ERA 4 (Unit 9)

Question 1

What is globalization?

Answer 1

Increasing cultural and economic connectedness between people, businesses, and organizations throughout the world.

Question 2

What are examples of globalization beginning in other eras?

Answer 2

Connections across the Silk Road; the connections created by the Mongolian Empire; Connections established through Indian Ocean trade; The connection of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres during the European Age of Exploration; The opening of Manila by the Spanish in 1571 which created a trade route from the Americas to the Pacific

Question 3

What kinds of communication technology have aided globalization?

Answer 3

The telephone made it easier to talk to people on the other side of the world. The radio spread culture through entertainment and allowed governments to speak directly to their people. Modern cell phones are more complex than the computers that put Neil Armstrong on the moon.

Question 4

How has social media aided globalization?

Answer 4

Platforms like Facebook and Twitter democratized communication. That means that anyone could have their voices heard (for better or worse). These platforms have been used to organize and broadcast modern protest movements like the Arab Spring which were anti-government protests across North Africa and the Middle East in the 2010s.

Question 5

How have some governments pushed back against social media?

Answer 5

China shut down Facebook and Twitter in 2009 after riots broke out between a minority Muslim group called the Uighurs andHan Chinese. After, the government introduced a new social media platform called Weibo where they could control what can be posted.

Question 6

How & why did agricultural technology change with globalization?

Answer 6

Following decolonization the birth rates went up in the Global South. This led to the Green Revolution where new varieties of wheat, grain and rice were introduced that were more resistant to pests and drought. Initially they were created by cross-breeding and then by genetic engineering.

Question 7

What were the consequences of the Green Revolution?

Answer 7

Intensive agriculture of these new crops led to deforestation, desertification, decline in air quality, increased consumption of fresh water, and pollution of freshwater due to fertilizer run-off.

Question 8

How did changes in energy technology increase globalization?

Answer 8

Nuclear energy led to increased productivity in the production of goods for sale in global markets. There have also been moves recently towards renewable energy sources like wind and solar energy.

Question 9

Why have there been shifts towards renewable energy?

Answer 9

Concerns about climate change. The burning of fossil fuels has increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the air, which has led to the warming of the earth’s surface. There is some debate about whether this is a natural or man-made phenomena. Most policy makers across the world believe it is manmade and are trying to remedy it.

Question 10

What kinds of international treaties have been signed to combat climate change?

Answer 10

The 1997 Kyoto Protocol was the first international agreement to try to reduce carbon emissions.The 2015 Paris Agreement was more robust than the Kyoto Protocol in its provisions to combat global warming.

Question 11

What kinds of epidemics were due to globalization?

Answer 11

The 1918 Flu Pandemic killed 20 million people across the globe. The AIDS epidemic in the 1980s spread across the globe.

Question 12

What kinds of illnesses are associated with poverty?

Answer 12

Malaria, Tuberculosis, Cholera

Question 13

What medical technologies have changed human life? What has been the overall effect?

Answer 13

Antibiotics (1928) that kill bacterial infections. Birth control pills (1950s) led to decreased fertility rates in the global north. Vaccines (1960s) introduced on a massive scale wiping out global diseases like smallpox, measles, and mumps.Combined with the Green Revolution it’s clear to see why the global population is rising. People are living longer and those who would have died in infancy are making it to adulthood.

Question 14

What kinds of illnesses are associated with longer lifespans?

Answer 14

Heart disease and Alzheimer’s Disease

Question 15

How did the end of the Cold War lead to increased trade?

Answer 15

More countries started moving towards free-market economies.

Question 16

How did Chile’s economy change in the 1980s?

Answer 16

Augusto Pinochet came to power in Chile backed by the United States as part of their effort to combat socialism.A group of University of Chicago trained economists proposed Neoliberal reforms including free-market principles, privatization of state-owned industries, and stabilizing inflation. Their reforms along with loans from the World Bank bolstered the economy (“The Chilean Miracle).

Question 17

How did the reforms in Chile harm some people?

Answer 17

They increased the gap between the rich and the poor leading to immense suffering. This happened because the government removed programs and subsidies for the poor in the name of the free-market

Question 18

How was Neoliberalism spread through the 1980s?

Answer 18

American president Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher pushed these policies. Poor countries took loans from the international organization, the World Bank, to help their economic situation but had to make reforms that mirrored those in Chile and had a similar effect on the poor.

Question 19

How did China’s economy change in the 1980s?

Answer 19

The leader of China, Deng Xiaoping, backed away from pure communist principles and allowed limited access to free-market principles

Question 20

What is the knowledge economy?

Answer 20

It’s a new kind of work where the product is based on people’s mental work, not their physical work. People like engineers, lawyers, chemists, and Heimler have knowledge worth paying for.

Question 21

How has manufacturing changed due to globalization?

Answer 21

Companies no longer manufacture in the same country where their business is located. They manufacture goods where labor isthe cheapest (like Vietnam, Bangladesh and Mexico).

Question 22

What are multinational corporations? What are some examples?

Answer 22

A company that controls the manufacture and sale of goods in at least one other country than its own. Google and McDonalds are both multinational corporations. Google’s headquarters are in California, but if you call with a question you’ll most likely talk to their staff in India. McDonalds is located all over the world

Question 23

How is on-line shopping connected to globalization?

Answer 23

Companies like Amazon and Alibaba sell goods all over the globe. Using new transportation technology like airplanes and shipping containers that can be moved from boats to trains to trucks without being unpacked they can move goods quickly.

Question 24

How is the rise of pop culture connected to globalization?

Answer 24

Pop culture emerged in the 1920s and is the culture of the people (not the elites). It was spread by technology like radio, movies, television, and later, the internet. Hollywood movies have spread around the globe, but so have Bollywood movies produced in India. Culturally specific music like Reggae has also found a global audience.

Question 25

What is a cultural example of global interconnectedness?

Answer 25

The modern OlympicGames. They were first held in Greece in 1896. In the summer of 2016 nearly half the world’s population watched the games on TV. The World Cup is another good example

Question 26

What are some examples of the movement for greater human rights across the globe?

Answer 26

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) has been ratified by most United Nations member countries. This document affirmed the idea that all humans had rights on the basis of their being human (which comes straight out of the Enlightenment). It said that humans had the right to equality before the law, the right to adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care and education.

Question 27

What is an example of the movement for greater rights for women across the globe?

Answer 27

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Descrimination Against Women (1979) was another UN treaty, but this time addressing women’s rights. Many of the cornerstones of the modern feminist movement were included such as the right to vote, equality in education, and the right to birth control

Question 28

What movements tried to address racial discrimination?

Answer 28

In the United States, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were steps towards addressing racial inequalities. In South Africa the apartheid was ended in the 1990s thanks to the leadership and suffering of Nelson Mandela, as well as by the economic pressure put on South Africa by the world. In 1990 Mandela was elected the first black president of South Africa.In India discrimination against low caste Hindus and untouchables was common. Starting in the 1950s the caste reservation system opened opportunities for people of lower castes, but did not eliminate the caste system entirely.

Question 29

What is the United Nations and why did it form?

Answer 29

The United Nations is an international organization whose sole purpose is to promote worldwide peace, security and cooperation. It was formed at the end of World War II to prevent another global war. In addition to the conventions and declarations mentioned earlier, they send peacekeeping troops around the world to help resolve problems peacefully.