Globalization: Differences Between Developed And Underdeveloped Countries

INTRODUCTION

Globalisation is a very widely discussed phenomenon and the subject of much academic research. Whether it is a benign or harmful process is the focus of much debate and it often remains a vague and elusive concept. Globalisation can be defined as a process of interaction and integration among people, companies and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology (Globalisation and human rights). It is a worldwide movement towards economic, financial, trade and communications integration. It could be argued that this is an ideologically based and concept driven process that is often used to justify the interest of certain people and governments and can therefore

A more technical measure of globalisation is the convergence towards a global market, with a single price and wage (Henry). This simply has not happened. In fact, where incomes are concerned the opposite is more likely to be true. Contrary to public perception there has been a growing divergence, not convergence, in income levels between countries and peoples, with widening inequality among and within nations (Heine, 2011). While the average income appears to be rising due to the increase in trade and production the gap between the high skilled, high wage workers and low skilled, low wage workers increases. This could be due to the introduction of mechanised corporations taking the place of labour intensive operations as well as the shift in focus from national to international trade. Globalisation allows some countries to exploit cheap labour in other countries to the detriment of the lower skilled workers in their own country who are no longer in demand and can therefore not command a fair

Capitalism, as explained by John balis et al, is a system of production in which human labour and its products are bought and sold in the market place and in which the capitalist class (the elite) own the means of production, control the relations of production and control the profit that results from the labour of workers. An analysis of the relationships between 43,000 transnational corporations has identified a relatively small group of companies, mainly banks, with disproportionate power over the global economy. (revealed). Further analysis revealed that this small group of companies consisted of 147 “super entities” that controlled 40 per cent of the total wealth in the network. Another result of the rise of capitalism due to globalisation is the introduction of many information and communication technology innovations. Therefore, the growth of planet wide connections has led to greater intrusions of global relationships into the everyday lives of more persons than ever before. An implication caused by the trans-border attributes of capitalism is imperialism. With this is place the world economy develops a dominant core which exploits a less-developed periphery this, in turn, dissolves any harmony of interests between all workers. Profits used from this exploitation are then used