Chapter Questions (Submit)
Read Chapter Two pages 43 – 63 and answer the following questions:
1.Define the following terms as they pertain to globalization:
Glocal – glocal refers to people, and organizations who are able and willing to think globally but act locally.
Transnational Corporation – a company that is based in one country while developing and manufacturing its products, or delivering its goods and services, in more than one country.
Media concentration – the gathering of ownership of newspapers and other media in the hands of a few large corporations
Media convergence – the use of electronic technology to integrate media such as newspapers, nooks, TV and the internet
Bio diversity – variety in plant and animal species
Homogenization – the erasing of differences. When it is applied to people, it often refers to the erasing of cultural differences so that peoples become more and more similar
Accommodation – a process that occurs when people from different cultures come into contact and accept and create space for one another.
Assimilation – a process that occurs when the culture of a minority group is absorbed by another culture. The cultural identity of the minority group disappears as its members take on the identity of the other culture
Cultural revitalization – the process of affirming and promoting peoples individual and collective cultural identity
2. Referring to the images on page 42, tell which image best illustrates the following:
a. Social Globalization – the picture of the cell phones because it shows people communicating with each other.
b. Economic Globalization – the picture of the boat carrying the crates because it shows trading and gaining goods and services from other countries and helping your own economy and other countries economies.
c. Political Globalization – the picture of the business men meeting and the military jet because it shows company’s or government meeting and making decisions about a country or countries.
3. Explain how the following forces of globalization can impact identity:
a. Trade
Trade has an impact on identity because you are able to get goods and services from other countries that you need, and you can also trade other countries of things that they need that you have. Also, transnational corporations exist, which are companies that are made in one country, but have expanded to other countries, which makes it possible for other countries to gain the clothing and food styles of the original country.
b. Transportation
Transportation has an impact because it has made it easier for people to trade, as they invented large crates to carry the goods to and from countries, and it has also made it easier for people to travel to other countries and learn about other cultures and to visit family and friends from other countries.
c. Communication technology
Communication technology impacts identity because it has made it easier to connect with other countries and to talk to people from other countries online. It has also gained the development of other devices such as cell phones, mp3 players and digital cameras which helps to connect with other friends and family.
d. Media
Media impacts identity because
4. What do the ‘banana wars’ suggest about transnational companies? Research in your text and online to learn and decide if transnational corporations play a positive or negative role toward globalization? Identify and discuss (in detail) a current example to support your answer. (2 to 3 paragraph response is required)
The banana wars suggest that transnational companies were being treated differently then they should have been. The transnational companies are a part of the WTO, or the world trade organization which states that any countries represented by the organization cannot be taxed. However, because they are transnational, and the companies not being taxed used to be a part of colonies, but because the transnationals were not, they were taxed. This suggests that people believe that because transnational’s are many companies in different countries as a member of one company, that they don’t need that much money because they already gain a lot of money and so they should be taxed where as countries who are not a part of transnational’s shouldn’t be because they are not economically ahead and need help to gain money without having to lose it. This was a problem however because even though you may not be doing well in the economy, the economy still needs to be fair to countries and companies that are being imported and exported.
I believe that transnational corporations have a positive impact on globalization. They make it easier for importing and exporting to happen which helps the economies in many different countries. For example, Nike has companies in a variety of different countries and economies, and this helps them gain money but also helps the economies in the other countries that they are in. Also, transnational corporations make outsourcing happen easier. Outsourcing is when companies reduce the costs of producing their products by using supplies in countries where labor is cheaper and government regulations may be less strict. This helps globalization because the transnational corporations can help make jobs more readily available by getting people in those countries to help make the product and they save money within their company while still getting the products to all the countries.
An example of transnational companies being a positive would be Ford not taking the bail out in the reason downfall. However, even though they didn’t take it, they still ended up in the lead of all the other car companies. This proves that a transnational company is a positive because companies from all over the world still believe and trust ford, and are still buying their cars. Globalization has helped this company because it was able to be brought back into the economy because it sells cars in many countries, not just one.
5. Identify and explain 3 inventions that have contributed to globalization. How have they contributed?
The World Wide Web has contributed to globalization because it has made it possible for businesses and people across the world to research, learn and explain aspects of the world and the businesses in all the countries which help to broaden the things that we know and can get from other places.
Cell phones have contributed to globalization because it has made it more able for people to communicate with each other, which helps to learn new cultures about others and to be able to communicate with others from anywhere you are.
Large crates have contributed to globalization because it has made it easier to transport more amounts of good and services to other countries which helps contribute to trade as you gain more money when you are able to trade more things.
6. Identify and explain 5 ways that globalization influences your life (you can refer to specific examples or general forces in your answer)
The first way that globalization influences my life is that I am able to talk to people all over the world and learn about their cultures while they can learn about mine. Another way that globalization influences my life is that I am able to gain more food and types of food from other countries and learn about what they eat and how there food tastes. Also, it influences my life because it makes communication more readily available to me, and makes it easier for me to talk with people from wherever I am, all over the world. Globalization has made it easier for me to travel to other places and to see where people from other countries live and how they survive. The last way that globalization has influenced my life is that I am able to learn different languages. Countries have taught us how to speak their language which helps us communicate with people from other countries and to learn more about ourselves, and their communities.
7. How do media concentration and media convergence impact one’s identity? Explain with examples.
Media concentration and convergence impacts one’s identity greatly. Media convergence makes it easier for people to get the news happening in the world because it not only comes in print, it is able to come online so people have more options to read it, and learn new things. Media concentration also impacts one’s identity because many corporations are owned by one large company which helps to make sure that all news is covered, but that you also learn new things compared to different companies and corporations, and they help to make different types of media’s available. An example of this would be the fact that CTVglobemedia owns many different corporations. Another example would be that the Calgary Herald newspaper has a website online, which makes it easier for people who may not get the newspaper, to still read the news.
8. “There are only three daily newspapers in Canada that are privately owned – The Winnipeg Free Press, the White Horse Star, and Montreal’s LeDevoir. What conclusions can you draw from this? Explain your answer.
I can conclude that most companies are owned by one large corporation, and that media convergence has a huge role in Canadian society. It proves that media convergence very much affects peoples identity because media from other cities in Canada are usually owned by a larger company so most companies aren’t able to state the news they may want to.
9. The Idol Franchise TV program has expanded to 35 countries. Is the popularity of this TV show an example of a challenge to people’s identity or is it an opportunity to promote identity? Support your answer.
I believe that it is an opportunity for people to promote their identities. By making idol available to 35 different countries, people are saying that I love to sing, but in my own language and it is helping to keep everyone’s identities free because they are able to sing in their language, and continue to show their country and the world their types of music and their cultures that follow through with that.