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Monday, April 23, 2007
Article: “Europe’s Political Parties Buffeted by Globalization” by Jonathan Fenby
Taken from http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=6240
REFLECTIONS
Countries, the United States, Italy, France, United Kingdom, are finally awakened to the fact their political parties are no longer in total control of the political scene. European politics are left in fragments, and oppositions challenge the authority of political groups. Politics are left in a mess as demands for a change in political leaders arise; and standards of political groups are sliding as French Trotskyite leader remains in dreamland and Germany’s left party loses its momentum.
Since globalization entered the scene in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, principles of freedom, justice, and liberty have been spreading rapidly throughout the world, more so after the Cold War in the 1950s and 1960s. One will be correct to say that the world is open to globalization right after the Cold War, and it is then that deep-rooted political practice of various countries are shaken by the impact globalization made. Also, it is said that the size of the world is reduced due to the widespread opening up of countries, and increased trade.
Protest parties against Europe’s major political parties are sprouting up everywhere due to the renewed emphasis in freedom and liberty, though they do not care if the extreme left and right groups they support take office. These protests stem from the effects of globalization on the country’s economy, cultural development and politics. This threatens the power political parties hold over the country, and also their authority. The article states that members of the protest parties “look backwards, toward a world where they believe there were fewer problems, people were better cared for, and nobody had to worry about competition from low-cost manufacturers on the other side of the globe”. They protest against what globalisation brings about - the disqualification of lower skilled workers in the job sectors, robbing farmers of their jobs, the decreasing need for industries dealing with garments and machinery. They want to return to the times before globalisation, and they regard globalisation as the root of all their problems.
Is globalization all what we expect from it, topped with a golden halo? Or are there tons of problems which arise purely from globalization, so many that we do not even keep track of it?
To the protestors, globalization may be deemed as an unfortunate thing to happen, as a giver of negative effects only. But to political groups, globalization is the start of rapid economic growth, employment, cultural development etc. Globalization may be the best thing to happen to the country and may be regarded as the fastest route to a country’s prosperity. Two sides to the same issue, and viewed differently by two groups of people. Returning to the state of the past is near impossible with the continuous growth made by globalization, and majority of countries are proceeding too quickly to stop and think. Those protest parties seem to be at the receiving end of globalisation’s adverse effects since they are stagnant at the “worker” stage. What they do not see is the big picture-that globalization is indeed improving the countries economy and promoting world peace by bonding countries. Increased trade helped countries to open up and also ties between countries are strengthened, and this will go on indefinitely with the continuous expansion of globalization.
Political Expert,
Vanessa
p.s. I'm not the economic expert afterall. :D
Globalised @ 7:11 AM
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