Nation-States and Globalization

Authority, Decisions, and Power: Political Anthropology ANTH 2301 Nation-States and Globalization Growing international flows of people, goods, technology, information, and ideas combined in the later half of the 20th century to create a powerful but unequal tsunami of globalisation that swept the world. Indeed, these kinds of flows have always linked the world, but from the late 1970s to the early 2000s, new technology and corporate capitalism's relentless pursuit of profit caused these processes to pick up speed. Many academics predicted that nationstates would become less important as institutions of political and economic order for their citizens as people, goods, and communications started to cross national borders more frequently and quickly. According to some academics, globalisation will erase national and cultural distinctions and replace variety throughout the world with a homogenous culture centred around American corporate capitalism and consumerism. Would the globe become more like McDonald's as a result of globalisation? Anthropologists were in a unique position to answer this question since they are worldwide researchers with a robust toolset of crosscultural methodologies. The response was, in essence, a resounding "No!" Local identities and structures have been strengthened and modified by globalisation, not lessened. Take the growing trend of international travel. If everything remained the same wherever you went, why would anyone travel anywhere? Many nations make significant investments in their unique environments, monuments, and cultures to draw tourists from across the world who are eager to try something new. Another powerful element driving globalisation is the growing trend of major American corporations moving their manufacturing plants abroad to less developed nations with cheaper labour and maybe laxer environmental regulations. At first, this tactic made it harder for local communities and nation-states to oppose corporate abuses. But as time has gone on, the United States' loss of well-paying working-class employment has given rise to a lot of political conflict. Inequality in American society has increased as a result of the loss of working-class jobs. Certain politicians advocate for the US government to enact laws and incentives to maintain US employment domestically. Paradoxically, globalisation could incite people to strengthen the authority of their nationstates. Due to globalised businesses' exploitation of laxer rules, globalisation has worsened environmental harm in developing nations. In many non-Western nations, there are major risks to the health of local residents due to industrial pollution and the disposal of hazardous waste by multinational firms. Locals look to their governments to implement environmental regulations in response to these challenges. Furthermore, with institutions like the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP), the forces of globalisation have forged a robust transnational opposition network against ecologically damaging activities. Many anthropologists have examined how globalisation produces transnational forms of imagined community alongside the country, following Benedict Anderson's (1983) concept of nation-states as imagined communities. Cultural anthropologist Arjun Appadurai (1996) contends that the creation of numerous imagined communities that transcend national boundaries is a result of globalisation releasing popular imagination from national limits. Appadurai proposes five aspects of global flows: ideology, technology, money, media, and ethnicity. These dimensions create domains of activity and creativity. For example, the global environmental movement is a transnational imagined community founded on concepts related to environmental sustainability. People participate in this virtual community's conversations and activities from all over the world thanks to media and communication technology. The negative effects of globalisation on national and international politics have also been highlighted by Appadurai. Although globalisation is often linked to flexibility and free movements, transnationalism has also led to an increase in political violence, particularly against minority racial, ethnic, and religious groups (2006). Many communities are facing more pressure to adapt due to cultural mixing and rising global flows. For example, increasing immigration may drive national communities to rethink what constitutes shared language, customs, and values. While some members of a national group could welcome a more multicultural and cosmopolitan identity, others might feel threatened and that their way of life is in danger. Because of the rising disparity brought about by globalisation, working-class and impoverished communities are especially vulnerable to this sense of uneasiness. According to Appadurai, acts of violence against minority groups within national communities can be instigated by dominant ethnic and racial groups due to cultural and economic insecurities. Seeking an illusive and illusory national “purity,” dominant groups attempt to reassert their influence over political, economic, and cultural institutions. Political opposition to immigration in the United States and antiAmerican sentiment in certain non-Western nations are perilous and occasionally violent reactions to the shared forces of globalisation.