Globalization and the new world order

Contemporary Review, Winter, 2006 by Keith Suter

Second, consumerism is the leading edge of the globalized economy. Shopping seems to have become a primary cultural activity. People spend several hours a week doing various types of shopping, and they go to shopping centres more often than they go to church or synagogue. Some 93 per cent of American teenage girls surveyed in 1987 deemed shopping their favourite pastime. [4]

If you want to do well, sell people what they need; if you want to get rich, sell people what they want. The global consumer culture contains such everyday items as soft drinks (notably Coca-Cola and Pepsi), McDonalds (there is a new store opening somewhere around the world every 15 hours), television programmes and pop music. There are also 'tie-ins', where two or more products run together to reinforce each, such as Harry Potter novels and toys.

Another aspect is the creation of the global middle class. This class often has more in common with members of the middle class in other countries than they do with the working class/peasants within their own country. For example, a US-based corporation will be more concerned with selling to the emerging middle class in India or other parts of Asia, than it is to the people who cannot afford to buy its products in New York. Globalization goes better with Coke.

Non-Governmental Organizations

A 'non-governmental organization' (NGO) is any organization outside the government and business. The phrase 'non-governmental' is in itself Westphalian: organizations are either 'governmental' or they are not. Therefore new terms are emerging, such as 'civil society organizations'.

It is impossible to calculate the number of NGOs. They keep springing up in response to some need. There is no doubt that they are increasing both in number and in membership. Practically all adults in developed countries (especially many young people) belong to at least one NGO. They go beyond the high-profile advocacy or fund-raising/ relief ones, like Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, OXFAM, and the national Red Cross Society. NGOs also include churches, trades unions, co-operative societies and service clubs (such as Scouts, Girl Guides and Rotary), and community groups (such as Meals on Wheels, Lifeline telephone counselling services, Alcoholics Anonymous, and gardening and chess clubs). There is, then, a great deal of work done through NGOs.

Most NGOs have been created in the past century or so. Many have been created since World War II. They are to be found in all aspects of life. Indeed, local and national political activities are increasingly about the competing pressures from NGOs. A parallel development to the decline in the significance of national governments, is the decline in the significance of political parties. Activists prefer to join single issue groups (NGOs). In other words, people are still active in political change. It is simply that they no longer see political parties as the best vehicle for that change.

People are disenchanted that when their political party does get into power, it is often unable to introduce the policies they would like. This disappointment is due to the fact that--owing to globalization--increasingly national governments are no longer masters of their own destiny. Additionally, party politics polarizes each issue. Opposition parties are virtually automatically obliged to oppose government policies in order to maintain their credibility as an 'opposition'. The mass media--always on the watch for clash and conflict--go to the opposition precisely to get a critical opinion of the government. By contrast, NGOs can bring people together across party lines to work for a greater goal.