Criticism of globalization is skepticism of the claimed benefits of the
globalizationGlobalization describes an ongoing process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a globe-spanning network of communication and exchange....
of
capitalismCapitalism is an economic and social system in which the means of production are privately controlled; labor, goods and capital are traded in a market; profits are distributed to owners or invested in technologies and industries; and wages are paid to labor...
. Many of these views are held by the
anti-globalization movementThe anti-globalization movement is critical of the globalization of capitalism. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-corporate globalization movement, or movement against neoliberal globalization...
however other groups also are critical of the policies of globalization.
Claus Leggewie has divided the critics into five groups: leftists, radical leftists, the academic left, reformers from the business world, critics with a religious base and right-winged opponents.
Although there has been a big decrease in the percentage of people in developing countries living below $1 per day in East Asia, some regions – notably sub-saharan Africa – has only seen an slight decrease in poverty rates.
Criticism of globalization is skepticism of the claimed benefits of the
globalizationGlobalization describes an ongoing process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a globe-spanning network of communication and exchange....
of
capitalismCapitalism is an economic and social system in which the means of production are privately controlled; labor, goods and capital are traded in a market; profits are distributed to owners or invested in technologies and industries; and wages are paid to labor...
. Many of these views are held by the
anti-globalization movementThe anti-globalization movement is critical of the globalization of capitalism. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-corporate globalization movement, or movement against neoliberal globalization...
however other groups also are critical of the policies of globalization.
Claus Leggewie has divided the critics into five groups: leftists, radical leftists, the academic left, reformers from the business world, critics with a religious base and right-winged opponents.
Poverty
Although there has been a big decrease in the percentage of people in developing countries living below $1 per day in East Asia, some regions – notably sub-saharan Africa – has only seen an slight decrease in poverty rates.
Kofi AnnanKofi Atta Annan, Honorary GCMG is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1 January 1997 to 1 January 2007. Annan and the United Nations were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize.-Early years and family:Kofi Annan was born in the...
responded to this criticism: "But let me hasten to add that, at present, only a relatively small number of countries are enjoying these gains. Many millions of people are excluded, left behind in squalor not because they have been exposed to too much globalization but because they have had too little or none at all."
Income disparity
Increases in
income disparityIn the context of economic inequality, gender gap generally refers to the differences in the wages of men and women. There is a debate to what extent this is the result of gender differences, lifestyle choices , or because of discrimination.-Statistics:A United Nations report found that women...
has occurred over the last 20 years. In the USA the income of the top 50% has risen to a much greater extent than the income of the bottom 50% of American citizens which has risen only slightly over the last forty years.
Water
Globalization has not brought about beneficial effects for the world's poorest countries. In these countries availability of clean water has decreased between 1990 and 2000 in both urban and rural setting.
Infectious diseases
Infectious diseaseAn infectious disease is a clinically evident disease resulting from the presence of pathogenic microbial agents, including pathogenic viruses, pathogenic bacteria, fungi, protozoa, multicellular parasites, and aberrant proteins known as prions...
s such as SARS and
EbolaEbola is the virus Ebolavirus , a viral genus, and the disease Ebola hemorrhagic fever , a viral hemorrhagic fever . There are four recognised species within the ebolavirus genus, which in turn have a number specific strains. The Zaire virus is the type species, which is also the first discovered...
have traveled throughout the world due to increased world trade and tourism.
Invasive organisms
The spread of
invasive organisms'Invasive species' is a phrase with several definitions. The first definition expresses the phrase in terms of non-indigenous species that adversely affect the habitats they invade economically, environmentally or ecologically...
has been accelerated by globalization.
Loss of languages
Languages are going extinctIn linguistics, language death is a process that affects speech communities where the level of linguistic competence that speakers possess of a given language idiom is decreased...
at a rapid rate and this is predicted to continue and attributed to globalization.
Decline in diversity
Globalization has decreased
cultural diversityCultural diversity is the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. Cultural diversity is the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. Cultural diversity is the variety of human societies or cultures in a...
. This is evident in multinational chain franchises such as
Holiday InnHoliday Inn is a brand of hotels within the InterContinental Hotels Group .-History:The original Holiday Inn chain of hotels was created in 1952 in Memphis, Tennessee, by homebuilder Kemmons Wilson to provide inexpensive family accommodation for travelers within the United States...
,
IKEAIKEA is a privately-held, international home products retailer that sells flat pack furniture, accessories, and bathroom and kitchen items in their retail stores around the world...
, and McDonalds, which wipe out small businesses and smaller regional chains.
Globalization also forces certain cultures to unwillingly adopt aspects of other cultures.
Further reading