CTCW-Module1-Lesson 1 Final
CTCW-Module1-Lesson 1 Final
CONTEMPORARY WORLD
A Modular Approach
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Preface
The CTCW, The Contemporary World, is a three-unit course that focuses on the
examination of the multifaceted phenomenon of globalization. Using the various disciplines of
the social sciences, it examines the economic, social, political, technological, and other
transformations that have created an increasing awareness of the interconnectedness of peoples
and places around the globe.
The core to the study of the world is the concept of globalization. The first module will
tackle this concept further. As the study of globalization progresses, we will bring your
concentration intentionally away from the Philippines. Many of the core courses of the new GE
curriculum, e.g., Philippine History, Rizal, Understanding Self, ask questions about yourself in a
national context. However, this course will challenge you to think beyond your country and ask
what it means to be a citizen of the world.
After each lesson, we provide questions to test your understanding and lesson retention
which you may wish to answer before the class. While you answer these questions on your
notebook or yellow paper, please do not lose the sight of the main question of the course: What
does it mean to be a citizen of the world? Please keep in mind as well that your answers will be
graded including your outputs. The assessment rubrics are found in the appendices page. As for
classroom activities, it will be up to your professor to integrate, conduct, and facilitate them.
The majority of the materials you will discover are new and unfamiliar; this course will
be challenging! In spite of this, we hope that you will enjoy using this instructional material and
taking this course. May this material pose as a challenge to you, to go beyond the limit of our
country, and as you travel along the lessons, we encourage you to think of yourselves as a citizen
of the world.
ý The Authors
Table of Contents
Page
References 53
Module 2: A World of Ideas: Cultures of Globalization
References 88
References 136
Appendices
þ Lesson Objectives
· Time: 3 hours
Many are sympathetic to the critique of economic globalization. Academic differ from
journalists and political activists, however, because they see globalization in much broader
terms. They view the process through various lenses that consider multiple theories and
perspectives. Academics call this an interdisciplinary approach, and it is this approach used by
the general education (GE) courses that you will be taking alongside this one.
Social media, for example, establish new global connections between people, while international
groups of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are networks that connect a more specific
group – social workers and activists – from different corners of the globe.
Not only the global connections multiplying, but they are also becoming more closely-
knit and expanding their reach. For example, there are always been a strong financial market
connecting London and New York. With the advent of electronic trading, however, the volume
of that trade increases exponentially, since traders can now trade more at higher speeds. The
connection is this accelerating. Apart from this acceleration, however, as the world becomes
more financially integrated, the intensified trading network between London and New York may
expand and stretch to cover more and more cities. After China, committed itself to the global
economy in the 1980s, for example, Shanghai steadily returned to its old role as a major trading
post.
It is not only financial matters that you can find these connections. In 2012, when the
monsoon rains flooded much of Bangkok, the Honda plant making some of the critical car parts
temporarily ceased production. This had a strong negative effect on Honda-USA which relied
heavily on the parts being imported from Thailand. Not only was it unable to reach the sales
targets it laid out, but the ability of the service centers nationwide to assist Honda owners also
suffered. As a result, the Japanese car company’s global profits also fell (BBC News, 2012).
The final attribute of this definition relates to the way people perceive time and space.
Steger notes that “globalization processes do not occur merely at an objective, material level but
they also involve the subjective plane of human consciousness.” In other words, people begin to
feel that the world has become a smaller place and distance has collapsed from thousands of
miles to just a mouse-click away. One can now e-mail a friend in another country and get a reply
instantaneously, and as a result, begins to perceive their distance as less consequential. Cable TY
and the internet has also exposed one to news from across the globe, so now, he/she has this
greater sense of what is happening on other places.
It is essential note is that when activists and journalists criticize “globalization,” they are,
more often than not, criticizing some manifestations of globalism. Often, these criticisms are
warranted. Nevertheless, it is crucial to insist that “globalization as a process refers to a larger
phenomenon that cannot simply be reduced to the ways in which global markets have been
assimilated.
Conclusion
These intersecting processes may be confusing. It is difficult to assess globalization or
comment on it because it is so diffuse and almost fleeting. Some scholars have, therefore, found
it simpler to avoid talking about globalization as a whole. Instead, they want to discuss “multiple
globalizations,” instead of just one process.
The argument is simple: there are multiple globalizations. Hence, even if one does not
agree that globalization can be divided into the five “scapes,” it is hard to deny Appadurai’s
central thrust of viewing globalization through various lenses.
´ COMPREHENSION CHECK
Date __________________
DISCUSSION
Instructions: On this answer sheet, answer the following questions. Five (5) points each
number. Please be guided by the rubrics for short answer test.
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Steps:
1. Do a list of everything you have in your living room, for example, TV, sofa, magazines,
etc.
2. Classify to your list into two types: first “things” that are made in the Philippines and
second, those that are foreign brands. List the countries of origin of your foreign-brand
items.
4. On your paper, preferably on a long bond paper, write and determine which countries
make the most household and personal needs you and your families have. Make a similar
list for Philippine-made stuff.
5. Lastly, discourse why certain items are made in the Philippines while others are from
abroad.