Global Economic Shifts: Globalization, Sustainability, and Population Trends

Global Economic Systems and Social Change

Globalization: Integration and Neocolonialism

Integrating all economies into a capitalist system causes neocolonialism, facilitating communication and trade contacts between different countries.

The Role of Multinationals

Multinational corporations have subsidiaries and headquarters. They often move operations to benefit from favorable legislation (e.g., tax havens, lower labor costs), allowing them to gain economic benefits and increase their global economic power.

Technical and Market Globalization

Technical innovations have been a decisive factor, including advancements in transport (highways, automobiles) and rapid electronic communication (fax, mobile, email, microtechnology).

Market globalization means products (like Mercedes) confer social status. Global trends and products (like Coca-Cola) are sold worldwide, often influenced by US media and television, driving global consumption patterns.

Consequences: The New Division of Labor

A new international division of labor emerges:

• Industrial processes shift to peripheral and semi-peripheral countries to obtain lower costs and cheap labor.
• Central countries specialize in the tertiary sector and advanced global financial markets.

Thanks to computing power and global investment, financial speculation occurs immediately (e.g., banks in Tokyo and New York).

Socioeconomic Disparities

Globalization results in a union of countries integrated into the central economy, separated from peripheral countries, creating a stark rich/poor split. This process also affects equality within rich countries: while some areas see political and general progress, others experience significant shortages, creating internal disparities.

Sustainability and Ecological Imbalance

The Impact of Globalized Consumption

Unhealthy globalized industrialization and consumption patterns generate ecological imbalance. This is driven by factors such as:

• Advances in the automobile industry.
• Deforestation (harvesting from trees).
• Pollution, especially concentrated in many peripheral countries.

Environmental Crises

Industrial processes that heavily contaminate central countries are often relocated to peripheral countries, leading directly to major environmental crises:

• Global warming
• Destruction of the ozone layer
• The greenhouse effect

Movement Towards Sustainable Development

Moving towards sustainability requires acknowledging that the current lifestyle causes irreparable consequences in peripheral countries while providing benefits primarily to central ones. This has spurred a movement toward healthy politics, awareness, and economic sustainability.

The 1987 United Nations Commission (Brundtland Commission) defined sustainable development as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, ensuring resources can be reused.

Global Population Dynamics and Trends

Population Movement and Growth

Population variation depends on two types of movement:

1. Natural Movement: Determined by birth and mortality rates. Growth is positive if the birth rate exceeds the mortality rate.
2. Migratory Movement: Rich countries generally receive more immigration than they experience emigration.

Population density examples include 300 inhabitants/m² (e.g., France/Italy).

Fertility, Mortality, and Aging

Developed countries often have fertility rates below the replacement rate (2.1 children per woman). Decreased mortality, thanks to medical advances seen even in poorer countries, leads to population aging.

While the global birth rate has generally fallen (historically 6 children per woman), this rate remains high in Africa, contributing to continued population growth.