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Summary A-level Geography notes (A*)
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GLOBALISATIONGLOBALISATION describes the ways in which places and people are more connected with one
another than they used to be.
World War 2 was the catalyst for globalisation, as at the end of it there was the establishment of
the United Nations and foundation of the International Monetary fund and World Bank.
Since then, the first PC (1975), and the internet developed soon after in the 1980s.
There are three broad strands of globalisation:
• Economic globalisation: (TNCs) - transnational corporations
• Political globalisation: individual states find it more difficult to determine their own policies
• Cultural globalisation: social relations are more stretched out due to social media
More recently, social globalisation has been associated with societies becoming multi-ethnic and
pluralistic. There have also been global improvements in health and education such as an increase
in the literacy rate.
• Interdependence means that what happens in one place has impacts on other places.
Example, the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull had impacts worldwide due to the closure of European
airspace
• Networks show how the different places are linked together
• Flows are connections within a network of places
EXAMPLES OF NETWORK AND FLOWS:
• Business and trade— physical and financial flows of commodities and capital
• Communication networks— the internet, flows of immigration
• Transport networks— air travel, container shipping, flows of manufactured goods
As globalisation accelerates, independence increases whilst networks and flows widen and
deepen.
What factors have accelerated globalisation?
Developments in transport and trade in the 19th century:
• Railways
• 1880s, railway network expanded globally
• Today railway buildings remain a priority for governments across the world (HS2 is
being built)
• Telegraph
• First Telegraph in 1860s, replaced boat and train journeys with instant communication
• Core technology for communicating across distance (such as the Jewish
communications around the world)
• Used Morse code
• Steamships
• Britain became a leading world power in the 1980s using steam technology.
• Moved goods quickly along trade routes such as to Asia and Africa.
•
Accelerated in the 20th century:
• Jet aircraft
• The Boeing 747 in the 1960s made international travel more common
• Additionally cheaper flights such as EasyJet has made flying more common
• Containerisation
• 200 million container movements a year
• Backbone of economy since 1950s
• Enabled mass trade of manufactured goods (mostly from China)
• Costs are very cheap for container shipping
,Hence, developments in transport and trade have contributed to a ‘shrinking world’ (places feel
closer as travel times fall).
The 21st century has been dominated by rapid development in ICT and mobile
communication
• Mobile phones
• 6.1 billion smartphones by 2020 — 70 per cent of world population.
• Core technology for communicating across distance
• In parts of Africa, where landlines are rarely used, they are ‘leap-frogging’ to mobile
phone use.
• Internet
• Began during the Cold War
• Began as a US Department of Defence network to link scientists and university
professors around the world.
• Global data communication system
• Since then, connectivity between people and places has grown exponentially
• Social networking
• Practice of expanding the number of business/ social contacts by making connections
though social media (Facebook)
• 5 billion Facebook likes every day globally in 2014
• Electronic banking
• First conceptualised in the 1970s and some banks offered it in 1985 but a lack of
internet stunted its growth
• The internet explosion in the late 1990s made people more comfortable with making
transactions over the web
• Fibre optics
• During the 1990s large amount of data could be moved quickly — across the ocean
floor by fibre optic cables
• More than 1million KM of flexible undersea cables, carrying the world’s emails,
searches and tweets
• Fibre optics convert information into UV or infrared signals and these are transmitted by
optical fibres— more information can be carried for longer
Overall, rapid development in ICT and mobile communication has lowered communication costs
and contributed to ‘time-space compression’ (places feel closer due to heightened connectivity).
Although all these factors have accelerated globalization, however some geographers now argue
that deglobalisation is occurring.
Deglobalisation:
Decreasing economic integration of countries and reduced movement of goods, services and
capital across borders (opposite to globalisation).
Evidence for deglobalisation
• UK vote to leave EU in 2016 could spark disintegration of EU.
• Container shipping movements have declined.
• Significant showdown of emerging economies such as Brazil.
Evidence against deglobalisation
• Increasing flows of trade, services and finance since 1990.
• Facebook registered 1 billion users, representing unprecedented human connectivity.
• The number of international migrants has reached a record 250 million.
Overall, there is strong evidence that deglobalisation is occurring due to the decline in the
movement of goods, however flows such as data, information and migrants continue to increase, in
addition to FDI flows, which are also strong.
, Altogether, the evidence suggests that there is a new phase of globalisation, involving technology.
How have international political and economic organisations
contributed to globalisation through the promotion of free trade policies
and FDI?
Large contributions to globalisation
Small contributions to globalisation
Free Trade — without protectionist measures including tariffs (taxes on imports/exports), quotas
(limits) and subsidies (grants to producers).
FDI— money that is coming over from abroad.
World Trade Organisation (WTO)
Political and economic organisation
• Based in Geneva, the WTO was set up in 1995, replacing another international organisation
known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
• The WTO aims to encourage free trade (without subsidies, tariffs and quotas) and prevent
trade wars.
• Removing trade barriers is known as trade liberalisation.
The WTO has a much broader scope than GATT. Whereas GATT regulated trade in merchandise
goods, the WTO also covers trade in services, such as telecommunications and banking, and other
issues such as intellectual property rights.
The WTO holds multilateral trade negotiations known as rounds in which arrangements are
negotiated and disputes resolved. Decision making is based on consensus.
A huge amount of the world’s trade is now controlled by a few TNCs but these are largely
untouched by international regulation including WTO rules.
World trade organisation Example :
• The Doha round of talks (negotiations) didn’t deliver the hopes that needed to be achieved. As
the WTO was failing, other efforts were accelerating, such as the Trans- Pacific partnership
(TPP).
• Trade initiatives outside of the WTO are increasingly becoming the norm.
• However, Trump however has pulled out of the TPP.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Political and economic organisation
The IMF was formed in 1944 at Bretton Woods, USA, to stabilise currencies after the Depression
of the 1930s and the Second World War. Governments joined to create a fund (mostly paid for by
the wealthiest countries) that could be loaned out to help those countries in debt. The intention was
that poverty – and communism – would therefore be prevented. Voting rights are proportional to
the amounts invested – the USA has nearly 17% because it has the largest economy. Therefore,
the IMF reflects American and European interests.
The IMF’s main role now is to stabilise economies facing difficulties and so maintain international
financial stability. Recipients of help must agree to run free market economies that are open to
outside investment. TNCs can therefore enter these countries more easily.
The IMF’s role in globalisation may be diminishing as the BRICS group announced the
establishment of the New Development Bank (NDB) in 2014.
The International Monetary Fund Examples:
When Uganda’s president came to power in 1987, he took over a devastated economy in serious
debt. The IMF agreed to assist Uganda by lending money, but on condition that Uganda underwent
a programme of structural adjustment. This involved trade liberalisation by reducing import tariffs.
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