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This week we have been continuing our study of the high cost of living in Mexico (especially for the poor), and exploring the impacts of economic globalization and free trade on diverse sectors of Mexican society. Two of the books we've been reading are Globalization (Current Controversies), edited by Debra A. Miller (2007) and Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration & Criminalizes Immigrants by David Bacon (2008). The first explores opposing viewpoints on various aspects of economic globalization and the second one clearly takes a stance against neoliberal economic policies and makes links between them and migration, including undocumented migration to the United States. It has been fascinating to read and hear a wide variety of viewpoints from different people, including a guest speaker named Andrés Santos, who talked to our group on Wednesday. What was especially interesting about Lic. Santos' talk is that he is a Mexican businessman who believes in free trade and is very articulate about the ways in which NAFTA benefitted his family business but also the ways in which economic globalization harmed it, as companies took their business to China. Rather than turning economic globalization into a simplistic "black and white" issue, he addressed the complexities of it and his opinion of the pros and cons of different aspects of the economic policies being implemented by the U.S. and Mexican governments, as well as others.
Similar to the communities in Cuernavaca, Mexico, villages in rural northeast Thailand have felt the repercussions of economic globalization. For example, this past February, our CIEE group participated in a homestay in Yasothon Province where we learned how free trade had changed rural farming families’ traditional ways of life.
ResponderEliminarFirst, we were told that small-scale farming was no longer a self-sufficient practice. Rather, small-scale farmers had become modern day slaves. As P’Ubon, an NGO representative stated, small-scale farmers are subject to pressures from international corporations that control market prices, farming corporations that charge them high prices for farming inputs, and governments that encourage the farming of cash crops. Thus, farmers are left toiling over land that give them little profit in return.
Second, the lack of profit from farming has forced some farmers and their family members to migrate to the cities in search of day labor. This migration breaks families apart and forces emigrants into slum communities in the city. Overall, the impacts of economic globalization have deeply affected rural populations and have created a wealth gap in Thailand.
Sounds like a sweet reading list. How have they helped you to answer your title's question? I would think that Free Trade has affected Mexico as it has many other developing countries--by screwing over poor small-scale producers while benefiting consumers in more wealthy countries. But this is simplistic. I would love to see some of the complexities you've learned in this post. What were some of the ways Santos benefited from NAFTA? Also, have you guys been learning anything about disarticulation in Mexico?
ResponderEliminarSounds like you're doing some real cool things.
Hi,
ResponderEliminarI was wondering what you personally thought about these opposing view points?
Yes, development and economic globalization clearly have pros and cons. I'm curious to know how you feel about these conflicts? Where do your feelings lie in terms of what good or bad development is? Is free trade beneficial to world systems overall, even though they hurt small local producers?
Also, considering that you wrote this post at the beginning of the semester can you see how your viewpoint has changed, if at all? What is your viewpoint now, considering it within the context of local, national and international systems?
In terms of writing blogposts for the future, I wish you would include your viewpoint more. The issues that you are confronting are clearly complex and difficult, so I want to hear your interpretation of them. This way, people can respond and create a positive and interesting dialogue.
Michelle Nguyen
Brown University