1.2.5 Map Activity

What is globalization?


How much do you know about your global connections?

Find the answers to the following questions and jot them in your notebook.

  • Where did your ancestors come from?
  • Where were your pants or jeans made?
  • Where were your shoes made?
  • Where do you or your parents buy most of your food? Where does that food come from?
  • What is the country of origin of your vehicle or the main vehicle owned by your parents?
  • Where was your family's main television set made?
  • Where was the computer you are now using made?

Using an atlas or an online world map (the following link will take you to an interactive world map: http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-map-viewer.html) , locate the countries from the questions above. Do you see a pattern? What parts of the world produce most of the goods you use? Are there any areas to which you are not connected in any way?

 

Reflect


When we think about globalization or any other issue, we think about it from our own
perspective
Your point of view which is shaped by your background and experiences. Each person has his or her own perspective through which they see and understand the world around them.
perspective. In fact, we cannot think about issues in any other way! We can imagine the perspective of people from other backgrounds, but we can never really know how they think because we do not have the same background, history, and values.

Is globalization good or bad? Many Canadians benefit from
globalization
Globalization is the process by which people around the world are becoming increasingly interconnected through trade, the media and migration. It has both positive and negative effects on individuals and societies.
globalization. They buy goods from around the world for a small portion of their own income. They have access to food, clothing, and music from all parts of the world, and they make good wages for the work they do.

Think of the map activity. Can you identify countries or continents that may not benefit from global trade in any way?

  • People from developing nations may feel that globalization has hurt them. They work for low pay in poor conditions, and the profits of their work go to the shareholders of corporations based in places such as Canada and the United States. They have lost their
    tradition
    refers to all of the following-an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior (as a religious practice or a social custom);the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs from one generation; cultural continuity in social attitudes, customs, and institutions.
    traditional ways of life to
    culture
    Culture refers to the way groups of people live. A culture is created over time and shared by a group with generally an understood shared set of values and beliefs. Cultures are always changing. Some people call culture a "design for living" which includes standards for deciding what is, what can be, how to feel about it, what to do about it, and how to do it. (Goodenough:1961)
    cultures that are more powerful.
  • First Nations
    Canadian Indian individuals and communities. The name implies possession of rights arising from original historical occupation of Canadian territory. Canada's principal national organization of Aboriginal (but not including Inuit) people is the Assembly of First Nations.
    First Nations people may feel that they lost not only their way of life but also their ancestral lands when people from Europe settled North America.
  • environmentalism
    the perspective that people should be concerned with the preservation, restoration, and improvement of the natural world, including conserving natural resources and preventing pollution
    Environmentalists may feel that globalization is damaging the planet and, therefore, is largely a negative force.
developing country
a country with a relatively low standard of living that is less industrialized and tends to have a moderate to low rating on the United Nations Human Development Index

A developing country is less developed in terms of education, health care, literacy, and life expectancy. A strong correlation occurs between low income and high population growth. The economy is usually based on agriculture and natural resources. Most such nations are in the southern hemisphere.

In the past, these countries were considered to be part of the "Third World"

Use with care: Some believe that the term developing country implies inferiority. As well, it also implies that the least wealthy countries of the world are all moving forward in economic growth and social development. In reality, many of the poorest nations of the world are not progressing but they are actually becoming less wealthy.