Chapter 24- Accelerating Global Interaction Since 1945

Chapter 24 starts off with an interesting concept. It talked about how Barbie and Ken dolls showed the power of global commerce. On the other hand, in Iran it did not seem to represent the same thing. “I think every Barbie doll is more harmful than an American missile.” They thought that Barbie and Ken dolls were a bad influence on the growing children of Iran because it did not represent the right values that a child should portray. The dolls “revealing clothing, shapely appearance, and her close association with Ken, her longtime unmarried companion, were all foreign to Iran’s culture. In response to this, Sara Dara dolls were created in replace of Barbie and Ken. Sara Dara dolls represents a brother and sister who help each other solve their problems and in return look at their parents for guidance. It was the total opposite of Barbie and Ken, but the one thing that the two set of dolls had in common was the fact that they were both made/manufactured in China. This particular situation with the United States, Iran, and China showed the integration of world economics with cultures as well as the many problems and conflicts it includes as well.

Technology was a key factor in the acceleration of globalization. Transportation such as containerized shipping, huge oil tankers, and air express services lowered transportation costs by A LOT. Later when Internet became available, it provided communication for global interaction. The shape of the economic globalization was a single market, which is known as neoliberalism. This was a great approach for our economy because it lowered the reduction of tariffs, free global movement of capital, provided a workforce, had privatization of many state-run enterprises, curtailing of government efforts to regulate the economy, and both tax and spending cuts.

After World War II, a reglobalization of the world economy took place following the contractions of the 1930’s. This process took a quick circulation of goods, capital, and people. The thing I found most interesting is that the world trade went from $57 million in 1947 to $7 trillion in 2001. That’s a HUGE acceleration. Money was very mobile globally such as foreign direct investment, short term investment in foreign currencies/stocks, and international credit cards which allowed people to transfer money to other countries very easily. People that lived in poor countries traveled to seek better lives in richer countries such as South Asian and West Indians seeking work in Britain, and Algerians and West Africans in France. Many many people traveled to seek better things in life, and MANY were recruited into sex trafficking.  A huge issue that we still have in everyday lives, and it’s a huge issue that we discuss about in class all the time.

Chapter 23- Independence and Development in the Global South

Chapter twenty-three talks a lot about the independence and freedom from British Rule. I found the part about Mahatma Ghandi very interesting because he was such a huge inspiration in the Indian society. He was an ordinary person and was born in Gujarat, where he was married at thirteen and by the time he was eighteen, he took a quick opportunity to study abroad in England in law. Overall, Ghandi was a very peaceful and compassionate person, which helped India gain their independence in a  non-violent fashion. His philosophy was known as satygraha, which was an active and confrontational approach to political action which was all again non-violent. He had many different views as a leader, and sought the moral transformation of individuals. His view on the caste system did not matter, and accepted support from capitalists and socialists. Ghandi himself opposed a modern industrial future for India and instead seeked a society of harmonious self-sufficient villages. He was very old fashioned and believed in what India already had. India also had a problem between the Hindus and the Muslims because both were not from the same country and had different cultures/customs which both of the peoples did not agree upon. Muhammad Ali Jinnah which was the leader of the Muslim League argued that some parts of India have a separate status which was called Pakistan. Muslims lived in Pakistan and the Indians lived in  India. In 1947, Ghandi led India to independence after the Congress Party agreed to partition as the British declared to leave Indian after World War II. Unfortunately, in 1948, Ghandi was shot and killed by a Hindu extremist, and it was very sad to see such a great leader die in such a way. He was a massive inspiration in India's history, and perhaps without him, India would have never gotten the same independence as it has now.