Globalization Taimur

Globalziation
SS, Summer 2005-2006
3 Credits

Taimur Rahman
taimur@lums.edu.pk
office: 239 – A
Social Sciences Wing
Office Hours
(Mon. – Wed. 12 to 5)

Course Description

The debate on Globalization, the process of the increasing interconnectedness of the world, came to the fore of intellectual inquiry in the last two decades of the twentieth century. The enormous structural changes undertaken in the world economy in this period impacted economic, political, social, and cultural dimensions of the world in which we live. In order to understand these changes however, this course offers the opportunity to study these changes from the perspective of political economy. That is not to say other approaches are less than relevant or that this course is given to any economic determinist view, but rather that understanding the economic basis of these transformations is also an important starting point of inquiry into other spheres of human activity as well.

In sum, the aim of this course is to familiarize students with the basic debates surrounding the political economy of globalization.

Course Objectives

1. Familiarize students with some of the important debates within the subject of globalization.
2. Deepen understanding of the history of economic development in the context of globalization.
3. Attempt to form a holistic picture of the connections between globalization and political developments.

Grading

Class attendance 10%
Thought papers 60%
Final Paper 30%

Cheating and Plagiarism

Written work must be properly cited in accordance with the MLA manuals. Please read the MLA manual attached to this reading package carefully and ensure that your papers are in accordance with citation techniques. Failure to abide by these citation techniques will be considered an academic offence. It is expected that all assignments represent original work not previously or simultaneously handed in for credit in another. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other violations of the honour code will be dealt with according to LUMS policy.

Note on Reading Material

There is no single textbook containing material that could address all aspects of globalization. In putting the reading material together, the instructor has made a conscious effort to present some of the more thought provoking and challenging readings to students. These readings are by no means exhaustive nor do they pretend to proportionally represent all points of views given that the literature on the subject is vast. They do, however, represent either important milestones in academic work on globalization, or thought provoking articles that will no doubt trigger debate and discussion. All the material will be available in a reading pack; however, the instructor reserves the right to delete, substitute and add new material during the course of the semester.


Class Module Reading Assign
1. Introduction Globalization: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization Anti-Globalization: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-globalization_movement
2. 1 The “facts” of globalization Immanuel Wallerstein, "Globalization or The Age of Transition?”: http://fbc.binghamton.edu/iwtrajws.htmPfeffermann, Guy “The Eight Losers of Globalization” NYT: http://www.theglobalist.com/DBWeb/StoryId.aspx?StoryId=2429Brooks, David “Good News About Poverty” NYT: http://www.columbia.edu/~xs23/papers/worldistribution/NYT_november_27.htmChossudovsky, Michel “Global Falsehoods: How the World Bank and the UNDP Distort the Figures on Global Poverty”: http://www.transnational.org/features/chossu_worldbank.html
3. Mark Weisbrot, Dean Baker, Egor Kraev and Judy Chen The Scorecard on Globalization 1980-2000: www.cepr.net/publications/globalization_2001_07_11.htm Thought Paper 1
4. Masson, Paul “Globalization: Facts and Figures”http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/about/pdfs/globalization_facts.pdf
5. The Critique The Corporation (documentary) part 1
6. The Corporation (documentary) part II Thought Paper 2
7. What is the WTOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTO
8. Chossudovsky, Michel “World Trade Organization: An illegal organization that violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”www.derechos.org/nizkor/ doc/articulos/chossudovskye.html“The WTO Conference in Seattle – “failed”: The Nations’ Struggle for the Wealth of the World and its Latest Battlefields”www.gegenstandpunkt.com/english/wto.htmlDocumentary “WTO: Why is it bad for you?” http://www.focusweb.org/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,82/
9. Pakistan & Globalization Round, Jeffrey & Whalley, John “Globalization and Poverty: Implications of South Asian Experience for the Wider Debate”www.gapresearch.org/production/JJoverview.pdf Thought Paper 3
10. Husain, Ishrat “Impact of Globalization on Poverty in Pakistan” www.sbp.org.pk/about/speech/2001/Impact_of_globalization_Mahboobul_Haq.pdf
11. Naima Saeed “Impact of Globalization on Pakistan’s Economy”www.pide.org.pk/pdf/psde%2018AGM/ ImpactofGlobalizationOnPakistans.pdf
12. Gazdar, Haris “Globalization and Pakistan’s Dilemma of Development” www.sacw.net/pakistan/Gardezi06022005.htmlLorie, Henri “Remarks on Globalization and Pakistan at the strengthening at the Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO) Conference on Understanding Pakistan” www.imf.org/external/country/ PAK/rr/2004/eng/pdf/062804.pdf Javed, Tazeen “Understanding Labour Issues in Pakistan” (PILDAT)www.pildat.org/Publications/Publication/ LabourIssue/BriefingPaper20_LabourIssues.pdf –or for html version http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:bYU7bkSRuiwJ:www.pildat.org/Publications/Publication/LabourIssue/BriefingPaper20_LabourIssues.pdf+globalization+labour+pakistan+PILDAT&hl=en&gl=pk&ct=clnk&cd=1 Thought Paper 4
13. IMF Engdahl, F. William “How the IMF Props Up the Bankrupt Dollar System” http://www.serendipity.li/hr/imf_and_dollar_system.htmIMF: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMFEngler, Yves “Market Famines” http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=2&ItemID=8494
14. Parenti, Micheal “Imperialism 101” http://www.michaelparenti.org/Imperialism101.html
15. Workshop on research papers Thought Paper 5