Monday, January 13, 2020

Globalization processes Essay

Globalization had brought different effects to the society. It had changed that world and how the world processes. Different states join together in creating a better world for humanity. Different businesses establish parts of their business in different parts of the planet in order to provide work for the underdeveloped or developing nations. Most of these nations profit from the globalization processes of the world because this is the way in which they acquire profit. Having a Multi-national Corporation (MNC) invest in one of those nations provides good opportunity not only for the government but also the people. Among the entities involved in the process of globalization, the people are said to profit most for the reason that they are given opportunities and jobs for their family. However in another perspective, the MNCs could be seen as the most profitable entity in the aspect of globalization. It is known to many that the labor pay for the people of the developed and underdeveloped nations are lower than the average labor wage of developed nations. Through investing in different developed and under developed nations, the MNCs are able to save more profit than they usually have. Within the process of expansion of these MNCs one of the most affected individuals are the women. Most underdeveloped and developing nations provide less labor pay for the women in comparison to men. Although now a days gender equality had been slowly implemented, most of these countries still adhere to their conservative perspective that men and women should not be treated or provided equal treatment. One good example is Bangladesh in which hosts different garment factories in the country (Sachs, 2004). It is known that the work of sewing is immediately associated with women. Therefore, they need women workers to be able to do the work on the garments. Most of the brands being produced by women are â€Å"GAP, Polo, Yves Saint Laurent, Wal-Mart JC-Penny and others† (Sachs, 2004). In support to the issue mentioned by Jeffrey Sachs (2005) in his book â€Å"The End of Poverty† other articles also stated the same concern in which Sachs had mentioned. Most corporations prefer having their businesses moved to underdeveloped or developing nations due to the factor of culture and specifically, â€Å"feminine† traits. It is said. In the written work of Thrift (1989) and Taylor (1992) it is specifically stated that Malay women are one of the races in which they prefer in working with some of their products, â€Å"fast fingers, fine eyes sight, the passivity to withstand low-skilled, unstimulating work are said to be biological attributes to be unique to ‘oriental’ women (Thrift and Taylor p. 134). In addition, a Chinese engineer stated that, â€Å"Our work is designed for females†¦ if we employ men, within two or three months they’d run away†¦ Girls under thirty are easier to train and easier to adapt to the job function† (Thrift and Taylor p. 134). Evidently, the MNC’s prefer women in comparison to men due to the personalities that they have. MNCs know that they cannot treat men like they could treat women therefore, making women the main target of these corporations. In the context of the cost of labor, most MNC’s prefer women because they are given less compensation compared to men. In countries such as Malaysia, men have provided higher salaries therefore making them less of a priority to be hired. It is also believed by most MNC’s that unschooled women in Malaysia could only use some training and after a while they will be more efficient to work in factories (Ong, 1987). This context is very degrading for men. Men are not preferred due to their nature and personality. In another side, women are more empowered because they are preferred by most companies. They are able to provide for their family’s needs without being dependent on men. But if seen in a cultural perspective, become the breadwinner of the family. Although it brings positive outcome for women, the changes in structure of the society will be present and slowly evident (Sachs, 2004). With these types of situation one may ask, how do these situations come about? Such situations become evident to the society of underdeveloped and developing countries due to their need to uplift the situation of their economy. Most of these nations are indebt with developed countries, the IMF (International Monetary Fund) or the (WB) World Bank. If one could recall, there had become a debt crisis during the 1980’s in which made many nations indebt to different monetary organization to be able to survive (Sachs and Collins, 1989). Until this very day, many nations are still struggling to create answered to the decade long debt that they have. One of the answers they have seen is Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). In this type of solution, the underdeveloped and developing nations call upon the developed states to invest business in their countries. These developing and underdeveloped countries create way in which they could invite foreign investors in their country. Few of those schemes are the free trade zones and their women workers. With this situation, most of the MNCs take advantage of the tax-free situations and the subsidies given by the host government (Arregui and Baez, 1991). With the studies done by Arregui and Baez, they stated that women workers is also one of the reasons in which transnational companies decided to invest in the specific underdeveloped or developing countries. In addition, it is also stated that in the history of the world, most women are given low compensation (Arregui and Baez, 1991). Most of the time, these women are the most vulnerable and exploited workers because they have no choice but to agree upon the compensation given to them. Although Thrift and Taylor indicated that the skills needed are less compared to other works, Arregui and Baez firmly stated that the internalization of work currently requires more skills than before. With their view of the gender aspects of men and women, the authors have identified that having higher wages for men is very important in order to provide for their family. (Arregui and Baez, 1991)Such situation must be taken into consideration given that men, in the norms of the society are immediately entitled to provide for his family. Women on the other hand are not required to do so because of their responsibilities in the home. In context, having high salary for men is positive while women having high salary imply negativity. Sachs also adheres to this type of idea. He stated that the relationship of the family members becomes different. If the women are given high salary, the men would immediately be regarded to take care of the children compared to the usual. There is a great tendency that the women would be working for the family while the men will work at home and handle the children (Sachs, 2004). However, the current economic situations of the families in the underdeveloped and developing countries are in need to have a better economic lifestyle than what they have at present. The current lifestyle of families is that the mother and the father work for their children but then the lack of emotional attachment becomes an issue. In Sachs’ opinion, such problem does not only affect the gender responsibilities of men and women but also the welfare of the next generation.

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