The Danger of Globalization

Globalization is not always a positive good. In some instances, it can even cause chaos, or at least some form of disruption. According to Peter Evans, the author of “Counterhegemonic Globalization: Transnational Social Movements in the Contemporary Political Economy,” there are three basic forms of “transitional social movements aimed at counterhegemonic globalization: labor movements, women’s movements, and environmental movements. Each of these movements confronts the dilemmas of using transnational networks to magnify the power of local movements without redefining local interests, of transcending the North-South divide, and of leveraging existing structures of global power without becoming complicit in them.” These categories are not the strong points of globalization. Instead they are areas in which globalization should be ashamed.

In the eyes of Peter Evans, globalization is causing the worse problems in the job sector of the world. “Jobs are being informalized, outsourced, and generally divorced from anything that might be considered a social contract between employer and employee.” There is a loss of social contract. This is even more damaging for women. Mr. Evans sights that “the disadvantages of allocating resources purely on the basic of market logic will fall particularly harshly on women.” Women have constantly fought and will continue to fight for even a mere resemblance of justice.
All this is true, but Peter Evans is missing an important point. Globalization is not just ruining the social contract in the economic sphere, it is also hurting the health sphere. Whether people are subject to more inhumane working conditions or traveling in dangerous environments, people are endanger. As more companies begin to outsource their products so that they can make the largest profit, the workers’ health is subject to be compromised. Similarly, with the world interacting more and more, contamination of disease, especially TB, is becoming more apparent.

Thus, while Peter Evans understands that the effects of globalization are often problematic, he underestimates the true debilitating affects. We need to readjust our values before there is nothing left to save.