SInce the early 1990s, almost all areas of the world had their own form of government and were no longer colonies of another country. During the era of colonialism, wealthy countries controlled the smaller, poorer countries in different places of the world in order to have cheap supplies of raw materials and markets to sell their goods. Even though the colonies gained independence they were still dependent on their former rulers. Economic ties were usually the strongest and the smaller countries continue to depend on the wealthy ones for survival. With the introduction of industry and technology the world economy has become what is known as a global market economy. Everyone trades with one another and the wealthy nations continue to fund industry in the poorer countries. They pay for cheap labor and materials now, just like they did during colonial times. Many poor countries continue to depend on the protection of the wealthy countries and need those countries in order to survive.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Globalization/Colonization, by Khala Flanagan
From the textbook:
The historical process of colonization transformed the world, creating a process of globalization. But the world is not a global village. It’s one of privilege and exclusion, rapid change, and shocking inequality.
The end of colonial rule brought challenges – of poverty, the presence of multination corporations, urbanization, population growth, immigration and emigration, ecological disaster, war, and instability – to newly independent nations. Under colonialism, economic plans focused on making colonies productive for their owners.
Colonialism differs in important ways from the earlier expansion of European power. Whereas much of the initial phase of European expansion was carried out by private companies and often took the form of raid and pillage, colonialism involved the active possession of foreign territory by European governments. Once colonies were seized, they had to be administered and they had to be made profitable. Finding ways to extract taxes and create the conditions in which corporations could make money often meant the systematic undermining of indigenous ways of life.
The European expansion and the era of colonization were historic processes that changed the world from a collection of relatively independent economics and societies to a complex world system.
Basically, what this means is that even though colonization opened up new worlds and promoted healthy expansion, it did so at the cost of other cultures’ ruin and demise. For example, the culture of the Native Americans slowly died out when the whites arrived in the New World, and Africans were enslaved to make Great Britain one of the most powerful empires in the world.
Now, in our current age of unimaginably fast globalization, people are connected everywhere across the world in “active possession” just like colonization did back the early centuries… it’s just in a different form. Tourism is a perfect example: you have people from wealthy countries travel to undeveloped places in the non-western world to taste the “exotic” cultures and traditions of different people… but, sadly, these are just illusions in our modernizing, global world. Traditional cultures are more or less just constructed for tourists and profit. Tourism marks the 3rd largest form of trade in the world, and many nations are financially stable because of it. Still, colonization remains present in its 21st century version: students study abroad, people buy villas and secondary homes overseas, modern means of transportation are built in the most rural areas, and many communities still try to cling onto their traditional ways amidst the “easy access” and lighting speed of modern technological change.
The historical process of colonization transformed the world, creating a process of globalization. But the world is not a global village. It’s one of privilege and exclusion, rapid change, and shocking inequality.
The end of colonial rule brought challenges – of poverty, the presence of multination corporations, urbanization, population growth, immigration and emigration, ecological disaster, war, and instability – to newly independent nations. Under colonialism, economic plans focused on making colonies productive for their owners.
Colonialism differs in important ways from the earlier expansion of European power. Whereas much of the initial phase of European expansion was carried out by private companies and often took the form of raid and pillage, colonialism involved the active possession of foreign territory by European governments. Once colonies were seized, they had to be administered and they had to be made profitable. Finding ways to extract taxes and create the conditions in which corporations could make money often meant the systematic undermining of indigenous ways of life.
The European expansion and the era of colonization were historic processes that changed the world from a collection of relatively independent economics and societies to a complex world system.
Basically, what this means is that even though colonization opened up new worlds and promoted healthy expansion, it did so at the cost of other cultures’ ruin and demise. For example, the culture of the Native Americans slowly died out when the whites arrived in the New World, and Africans were enslaved to make Great Britain one of the most powerful empires in the world.
Now, in our current age of unimaginably fast globalization, people are connected everywhere across the world in “active possession” just like colonization did back the early centuries… it’s just in a different form. Tourism is a perfect example: you have people from wealthy countries travel to undeveloped places in the non-western world to taste the “exotic” cultures and traditions of different people… but, sadly, these are just illusions in our modernizing, global world. Traditional cultures are more or less just constructed for tourists and profit. Tourism marks the 3rd largest form of trade in the world, and many nations are financially stable because of it. Still, colonization remains present in its 21st century version: students study abroad, people buy villas and secondary homes overseas, modern means of transportation are built in the most rural areas, and many communities still try to cling onto their traditional ways amidst the “easy access” and lighting speed of modern technological change.
Final Discussion, Khala Flanagan
As someone who loves to write, I’ve always felt that my college studies and subjects help me tremendously with my stories, just like real life experiences do. When you go to college or attend a class, you don’t just learn the subject matter. You learn the art of being challenged, being prompted to speak your mind, and being humble with your work. You learn the art of responsibility, accountability, and respect. You learn what it means to sometimes be discriminated and isolated because of your beliefs. And it opens your eyes to see things you never saw before about people, the world, and even yourself. All in all, education gives a window of opportunity for us students to grow up, change, and become better people (and, for me, a better writer!), only if we let it. He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left.
So, I try and take as much as I can from all my different classes, especially when it came to anthropology. As a soldier, my Dad has traveled all over the world and seen thousands of different places with bizarre cultures. The stories he tells me and my siblings when he returns are so fascinating, it’s hard to believe that we’re all on this same earth. I was captivated to study anthropology so that I could perhaps get a little bit closer to the worlds my Dad has seen… but most importantly, I wanted to come respect other cultures because I believe we all are made in the image of God.
To me, it’s a shame this class was online. I feel that I would have taken so many more valuable “life lessons” about anthropology if we all could have been together in a classroom, discussing things verbally instead of always through the internet. When you’re talking about human cultures, it helps to have a “real” human being to talk to instead of a computer screen!
But even though that wasn’t the case for this class, I still feel the effects of what I’ve learned. I HAVE come to respect other cultures much more profoundly than before because of where they are geographically on our earth, their kind of livelihood and customs, and how they see life. Even though I don’t agree with many others’ ways and cultures, my faith has helped to remind me of the sacredness of life, and that God’s grace falls upon everyone… especially those who don’t know or reject Him.
One special moment happened to me this week that proved just how anthropology has helped me see things differently. My little sisters returned from the library with bags full of picture books, and one book they had picked out was “People” by Peter Spier. The book colorfully shows the different people across the world, how they live, where they live, and what they believe. Because it’s a children’s book, it’s perfectly innocent and explains things in the simplest terms possible. Yet, the ending of the book really struck me, because I think it’s exactly what I can summarize about my anthropology experience with this class:
Six billion human beings… young and old, sick and well, happy and unhappy, kind and unkind, strong and weak. People everywhere. And all different. It is very strange: Some people even hate others because they are unlike themselves. Because they are different. They forget that they too would seem different if they could only see themselves through other people’s eyes. But imagine how dreadfully dull this world of ours would be if everybody looked, thought, ate, dressed, and acted the same! Now isn’t it wonderful that each and every one of us is unlike any other?
So, I try and take as much as I can from all my different classes, especially when it came to anthropology. As a soldier, my Dad has traveled all over the world and seen thousands of different places with bizarre cultures. The stories he tells me and my siblings when he returns are so fascinating, it’s hard to believe that we’re all on this same earth. I was captivated to study anthropology so that I could perhaps get a little bit closer to the worlds my Dad has seen… but most importantly, I wanted to come respect other cultures because I believe we all are made in the image of God.
To me, it’s a shame this class was online. I feel that I would have taken so many more valuable “life lessons” about anthropology if we all could have been together in a classroom, discussing things verbally instead of always through the internet. When you’re talking about human cultures, it helps to have a “real” human being to talk to instead of a computer screen!
But even though that wasn’t the case for this class, I still feel the effects of what I’ve learned. I HAVE come to respect other cultures much more profoundly than before because of where they are geographically on our earth, their kind of livelihood and customs, and how they see life. Even though I don’t agree with many others’ ways and cultures, my faith has helped to remind me of the sacredness of life, and that God’s grace falls upon everyone… especially those who don’t know or reject Him.
One special moment happened to me this week that proved just how anthropology has helped me see things differently. My little sisters returned from the library with bags full of picture books, and one book they had picked out was “People” by Peter Spier. The book colorfully shows the different people across the world, how they live, where they live, and what they believe. Because it’s a children’s book, it’s perfectly innocent and explains things in the simplest terms possible. Yet, the ending of the book really struck me, because I think it’s exactly what I can summarize about my anthropology experience with this class:
Six billion human beings… young and old, sick and well, happy and unhappy, kind and unkind, strong and weak. People everywhere. And all different. It is very strange: Some people even hate others because they are unlike themselves. Because they are different. They forget that they too would seem different if they could only see themselves through other people’s eyes. But imagine how dreadfully dull this world of ours would be if everybody looked, thought, ate, dressed, and acted the same! Now isn’t it wonderful that each and every one of us is unlike any other?
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Final Disussion
During the course of this class, i took into consideration that there are many different cultures in the world and they all have a unique way of expressing what they believe in. I learned many views on things like marriage, race, religious practices, and much more. What i found most interesting in this course was all the different forms of cultural celebrations. The many different ways that cultures around the world did their religious practices. What i found least interesting about this course were some of the readings. I learned in this course that I cannot judge someone by the way they look unless i really look into what their culture is about.
Final Discussion - Stephanie Reynolds
This class was interesting in some aspects, I liked the chapters that dealt with different marriage styles and how other cultures defined relationships. What we would consider a good or successful marriage could be taken completely different in someone else's culture. What was least interesting to me though was some of the market/economy material we had to cover near the end of the book. I've read so much on global warming and population increase that it gets old after awhile.
Anyways, I guess anthropolgy would somewhat useful to me since I work in a hospital. There are so many different types of people there, and not just based on race or religion, and it's a good idea to know a little bit about how to react to a different culture. There are so many different ideas, traditions, and values for every individual that I might encounter at the hospital, so this class would useful in the fact that it gave me more reason to be tolerant of who others are.
Anyways, I guess anthropolgy would somewhat useful to me since I work in a hospital. There are so many different types of people there, and not just based on race or religion, and it's a good idea to know a little bit about how to react to a different culture. There are so many different ideas, traditions, and values for every individual that I might encounter at the hospital, so this class would useful in the fact that it gave me more reason to be tolerant of who others are.
Final Post, Sam Stangl
This class was very important to me. I am going to school to be a Biomedical Engineer, and my advisor told me that this class, although it would help me complete my associate's degree, would not be of much use to me. I disagree. I have learned a lot about culture, about humans in the past and their progression into the future. I also learned how people in different places are, and why those personality traits and culture changes are important when tryig to understand a person. I was most interested about the chapters both in Religion and in Kinship, but I was not interested in learning about anthropologists views on the economy. I understand that anyone who wants to be a historian or a political scientest, or of course an anthropologist, might need to know the economics side of anthropology, but it was my own least favorite chapter. I needed this course more than my advisor thought I would, and better yet, more than I thought I would. I can now relate to more cultures, and I can be more open-minded toward the way people in other cultures live, think, and try to understand me. I think this class also helped me to learn how online classes are, and what kind of things will be expected of me, as this was my first ever fully online course. I'm glad that I took it, for sure, because other than learning a lot I really enjoyed reading The House of the Spirits and analyzing it, and I also learned to communicate my thoughts thoroughly about humans and culture. This course made me a better student and a better person.
Colonialism and Global Market Economy, Sam Stangl
I think I should start off by saying that until I read everyone else's responses to this question, I had no idea what the comparisons between these two things could possibly be. Colonialism is possessing foreign territory and sharing politics, culture, and language not with their surrounding governments. What I have learned global market economy has in common with colonialism is foreign aid and development programs, which unfortunately ignore women, that incerease male productivity. These programs often fail, though, because of their ignorance toward women's economic roles. Also, war is found both in colonialization and in global market economy. Territory, government, and finances are of utmost importance.
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