Why Do People Oppose Globalization?

Politicians are reaping gains by wrapping themselves in flags and directing hostility toward globalization. “Humankind is developing an emerging ‘global consciousness’ – a collective sensitivity to noble thoughts as well as to phobias and ignoble protectionism,” explains Farok Contractor, a professor of global management at Rutgers University. Contractor describes how responses to global connections divide societies. One example is the embrace of Valentine’s Day by many consumers in Asia while some religious fanatics in India target foreign practices for eroding cultural traditions. Likewise, voters in rural United States and Britain, areas with few foreigners, fell prey to scaremongering about immigration while the more educated and wealthy in cities may be less threatened by multicultural ideas. Angst over job losses, stagnant wages and changing industries is real, but unscrupulous media and populists manipulate audiences by blaming globalization, trade and immigration rather than automation or the quest for modernization by majorities in many countries. Contractor concludes that “Globalization is a symptom of human desire and ambition leading to ever-increasing connections.” Nations that resist globalization, rather than engaging in thoughtful examination and policymaking, will encounter many negative consequences. – YaleGlobal

Why Do People Oppose Globalization?

Populists thrive on blaming immigration, trade for economic woes rather than automation and quests for modern connections
Farok J. Contractor
Thursday, June 15, 2017

Invasive species: Opponents of globalization reject foreign influences, cultural or economic – Hindu extremists oppose the celebration of Valentine’s Day, and US workers reject export of jobs.

NEW BRUNSWICK: Nationalistic politicians rising around the globe, in varying degrees, espouse an “our country first” mentality displaying skepticism or outright hostility toward globalization. Globalization’s ills can be described not only in terms of loss of jobs through imports and multinational companies, but also the transmission and blending of ideas, lifestyles, cultures and phobias communicated by the internet. In 2017, 3.5 billion humans access the internet. Bandwidth, less than 4.5 terabits per second in 2005, has escalated to 400 terabits per second.

Humankind is developing an emerging “global consciousness” – a collective sensitivity to noble thoughts as well as to phobias and ignoble protectionism. The same channels that transmit the latest styles from Milan or Gangnam music from Seoul to farm families outside Bombay or Basra also relay cultural unease or ambiguity.

Anti-globalization sentiment springs from varying sources. In developing nations, the reaction stems from threats to tradition due to an influx of foreign products and ideas. Valentine’s Day is an example. Valentine, 226–278 CE, of Italy was relatively obscure among the more than 10,000 Catholic saints until the 1850s, when American entrepreneurs began marketing greeting cards. In the mid-20th century, Valentine’s Day was unknown outside the United States or Britain. Nowadays, every February 14,  crowds throng malls in Asian cities, book restaurants and shows, and loosely celebrate a near mythical figure from centuries ago and a continent away.

Middle-class Asians like additional holidays, but not all. Demonstrations against Valentine’s Day in India involve vandalism of shops and harassment of couples. Hindu fundamentalist groups protest the incursion of foreign practices as eroding traditional culture. A few generations ago, markers of identityin India and other developing nations were based on local religion, traditions and familial relationships. Today, children squint at small screens, and “all the world’s a stage.”

In richer nations, laid-off workers in the rust belts of Ohio or France blame globalization for misfortunes, job losses and economic stagnation. An analysis by the McKinsey Global Institute concludes that in six industrialized nations, the majority of households over the last 15 years saw a flattening or drop in their wages and investment income, a legitimate concern that some politicians latch onto and magnify.

Employees in the US and Europe work harder and are more apprehensive because of greater competition in the labor market, aided by a relentless drive for productivity gains. There is a psychological letdown because after two centuries of economic progress, generations can no longer assume they will be better off than their parents. The angst is real, though politicians grossly overstate diagnoses by blaming international trade, offshoring of production and immigrants taking jobs. For every one US job lost through international trade from 1980 to 2016, researchers conclude that about four jobs have been lost because of automation, robotics, information technology and other productivity boosters.

Automation more than international trade has boosted US productivity, and three groups benefit most from these gains:  consumers who pay lower prices, managers who earn higher salaries and shareholders enriched by dividends and equity growth. Labor has not benefited; union membership in the US and France, for example, has fallen to less than 10 percent of the workforce. The most workers now hope for is to keep jobs at the same pay levels as before.

On the import side, International trade has undoubtedly resulted in some job losses, but far fewer than from automation. The pain of import-induced job losses tends to be geographically concentrated in certain regions, sometimes with disproportionate impact on elections. By contrast, the benefits of low-cost imports are widely dispersed. On the export side, international trade creates millions of new jobs.

Most studies concur that immigrants, on average, produce a net benefit for countries over the long run. This is small comfort to anyone laid-off, many unskilled with lower incomes. The pain of job competition is concentrated among a few while the benefits of immigration and imports – from low-cost goods to innovations – are spread over entire populations. Immigrants comprise up to 14 percent of the population for countries with the largest numbers. In the United States, the H1-B visa quota for 2017 is a fraction of a percent, 85,000 slots in a workforce of 124 million. All immigrants, legal and undocumented, constitute about 13 percent of the overall US population. Germany, France and the UK have similar percentages. Nations with vast territory including Canada, Australia and Saudi Arabia are the exception, welcoming selected immigrants to boost GDP.  

An irony of the victory of anti-globalization forces in the US presidential election and Brexit vote was that in areas where immigrants are scarce, such as Wyoming or Lincolnshire, residents are ideal targets for scaremongering, and votes went to nativist politicians. By contrast, metropolitan areas, prosperous with more educated residents than in outlying areas, are less threatened by multicultural ideas and ethnicities.

In cold-blooded actuarial terms, the likelihood of an American being killed by a foreign-born terrorist is miniscule – lifetime odds, roughly comparable to tornado or lightning-strike deaths, are 1 in 60,000. But fear sells products and political platforms. In the year 2000, Americans received most news from reliable sources such as the New York Times; the British public relied on the BBC and the Times of London. Today, many turn to Facebook, Twitter, family and friends. Trust in media institutions has eroded to the point where politicians can openly mock traditional news to thunderous applause.  

Algorithms for social media sites deduce preferences and steer users toward news sources liked by their social network. Such algorithms perpetuate self-reinforcing “filters” that attract and keep viewers by presenting facts they like, while downplaying news that is dissonant or uncomfortable for the particular viewer. Algorithms thus increase views and advertising revenue, but segregate the public into separate camps, polarizing audiences in the US, Europe, and even Turkey and India. Do not blame the internet for this institutional failure, but rather the drive for profits superseding journalistic duty to serve the public interest.

Globalization is not in retreat regardless of such trends and though trade growth has slowed since 2005. Increasing nationalism may result in greater protectionism for some categories of products. Immigration may level off or decline in certain countries. But nations welcome incoming foreign investment.  Cross-border data and communication flows grow rapidly. While sections of America and Europe engage in bouts of angst, many developing nations optimistically forge ahead. China’s and India’s giant domestic markets are far from a saturation point for foreign products and ideas. China’s >One Belt, One Road, designed to connect China with Europe and Southeast Asia, adds thousands of kilometers of rail and road along with a string of ports along the Pacific and Indian oceans. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, with 70 emerging countries as members, has subscribed capital of $100 billion to sponsor projects in Asia and Africa.

Globalization is accused of causing job losses, culture shocks and xenophobia, but modernization of lifestyles and industries alter work and life patterns more fundamentally. Politicians who blame globalization are really alluding to larger socioeconomic issues – 25 years of hyper-competition, with intense focus on company stock values and profits. The power of unions has shrunk – tilting the social balance in favor of capital investors, managers and consumers who demand better products at low prices. Before the 1980s, unions in several manufacturing sectors were perhaps overly strong, resulting in inefficiencies and meager profits. Each society must find the proper balance for allocating benefits among labor, consumers, management and shareholders.

Globalization is a symptom of human desire and ambition leading to ever-increasing connections that brings prosperity, but also pain and opposition. The focus on only negative consequences amounts to throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Farok J. Contractor is a professor in the Management and Global Business Department at Rutgers Business School. He has researched foreign direct investment for three decades and also taught at the Wharton School, Copenhagen Business School, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Nanyang Technological University, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade and other schools and conducted executive seminars in the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia. He produces a blog on Unbiased Perspectives on Global Business Issues

Copyright © 2017 YaleGlobal and the MacMillan Center

Comments

The key term here is "collective." Globalization is the newspeak word for "internationalism." Who do you work for, again?

Ah, Farok, I find it hard to believe your lack of understanding.
Please allow me to explain:

1. Globalization has cause a lot of social problems in the USA. This is especially dramatic in cases where the largest employer in a town moves offshore, and unemployment in that town goes over 50%, more or less instantly. Google for the town of Kannapolis, North Carolina, if you don't believe me.

2. The people who benefit from Globalization have shown no inclination to acknowledge these problems, or to clean up their mess. In fact, they usually call the victims of Globalization "Ignorant Hillbillies", "Rednecks", or something similar.

I hope that this explanation helps you understand what is going on.

You're welcome.

Master Chapman, what a teenager's response. "If you don't believe me?" Honestly? And addressing a scholar with accusation of lack of understanding. A tip: at least attempt to sound educated in the face of adversity especially when charged with emotion from ill information. Oh and uh, <uh-um> typo in number one above. I'll leave you to it. That's all.

Dude, scholars lack understanding all the time! Decent scholars understand this and that their mission is to strive to continuously improve their understanding– not speak from a place of omniscience and condescension. Based on your article and response, I would not recommend you to a friend.

You also failed to mention that globalization is going to erode everyone's quality of life when competition that knows no limits makes life no longer worth it. Visit silicon valley. It's already happening.

no hes not the one that failed to mention globalization is going to erode every ones quality of life that's what you said not him and second if your gonna make a bold accusation like that you should atleast have something to back it with

it is you with the lack of understanding your job was to tell how globalization has caused issues in the US but you still fail to make any point thats pathetic you and your stupid hillbilly issues with the world becoming interconnected

Nothing goes Anti-Globalization. Anti-Globalization is just a misperception by people who don't understand it deeply. Globalization is evolving in a different way for developed and developing countries. By replacing its factories in developed countries and new technology created a panic. Also, China talks to open up its economy for globalization, but it also creates perception of anti-. Because China invest in poor states where it finds an appropriate national agglomeration for their benefit. But poor states ignore the future of economic situations.
I hope people can get the modernization of lifestyles and industries alter work and life patterns more fundamentally.

Seriously, your lack of understanding is incredible.
Donald Trump got elected President because we have 8 million unemployed people in this country and
because the advocates of Globalization call them names.
So, here you are, calling me names. When I took Latin, they told us to say "ad hominem attack". Same difference.

Most Americans think that Globalization means "Unemployment and Fentanyl". The fact that they think this is a political problem.

Can you hear me now?

Globalization is the pitting of one side vs another. The elites do this to maximize their profits. They have been planning this globalization since WW2. The plan was to ship out US jobs, while the elite got fat. Bring US standard of living to third world nations. It includes totalitarian global govt on the scale of Hitler. They'll use global warming to create a an outrageous global tax. The media is obviously biased. Of course getting the US to submit its sovereignty will be the ultimate test.

Really? At least here in the USA we can elect our dishonest and pilfering leaders. We have the House and Senate and our beloved Prez. With globalism the elites would govern in all their "child trafficking, unisex, uni-cultural controlled media" splendor. We'd be social scored even more than we are. We'd have to tolerate unreported beheadings like in Sweden. We would not be allowed to call a spade a spade. Countries like their cultures. As an American I enjoy eating "Italian" or "French" food. Globalization would eliminate genders, food varieties (eventually!) and more. But as a liberal, and a Yale staff member, he's probably paid to spout this stuff or even more probably he got here on a House of Saud scholarship under a fake name. I personally don't want ANY MORE immigration in the US for at least 20 years. By the way...the University of Michigan did an extensive study and found globalization has in fact not raised the average incomes in the US or even the purchasing power of emerging nations.

Ok, what say you now given asians and the coronavirus? Globalization is destroying the American economy. Your report is biased and had just been proven false