WHAT IS “GLOBALIZATION”?
Globalization has been defined as "a process that widens the extent and form of cross-border transactions among peoples, assets, goods and services and that deepens the economic interdependence between and among globalizing entities, which may be private or public institutions or governments.”
In journalist Thomas Friedman’s new book, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005), he describes how his Dell laptop was made: basically, engineers in Texas and Taiwan co-designed it; the microprocessor came from one of Intel’s factories in the Philippines, Costa Rica, Malaysia, or China; the memory came from Korean, German, Taiwanese or Japanese firms with factories in their countries; other components (e.g. the keyboard, hard-disk drive, batteries) came from U.S., Japanese, Taiwanese, Irish, Israeli and British firms with factories mainly in Asia; all assembled in Taiwan....
Globalization is a process with both positive and negative consequences. It involves economic integration, information technology and technological connectivity, increased tourism and other cross-cultural contact...as well as increased vulnerability to international terrorist attacks, transnational epidemics and infra-structure failures, in which catastrophes take on global proportions:
“What will the long-term economic impact be of the tsunamis that hit South Asia and East Africa [in December 2004] ? The bad news is that in an interdependent world, macroeconomic, geopolitical or even natural disasters cause significant dislocation, devastation and tragedy. The good news about globalization is that it also influences the response; we are more aware of the magnitude of a catastrophe and can mobilize and deploy relief and reconstruction support more quickly than ever before with advanced communications and logistics capabilities.”
Why is "Globalization" Controversial?
Globalization is self-contradictory. It involves two phenomena that are usually at cross-purposes: The global spread of democracy and human rights; and the global spread of power structures, institutions, corporations, free trade ideology (capital and goods but not necessarily labor). Consider:
Despite the poor becoming wealthier, the rich have become richer at a pace that has far exceeded the benefits of globalization for the poor. While the wealthiest states consume at an unprecedented rate, half of the world’s population subsists on less than $3 a day.
“Faith in economic growth as the key to progress comes into question as the Earth’s life-support systems fray and signs of ecological collapse multiply. Globalization geared to spur rapid growth through greater resource consumption is straining the environment and widening gaps between rich and poor.” (Wayne Ellwood, The No-Nonsense Guide to Globalization 90 (New Internationalist Publications, Ltd., London, 2001). See also Sarah Anderson, ed., Views from the South: The Effects of Globalization and the WTO on Third World Countries (2000).)
“The cumulative effect of open borders, free trade and economic globalization is the erosion of job security, however, throughout the industrialized world. Studying globalization, ones eyes are drawn to the global problems that can not be solved by any single state (or IGO)- like global social inequality and injustice, financial insecurity on the global markets, environmental border-crossing problems like the pollution of trans-boundary rivers or climate change and so on...”
SO, WHAT IS “GLOBAL LAW” AND “GLAP”?
Global law consists of the knowledge and skills that a law school graduate needs to acquire in order to work competently and professionally in the 21st century. Increasingly, every field of law in almost any kind of legal practice has aspects that are global. Through Syracuse University College of Law’s specialized international courses and extra-curricular offerings, students are exposed to the myriad ways in which the process of globalization increasingly impacts trade and commerce; the environment; national, regional and local governments; individual rights and welfare; and even the legal profession itself – all of which raise novel legal problems needing desperately to be solved.
Created out of the College of Law's
thirty-plus year tradition of excellence in international and comparative legal studies, as exemplified by such world-renowned scholars as Peter E. Herzog and the late Richard Lillich and L.F.E. Goldie, the Center for Global Law and Practice (affectionately known around the College of Law as "GLAP") is designed to offer students a unique blend of theory and experience. Driven by the philosophy that applied learning is the best preparation for training lawyers in today's world, the Center provides a broad range of opportunities, both in and out of the classroom, for students interested in global law. It also provides a sense of community as well as visibility within the larger law school community.
Globally geared students have a clear identity here as a cohesive group interested in international concerns. They also benefit from a close relationship with an experienced faculty eager to share ideas on course selection and career planning, as well as collective and individual research projects. Center faculty include some of the College of Law's most productive scholars and most active professionals in the national and international legal community, in addition to their regular teaching responsibilities. The synergy that develops out of this local community has its global counterpart, as Syracuse law students and alumni extend their reach outward to other parts of the world.
Thomas R. French
Professor of Law and
Interim Director of "GLAP"
For More Information on Globalization and the Controversy:
Anti-Marketing/Anti-Globalization
Citizens for Global Solutions
CorpWatch
Downbound
Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance
Ethical Globalization Initiative
A Fair Globalization, Making it Happen (Follow-up to the Report of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization)
Foreign Policy (magazine's articles on globalization)
From Int'l Law to Law & Globalization (article)
GLAP’s Current World News links
Globalization, Global Community, & the Possibility of Global Justice (article)
Globalization Index 2005
Globalization Institute
International Forum on Globalization
Is a Fairer Globalization Possible?
A World Connected
Yale Center for the Study of Globalization