Lecture #21: "Re-embedding"
Sylva Frisk, Program Director
Disembedding, Review
- Throughout the course, we have discussed several disembedding mechanisms such as the relativisation of space and social relations lifted out of context.
o Scholte expands upon this with his discussion of global social relations.
- These disembedding mechanisms require new modes of analysis.
o International Relations: The nation-state is no longer central in International Relations.
o Anthropology: There is a need to study culture in new ways. Culture is now seen as neither rooted nor bounded but deterritorialized, fluid and unbounded. Anthropologists now study culture as it is experienced and thus examine different voices within a cultural context. Anthropologists now ask: Who is allowed to talk? Who is silenced/ suppressed? It is commonly agreed that culture is the creation of meaning; it is something everyone does but in different ways.
Eriksen and the Dualities of Globalization
- Thomas Hylland Eriksen discusses how globalization creates dualities in his book, Globalization: the Key Concepts.
- He argues that if you have disembedding, you must also have re-embedding.
- Globalization creates these dualities both empirically and ideationally.
- Other dualities include:
o Homogeneity/ Heterogeneity: New forms of diversity emerge from the processes of globalization.
o Shrinking/ Expanding World
o Centrifugal/ Centripetal
o Standardization/ Fragmentation
o Cosmopolitanism/ Fundamentalism
- These dualities all boil down to Sameness/ Difference.
- Globalization erases some differences while promoted the emergence of others.
Multiculturalism, A Case in Point
- Politicized multiculturalism creates homogeneity, creates new realities and silences other differences.
- The debate over the veil:
o Debates over the veil in Western Europe are very informative. Some argue that the veil complicates communication while other support it is a religious/ cultural practice. Questions have been raised about whether students should be allowed to wear the veil, especially the full veil, in school. This has led to other questions such as: What does the veil represent? Is the veil a religious or a cultural symbol? Does the veil represent gender oppression?
o The Swedish debate was sparked when two female students wore a full veil to school. The principal of the school contacted the Swedish government to ask whether the veil was permitted in school. The Swedish government, in turn, contacted religious scholars and academics. However, no one asked the two girls why they were wearing the veil. People just assumed that they were either wearing the veil for religious or cultural reasons. Ironically, the girls made themselves more visible by covering themselves up.
- Circumcized Immigrants:
o A group of female immigrants from Eritrea arrived in Sweden. These women were circumcized but didn’t feel that there was something wrong with female circumcision. It was not until people in Sweden pointed out the barbaric and cruel nature of circumcision that these women became traumatized by the experience.
- Islamization in Malaysia
o Ethnic Malays in Malaysia began emphasizing their Muslim identity in the 1970s due, in part, to forces of postcolonialism, modernity and globalization. But, over time, the Islamic movement has become more fragmented. Some Malay Muslims are influenced by Middle Eastern Islam while other are influenced by American Islam still other have taken a feminist approach. While conducting her fieldwork in Malaysia, Frisk interviewed women who had made the Haj to Mecca. One women told her that, as a result of her experience, she felt that Arab Muslims were different or backward. While in Mecca, the woman realized that Malay Muslims were actually different from Arab Muslims.
The Gay Archipelago, Boellstorff
- Boellstorff studied the emergence of the “Gay” and “Lesbi” subjectivity in Indonesia.
o Important note: There is an on-going debate in the social sciences about how subjectivity is created. Some argue that it is derived structurally while others emphasize agency or choice.
o Subjectivity: How the subject understands himself/herself.
- The subject positions of gay and lesbi are new in Indonesia even though same sex relationships have always been practiced.
- The Waria is an example of a traditional subjectivity.
o The Waria are usually male transvestites who believe that they were born with the souls of women.
o Waria dress as women most of the time and prefer to have sex with heterosexual men.
o Waria are well known and accepted in Indonesian society.
- The Gay/ Lesbi subject position is an example of the interconnectedness of disembedding and re-embedding.
o This subject position is relatively new, emerging in the 1970s.
o Some Gay/ Lesbi marry heterosexually but have extramarital homosexual relationships.
o Those who adopt this subject position as different from the Waria but they are also different from the western Gay/ Lesbi subjectivity that inspired the creation of this subject position.
o Indonesian Gays/Lesbis see themselves as related to western Gays/ Lesbis but they also see themselves as different.
o The Gay/Lesbi subject position is national. It is unthinkable to identify as a Javanese gay man but it is possible to identify as an Indonesian gay man.
o This new subjectivity is linked to the transnational, imagined community.
Cultural Dubbing
- Boellstorff discusses this emerging subjectivity in terms of cultural dubbing.
- Foreign Films and television shows were once widely dubbed in Indonesia.
- This became problematic in the late 1990s because, as opponents claimed, it distracted from the project of creating a national Indonesian identity. It was confusing to see foreigners speaking Indonesian. Thus dubbing altered the Indonesian identity.
- In terms of the Gay/ Lesbi subjectivity, some argue that those who adopt this subjectivity are merely dubbing their cultural experience with the western homosexual identity.
- However, the dub and the actual, cultural experience never really match thus, agency emerges.
o Gay/Lesbi Indonesians are actually creating a new subjectivity that is neither western nor traditional.
o This is different from glocalization because they are not simply mix two distinct identities; they are creating something new.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
"Climate Change and Food Security"
Lecture #20: "Climate Change and Food Security"
Per Knutsson
See powerpoint entitled, "Food Security and Risk" at http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/GS2121au09/anslagstavla/index.php
Per Knutsson
See powerpoint entitled, "Food Security and Risk" at http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/GS2121au09/anslagstavla/index.php
"Security"
Lecture #19: "Security"
Maria Stern and Peer Shouten
See powerpoint at http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/GS2121au09/anslagstavla/index.php
Maria Stern and Peer Shouten
See powerpoint at http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/GS2121au09/anslagstavla/index.php
Sunday, October 18, 2009
"Multiculturalism"
Lecture #18: "Multiculturalism"
Sylva Frisk was originally scheduled to present this lecture but Dariush Moaven Doust filled in at the last minute.
Here are the highlights:
- Multiculturalism is an empty signifier (Laclau); it can mean anything and nothing.
4 Antinomies:
- 1st: Clash versus Dialogue
- 2nd: Principles versus Tolerance
- 3rd: Cultural Identity versus Social Situations
-4th: Ethnicity versus Class
Particularities versus Universals
- This antinomy subsumes all the above.
-"Universal" has long been criticized by post-colonial theorists.
-Particularities don't exist until they are compared with others.
-The problem with particularities is if your identity is defined in relation to "the other," we just have a bunch of particularities.
- Thus everyone is different in the same way.
- The defense of particularities yields universal similarity.
- What remains is commodities: You can buy and sell particularities.
-Universal propositions that start with the term "all" inherently reflect power.
- Multiculturalism implies a critique to universalism.
Sylva Frisk was originally scheduled to present this lecture but Dariush Moaven Doust filled in at the last minute.
Here are the highlights:
- Multiculturalism is an empty signifier (Laclau); it can mean anything and nothing.
4 Antinomies:
- 1st: Clash versus Dialogue
- 2nd: Principles versus Tolerance
- 3rd: Cultural Identity versus Social Situations
-4th: Ethnicity versus Class
Particularities versus Universals
- This antinomy subsumes all the above.
-"Universal" has long been criticized by post-colonial theorists.
-Particularities don't exist until they are compared with others.
-The problem with particularities is if your identity is defined in relation to "the other," we just have a bunch of particularities.
- Thus everyone is different in the same way.
- The defense of particularities yields universal similarity.
- What remains is commodities: You can buy and sell particularities.
-Universal propositions that start with the term "all" inherently reflect power.
- Multiculturalism implies a critique to universalism.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
"Postcolonial Theory"
Lecture #17:"Postcolonial Theory" Mikaela Lundahl, History of Ideas
Here are the highlights:
What is Post-Colonial Theory?
- The “post” derives from several different contexts.
o It could mean after which is a descriptive term.
o Or it could mean influenced by which is similar to post-Marxism.
- It was first developed in the discipline of comparative literature in the 1970s.
- It was developed as a compliment to other important theories at the time.
- Post-colonial theory is about epistemology.
o Who defines truth/ justice?
o Who is knowledgeable?
o Who defines what is worth knowing?
Edward Said
- It is often said that he is the founder of post-colonialism but he doesn’t accept that he is a post-colonial thinker.
- “Orientalism,” 1978
o He studied the discourse of orientalism or the Arab world.
o People in the orient were very sexualized thus the myth of the harem.
o The harem was developed in contrast to sexually suppressed Victorian British society.
o Fragments of stories from the orient as well as “1001 Nights” which was newly translated coupled with suppressed sexuality becomes imposed on the “other.”
o Western travelers were never invited into the harem thus they imagined it to be something it was not which was simply a private space within a home.
- These discourses of others have more to do with the conflict, tensions and challenges within the societies where they are produced than the places/ people they describe.
o Most colonial histories are like this.
o This can also be applied to discourses on gender.
- When you produce a story, you are not the only author. You reproduce power and world order within your society.
Homi Bhabha
- Indian, literature professor working in the U.S.
- He did not write a discipline altering book but many important articles.
- He coined the concepts of hybridity and mimicry.
o Both terms originally come from the natural sciences.
o Hybridity occurs when a new species is created from two different species.
o Mimicry is like the actions of a copycat.
o The lecturer prefers the term creolity because it is more open.
- People in colonial and postcolonial India are continuously described as “Indians” implying that there was such a thing as India prior to colonialization.
o But the nation-state was not and is not a given.
o During colonialism, the British imposed a sense of Indianess upon diverse regions.
o Contemporary conflicts reflect this.
o Identities in the colonial world were constructed according to European ideas and interests.
o First, pre-colonial “India” was like Viking “Sweden” it was not clearly defined or taken for granted.
o Second, colonial British India was a time when “Indianess” was invented. This represented a new kind of hybridity.
o Third, post-colonial India was formed.
o Fourth, it is impossible to know what will come next.
o Today’s Indians was a hybrid of previous eras.
o Both Indians and colonizers were altered as a result of colonialism.
- Colonization is a process not just an event. Thus once colonizers leave, structures, culture, businesses, etc. remain.
- Colonization created a new form of hybridity between the colonizer and the colonized.
- The world is not homogenized through colonization.
- Mimicry is another product of colonization.
o It occurs when the colonized mimic colonizers.
o It resulted in a cry for authenticity.
o Hybrid people can never really be authentic.
- Colonial mythology: We construct the “other” as deficient/ in need/ savage.
- When the “other” becomes equal, new mythologies are needed thus the concept of mimicry.
- Bhabha descrives mimicry as a way that the colonized can destabilize the status quo.
o This reveals how “whiteness” is constructed.
Gayatri Spivak
- It was previously theorized that “others” were embedded in their situation and could not understand universal experiences or truths.
- It was also theorized that white, European males were privileged in their position and could understand everyone “below” them.
- Spivak says that no one is different of privileged; everyone is equally transparent and knowledgeable of others.
- We need to be more humble in our quest to know others.
- We can see others just as well as they can see us.
- “White men rescue/ save brown women from brown men.”
o Brown mean are constructed as dangerous, backward and brown women are constructed as innocent victims.
o This idea helps Europeans to legitimize their policies of intrusion/ invasion/ colonization.
o This format is reproduced in different contexts.
o These phrases are mobilized when needed.
o This reproduces colonial stereotypes/ stigmatization which creates problems without solving them and is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Here are the highlights:
What is Post-Colonial Theory?
- The “post” derives from several different contexts.
o It could mean after which is a descriptive term.
o Or it could mean influenced by which is similar to post-Marxism.
- It was first developed in the discipline of comparative literature in the 1970s.
- It was developed as a compliment to other important theories at the time.
- Post-colonial theory is about epistemology.
o Who defines truth/ justice?
o Who is knowledgeable?
o Who defines what is worth knowing?
Edward Said
- It is often said that he is the founder of post-colonialism but he doesn’t accept that he is a post-colonial thinker.
- “Orientalism,” 1978
o He studied the discourse of orientalism or the Arab world.
o People in the orient were very sexualized thus the myth of the harem.
o The harem was developed in contrast to sexually suppressed Victorian British society.
o Fragments of stories from the orient as well as “1001 Nights” which was newly translated coupled with suppressed sexuality becomes imposed on the “other.”
o Western travelers were never invited into the harem thus they imagined it to be something it was not which was simply a private space within a home.
- These discourses of others have more to do with the conflict, tensions and challenges within the societies where they are produced than the places/ people they describe.
o Most colonial histories are like this.
o This can also be applied to discourses on gender.
- When you produce a story, you are not the only author. You reproduce power and world order within your society.
Homi Bhabha
- Indian, literature professor working in the U.S.
- He did not write a discipline altering book but many important articles.
- He coined the concepts of hybridity and mimicry.
o Both terms originally come from the natural sciences.
o Hybridity occurs when a new species is created from two different species.
o Mimicry is like the actions of a copycat.
o The lecturer prefers the term creolity because it is more open.
- People in colonial and postcolonial India are continuously described as “Indians” implying that there was such a thing as India prior to colonialization.
o But the nation-state was not and is not a given.
o During colonialism, the British imposed a sense of Indianess upon diverse regions.
o Contemporary conflicts reflect this.
o Identities in the colonial world were constructed according to European ideas and interests.
o First, pre-colonial “India” was like Viking “Sweden” it was not clearly defined or taken for granted.
o Second, colonial British India was a time when “Indianess” was invented. This represented a new kind of hybridity.
o Third, post-colonial India was formed.
o Fourth, it is impossible to know what will come next.
o Today’s Indians was a hybrid of previous eras.
o Both Indians and colonizers were altered as a result of colonialism.
- Colonization is a process not just an event. Thus once colonizers leave, structures, culture, businesses, etc. remain.
- Colonization created a new form of hybridity between the colonizer and the colonized.
- The world is not homogenized through colonization.
- Mimicry is another product of colonization.
o It occurs when the colonized mimic colonizers.
o It resulted in a cry for authenticity.
o Hybrid people can never really be authentic.
- Colonial mythology: We construct the “other” as deficient/ in need/ savage.
- When the “other” becomes equal, new mythologies are needed thus the concept of mimicry.
- Bhabha descrives mimicry as a way that the colonized can destabilize the status quo.
o This reveals how “whiteness” is constructed.
Gayatri Spivak
- It was previously theorized that “others” were embedded in their situation and could not understand universal experiences or truths.
- It was also theorized that white, European males were privileged in their position and could understand everyone “below” them.
- Spivak says that no one is different of privileged; everyone is equally transparent and knowledgeable of others.
- We need to be more humble in our quest to know others.
- We can see others just as well as they can see us.
- “White men rescue/ save brown women from brown men.”
o Brown mean are constructed as dangerous, backward and brown women are constructed as innocent victims.
o This idea helps Europeans to legitimize their policies of intrusion/ invasion/ colonization.
o This format is reproduced in different contexts.
o These phrases are mobilized when needed.
o This reproduces colonial stereotypes/ stigmatization which creates problems without solving them and is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
"Identity and Identity Politics"
Lecture # 16:"Identity and Identity Politics" Mikaela Lundahl, History of Ideas
Here are the highlights:
The History and Meaning of Identity
- “Idem” is the Greek word for same or sameness.
- Common interpretation: Identity is the feeling and recognition of being the
same today as you were yesterday and the expectation that we will be the
same tomorrow.
- This self-reflective idea was developed philosophically in Europe in the
17th and 18th centuries by Descartes and Locke.
o Descartes- Debated his identity: I think therefore I am.
o Locke- Liberal thinker, developed ideas about political identity
o These thinkers tried to distinguish the individual from the collective.
o Of course, they were not the only thinkers on this subject but they were the most famous.
- The French Revolution led to the formulation of inherent human rights and it was at this time that ideas about society were transformed.
- The 1800s saw big identity movements such as abolitionist, labor and suffrage movements.
- Collectivist thinkers emerged in the 1800s as a reaction to individualist thinkers.
- According to Foucault, the individual was born in the classic era (17th and 18th centuries).
o This is when the concept of the human was invented.
o Ways of thinking about humanity changed dramatically around 1700.
- The idea of the insular man was challenged by other thinkers including Hegel.
- Hegel developed the master and the slave dialectic which theorized that no one can recognize himself as an individual without the recognition of others.
o This was essential to all social relationships.
o Identity is a continual process that needs renewal; the feeling of recognition doesn’t last forever.
o The slave cannot legitimately give the master recognition thus the recognition machine for the master is problematized.
o Sooner or later the relationship is changed and the slave becomes freer.
- Hegel postulates that there are always at least two people in a meaningful society.
- The fight for recognition is later taken up by Marx.
o Marx adds a more materialistic twist. Thus the slave knows reality through his labor which gives the slave the ability to challenge the master.
- In the 20th century, identity becomes even more problematic.
Identity Movements
- Collectivist thinkers challenged the traditional conception of identity as the white bourgeois.
- These thinkers believed that the theorized “human” was silently assuming the bourgeois, white, Christian, male identity.
- Society was extremely dependent on colonialism which led to the establishment of race theory around 1800. Race theory was not abandoned/ discredited until after World War II.
o Race theory attempted to reveal racial inequalities scientifically.
o Race theory was used to justify slavery and colonialism.
- Gender theory emerged around 1800.
- Race and gender theory were used to justify privilege, exclusion and inequality.
o Women were seen as weak and emotional.
o Thus men were better suited to work outside the home and in the public sphere.
o These theories were used to separate and sort people.
- Theories of class were also developed to show that members of the working class were different cerebrally. This theory was used to legitimize the class system.
19th/20th Centuries
- Anti-colonial movements, abolition movements, suffrage movements, etc. began to take root in the 19th and 20th centuries.
- In these movements, identity becomes an important question as well as the effect of these movements. However, these movements did not explicitly address identity.
- Marx:
o Knowledge can result from what you do, ie. labor.
o Most people are disconnected from the tools/ fruits of their labor thus they live in a “false consciousness.”
- Nietzsche:
o God is dead. The discursive God no longer has meaning and is no longer a point of social reference.
o People want to gain power—“will to power” — thus they are disconnected from reality; they see the world in ways that favor their ambitions. Reality is complex.
- Freud:
o Desire determines the way we see the world.
o Desire is unconscious.
- Simone de Beauvoir:
o The Second Sex
o One is not born a woman; one becomes a woman.
- Jean Paul Sartre:
o Existence comes before essence.
o Essence is a concept that has often been discussed in connection with identity.
o “The fear of essence”
o Essence is the result of a lived life or a historical situation.
o First we live as a person in a collective.
o During this era, essences (male, female, class, race) are sought.
- Marx, Nietzsche, etc. help to destabilize previous ideas of identity.
- Post-modernism: A way of discussing modernity without taking it for granted.
- After post-modernism, thinking about identity changes.
- Derrida challenges the concept of the autonomous individual in terms of the relationship between “I” and I.
o When a person talks about herself, she has to step outside of herself.
o The individual reconstructs himself/herself and the content is relative.
o The sign is different from the signified.
o There is a constant, on-going oscillation between the sign, “I,” and the signified, I.
- Identity politics emerged in the 1960s, 70s and 80s because people started to see a problem.
- Movements produced identities.
- When identity becomes more diversified, it also becomes more homogenized.
- People began to look beyond the old strata of identification.
- Intersectionalism: Builds upon the idea that everyone is the product of many intersections such as class, race, gender, etc.
o This is connected to Cyborg Feminism.
o There are different ways to say that identity is constructed within a system.
o Intersectionalism coordinates with hybridity.
- One can conclude either that identity has become hybridized due to modernity or that identity was always hybridized/creolized.
- The stability of culture and identity are a myth.
Here are the highlights:
The History and Meaning of Identity
- “Idem” is the Greek word for same or sameness.
- Common interpretation: Identity is the feeling and recognition of being the
same today as you were yesterday and the expectation that we will be the
same tomorrow.
- This self-reflective idea was developed philosophically in Europe in the
17th and 18th centuries by Descartes and Locke.
o Descartes- Debated his identity: I think therefore I am.
o Locke- Liberal thinker, developed ideas about political identity
o These thinkers tried to distinguish the individual from the collective.
o Of course, they were not the only thinkers on this subject but they were the most famous.
- The French Revolution led to the formulation of inherent human rights and it was at this time that ideas about society were transformed.
- The 1800s saw big identity movements such as abolitionist, labor and suffrage movements.
- Collectivist thinkers emerged in the 1800s as a reaction to individualist thinkers.
- According to Foucault, the individual was born in the classic era (17th and 18th centuries).
o This is when the concept of the human was invented.
o Ways of thinking about humanity changed dramatically around 1700.
- The idea of the insular man was challenged by other thinkers including Hegel.
- Hegel developed the master and the slave dialectic which theorized that no one can recognize himself as an individual without the recognition of others.
o This was essential to all social relationships.
o Identity is a continual process that needs renewal; the feeling of recognition doesn’t last forever.
o The slave cannot legitimately give the master recognition thus the recognition machine for the master is problematized.
o Sooner or later the relationship is changed and the slave becomes freer.
- Hegel postulates that there are always at least two people in a meaningful society.
- The fight for recognition is later taken up by Marx.
o Marx adds a more materialistic twist. Thus the slave knows reality through his labor which gives the slave the ability to challenge the master.
- In the 20th century, identity becomes even more problematic.
Identity Movements
- Collectivist thinkers challenged the traditional conception of identity as the white bourgeois.
- These thinkers believed that the theorized “human” was silently assuming the bourgeois, white, Christian, male identity.
- Society was extremely dependent on colonialism which led to the establishment of race theory around 1800. Race theory was not abandoned/ discredited until after World War II.
o Race theory attempted to reveal racial inequalities scientifically.
o Race theory was used to justify slavery and colonialism.
- Gender theory emerged around 1800.
- Race and gender theory were used to justify privilege, exclusion and inequality.
o Women were seen as weak and emotional.
o Thus men were better suited to work outside the home and in the public sphere.
o These theories were used to separate and sort people.
- Theories of class were also developed to show that members of the working class were different cerebrally. This theory was used to legitimize the class system.
19th/20th Centuries
- Anti-colonial movements, abolition movements, suffrage movements, etc. began to take root in the 19th and 20th centuries.
- In these movements, identity becomes an important question as well as the effect of these movements. However, these movements did not explicitly address identity.
- Marx:
o Knowledge can result from what you do, ie. labor.
o Most people are disconnected from the tools/ fruits of their labor thus they live in a “false consciousness.”
- Nietzsche:
o God is dead. The discursive God no longer has meaning and is no longer a point of social reference.
o People want to gain power—“will to power” — thus they are disconnected from reality; they see the world in ways that favor their ambitions. Reality is complex.
- Freud:
o Desire determines the way we see the world.
o Desire is unconscious.
- Simone de Beauvoir:
o The Second Sex
o One is not born a woman; one becomes a woman.
- Jean Paul Sartre:
o Existence comes before essence.
o Essence is a concept that has often been discussed in connection with identity.
o “The fear of essence”
o Essence is the result of a lived life or a historical situation.
o First we live as a person in a collective.
o During this era, essences (male, female, class, race) are sought.
- Marx, Nietzsche, etc. help to destabilize previous ideas of identity.
- Post-modernism: A way of discussing modernity without taking it for granted.
- After post-modernism, thinking about identity changes.
- Derrida challenges the concept of the autonomous individual in terms of the relationship between “I” and I.
o When a person talks about herself, she has to step outside of herself.
o The individual reconstructs himself/herself and the content is relative.
o The sign is different from the signified.
o There is a constant, on-going oscillation between the sign, “I,” and the signified, I.
- Identity politics emerged in the 1960s, 70s and 80s because people started to see a problem.
- Movements produced identities.
- When identity becomes more diversified, it also becomes more homogenized.
- People began to look beyond the old strata of identification.
- Intersectionalism: Builds upon the idea that everyone is the product of many intersections such as class, race, gender, etc.
o This is connected to Cyborg Feminism.
o There are different ways to say that identity is constructed within a system.
o Intersectionalism coordinates with hybridity.
- One can conclude either that identity has become hybridized due to modernity or that identity was always hybridized/creolized.
- The stability of culture and identity are a myth.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
"Non-Territorial Global Empire?"
Lecture #15: "Non-Territorial Global Empire?"
Stellan Vinthagen
The powerpoint for this lecture should be posted soon at http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/GS2121au09/anslagstavla/index.php
Stellan Vinthagen
The powerpoint for this lecture should be posted soon at http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/GS2121au09/anslagstavla/index.php
"Territorial Empire and 'New Imperialism'"
Lecture #14: "Territorial Empire and 'New Imperialism''
Stellan Vinthagen
Review/Preview- The debate about network versus empire is related to how we view globalization.
An Overview of the Arguments
- Some argue that globalization has weakened nation-states. While other contend that it has created failed states and regionalization.
- Some argue that globalization offers some states new opportunities. This is where imperialism comes on. They ask, is globalization a wave of capitalism? Does capitalism encourage imperialism or free markets? Has globalization led to a concentration of wealth in the hands of 1% of the world’s population? Has globalization increased difference between the rich and the poor?
- Some argue that globalization provides opportunities for wealth that didn’t exist before. They believe that many people who would have been poor before globalization can now support themselves.
- Some argue that the U.S. is an empire. Their evidence includes the following:
o The U.S. has military bases in approximately 140 countries.
o The U.S. has 300,000 soldiers on foreign ground.
o The U.S. holds the world record for foreign interventions having long ago surpassed the Roman Empire.
o The U.S. has overthrown democratically elected leaders. (i.e. Iran)
o The War on Terror is a sign of imperialism.
o The U.S. spends ½ of the total military budget of the world.
- Some argue that the election of Barrack Obama has made a difference, at least, rhetorically. Obama has instructed his staff not to use the phrase “War on Terror.”
Is the U.S. an Empire?
- Is the U.S. an empire in the same way as the Roman Empire or the British Empire?
- Or is the U.S. just a strong state?
- What does it mean to talk about empires?
Münkler on Empire
- Münkler presents a realist theory of empire.
- According to Münkler, empire is the dominance of one polity over another both internally and externally.
- Münkler presents three criteria of empire:
o 1. Long term empire/dominance: An empire must have survived a crisis. Thus the Nazi Empire was a failed empire because it didn’t survive the crisis of World War II.
o 2. Major expansion: An empire must purse expansion. Expansion can be regional rather than global. An empire can pursue explanation militarily and/or economically. An example of major expansion is the British Empire.
o Center-Periphery: In an empire, there is a sliding scale of rights. The closer you are to the center, the more rights you have. This is different from a nation-state. You are either a citizen of a nation-state or you are not. In theory, all citizens are equal before the law.
- Münkler distinguishes between empire and imperialism.
o Imperialism is the will to empire.
o Empire is long term dominance, major expansion and the creation and maintenance of the center and periphery.
o During the colonial period, imperialism was viewed positively. Many believe that Europe was obligated to help others.
o Today, imperialism is a negative term.
- Münkler emphasizes that every empire needs to legitimize its imperial project at least among those who make empire possible. Thus, the creation of ideology.
o You may not like the empire but you probably believe the ideology.
o Empire can have ideologies that embrace liberty, equality and justice but empire can also have a missionary ideology.
- European imperialist ambitions were crushed with the Holocaust.
o Many people pointed to the Holocaust as evidence of what European civilization was capable of.
o The Holocaust created a general lack of confidence in the European missionary project.
- Democracies have a difficult time building empires because it is difficult to maintain electoral support for the imperial mission. However, it is not impossible for a democracy to become an empire.
- Industrialization has changed the conditions of empires.
o Prior to industrialization, militarization was the driving force of imperialism.
o Today, economics is the driving force of imperialism.
- Does the U.S. Empire meet Münkler’s criteria?
o It has survived several crises.
o It has pursused neo-liberal economic expansion.
o Some countries such as Britain are a part of the center while other countries are a part of the periphery.
- Is the election of Barrack Obama a reaction to the U.S. imperial project?
- In terms of military might and economic dominance, the U.S. is definitely on top but the U.S. does have an enormous financial deficit and this may make a difference.
Wallerstein on Empire
- Wallerstein renews the Marxist perspective in a fundamental way so much so that you could argue that Wallerstein is turning Marxism on its head.
- Wallerstein is also inspired by Dependency Theory.
- Wallerstein contends that underdevelopment is created through capitalism.
- An aside: Marx believed that capitalism was a liberating force which made socialism possible.
- According to Wallerstein, labor is territorial; capital is not. Laborers can’t just go where the jobs are located.
- Two principles demonstrate the exploitative nature of the world economy:
o 1. Surplus is not invested in the periphery. → Profits are generally invested in Europe and the U.S. Research and development happens within the core.
o 2. There are declining terms of trade. → Terms of trade favor manufactured goods over raw materials.
- Economic differences between the core, semi-periphery (a concept Wallerstein introduces) and periphery represent a systemic imbalance.
- It is rare for a country to move from the periphery to the semi-periphery to the core.
- World Bank rankings show countries grouping in clusters.
o Core → G8 / OECD
o Semi-Periphery → BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China)
o Periphery → “Global South”
- Wallerstein looks at economies not nation-states. In fact, he contends that the core and periphery can exist within nation-states.
- There are several conditions that keep this system alive:
o The existence of the semi-periphery.
o Ethnic and ideological differences are maintained. (There is no world government.)
o The world is divided politically but united economically.
- This system is so stable that it forces governments to accommodate capitalist conditions.
o The only possibility for change is crisis.
o When a crisis is too difficult to handle, there is an opening. This opening can be utilized by “anti-systemic movements.”
Criticisms
- Some progress does occur. Some countries are moving up out of the periphery.
- Galtung argues that the U.S. Empire will collapse.
- Diamond contends that ecology is the key factor to understanding why empires fall.
- Empires and informal empires exist simultaneously.
o At some point, it becomes obvious that you are talking about empire. Before that there is de facto or informal empire
Pieterse
- Pieterse argues for a combination of empire and network.
- Is the U.S. unique? Is it a moment of empire?
- Can globalization be halted by a longer period of U.S. empire?
- Imperialism is:
o State centric.
o Classical imperialist thinking holds that political domination is key.
o Has a central authority.
o Maintains political control of territory.
- Globalization is:
o A system with a diversity of actors including states, NGOs, TNCs, etc.
o Not purely political.
o Multi-dimensional.
o Non-territorial.
o Not at the core; less bounded by place.
o Diffusion of power.
- Pieterse argues that there are qualities and traits of empire in globalization but there are still fundamental differences.
Stellan Vinthagen
Review/Preview- The debate about network versus empire is related to how we view globalization.
An Overview of the Arguments
- Some argue that globalization has weakened nation-states. While other contend that it has created failed states and regionalization.
- Some argue that globalization offers some states new opportunities. This is where imperialism comes on. They ask, is globalization a wave of capitalism? Does capitalism encourage imperialism or free markets? Has globalization led to a concentration of wealth in the hands of 1% of the world’s population? Has globalization increased difference between the rich and the poor?
- Some argue that globalization provides opportunities for wealth that didn’t exist before. They believe that many people who would have been poor before globalization can now support themselves.
- Some argue that the U.S. is an empire. Their evidence includes the following:
o The U.S. has military bases in approximately 140 countries.
o The U.S. has 300,000 soldiers on foreign ground.
o The U.S. holds the world record for foreign interventions having long ago surpassed the Roman Empire.
o The U.S. has overthrown democratically elected leaders. (i.e. Iran)
o The War on Terror is a sign of imperialism.
o The U.S. spends ½ of the total military budget of the world.
- Some argue that the election of Barrack Obama has made a difference, at least, rhetorically. Obama has instructed his staff not to use the phrase “War on Terror.”
Is the U.S. an Empire?
- Is the U.S. an empire in the same way as the Roman Empire or the British Empire?
- Or is the U.S. just a strong state?
- What does it mean to talk about empires?
Münkler on Empire
- Münkler presents a realist theory of empire.
- According to Münkler, empire is the dominance of one polity over another both internally and externally.
- Münkler presents three criteria of empire:
o 1. Long term empire/dominance: An empire must have survived a crisis. Thus the Nazi Empire was a failed empire because it didn’t survive the crisis of World War II.
o 2. Major expansion: An empire must purse expansion. Expansion can be regional rather than global. An empire can pursue explanation militarily and/or economically. An example of major expansion is the British Empire.
o Center-Periphery: In an empire, there is a sliding scale of rights. The closer you are to the center, the more rights you have. This is different from a nation-state. You are either a citizen of a nation-state or you are not. In theory, all citizens are equal before the law.
- Münkler distinguishes between empire and imperialism.
o Imperialism is the will to empire.
o Empire is long term dominance, major expansion and the creation and maintenance of the center and periphery.
o During the colonial period, imperialism was viewed positively. Many believe that Europe was obligated to help others.
o Today, imperialism is a negative term.
- Münkler emphasizes that every empire needs to legitimize its imperial project at least among those who make empire possible. Thus, the creation of ideology.
o You may not like the empire but you probably believe the ideology.
o Empire can have ideologies that embrace liberty, equality and justice but empire can also have a missionary ideology.
- European imperialist ambitions were crushed with the Holocaust.
o Many people pointed to the Holocaust as evidence of what European civilization was capable of.
o The Holocaust created a general lack of confidence in the European missionary project.
- Democracies have a difficult time building empires because it is difficult to maintain electoral support for the imperial mission. However, it is not impossible for a democracy to become an empire.
- Industrialization has changed the conditions of empires.
o Prior to industrialization, militarization was the driving force of imperialism.
o Today, economics is the driving force of imperialism.
- Does the U.S. Empire meet Münkler’s criteria?
o It has survived several crises.
o It has pursused neo-liberal economic expansion.
o Some countries such as Britain are a part of the center while other countries are a part of the periphery.
- Is the election of Barrack Obama a reaction to the U.S. imperial project?
- In terms of military might and economic dominance, the U.S. is definitely on top but the U.S. does have an enormous financial deficit and this may make a difference.
Wallerstein on Empire
- Wallerstein renews the Marxist perspective in a fundamental way so much so that you could argue that Wallerstein is turning Marxism on its head.
- Wallerstein is also inspired by Dependency Theory.
- Wallerstein contends that underdevelopment is created through capitalism.
- An aside: Marx believed that capitalism was a liberating force which made socialism possible.
- According to Wallerstein, labor is territorial; capital is not. Laborers can’t just go where the jobs are located.
- Two principles demonstrate the exploitative nature of the world economy:
o 1. Surplus is not invested in the periphery. → Profits are generally invested in Europe and the U.S. Research and development happens within the core.
o 2. There are declining terms of trade. → Terms of trade favor manufactured goods over raw materials.
- Economic differences between the core, semi-periphery (a concept Wallerstein introduces) and periphery represent a systemic imbalance.
- It is rare for a country to move from the periphery to the semi-periphery to the core.
- World Bank rankings show countries grouping in clusters.
o Core → G8 / OECD
o Semi-Periphery → BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China)
o Periphery → “Global South”
- Wallerstein looks at economies not nation-states. In fact, he contends that the core and periphery can exist within nation-states.
- There are several conditions that keep this system alive:
o The existence of the semi-periphery.
o Ethnic and ideological differences are maintained. (There is no world government.)
o The world is divided politically but united economically.
- This system is so stable that it forces governments to accommodate capitalist conditions.
o The only possibility for change is crisis.
o When a crisis is too difficult to handle, there is an opening. This opening can be utilized by “anti-systemic movements.”
Criticisms
- Some progress does occur. Some countries are moving up out of the periphery.
- Galtung argues that the U.S. Empire will collapse.
- Diamond contends that ecology is the key factor to understanding why empires fall.
- Empires and informal empires exist simultaneously.
o At some point, it becomes obvious that you are talking about empire. Before that there is de facto or informal empire
Pieterse
- Pieterse argues for a combination of empire and network.
- Is the U.S. unique? Is it a moment of empire?
- Can globalization be halted by a longer period of U.S. empire?
- Imperialism is:
o State centric.
o Classical imperialist thinking holds that political domination is key.
o Has a central authority.
o Maintains political control of territory.
- Globalization is:
o A system with a diversity of actors including states, NGOs, TNCs, etc.
o Not purely political.
o Multi-dimensional.
o Non-territorial.
o Not at the core; less bounded by place.
o Diffusion of power.
- Pieterse argues that there are qualities and traits of empire in globalization but there are still fundamental differences.
Monday, October 5, 2009
"Network Society"
Lecture #13: "Network Society" Stellan Vinthagen, Sociology and Peace and Conflict Studies
Introductory Note: This week we will discuss whether globalization can be characterized as a network or an empire. In other words, does globalization manifest itself as an interconnected world or is it colonialism in the form of U.S. empire? In what ways are networks and empires combined? There is no clear cut answer.
Obama
- Many people believe that the election of Barrack Obama as U.S. president represents a change in the U.S.
- However, there is reason to believe that Obama is not so different from Bush.
o Obama recently agreed with Israel to keep its nuclear weapons secret.
o Although Israel currently possesses 100-300 nuclear weapons, the U.S. continues to make no inspection demands.
- This is a problem but you can solve it in a network society by contacting Obama and explaining the situation. Here’s how…
Network Society, Overview
- Everyone is connected to the 6 billion people on earth through six degrees/ links of separation or less.
- In theory, a network is a connection between people with no center where everyone has links to everyone else. (This is called a distributed network.)
- Networks are an improvement over traditional forms of communication such as bureaucracies.
- In reality, networks can have power and centers and periphery.
o Who has links with whom is very important.
o Clusters, flows, entry points, gatekeepers, firewalls, center(s), peripheries, semi-peripheries all exist and play critical roles.
- In theory, networks and imperialism are incompatible. In reality, it’s not so simple.
- This week we will examine where globalization is located on the network ó empire spectrum. We will also examine theory and practice as well as new perspectives.
o Network theorists- Castells and McNeill
o New Perspective- Empire, Hardt and Negri
McNeill
- Human history is the development of more and more advanced networks.
- Growing networks exist with growing abilities to communicate within these networks.
- Today’s networks are the product of history:
o 1. First Worldnet- This was created more than 12,000 years ago and was characterized by people trading over vast distances. During this time, communication was very slow and the spread of ideas, cultures, even clothing could take decades. It is important to note, however, that ideas and things travelled.
o 2. City Network- This was created 6,000 years ago and was characterized by cities trading and communicating with each other. Food, ideas and products were exchanged. This usually occurred regionally.
o 3. The Old Worldnet- This was created 2,000 years ago and was characterized by intense exchange and communication between Eurasia and Northern Africa.
o 4. Cosmopolitan Net- This was created 500 year ago through navigation. It further evolved 160 years ago with the creation of the Electric Net and evolved again 70 years ago with the Computerized Net.
- We are living in a network society that more and more resembles a network.
- Of course, power does exist.
o Only half of the people on earth have ever made a phone call.
o There is unequal access to the network.
- Some principles you can draw from this:
o Networks consist of both cooperation and competition. After all, there are more people to exploit in an increased network.
o Organizations with more effective internal communication survive. This is because organizations that effectively communicate acquire more resources and power.
- Networks have clusters with unequal distribution.
o 69% of the population in North American has internet access while only 4% of the population of Africa has access.
- Financial flows appear to be distributed globally. After all, financial flows influence everyone who used money. But…
o Ownership of financial capital is not global.
o Trade is more concentrated in certain regions.
o FDI and the labor market are not equally distributed.
o The nation-state structure is still very important when it comes to the labor market.
Castells
- Power is derived from position in the network and network flows. This applies to individuals, groups, economic sectors, nation-states, etc.
- You can be a winner today but a loser tomorrow depending on network flows.
o This is illustrated through the example of call centers in India. Today, it is very valuable to have a pronounced Bristish/American accent so that you can be employed in call centers. However, call centers may be made obsolete in the future.
- There is a new division of labor called flexible market capitalism.
o Individuals and groups, depending on their skills and use in the network, are acquiring new class positions.
o Core: symbolic analysts
o Periphery: Disposable workforce
o Today’s economy is still a market developing profits but it functions in a new way.
- This new economy developed over time:
o Agricultural production- Surplus from quantitative increase of work and natural resources. (Land is essential.)
o Industrial production- Characterized by mass-production and new energy resources. (Energy is essential.)
o Informationalism- Characterized by improved information technology and knowledge production as well as flexible production. (Information is essential.)
- Informationalism
o 1. information is its raw material (cumulative feedback between innovation and its application)
o 2. pervasiveness of its effects (integral to all human activity)
o 3. network logic (to all systems that use ICT)
o 4. based on flexibility (processes, organizations and institutions can be modified and altered)
o 5. integrated system (making old divisions and categories obsolete)
- Miscellaneous Notes:
o We cannot dismiss the network society because we see power, injustice and inequality.
o Many people argued that globalization would lead to the collapse of the nation-state but that hasn’t happened.
o 3 types of identities exist in the network society: legitimizing identities in the form of “civil society” (This identity is in crisis.), resistance identities in the form of “communities” (This is considered a reactionary identity and entails leaving the network by choice.) and project identities which are occupied with using and/ or recreating the network. (This identity tries to change problems with in the present network system.)
Characteristics of Network Society
- First, people are able to overcome separation from others through links.
- Second, informationalism is essential.
- Third, the network is multi-centered and multi-layered.
- Fourth, there is fluidity of power.
- Fifth, no one and no group is in total control.
Introductory Note: This week we will discuss whether globalization can be characterized as a network or an empire. In other words, does globalization manifest itself as an interconnected world or is it colonialism in the form of U.S. empire? In what ways are networks and empires combined? There is no clear cut answer.
Obama
- Many people believe that the election of Barrack Obama as U.S. president represents a change in the U.S.
- However, there is reason to believe that Obama is not so different from Bush.
o Obama recently agreed with Israel to keep its nuclear weapons secret.
o Although Israel currently possesses 100-300 nuclear weapons, the U.S. continues to make no inspection demands.
- This is a problem but you can solve it in a network society by contacting Obama and explaining the situation. Here’s how…
Network Society, Overview
- Everyone is connected to the 6 billion people on earth through six degrees/ links of separation or less.
- In theory, a network is a connection between people with no center where everyone has links to everyone else. (This is called a distributed network.)
- Networks are an improvement over traditional forms of communication such as bureaucracies.
- In reality, networks can have power and centers and periphery.
o Who has links with whom is very important.
o Clusters, flows, entry points, gatekeepers, firewalls, center(s), peripheries, semi-peripheries all exist and play critical roles.
- In theory, networks and imperialism are incompatible. In reality, it’s not so simple.
- This week we will examine where globalization is located on the network ó empire spectrum. We will also examine theory and practice as well as new perspectives.
o Network theorists- Castells and McNeill
o New Perspective- Empire, Hardt and Negri
McNeill
- Human history is the development of more and more advanced networks.
- Growing networks exist with growing abilities to communicate within these networks.
- Today’s networks are the product of history:
o 1. First Worldnet- This was created more than 12,000 years ago and was characterized by people trading over vast distances. During this time, communication was very slow and the spread of ideas, cultures, even clothing could take decades. It is important to note, however, that ideas and things travelled.
o 2. City Network- This was created 6,000 years ago and was characterized by cities trading and communicating with each other. Food, ideas and products were exchanged. This usually occurred regionally.
o 3. The Old Worldnet- This was created 2,000 years ago and was characterized by intense exchange and communication between Eurasia and Northern Africa.
o 4. Cosmopolitan Net- This was created 500 year ago through navigation. It further evolved 160 years ago with the creation of the Electric Net and evolved again 70 years ago with the Computerized Net.
- We are living in a network society that more and more resembles a network.
- Of course, power does exist.
o Only half of the people on earth have ever made a phone call.
o There is unequal access to the network.
- Some principles you can draw from this:
o Networks consist of both cooperation and competition. After all, there are more people to exploit in an increased network.
o Organizations with more effective internal communication survive. This is because organizations that effectively communicate acquire more resources and power.
- Networks have clusters with unequal distribution.
o 69% of the population in North American has internet access while only 4% of the population of Africa has access.
- Financial flows appear to be distributed globally. After all, financial flows influence everyone who used money. But…
o Ownership of financial capital is not global.
o Trade is more concentrated in certain regions.
o FDI and the labor market are not equally distributed.
o The nation-state structure is still very important when it comes to the labor market.
Castells
- Power is derived from position in the network and network flows. This applies to individuals, groups, economic sectors, nation-states, etc.
- You can be a winner today but a loser tomorrow depending on network flows.
o This is illustrated through the example of call centers in India. Today, it is very valuable to have a pronounced Bristish/American accent so that you can be employed in call centers. However, call centers may be made obsolete in the future.
- There is a new division of labor called flexible market capitalism.
o Individuals and groups, depending on their skills and use in the network, are acquiring new class positions.
o Core: symbolic analysts
o Periphery: Disposable workforce
o Today’s economy is still a market developing profits but it functions in a new way.
- This new economy developed over time:
o Agricultural production- Surplus from quantitative increase of work and natural resources. (Land is essential.)
o Industrial production- Characterized by mass-production and new energy resources. (Energy is essential.)
o Informationalism- Characterized by improved information technology and knowledge production as well as flexible production. (Information is essential.)
- Informationalism
o 1. information is its raw material (cumulative feedback between innovation and its application)
o 2. pervasiveness of its effects (integral to all human activity)
o 3. network logic (to all systems that use ICT)
o 4. based on flexibility (processes, organizations and institutions can be modified and altered)
o 5. integrated system (making old divisions and categories obsolete)
- Miscellaneous Notes:
o We cannot dismiss the network society because we see power, injustice and inequality.
o Many people argued that globalization would lead to the collapse of the nation-state but that hasn’t happened.
o 3 types of identities exist in the network society: legitimizing identities in the form of “civil society” (This identity is in crisis.), resistance identities in the form of “communities” (This is considered a reactionary identity and entails leaving the network by choice.) and project identities which are occupied with using and/ or recreating the network. (This identity tries to change problems with in the present network system.)
Characteristics of Network Society
- First, people are able to overcome separation from others through links.
- Second, informationalism is essential.
- Third, the network is multi-centered and multi-layered.
- Fourth, there is fluidity of power.
- Fifth, no one and no group is in total control.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
"Mobility of Capital"
Lecture #12: “Mobility of Capital”
Erik Andersson
Introductory Note: Today we will discuss the mobility of real and financial capital.
Productive capital
FDI (foreign direct investment)
→ productive intentions
Speculative capital
Portfolio investment
→ speculative intentions
→ seeks to take advantage of favourable policies around the world
Transnational Corporations (TNCs)
- Mobile/flexible, globalized production networks
- Fordism: productivity gains through scientific control and centralisation
o Institutional symbiosis with the welfare state
o This symbiosis secured a bottom level of demand for major companies.
- The crisis of the 1970s changed economic thinking.
o Institutional symbiosis became untenable.
o People no longer bought products produced in their own countries. Instead, they bought the cheapest products available.
- Post-Fordism: productivity gains from competition and alliances
Today’s mobility of productive capital
- Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) vs Greenfield FDI
- Outsourcing: commodification of capacity
- Results: Investment in capacity drops
- Uniform national institutional adaptation (EPZ/SEZ/EFZ, labour laws, company laws, taxes, tariffs, etc.) in competition for FDI, (again skill formation in dialectical relation to global industry
- Feminization of work.
- Strategic, flexible and irrelevant workers.
- Geography of networked of production;
High MVA – in OECD
Low MVA – close to OECD
Outside – the rest
- China, India, Korea, a.o. moving upwards fast!
- TNCs forced to utilize openings and opportunities of globalization.
- Thus outsourcing, building factories in China, etc.
- Owners force CEOs to set up shop in China and/ or to take advantahe of openings and opportunities of globalization.
The globalization of finance, i.e. portfolio mobility
- There is a strong motive driving capital mobility.
- Foreign exchange turnover 2000 billion USD/day + equity, bonds, derivatives, etc.
The US dollar’s central role
- Confidence, liquidity and transactional networks
- Non-economic reasons to hold/support the dollar as a reserve currency:
o Access to western economic interaction
o Support American hegemony
- The euro, yen and other currencies are big today too.
- The US dollar weakened under Bush because of:
o Low interest rates after 9/11 in order to stimulate demand for US production and investment
o Double deficit (trade and budget deficit) is financed by China and other southern states.
o Investment and demand are not big enough
o The US depended on China and Asia finance the war on terror and US domestic consumption.
o The double deficit helped produced the housing boom from 2001-2007 which was stimulated and inflated by low interest rates.
o Credit crisis, 2008-2009
- This was made possible through a long history of financial deregulation and globalization.
History financial globalization
- 1944: Bretton Woods
- 1957: Rome Treaties establish the European Economic Community; Bretton Woods regulatory structures begin to deflate
- 1962: General Agreement to Borrow made in order to pool gold reserves
- 1972/3: Crumbling of Bretton Woods; no link between gold reserves and national currencies
- 1976: Meeting in Jamaica to question IMF and World Bank
- 1979: The US central bank raised interest rates in order to stem inflation in the US; the debt trap closed on countries with investments in US dollars; this is the first time the globe is effected by a national undertaking in the US
- 1980s: Reaganomics + arms race; lower taxes to increase consumption; deregulation of national capital markets (when everyone does this a transnational market is established); ICT (Information and Communication Technologies); Globalization
- 1987 and beyond- Crises + Post Cold War euphoria; 1992ERM; 1994-5 Mexico; 97 Asia; 98 Russia, Brazil; 2000 IT-bubble; 2001 Argentina
- Today: Institutionalized global market with stability problems > FSF, SDDS – IMF a “reputational intermediary”
o Contagion effects- if everyone is moving out of Asia, you move out too
o Trades move with the herd
The (mobility) logic of financial markets
- No products (in traditional sense) > fast turn-over
- Prices according to expectations > which must be fulfilled
- One discourse
- Rating/IMF (”reputational intermediaries”)
- Legitimizes itself with ”allocating resources to where they are most needed” or ”greasing the wheels of production”
- In reality, the financial market is bigger than the actual market.
Effects
- Booms and crashes
- Productivity pressure (to fulfil expectations)
o This led to a drop in capacity investment after 2000.
- Market discipline (exerted on states/politicians, trade unions, companies)
- Institutional adaptation and streamlining
Current crisis
- Speculative Economy
o Loans/claims=assets > MBS > derivatives Credit Default Swaps, SIVs
- Productive Economy
o Private homes > loans > consumption > current account deficit + Asian trade surplus
Remedies
- Bonus caps / regulation for financial bosses
- More money to the IMF (but only a trickle so far)
- Rich world swearing allegiance to the IMF
- FSF (Financial Stability Forum) becomes FSB (Financial Stability Board)
- Fiscal and monetary stimulus packages
- Bailouts of financial institutions of systematic importance
Mobility of Capital
- Financial Capital ó Post-Fordist Production → Big impact on globalized and globalizing
economies
Erik Andersson
Introductory Note: Today we will discuss the mobility of real and financial capital.
Productive capital
FDI (foreign direct investment)
→ productive intentions
Speculative capital
Portfolio investment
→ speculative intentions
→ seeks to take advantage of favourable policies around the world
Transnational Corporations (TNCs)
- Mobile/flexible, globalized production networks
- Fordism: productivity gains through scientific control and centralisation
o Institutional symbiosis with the welfare state
o This symbiosis secured a bottom level of demand for major companies.
- The crisis of the 1970s changed economic thinking.
o Institutional symbiosis became untenable.
o People no longer bought products produced in their own countries. Instead, they bought the cheapest products available.
- Post-Fordism: productivity gains from competition and alliances
Today’s mobility of productive capital
- Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) vs Greenfield FDI
- Outsourcing: commodification of capacity
- Results: Investment in capacity drops
- Uniform national institutional adaptation (EPZ/SEZ/EFZ, labour laws, company laws, taxes, tariffs, etc.) in competition for FDI, (again skill formation in dialectical relation to global industry
- Feminization of work.
- Strategic, flexible and irrelevant workers.
- Geography of networked of production;
High MVA – in OECD
Low MVA – close to OECD
Outside – the rest
- China, India, Korea, a.o. moving upwards fast!
- TNCs forced to utilize openings and opportunities of globalization.
- Thus outsourcing, building factories in China, etc.
- Owners force CEOs to set up shop in China and/ or to take advantahe of openings and opportunities of globalization.
The globalization of finance, i.e. portfolio mobility
- There is a strong motive driving capital mobility.
- Foreign exchange turnover 2000 billion USD/day + equity, bonds, derivatives, etc.
The US dollar’s central role
- Confidence, liquidity and transactional networks
- Non-economic reasons to hold/support the dollar as a reserve currency:
o Access to western economic interaction
o Support American hegemony
- The euro, yen and other currencies are big today too.
- The US dollar weakened under Bush because of:
o Low interest rates after 9/11 in order to stimulate demand for US production and investment
o Double deficit (trade and budget deficit) is financed by China and other southern states.
o Investment and demand are not big enough
o The US depended on China and Asia finance the war on terror and US domestic consumption.
o The double deficit helped produced the housing boom from 2001-2007 which was stimulated and inflated by low interest rates.
o Credit crisis, 2008-2009
- This was made possible through a long history of financial deregulation and globalization.
History financial globalization
- 1944: Bretton Woods
- 1957: Rome Treaties establish the European Economic Community; Bretton Woods regulatory structures begin to deflate
- 1962: General Agreement to Borrow made in order to pool gold reserves
- 1972/3: Crumbling of Bretton Woods; no link between gold reserves and national currencies
- 1976: Meeting in Jamaica to question IMF and World Bank
- 1979: The US central bank raised interest rates in order to stem inflation in the US; the debt trap closed on countries with investments in US dollars; this is the first time the globe is effected by a national undertaking in the US
- 1980s: Reaganomics + arms race; lower taxes to increase consumption; deregulation of national capital markets (when everyone does this a transnational market is established); ICT (Information and Communication Technologies); Globalization
- 1987 and beyond- Crises + Post Cold War euphoria; 1992ERM; 1994-5 Mexico; 97 Asia; 98 Russia, Brazil; 2000 IT-bubble; 2001 Argentina
- Today: Institutionalized global market with stability problems > FSF, SDDS – IMF a “reputational intermediary”
o Contagion effects- if everyone is moving out of Asia, you move out too
o Trades move with the herd
The (mobility) logic of financial markets
- No products (in traditional sense) > fast turn-over
- Prices according to expectations > which must be fulfilled
- One discourse
- Rating/IMF (”reputational intermediaries”)
- Legitimizes itself with ”allocating resources to where they are most needed” or ”greasing the wheels of production”
- In reality, the financial market is bigger than the actual market.
Effects
- Booms and crashes
- Productivity pressure (to fulfil expectations)
o This led to a drop in capacity investment after 2000.
- Market discipline (exerted on states/politicians, trade unions, companies)
- Institutional adaptation and streamlining
Current crisis
- Speculative Economy
o Loans/claims=assets > MBS > derivatives Credit Default Swaps, SIVs
- Productive Economy
o Private homes > loans > consumption > current account deficit + Asian trade surplus
Remedies
- Bonus caps / regulation for financial bosses
- More money to the IMF (but only a trickle so far)
- Rich world swearing allegiance to the IMF
- FSF (Financial Stability Forum) becomes FSB (Financial Stability Board)
- Fiscal and monetary stimulus packages
- Bailouts of financial institutions of systematic importance
Mobility of Capital
- Financial Capital ó Post-Fordist Production → Big impact on globalized and globalizing
economies
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