Module 5- THE RISE OF GLOBAL

CORPORATION
1. Introduction/Overview
Introduction/Overview

A global corporation, also known as a global company, is coined from the base term ‘global’,
which means all around the world. It makes sense to assume that a global company is a
company that does business all over the world. There aren’t many companies in the world that
can boast of having a business presence in every major country. Actually, they probably can be
numbered on the fingers of both hands. The global company definition, therefore, should be a
little more lenient to accommodate this fact, which would enable more companies to call
themselves global companies. Really, a global company is any company that operates in at
least a country other than the country where it originated. Realistically, expanding to even just
one additional country is a lot of work and is therefore a great achievement. If you are operating
in one country, selling your products around the world and shipping them to customers in
countries in Europe while you’re in the United States, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a
global company. It takes more than that to earn the name a global company.

To be a global company, you need to introduce not only your products, but also your company
to people who live in another country. You need to conduct significant research to figure out
which country is your best choice for expansion and how to introduce yourself. Probably, you'll
have to send some of your employees to that country to speak with people face-to-face and to
experience that country on a first-hand basis, before you decide whether the country is right for
your company. Once you expand to another country and establish yourself successfully, it's only
natural that you will want to try an additional country, and another, and yet another. That is how
global companies have started, and now they have a massive list of countries in which they do
business.

2. Learning Outcomes
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of the module, the students are able to:

1. Explain the impact of dealing business with the triad;

2. Identify the competitive strategies of global corporations;
3. Discuss the idea of globalization drivers;
4. Explain how global corporation functions;
5. Identify what constitutes a global corporation;
6. Explain the role of international financial institution in the creation of global economy;
and
7. Determine the challenges of global corporation

3. Content
PRESENCE IN KEY GLOBAL MARKETS

COMPETITIVE STRATEGY OF GLOBAL CORPORATIONS

Cost Leadership

Differentiation Strategy

Cost Focus Strategy

Differentiation Focus Strategy

GLOBALIZATION DRIVERS

Market Drivers

Cost Globalization Drivers

Competitive Drivers
Government Drivers
FUNCTIONS OF GLOBAL CORPORATIONS

Financing in the Internal Capital Market

Managing Risk globally

Global Capital Budgeting

MAJOR CONCERS OF GLOBAL MANAGERS

Procurement Issues

Timing Issues

Production Issues

CHALLENGES OF GLOBALIZATION

4. Module 5 Lesson 1 PRESENCE IN KEY GLOBAL MARKETS

COMPETITIVE STRATEGY OF GLOBAL CORPORATIONS
PRESENCE IN KEY GLOBAL MARKETS

The United states, Japan and Western Europe account for about half of the world’s
total consumption. They share certain important economic and demographic conditions such
as high income levels, and high GNP values. It has been argued by Ohmae, 1990 that a firm
cannot truly compete on a global scale if it is not present in this “triad.”

If a firm does not have operations in all three areas of the triad, it may not be able to achieve
maximum economies of scale. Furthermore, since the three areas are often the source of
technological and product innovations, a firm not present in all triad areas would have difficulty
keeping abreast of developments in its industry. Finally, since the triad accounts for one-half of
the world’s consumers, presence in the triad is necessary. Therefore, some business people
have suggested that to remain competitive, multinationals must pursue a “triad strategy.” Of
course, there are other arguments about key global markets. For example, china, with a billion
people, a rapidly growing economy, and poorly serves customers, is seen by some as a key
market in the future.

COMPETITIVE STRATEGY OF GLOBAL CORPORATIONS

Cost Leadership

Cost leadership is a tough strategy for small businesses to implement, because it requires a
long-term commitment to selling your products and services at a cheap price. The challenge,
however, is that you also have to produce these products and services at a low cost, otherwise,
you lose your profit margin. Large businesses that can make their products cheaply and sell
them at a discount while still generating a profit, can drive competitors out of the market by
consistently offering the lowest prices.

Differentiation Strategy
Identifying an attribute or characteristic that makes your product or service unique is the driving
factor in a differentiation strategy. For example, a company that produces dental drills that
make no sound could market itself to dentists as a silent drill that helps reduce the fear that
patients have when they hear that drill sound. If your business is able to differentiate its
products or services in the minds of buyers, it can reap the rewards of higher sales volume
based on the perceived value, which your business offers, but your competitors do not.

Cost Focus Strategy

A cost focus strategy is similar to a cost leadership strategy, but the major difference is that in a
cost focus strategy your business targets a very specific segment of the market and offers that
market the lowest prices available. For example, a company that sells energy drinks could target
a city that has a high percentage of people that compete in extreme sports and sell those drinks
at a much lower price than its competitors could. The fact that this segment of the market is
much more likely to buy energy drinks is a major factor in the company deciding that lowering
its prices would be advantageous.

Differentiation Focus Strategy

Like the cost focus strategy, the differentiation focus strategy targets a very specific segment of
a market, but rather than offering the lowest prices to the buyers in that market, a business
offers something unique that competitors aren’t offering. For example, a boutique that sells
clothes for people that are four feet tall or shorter would be pursuing a differentiation focus
strategy by catering to a very narrow and unique segment of the clothing market. Instead of
spending money on making clothes for everyone, the boutique would be able to focus on
designing clothes that are only suited for very short buyers.

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5. Module 5 Lesson 2- GLOBALIZATION DRIVERS AND

FUNCTIONS OF GLOBAL CORPORATIONS
GLOBALIZATION DRIVERS

Market Drivers

One aspect of globalization is the steady convergence of customer needs. As customers in

different parts of the world increasingly demand similar products and services, opportunities for
scale arise through the marketing of more or less standardized offerings. How common needs,
tastes, and preferences will vary greatly by product and depend on such factors as the
importance of cultural variables, disposable incomes, and the degree of homogeneity of the
conditions in which the product is consumed or used. This applies to consumer as well as
industrial products and services. Coca-Cola offers similar but not identical products around the
world. McDonald’s, while adapting to local tastes and preferences, has standardized many
elements of its operations. Software, oil products, and accounting services increasingly look
alike no matter where they are purchased. The key to exploiting such opportunities for scale lies
in understanding which elements of the product or service can be standardized without
sacrificing responsiveness to local preferences and conditions.

Global customers have emerged as needs continue to converge. Large corporations such as
DuPont, Boeing, or GE demand the same level of quality in the products and services they buy
no matter where in the world they are procured. In many industries, global distribution channels
are emerging to satisfy an increasingly global customer base, further causing a convergence of
needs. Finally, as consumption patterns become more homogeneous, global branding and
marketing will become increasingly important to global success.

Cost Globalization Drivers

The globalization of customer needs and the opportunities for scale and standardization it
brings will fundamentally alter the economics of many industries. Economies of scale and
scope, experience effects, and exploiting differences in factor costs for product development,
manufacturing, and sourcing in different parts of the world will assume a greater importance as
determinants of global strategy. At bottom is a simple fact: a single market will no longer be
large enough to support a competitive strategy on a global scale in many industries.

Global scale and scope economics are already having far-reaching effects. On the one hand, the
more the new economies of scale and scope shape the strategies of incumbents in global
industries, the harder it will be for new entrants to develop an effective competitive threat. Thus,
barriers to entry in such industries will get higher. At the same time, the rivalry within such
industries is likely to increase, reflecting the broadening scope of competition among
interdependent national and regional markets and the fact that true differentiation in such a
competitive environment may be harder to achieve.

Competitive Drivers
Industry characteristics—such as the degree to which total industry sales are made up by export
or import volume, the diversity of competitors in terms of their national origin, the extent to
which major players have globalized their operations and created an interdependence between
their competitive strategies in different parts of the world—also affect the globalization
potential of an industry. High levels of trade, competitive diversity, and interdependence
increase the potential for industry globalization. Industry evolution plays a role, too. As the
underlying characteristics of the industry change, competitors will respond to enhance and
preserve their competitive advantage. Sometimes, this causes industry globalization to
accelerate. At other times, as in the case of the worldwide major appliance industry, the
globalization process may be reversed.

Government Drivers
Government globalization drivers—such as the presence or absence of favorable trade policies,
technical standards, policies and regulations, and government operated or subsidized
competitors or customers—affect all other elements of a global strategy and are therefore
important in shaping the global competitive environment in an industry. In the past,
multinationals almost exclusively relied on governments to negotiate the rules of global
competition. Today, however, this is changing. As the politics and economics of global
competition become more closely intertwined, multinational companies are beginning to pay
greater attention to the so-called nonmarket dimensions of their global strategies aimed at
shaping the global competitive environment to their advantage (see the following section). This
broadening of the scope of global strategy reflects a subtle but real change in the balance of
power between national governments and multinational corporations and is likely to have
important consequences for how differences in policies and regulations affecting global
competitiveness will be settled in the years to come.

FUNCTIONS OF GLOBAL CORPORATIONS

Financing in the Internal Capital Market

Institutional differences across a company’s operations allow plenty of scope for creating value
through wise financing decisions. Because interest is typically deductible, a CFO can
significantly reduce a group’s overall tax bill by borrowing disproportionately in countries with
high tax rates and lending the excess cash to operations in countries with lower rates. CFOs can
also exploit tax differences by carefully timing and sizing the flows of profits from subsidiaries
to the parent. However, tax is not the only relevant variable: Disparities in creditors’ rights
around the world result in differences in borrowing costs. As a consequence, many global firms
borrow in certain foreign jurisdictions or at home and then lend to their subsidiaries.
Multinational firms can also exploit their internal capital markets in order to gain a competitive
advantage in countries when financing for local firms becomes very expensive. When the Far
East experienced a currency crisis in the 1990s, for example, and companies in the region were
struggling to raise capital, a number of U.S. and European multinationals decided to increase
financing to their local subsidiaries. This move allowed them to win both market share and
political capital with local governments, who interpreted the increased financing as a gesture of
solidarity.

But the global CFO needs to be aware of the downside of getting strategic about financing in
these ways. Saddling the managers of subsidiaries with debt can cloud their profit performance,
affecting how they are perceived within the larger organization and thereby limiting their
professional opportunities. Similar considerations should temper companies’ policies about the
repatriation of profits. For U.S. companies, tax incentives dictate lumpy and irregular profit
transfers to the parent. But many firms choose to maintain smooth flows of profits from
subsidiaries to the parent because the requirement to disgorge cash makes it harder for
managers to inflate their performance through fancy accounting. Finally, letting managers rely
too much on easy financing from home saps their autonomy and spirit of enterprise, which is
why many firms require subsidiaries to borrow locally, often at disadvantageous rates.

Managing Risk globally

The existence of an internal capital market also broadens a firm’s risk-management options. For
example, instead of managing all currency exposures through the financial market, global firms
can offset natural currency exposures through their worldwide operations. Let’s say a European
subsidiary purchases local components and sells a finished product to the Japanese market.
Such operations create a long position in the yen or a short position in the euro. That is, those
operations will become stronger if the yen appreciates and weaker if the euro appreciates. This
exposure could be managed, in part, by offsetting exposures elsewhere in the group or by
having the parent borrow in yen so that movements in the yen asset would be cancelled by
movements in the yen liability.

Given this potential for minimizing risk, it might seem perverse that many multinationals let
local subsidiaries and regions manage their risks separately. General Motors is a case in point.
Even though its treasury function is widely regarded as one of the strongest pools of talent
within the company—and one of the best corporate treasury functions worldwide—GM’s hedging
policy requires each geographic region to hedge its exposures independently, thereby vitiating
the benefits of a strong, centralized treasury. Why duplicate so many hedging decisions?
Because forcing a business’s hedging decisions to correspond to its geographic footprint gives
GM more-accurate measurements of the performance of the individual business unit and of the
managers running it.

In a related vein, companies often limit—in arbitrary and puzzling ways—their considerable
expertise in managing currency exposures. Many firms require finance managers to follow
“passive” policies, which they apply in a rote manner. For example, GM actively measures
various exposures but then requires 50% of them to be hedged with a prescribed ratio of futures
and options. Firms adhere to these passive strategies because they limit the degree to which
financial managers can undertake positions for accounting or speculative reasons. So although
functioning in the global environment calls for considerable financial expertise, organizational
strategy requires that expertise to be constrained so that financial incentives don’t overwhelm
operating ones.

Global Capital Budgeting

In addition to exploiting the de facto internal financial market to mediate between their
operations and the external financial markets, CFOs can add a lot of value by getting smarter
about valuing investment opportunities. When energy giant AES began to develop global
operations, in the early 1990s, managers applied the same hurdle rate to dividends from around
the world that they used for domestic power projects, despite the different business and country
risks they faced. That approach made risky international investments look a lot more attractive
than they really were.

The company’s subsequent attempts to improve its capital-investment decision process

illustrate the organizational challenges CFOs face as they move from domestic to foreign
markets. In order to improve the quality of valuations, AES required managers to incorporate
sovereign spreads into their discount rates. Sovereign spreads measure the difference between
the rates at which two countries can borrow in the same currency, and they are widely tacked on
to discount rates in order to adjust for country risk. Although this method created the
semblance of tremendous precision, it came with some curious incentives, particularly for
managers charged with securing deals in emerging markets. Knowing that their projects would
face very high discount rates, managers forecasted inflated cash flows to compensate. For
manager’s keen to complete transactions, as some at AES were, excessive penalties and
precision can result in a less robust process. In extreme cases, the gaming that takes place in a
formalized process can undermine the company’s strategy. Consider Asahi Glass, one of the
first Japanese corporations to rigorously implement Economic Value Added systems worldwide
in order to increase capital efficiency. Asahi set country-specific discount rates based on typical
risk measures, including sovereign spreads. The result, however, was that managers
overinvested in Japan (because of very low discount rates) and underinvested in emerging
markets (because of very high ones). Once again, adopting a narrowly financial approach led to
an outcome directly at odds with the company’s strategic objectives. In response, Asahi made a
series of adjustments to reconcile its initial, purely financial approach to discount rates with its
broader organizational goals.

The moral of these stories is that formal methods of valuation and capital budgeting—which
work quite well in a domestic context, where the variables are well understood—must be refined
as companies globalize. Firms need to make sure that their finance professionals actively
discuss potential risks with the country managers who best understand them.

6. Module 5 Lesson 3- MAJOR CONCERS OF GLOBAL

MANAGERS AND CHALLENGES OF GLOBALIZATION
MAJOR CONCERS OF GLOBAL MANAGERS

There are three primary issues that concern global managers: procurement,
production, and delivery. Procurement, involves decisions about the source, timing, and means
of obtaining needed inputs. Production involves the location, type and coordination of facilities,
as well as total quality management. Delivery involves getting the finished product to the
customer and logistical networks as they apply to the entire operational system.

Procurement Issues

Managers have to select the best source for their inputs, decide on the most effective
means of obtaining them, and determine the right timing in acquiring them. The global manager
needs to adjust this objective in the light of the constraints of different political and cultural
environment. We consider two major issues that managers face relative to obtaining inputs and
supplies of these inputs (Mendenhall et.al., 2021.)

Timing Issues

Timing of shipment and receipt of supplies are also important considerations. This
essentially an inventory and stock issue, companies can choose to maintain varying quantities
of needed inputs. The trade-offs are among shipping costs, carrying costs, and the risks of
being out of stock of needed items. These are issues faced by all companies.
Production Issues

Production involves the location, type and coordination of facilities, as well as total quality
management and coordinating facilities.

CHALLENGES OF GLOBALIZATION

Globalization poses four major challenges that will have to be addressed by governments, civil
society, and other policy actors.

● One is to ensure that the benefits of globalization extend to all countries. That will
certainly not happen automatically.
● The second is to deal with the fear that globalization leads to instability, which is
particularly marked in the developing world.
● The third challenge is to address the very real fear in the industrial world that increased
global competition will lead inexorably to a race to the bottom in wages, labor rights,
employment practices, and the environment.
● And finally, globalization and all of the complicated problems related to it must not be
used as excuses to avoid searching for new ways to cooperate in the overall interest of
countries and people.
 Module 6- GLOBAL POLITICS,
GOVERNANCE, AND THE GLOBALIZATION IN
THE ASIA-PACIFIC AND SOUTH ASIA
Table of contents
1. Introduction/Overview
2. Learning Outcomes
3. Content
4. Lesson 1 THE GLOBAL NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE
5. Lesson 2- GLOBAL INEQUALITY AND THE FUTURE
6. Lesson 3- THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION
7. Lesson 4- THE REGION AS MORE OF AN AUTONOMOUS AGENT SERVING AS AN
ENGINE FOR GLOBALIZATION

1. Introduction/Overview
Introduction:
GLOBAL interconnectedness accordingly is woven into the fabric of everyday life as it is visible
to those observant. There are Starbucks branches in Melbourne, Manila, New York, and New
Delhi. These branches have similar structure, menus, and perhaps ambiance. This sameness
represents the cultural homogenization that is being argued and criticized by those individuals
associated with globalization. This module will introduce the students into the present political
set-up and governance of both the Global South and Global North. This refers to the growth of
the worldwide political system, both in size and complexity. That system includes national
governments, their governmental and intergovernmental organization as well as government-
independent elements of global civil society such as international non-governmental
organizations and social movement organizations.

One of the key aspects of the political globalization is the declining importance of the nation-
state and the rise of other actors on the political scene. The creation and existence of global
corporations and the United Nations are classic examples of political globalization.

2. Learning Outcomes
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of the Module, student will be able to:

1. Discuss the distinction of the global south and the global north;

2. Explain the success and failures of the global divides;

3. Differentiate regionalization from globalization; and

4. Research on the factors leading to a greater integration of the Asian region.

3. Content
THE GLOBAL SOUTH

GLOBAL INEQUALITY

AND THE FUTURE

REASONS ON ANALYZING STATES AND INTERSTATES INEQUALITIES

COLONIALISM: HOW GLOBAL SOUTH RESPONDED

THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION

THE ANTI-GLOBAL IMPULSE: REGIONAL ALTERNATIVES TO GLOBALIZATION

4. Lesson 1 THE GLOBAL NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE

The environment where these global corporations are located will tell the difference of
how globalization affects people by geography. In Manila and New Delhi, upon leaving the café,
you will see children begging on the streets, sidewalk vendors selling street foods, bag
snatchers (common sight in Metro Manila) and other vagabonds looking for their victims.

Walk a little distance, take a ride, and you will see the kind of transportation available in the city
of Metro Manila and India as well as some Southeast Asian countries. The façade of newly built
condominiums, big shopping malls, corporate buildings will seemingly attract you at first, but at
the background are shantytowns where houses are built from discard plywood and galvanized
iron sheets. Of course, they have poor sanitation, inadequate comfort rooms, the creeks are
filled with garbage and overflowing with foul odor emanating in the entire neighborhood.
Children in their dirty clothes are happily running, playing unmindful of what is happening
around. Some of them are child laborers, and their parents either unemployed or if lucky are
employed in the informal sector as construction worker, casual janitor, cleaners and yes,
prostitutes. Their security and safety is also under question. During the months of March to
May, most of the fire that struck Metro Manila usually occur from those shanties and squatter
areas. This is because of faulty wiring, overloading due to the use of jumper and unattended
candle lights. Sometimes they are lured by crook politicians during election campaigns
promising their security but that remain as a promise because big time businessman will soon
claim the entire area and these poor fellows have to fight the law enforcers against what they
call “illegal dismantling” of their shanties. They seek sometimes the assistance of the NGOs, the
Commission on Human Rights (CHR) but to no avail. They are always under threat of being
evicted or having their shanties demolished to make way for a large commercial development,
which will service the city’s middle class.

These scenarios of people living in shanty like those in New Delhi, India and Metro
Manila is very unlikely in New York. There are poor people in Harlem as well as in other places in
the United States, but they do not have many child laborers. Hence, there is something more
glaring about poverty in the global south, and the north/south divide relative to globalization.
This divide tells us that globalization is indeed had created inequality.

5. Lesson 2- GLOBAL INEQUALITY AND THE FUTURE

 All societies past and present are characterized by differentiation, a process in which
people are set apart for differential treatment by virtue of their statuses, roles, and other social
characteristics. The process of social differentiation does not require that people evaluate
certain roles and activities as being more important than others. Nevertheless, social
differentiation sets the stage for social inequality, which is a condition in which people have
unequal access to wealth, power, and prestige. This description fits most of the citizens in the
global south.

The nearly 200 nations in the world are part of a global social hierarchy in which some
have much greater wealth, power and prestige than others. Today, the welfare and life chances
of billions of people depend not only on where they fit in their nation’s class system, but also
where their nation ranks in the global system of stratification.

Based on factors such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, import-export
ratios, quality of life, and the relative strength of military and state institutions, the nations of the
world can be divided into three major strata: the core, the semi-periphery, and the periphery. As
with class divisions, boundaries among nation-states in each of the strata are “semi-

permeable”- they can be crossed, but with difficulty (Beeghly, 1989). (“The Structure of Social
Stratification. Needham Heights: Mass. Allyn & Bacon.

Nations that comprise the core are similar to the upper classes and that they receive
disproportionate share of the world’s wealth and surplus production. The core nations are
concentrated in the global north namely United States, Germany, France, Australia, United
Kingdom, the Scandinavia, and all others with advance industrial or post industrial economies.
While Singapore, South Korea, and Japan are geographically located in the global south, but
they are part of the core because of their economic status and GNP per capita. The core nations
are also the primary base of the world’s banks and investment firms and of 300 or so giant
transnational corporations whose combined assets comprise “roughly a quarter of the
productive assets in the world “(Barnet and Cavanaugh, 1994). (American demographics.
Belmont, California)

The semi-periphery nations such as Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and Taiwan, are comparable to
the middle class. They are moving towards industrialization and a diversified economy, and their
moderately strong governments give them a share of the surplus and some leverage in their
dealings with the core nations (Chirot, 1997). (State of the World. New York: Random House)

The periphery nations, including Haiti, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia resemble the lower and
working classes. They are poor and powerless and derive minimal benefits from their
participation in the world economy. Today, Transnational corporations such as Exxon, Siemens,
and Toyota are the key players in the global economy. They provide poor countries with scarce
capital, new technology, management skills, and products that are essential for rapid growth
(Sowell, 2003). Although transnationals do reinvest some profits locally, a large share of the
profits goes to the core nations. At the same time, land that could have been used to meet
people’s subsistence need is diverted from domestic use to the production of agricultural
exports. Because of intensive advertisements that are invested by the core’s companies such
as baby formula, cigarettes, and softdrinks, new and costlier needs are created that only core
nations can fulfill (Kerbo, 2001). (World Economy. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.)

Table 6.1 lists the gross domestic product per capita income (2017 IMF/World Bank)
data of representative nations in the core,

Table 6.1 Income and wealth: The World Perspective. 2017

 Nation GNP (In Per capita
Billions of Income (in
Dollars Thousand
Dollars

Core Category

Australia 59,655 53,799.9

Canada 48,466 45,032.1

France 44,934 38,476.7

Germany 50,842 44,469.9

Japan 40,849 38,428.1

Sweden 51,264 53,442

United 44,177 39,720.4

Kingdom

United States 62,152 59,531.7

Semi-Periphery Category

Argentina 20,787 14,402

Brazil 15,500 9,821.4

Colombia 14,552 6,301.6

El Salvador 8,900 3,889.3

Iran 20,000 5,415.2

Iraq 17,000 5,165.7

Mexico 18,149 8,902.8

Periphery Category

Afghanistan 1,900 585.9

 Bangladesh 4,200 1,516.5

Chad 2,400 699.9

Ethiopia 2,100 709

India 7,200 1,939.6

Nicaragua 5,800 2,221.8

Nigeria 5,900 1,968.6

Sudan 4,600 2,898.5

Source: IMF/World Bank

the semi-periphery, and the periphery. The data shows that there is an enormous disparity
between nations at the top of the global stratification system and nations such as Ethiopia and
Chad at the bottom. The global divides of North and South is literally illustrated by the income
and wealth.

Such disparities in wealth and income have dramatic effects on people’s life chances in
both core and periphery nations. Many people I Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and other periphery
nations must try to subsist, educate their children, and remain healthy on annual income of less
than 3,000, under the added burden of extreme environmental and political instability.

REASONS ON ANALYZING STATES AND INTERSTATES INEQUALITIES

1. The decolonization process produced states, now recognized as sovereign under the
system of international law promoted by the United Nations. The likelihood of being poor
is higher for people who live in states now considered associated with the global south
in regions like Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Most of these countries were colonized
and they are inadequately represented in global organizations and the various
international banks.
2. Solutions to problems produced by globalization are largely forwarded and articulated
on a state level. The state remains the main mechanism for social transfers, making it
the strongest vehicle for social redistribution. Bello (2006) (2006. “The Multiple Crises of
Global Capitalism” In Deglobalization: Ideas for a New World Economy, pp. 1-31. Quezon
City: Ateneo de Manila University Press) contends that development in the global south
must begin by “drawing most of a country’s financial resources for development from
within rather than becoming dependent on foreign investments and foreign financial
markets”. Responding to issues such as global warming requires global approaches.
States are empowered to regulate firms working within their borders. The global
environmental crisis is a reflection of interstate inequality.
3. Even phenomena largely considered transnational are the results of state policies. Acts
of deterrioialization such as labor migration need to be placed in the context of the
state. The case of Filipino OFWs is a good example. The remittances sent by the
workers’ abroad boost the domestic economy and the state economic growth is highly
 reliant on the remittance which is worth billions of dollars annually. In this sense,
transnational global spheres are already pre-figured by the policies of state authorities.

Finally, the state will continue to be an important unit of analysis despite the deterritorializing
effects of globalization. This is very evident in the context of the global south because an
economically activist state is a necessary response to forces such as international financial
institutions, and foreign state power-none of which the citizens in the global south can easily
influence (Claudio & Abinales, 2018) (The Contemporary World. C&E Publishing, Quezon City
Philippines).

COLONIALISM: HOW GLOBAL SOUTH RESPONDED

How have the peoples of the global south today responded to colonialism and other
linear visions of modernity? The following are some of the variations (in different degrees).

Solidarity. The notion of solidarity among colonized states was present from the
beginning of anti-colonialism. Such solidarities would serve as the foundation for contemporary
conceptions of the global south, Anderson (2007) (Under Three Flags: Anarchism and the anti-
colonial imagination. London: Verso) has shown that resistance against Spanish colonialism in
Latin America and the Philippines benefitted from the increased interaction of political
dissidents amidst an early phase of globalization in the 19th century, a globalization that
allowed for the spreading of anarchist and anti-colonial ideas.

Socialist Internationalism. The Socialist International (the union of socialist parties,

which is now called the social democrats) paved the way for theories that examined the world
economic system in the light of exploitive interactions between core and peripheral economies.
According to Lenin, he mainstreamed that many activists and scholars would use to discuss the
Third World underdevelopment in the 20th century. Lenin through Comintern organized in 1920
the Congress of the Peoples of the East in Caucasian town of Baku to forge ties with nationalist
elites and radical peasants in their fight against colonialism (Priest land 2009). (The Red Flag:
Communism and the making of the modern world. London and New York: Allen Lane/Penguin
Books). Nevertheless, it paved the way for sustained alliances between Western Communists
and anti-colonial nationalist.

Decolonization. The end of the Second World War was the high point of decolonization.
The creation of the United Nations in 1945 paved the way for granting independence of over 80
ex colonies countries (United Nation 2011). International Law ceased to formally divide the
world into civilized and uncivilized nations. The enshrinement of the principles of self-
determination, postcolonial nationalisms could justify their causes within the range of
international law.

The Emergence of the Third World Countries. It consisted of non-aligned countries, charting a
middle way between the first and the second worlds. The founding moment for this non-aligned
movement was the Asia-African conference held in the Bandung in Indonesia (also known as
Bandung Conference) in 1955. This conference brought together delegates from 29 Asian and
African countries to forge economic and cultural cooperation amidst fears of newly emergent
forms of colonialism. Though the delegates were politically diverse, their common aims were
articulated early on. In Sukarno’s view, what united the countries of the Third World was not for
a common identity or culture, but it began as common resistance to new forms of colonialism.
The following were some of the issues tackled:

● Delegates from Pakistan, Thailand, Lebanon, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and the Philippines
objected to the repressive policies of the USSR against Eastern European states and
China’s against Indochina (now Vietnam) and Taiwan (Espiritu, 2006) (“To carry water on
both shoulders”: Carlos P. Romulo, An American empire, and the meanings of Bandung.
Radical History Review (95): 173, 90.
 ● Delegates became a generalized condemnation of the aggression of powerful states
directed at weaker ones. Concomitant to this was a discussion of what is meant for
Third World countries to be free.
● The initial configuration of the conference became a vehicle for the main streaming of
human rights.

Today, the old language of Third Worldism is no longer tenable. On a narrow empirical level, a
tripartite (First World, Second World and Third World) would no longer exist. The fall of the
Berlin Wall dividing Germany ended the Cold War and paved the way for the withering of the
Second World. Even remnants of the Communist bloc like Fidel Castro’s Cuba no longer occupy
positions of prominence in struggles against neo-colonialism. More importantly, the
involvement of the Third World countries in the developmental practices of the First World has
weakened the coherence of the Third Worldist attempts to sketch alternatives to Western
capitalism, (Berger, 2004) (After The third world? History, destiny and the fate of third worldism.
The World Quarterly 25 (1): 9-13.) argues that by the late 2070’s successful capitalist
development in East Asia had displaced Third Worldist idea that the hierarchical character of
the world economy was holding back of the Third World. The same took place in Latin American
states, through their oligarchic states, become complicit in neo liberalism (Cardoso & Falleto,
1979). (Dependency and development in Latin America. Berkeley: Los Angeles: University of
California Press.)

The Emergence of Conservative Anti-Western Nationalism and Regionalism. Country like

Malaysia reveal how criticisms of neo-colonialism may turn reactionary (Berger, 2004). For Dirlik
(2004), this hints at the fact that Third Worldism is implicated in a greater project of global
modernism. (Berger, 2004) explicates the idea below:

I take the view that the notion of a Third World, even in a limited or reinvented form,
intellectually and conceptually bankrupt, while politically Third Worldism has already lost any
relevance or legitimacy it once had. Challenging neoliberal globalization and post-cold war
capitalism means moving beyond territorial politics of nation-states- a politics to which the
Third Worldism is inextricably connected.

Berger (2004) then argues that even a reconceptualization of the third World as a global south,
if it remains embedded in “territorial politics”, will suffer the same political pitfalls.

6. Lesson 3- THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION

In addition to difference in language and culture, the variation among states and peoples in this
region is enormous. Some of the World’s most economically developed states are included in
this region such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. On the contrary, it includes the
highly impoverished countries such as Cambodia, Laos, and Nepal. It includes the largest and
most populous states on the globe such as China and India with over a billion people each and
some of the world’s smallest such as Maldives and Bhutan. The countries in this region also
vary widely according to geography, political systems, historical experience, and broad
demographic characteristics. The region makes up nearly a third of the world’s land mass and
two-thirds of the global population. As of this writing, the combined economies of the region
now generate the largest share of the global GDP at 35%, compared with Europe (28%) and
North America (23%) (Asian Development Bank, 2012). The 2001 ADB reported that it also
accounts for just over a third of the total world exports of merchandise goods up from a
quarter.

However, despite the economic growth, there are still millions of people affected by
poverty, hunger, HIV/AIDS, gender equality and other socio-economic problems in the region.

Why global Powers are focused on Asia-Pacific and South Asia

 1. Asia-Pacific and South Asia had emerged over the past decade as a new political force
in the world. This due to the robust economic growth in China and India and the strategic
implications this brings to regional and global players.
2. Japan still remains a relevant through declining force in the region and the world, and
other countries including the Koreas, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Pakistan all have
economic and strategic relevance in today’s global system. The United States has
implemented a foreign policy shift dubbed as the “Pacific Pivot” committing more
resources and attention to the region. Former Secretary of the State Hillary Clinton
called this shift from the “Atlantic Century” to the “Pacific Century”. She notes:

"The Asia-Pacific has become a key driver of politics. Stretching from the Indian subcontinent to
the western shores of the Americas, the region spans two oceans - the Pacific and the Indian- that
are increasingly linked by shipping and strategy. It boosts almost half of the world’s population. It
includes many of the key engines of the global economy, as well as the largest emitters of
greenhouse gases. It is home to several of our key allies and important emerging powers like
China, India, and Indonesia" (Clinton, 2011).

Effects of Globalization in the Region

The External Phenomenon. From this perspective, globalization can be understood as

a process that transforms the Asia-Pacific and South Asia. On the one hand, it can be seen as a
force for good signs for bringing economic development, political progress, and social and
cultural diversity to the region. Others see the darker effects of globalization including its role in
economic underdevelopment and the uprooting of local tradition and culture.

The following are the manifestations and assertions of externalist view:

* Historical narratives account of the Western “arrival” to the Asia-Pacific and South Asia.
According to this view, the technologically and industrially more advanced Western powers
found their way to the region and alternatively prodded and muscled their way to political and
economic dominance. Western superiority at the time existed for a variety of reasons, ranging
from environmental and ecological advantage to other social, political, and/or cultural
characteristics (Diamond, 1998). (Guns, Gems, and Steel. The fates of human societies. New
York: WW Norton & Co.)

* The “first globalization” brought by the colonialism from 1500s brought enormous, often
devastating changes such as the deep implications for domestic political structures in many
local indigenous polities. A good example of this was the Portuguese invasion of Melaka in
1511 and the subsequent fall of the sultanate, which shifted political and economic dynamics in
Melaka and beyond. Another is the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in the Visayan region of the
Philippines in 1521 marking the beginning of extended Spanish colonial rule in over 400 years.
The Dutch followed in the 17th century and slowly strengthened their position in the Dutch East
Indies. The British also consolidated their powers in South Asia, Burma, and the Malay
Peninsula while the French eventually took control of Indo-china into the late 19th century.

* By the 19th and 20th centuries, movements for nationalism and independence emerged in
many parts of the world including the Asia-Pacific and South Asia. These movements were also
products of the increasingly globalized world. Scholars argue that the roots of national identity
lie in the rise of Western industrialization and capitalism. Anderson (2007) (Under three flags:
Anarchism and the anti-colonial imagination. London: Verso.) highlights the global experiences of
nationalist leaders such as Jose Rizal who came to imagine himself as Filipino after being
influenced by life in Spain and elsewhere. He also highlights how was the idea of nationalism
gained stream, it became modular and spread to other part of the globe. (Anderson 199).

* World War II marks another way in which the region comes to be at once integrated and
influenced by external forces. The rise of Japan and the outbreak of war in the Pacific theater
after the bombing of Pearl Harbor marked the beginning of the end of Japan’s own imperial
domination in the region. After the war, the region became mired in the emerging politics of the
Cold War. After WWII, concerns about political instability, faltering economic reform, and the
rise of the Communist China all pushed the United States and their occupation to stress Japan’s
economic growth and its incorporation into the world economy (Ikenberry, 2007) (Elements of
social justice. New York: Cambridge University Press).

*Economic globalization and liberalism brought no doubt broad regional effects as well. In
developing countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, there has been an increase in
informal employment, such as self-employment, family workers, and informal enterprise that
18% of its workers are underemployed while in Indonesia, nearly a quarter of all workers are
either unemployed or involuntary underemployed (Lee, Shangheaon, and Eyraud, 2008) (Power
and privilege. New York: McGraw Hill). These workers do not have legal contracts and even in
places where they do, observers have raised serious concerns about working conditions and
safety issues at factories that manufacture goods for Western companies (Yardley, 2012) (The
state and the life course in the United States. New York: Basic Books.)

*Politics too is contributory to globalization. Proponents often argue that liberal and
democratic political values should be interpreted as universal and not exclusively as Western. In
the region, the past three decades have witnessed a substantial fall in authoritarian regime with
a corresponding rise in democratic regimes. This has been attributed to a number of factors,
including rising middle classes, a more globally connected world, and the end of the Cold War
(Huntington, 1991). (New Socialist’ revolution. California: Wadsworth.) The fall of Suharto had
been in power for over 30 years. When the Asian Financial crisis brought the country’s economy
to its knees, large scale protests, the flight of capital, and the lack of international support led
Suharto to step down in May 1998. The financial crisis showed how deeply integrated the
economy was in the global financial system. The demands made by the international financial
institutions demonstrated the growing clout of these global bodies (Robinson and Hadiz, 2006).
(The reckoning. Cambridge: Mass.) Further, the absence of international support for Suharto,
who had been a Staunch anti-communist ally for decades, illustrated the lack of concern the
United States and the West had for the communist threat in Asia. In this way, the increasingly
globalized world had come to weaken Suharto’s position and ultimately laid the foundation of
his ouster.

*finally, one of the most prevalent critiques of globalization has been its effects on “culture.”
Critics argue that globalization is leading to cultural homogenization and the destruction of
cultural diversity. The most prominent idea that globalization is a form of cultural
Westernization is summed up in the term “McWorld” (Barber 2003). (The code of the streets.
Cleveland: Ohio.) The number of McDonald’s stores in Asia has grown dramatically over the last
several decades. As of January 2018, it operates 36,000 stores in 101 countries. Furthermore,
many domestic fast food chains are also popping up throughout Asia to compete with Western
brands, including Jollibee from the Philippines, California Fried Chicken (CFC) in Indonesia, MOS
Burger in Japan, Jumbo King in India and so on. There has also been a rapid expansion of
supermarkets in the region. The share of supermarkets in the processed/packaged food retail
food market in 2001 was 33% in Southeast Asia and 63% in East Asia (Pingali, 2007). (“What
about the overclass? Public Interest (Fall) No. 145:38-43.

*While much of the McDonaldization thesis has revolved around food, it has also referred to
changing tastes in areas such as music, clothing, television, and film. In this light,
McDonaldization might also be referred to as “MTV-ization” or “Hollywoodization.” The point
here is that Western and particularly American cultural trends have spread globally and
increasingly marginalized the way in which local cultural practices are expressed (Banks,1997).

7. Lesson 4- THE REGION AS MORE OF AN AUTONOMOUS

AGENT SERVING AS AN ENGINE FOR GLOBALIZATION
This view shows important ways in which the region is also influencing and transforming the
nature of globalization itself. Historically, many scholars now argue that the early history of Asia
led the global economy only “falling behind” from the 18th century. ((Reid, 1988) notes that the
Europeans did not create the spice trade. The Thriving spice trade in the region and beyond
what drew the European powers to the region. Circumnavigating the globe was a means to find
cheaper and faster ways to bring these goods back to Europe. Spices were already making their
way to various part of the globe, but the Europeans were interested in cutting out the
middleman.
The following are some of the postulates and arguments:

● Some argued that Asia, not the West, was the central global force in the early modern
world economy. It was the site of the world’s most important trade routes and in some
places more technologically advanced than the West in key areas such as science and
medicine. China had a historically unprecedented maritime fleet in the early 15th century
under Admiral Zeng Ho which travelled within the region and as far as Africa (Levathes,
1997). The rise of Europe in the 18th century came only after the colonial powers
extracted silver from the colonies and pried their way into the Asian markets. In that
perspective, the re-emergence of Asia today is seen as a restoration of its traditional
dominant position in the global economy (Frank,1998).
● Colonization too has come under a new view recently as scholars have argued that
colonies in the Asia-Pacific and South Asia and elsewhere influenced the West as much
as vice versa. (Stoler, 2006) argues that the colonies were often “laboratories of
Modernity” where “innovation in political form, and social imaginary, and in what defined
the modern self, were not European exports but traveled as often the other way around”.
In the Philippines, colonial policing in the American colony ca be understood as a social
experiment that transform both the Philippine polity as well as the US national security
state. Practices and technologies such as counter- insurgency, surveillance, and torture
were developed and perfected in the colonial Philippines before making their way to the
core (McCoy and Scarano, 2009). In the field of medicine and public health, American
scientists and physicians in the Philippines brought back colonial bureaucratic practices
and identities to urban health departments in the United States in the early 20th century
(Anderson, 2006).
● In the post-colonial era, the assertion that the Asia-Pacific and South Asia are mere
beneficiaries (or victims) of globalization is even less tenable. The Japanese
development after the end of WWII and the rise of the Cold War helped bring Japan into
the global economy. What this means is the extent to which Japanese development in
the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s actually shaped and in many ways globalized key parts of
the world economy. Japan as a resource poor nation-state embarked on a massive
project to procure raw materials such as coal and iron to unprecedented economies of
scale, allowing them to gain a competitive edge in the global manufacturing market for
these materials but also globalized shipping and procurement patterns which influenced
other sectors as well. Furthermore, as Japan’s competitive advantage became visible,
other countries modeled their practices on theirs, further deepening the globalized
patterns of procurement and trade blazed by the Japanese. Electronics such as AKAI,
Toshiba, Technics, Pioneer, JVC, and Sony found their way into the international
markets.
● China can be seen as pursuing similar pattern of development today. It is one of the
world’s largest importers of basic raw materials such as iron and has surpassed Japan,
the United States, and Europe in steel production. The simple scale of China’s
development is shaping and furthering globalization. In terms of its low wage labor and
supply chain management, China has also had an enormous impact on the availability
and consumption of goods around the globe (Nolan, 2004).
● China at this point now surpassed the World Bank in lending to developing countries.
The China Development Bank and the China Export Import Bank signed loans of at least
US$ 110 billion to other developing country governments and companies in 2009 and
2010, surpassing the US$ 100.3 billion from mid-2008 to mid-2010 by the International
Foreign institutions (Dyer, Anderlini and Sender, 2011). The implications here are
political as well as economic. Grants and loans made by states can often have
economic and political strings attached as the Japanese experience has shown (Islam,
1991). (“The politics of mass society. New York: Free Press.)
● India, while varying considerably with China in terms of political and economic systems,
has opened up and emphasized an export-oriented strategy. Textiles and other low wage
sectors have been a key part of the economy, but high value exports such as software
development have also been highly successful. It is also playing a key role in global
service provision (call center) as trends in outsourcing and off-shoring increase (Dossani
& Kenney, 2007). (“Hinduism in India. Chicago: John Knox Press.)
● India and China, among others in the region such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri
Lanka, have also become a major source of international migrant labor, which is also
one of the fundamental characteristics of the era of globalization. This includes the
 migration of highly skilled labor into the high tech industry based in Silicon Valley, which
includes disproportionate number of immigrants from India and China. Of equal
prominence is the flow of domestic workers to other places in the region, or to the
Middle East, Europe, and the United States. Much of this migration has received
international attention because it is often undocumented and working conditions can be
poor, even deadly. Women constitute a large majority of many countries’ migrant pool
including those from Indonesia (79%), the Philippines (71 %), and Sri Lanka (66%) (Kee,
Yoshimatu and Osaki, 2010).
● Remittances from migrants have also become a core source of income for many of the
region’s economies. In the Philippines, remittances are now equal to 11 percent of the
entire economy (The Economist, 2010). In 2007 and up to this date, India, China, and the
Philippines were three of the top four recipient states of migrant remittances totaling
US$ 70 billion (The other country was Mexico) (Kee, Yoshimatu and Osaki, 2010).
(“Losing ground: American social policy. New York: Basic Books.) In other words, the
region is both the source and recipient of the influences of the massive globalization of
migration.
● The rise of regional trade arrangements is another broad trend in the region. This
regionalism can be interpreted either as a kind of bulwark to globalization or as
compatible and even pushing forward the process of global economic integration.
Proponents view that regionalism can promote learning, assuage domestic audiences to
the benefits of free trade, and form the institutional framework to scale up from regional
cooperation to global cooperation (Lee and Park, 2005). (“Mother India. New York:
Harcourt, Brace.) Thus, regionalism can act as a springboard for globalization.
● Open regionalism is embodied by Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation or APEC. Formed
in 1989, it includes 21 member economies along the Pacific Rim including East Asian
and Southeast Asian states but also Russia, Peru, Chile, the United States and Canada.
APEC has faced significant challenges in the wake of 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and
the more recent global economic crisis. However, it continues to push for a vision of
global cooperation that is consistent with and advances globalization.
● Finally, the broad area of culture and globalization in the region is to consider. ? The
region is the source of a wide variety of cultural phenomena that has also spread
outward to the West and to the rest of the world. “Hello Kitty” created in Japan has
become a massive global success. Anime and other entertainment products from Japan
has become a regional and global phenomenon including Pokémon, Mario Brothers,
Astroboy and Power Rangers, among others. This is to be understood as the spread of
kawaii or cute culture, or what have some called Pink Globalization (Yano, 2009). Martial
Arts movies from Hong Kong have penetrated the world market. The rise of Korean Pop
or K-Wave has been a regional and global rise that includes the spread of Korean
Dramas and music. The smash hit of Gangnam Style by Korean Pop star PSY is an
example. It became viral when it was released in 2012 in You Tube, topping music charts
in over two dozen countries including France, Germany, Poland, Mexico, Australia,
Norway, and Lebanon and subsequently won Best Video at the MTV Europe Music
Awards.

Globalization has not been a one-way street. The region is generative of many aspects of the
globalization process. This can be seen both historically and more recently and across a broad
variety of domains from the economy to political structures of culture.

THE ANTI-GLOBAL IMPULSE: REGIONAL ALTERNATIVES TO GLOBALIZATION

The final paradigm to understanding the relationship of Asia-Pacific and South Asia to
globalization is as a regional alternative to globalization. The arguments from this perspective
see the region as a source of resistance to globalization or to global or to Western powers. The
following are the postulates and reasons:

● The Japanese colonialism in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Japan’s colonization of the region
and the building of a supposed Easy Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere merely replicated
 imperial relationships in East and Southeast Asia wit new masters. However, it was also
arguably a push back against Western Imperialism. The propaganda used during that
period centered on the idea of ‘Asia for Asiatics’ and the need to ‘liberate’ the region
from Europe. The “Sphere” referred initially to Japan, China, and Manchukuo. Upon the
outbreak of WWII, Japan also looked beyond Northeast Asia to South and Southeast
Asia. The members of the Sphere included Japan, Manchukuo, Mangjiang, (Outer
Mongolia), The People’s Republic of China, State of Burma, the Republic of the
Philippines, Empire of Vietnam, Kingdom of Kampuchea, Kingdom of Laos, Azad Hind,
Kingdom of Thailand (Beasley, 2000). (“These mean streets. New York. Signet) The
greater East Asia Conference held in November 1943 headed by Japan’s General Tojo
declared that Asia had a “Spiritual Essence” that opposed the “Materialistic civilization
of the West” (Beasley, 2000). On the contrary, the failure of the Co-Prosperity Sphere was
a result not only of Japan’s lost in WWII, but also the overt racism of Japan itself
towards its supposed co-members. It soon became clear that the Sphere was for
Japanese interests only often at the expense of the interests of the fellow members.
Despite of its failure, the notion of an Asian region that serves as a kind of opposition to
globalization and Western imperialism manifests itself in different ways at present.
● The proponents of Asian values such as then-Prince Minister Mohamad Mahathir of
Malaysia argued that Asia has culturally distinct characteristics that make it different
from Western liberal democracies. The Asian way is to reach consensus on national
goals within the democratic framework, to take the middle path, the Confucian Chung
Yung, or the Islamic, awsatuha; to exercise tolerance and sensitivity towards others
(Langlois, 2001). (“Success at a huge personal cost.” Wall Street Journal B1, B6. This is
contrasts with Western values where “every individual can do what he/she likes, free
from any restraint by governments and individuals soon decide that they should break
every rule and code governing their society” (Langlois, 2001). Individual rights, political
Liberalism, and democracy are Western concepts, which are antithetical to Asian
tradition. The leaders of these states justified their authoritarian regimes based on Asian
values.
● The lens of regional arrangements is another way the region serves as an alternative to
globalization. The East Asia Economic Caucus (EABC) is an example. The EABC which
was floated as early as 1990, then more precisely an APEC without Western states, were
ASIAN, China, South Korea, and Japan. The United States strongly objected the idea
while Japan saw the exclusion of the US as a threat to their strategic partnership and
effectively vetoed the idea. Today’s ASEAN plus 3 (APT), which includes China, South
Korea, and Japan, is seen as a successor to the EAEC, through it is not seen as the
radical alternative of the earlier version because it is embedded in a slew of other
institutional arrangements.
● The emergence of regional terror networks, such as Jemaah Islamiyah or JI. The origins
and the extensiveness of JI are murky, but its main operations have been in Indonesia
with apparent links in Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand among others. JI is in
famous for the 2001 Bali bombings which took place in a night club in the resort town of
Kuta and killed more than 200 people, mostly Australian and other foreign nationals
(ICG, 2000). The alleged goals of JI are territorial and also regionalist, namely to create
an Islamic state of Indonesia followed by a Pan-Islamic caliphate incorporating
Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and the southern Philippines. The notion of regionalism
here is narrower than Asia-Pacific and South Asia and ultimately, the vision of the
caliphate is to expand from a regional to a global structure. The point here is that JI
articulated an alternative vision of political and social organization in the region, and one
that clashes directly with the paradigm of globalization (ICG, 2002).

The local movement within the region is the final way to think about the region as an alternative
to globalization. The movements are not exclusive to the Asia-Pacific and South Asia region, but
they are characteristic of trends there vis-à-vis the process of globalization with respect to the
emphasis on dis- engagement from globalization. For example, the village of Santi Suk in
Thailand created their own currency following the Asian financial crisis that struck the region in
Thailand (Hookway, 2009). The currency is called bia loosely translated as “merit” and operates
through a “central bank” located in the village. The currency can be used to purchase various
commodities but cannot be used outside of participating villages and cannot be exchanged for
Thailand’s national currency, the baht.