Question

1. What does globalization mean? Some scholars argue that it is a process that is both inevitable and irreversible. Do you agree or disagree?

2. What is the “myth of free trade”? How does the “real” history of free trade contradict with this “myth”? (HINT: Support your answer with providing a detailed account of how the “ladder-kickers” have achieved their goals for their own economic development.)

3. Historically speaking, “whereas the Indian state’s efforts to promote a dynamic industrial sector fell prey to the twin evils of bureaucratic paralysis and capitalist rent-seeking, Korean efforts were rewarded by unprecedented success.” How can one explain such divergent outcomes in the installation of developmental states? (HINT: Elaborate your answer by recourse to the state’s ability to impose discipline on capital, as well as situating the developmental state in the context of emerging global capitalism.)
4. How did the role of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) change from Bretton Woods to Neoliberal Globalization? (HINT: Elaborate your answer by identifying key aspects and principles of the Structural Adjustment Programs).

5. Has the state’s capacity to govern the national economy declined with increasing economic openness and interdependence? (HINT: Justify your answer by referring to both constraining and enabling dynamics of globalization, as well as the role of domestic political institutions.)

6. How are capitalist societies distinguished from preceding social systems?
   (Hint: Frame your answer with reference to “the peculiarity of the capitalist market as a compulsion rather than an opportunity”, by identifying how “rules for reproduction of the individual economic actors” changed from pre-capitalist to capitalist societies.)

                             

7. It has once been argued that “the mortgage crisis in the US was only the immediate trigger [for the global financial meltdown that took place in 2008]”. What does this statement mean? If that is the case, where else should we look at in order to make sense of the “first great depression of the 21^st century”? (HINT: Elaborate your answer by examining the relationship between capital accumulation and profitability in the United States.)

8. What are the main elements of “Global New Deal”, as outlined by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)? How likely do you think these policies could be implemented, and be successful? (HINT: Include in your answer the main possible obstacles against their implementation and success).

9. Is there an alternative to global capitalism? Elaborate your answer by referring to the typology of “four strategic logics of anti-capitalism”, as well as providing your critical response to Erik Olin Wright’s “Real Utopias”.

Answer 1

Answer 1) Globalisation can be defined as the process of creating links and interdependence among different nations in the world. This facilitates the spread of information, goods, and services, technology, across the nations.

Yes, I agree that globalization is both an inevitable and irreversible trend.

Globalization is inevitable. This concept has existed for a long time back when countries used to trade their goods with another country in pr modern eras. There are various pieces of evidence on the basis of which historians have claimed that globalization existed in ancient civilizations as well. With the invention of various new technology, scientific discoveries and an increase in trade among countries, cross border integration was inevitable. Globalization has resulted in the spread of information and cultures throughout the world, also helping developing countries to further develop. Globalization will exist for the betterment of all the nations and hence it is inevitable.

Globalization is irreversible. Globalization initiates the spreading of information and technology, facilitates trade, integrates various cultures and also leads to development in the underdeveloped and developing nations. The choice to globalize can be rejected by nations for eg. North Korea, but it cannot be reversed. It helps in global integration and this global integration cannot be reversed.