated with colonization 
○ Indians and Pakistanis were also invited to work in Britain 
○ In the 1980s, through deregulation, London remove the red tape for business. COmpanies have 
recruited large numbers of skilled people from overseas - e.g. Indian software engineers 
○ In 2004, 8 Eastern European countries joined the EU bringing an influx of eastern europeans 
○ Migration has become more controversial, with governments increasing restrictions on migrants 
● There is a growing British diaspora across EU countries 
● UK residents have redised in Mediratain coastlines (France, Spain etc). British enclaves can be idnepties 
through localc ethnoscape feature such as bars and cafes 
 
● Rise of extremism in Europe  
○ Growing extremism by far right groups such as UKIP, Front National 
○ Parties are mainly supported by insecure lower middle class citizens, skilled and unskilled manual 
workers 
 

○ Believe that migrants threaten their national culture and that minority groups pose economic and 
major cultural threat to European societies 
○ Staff at Charlie Hebdo were killed by gunmen illustrating the tensions that arise in multicultural 
Europe 
● Transboundary water conflicts  
○ Nile Basin 
■ Significant demand for water in the NIle Basin 
■ 94% is used by Sudan and Egypt 
■ Ethiopia wants to use the Nile River for HEP plants and industrial development. However 
Egypt believe this will reduce the capacity of its own Lake Nasser. 
■ High population growth is increasing demand but there is diminishing supply due to 
desertification near the Sahel region and increased evaporation from Climate change 
■ Deteriorating water quality has increased the prevalence of waterborne disease 
○ Mekong Delta 
■ 7th longest river, flowing through several countries 
■ Growing demand from China to use the water due to population growth, industrialization, 
growing household demand for water etc 
■ Damming the river to generate hydroelectric power for China would restrict the water 
downstream 
■ Laos requires water for from the river for agriculture 
■ The delta in Vietnam supports 40% of its population 
■ Thailand could also use the water to generate electricity through hydroelectric power 
 
Attempts have been made in some locations to control the spread of globalisation  
 
● Controlling the spread of globalisation by Censorship 
○ China 
■ China’s rulers are intolerant against criticism from its own people 
■ Hundreds of people were killed in the army crackdown of Chinese students who 
demonstrated against communism 
■ Google has withdrawn its services from China in 2010 
■ The great firewall of China restricts usage of Facebook, Twitter and Youtube 
■ Amnesty International reported that China has the largest number of imprisoned 
journalists 
○ Violent or sexual imagery is often censored in many countries 
○ A dark web also exists which is much harder to control 
● Limiting Immigration 
○ UK 
■ Immigration is ranked among the top 5 issues for British people 
■ Since 2010, a 5 Tier Point system has been placed to control immigration by checking that 
economic immigrants process skills or resources that the UK needs 
■ The COnservative government pledged to cut net migration to 100,000 people a year 
■ This target has not be met because: 
● Fewer British people have left the UK to live overseas 
● The £-€ exchange has wakened, meaning the cost of living in Europe has 
increased 
● Refugees are allowed to remain in the UK under human rights law 
○ Illegal immigration (such as from Mexico to the USA) is often hard to tackle as. 
○ European countries are obligated to take refugees irrespective of economic migration rules 
● Trade protectionism 
○ Involves restrictive quotas, tariffs and regulations on foreign TNCs 
 

○ Protectionist belvie this is important to protect the economy, the standard of living and the 
dominant culture 
○ Trump recently announced tariffs on steel imported from Canada, Mexico and the EU 
 
Some groups seek to retain their cultural identity within countries and seek to retain control of culture and 
physical resources , whereas others embrace its economic advantages. 
 
Case Study: First Nations 
 
● Canada is home to 6 groups of indigenous people called First Nations 
● They lived there way before European settlement, near the Yukon River basins 
● Petroleum development (tar sands and fracking) have already disrupted the way of life for the people 
● Over 200 million barrels of conventional oil has been extracted since 1920s 
● Concerns include:  
○ Death of trout and fish in oil polluted lakes 
○ Drugs and alcohol use have increased 
 
Local Sourcing - Costs and benefits 
 
Local groups and NGOs promote local sourcing ( Transition towns) as one response to globalisation by increasing 
sustainability (A: actions of local pressure groups); this has economic, social and environmental costs and 
benefits 
  
● Globalisation has resulted in cheaply produced food, which has driven up consumption 
● One response to this is local sourcing by local groups and NGOs, aiming to improve sustainability 
● Local sourcing refers to the local production and consumption of goods, local control of government, and 
promotion of local history, culture and identity 
● Transition towns are settlements where individuals and business have adopted a bottom up approach 
where the aim is to make the community more sustainable and less reliant on global trade - e..g Todmorden 
○ In Todmorden, the food on sale is locally grown 
○ THe Incredible Edible Todmorden created 40 public fruit and vegetable gardens and has reducal 
educational talks 
● Negatives 
○ Locally sourced goods tend to be more expensive - this may not be completely rational from an 
economic perspective 
○ Will negatively affect development in Africa and Asia where they used to be sourced from 
○ Tomatoes grown during winter requiring heating which results in a large carbon footprint anyway 
● Positives 
○ NGOs such as Greenpeace argue that importing of food is not cheap as there are long term costs 
to society from greenhouse emission.  
■ For poor people, this is often not a compelling argument 
■ Locally sourced foods tends to be seen as a middle class luxury 
● They have reduce carbon emissions as they travel shorter distances  
● They create jobs and income which can be reinvested into society 
 
   
 

Fair Trade and ethical Consumption of goods 

 
Ethical purchases are increasing due to NGOs, charities and a growing number of businesses with a “social 
responsibility” approach 
 
● Environmental degradation 
○ Businesses are become more morally and environmentally aware  
○ Mark and Spencer pleated to reduce water and help communities over 5 years 
● Inequalities of global trade 
○ Fair trade certification offers guaranteed higher income to farmers, even if market prices changes 
○ Fair Trade goods let shoppers know they money they spend will pay poor workers 
○ For certain products such as coffee, cocoa, cotton, farmers are encouraged to build small scale 
organisations 
● Improved working conditions 
○ After the Rana Plaza collapse building regulations were strengthened in Bangladesh after 1100 
textile workers died 
○ Western retailers (such as Matalan, Primark) began to take more responsibility of working 
conditions in their supply chains 
○ British TNCs have signed the Accord which is a legally binding agreement on worker safety 
 
NGOs have limited financial resources, limiting the scale of what they can achieve, 
 
Recycling has a role in managing resource consumption and ecological footprints, but its use varies by product 
and place ( local authorities in the UK or local NGOs such as Keep Britain Tidy).  
 
● Recycling has a role in managing resource consumption and ecological footprint. 
● Water is diverted from landfill and raw materials are reused for new consumption offering employment 
and lower environmental costs 
● The carbon footprint of recycled energy is much lower than producing a new product 
● Recycling varies by place 
○ Germany has a recycling rate of 56%; Romania hasa recycling rate of 1% 
○ Local governments in the UK run their own recycling scheme. 
○ In 2011, the Welsh Assembly banned shops from giveing away free bags in Wales 
○ A 5p fee was introduced to bags, paper and plastic provided by retailers 
○ This was aimed to change the behaviour of a shopper as they start to reuse more bags 
○ England began a similar scheme in 2015 
● Recycling values varies by product 
○ Paper, glass and metals are much easier to recycle than cling film, razor blades and medical 
packaging 
 
Case Study: Keep Britain Tidy 
 
Keep Britain Tidy 
 
● Organisation set tup to address the rising problem of litter 
● In 1969, the iconic Tidyman logo was spread on bins and packaging to encourage 
people to not litter 
● It has engaged in various projects including reducing litter on beaches, parks and schools