WEEK 1

Globalization has had both positive and negative effects for most people. The rich and the middle class have had mostly positive effects, though the poor have been affected in more complicated ways. The poor in other countries are often less poor than they were before, though they have still not benefited as much as the rich have since the gap between rich and poor has widened. And the working class in America and other industrial nations like Britain is often worse off than they were.

Globalization has shifted most manufacturing jobs overseas or have moved to automation. Many people in America have lost their jobs and been forced to find new careers. The old manufacturing jobs were typically union jobs with good pensions and healthcare, whereas new jobs are in fields that are not unionized are far harder on workers. Countless men and women in the working class feel left behind.

While many people’s lives are getting better, theirs are getting worse. This sentiment led to a political uprising of white working-class men and women who voted for Donald Trump out of frustration with mainstream leaders whose neoliberal and libertarian commitment to a globalized free market has harmed them.

In this discussion, explore some of the positive and negative effects of globalization. Who benefits from globalization and who is harmed by it? How have you and your family been affected?

Be as specific as possible when explaining why globalization benefits and harms people and support your claims with references from any of the readings this week. For example, you might consider whether globalization is good for women (as discussed in the Alison Jaggar article) or how globalization has led to the rise of terrorism (as hinted at in the Benjamin Barber article).

Embed an image or short video to back up your thoughts. Job aids will be posted at the beginning of the class week.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1992/03/jihad-vs-mcworld/303882/

http://www.uvm.edu/~jwaldron/articles/isglobalizationgoodforwomen.pdf