Sociology 211
Social Problems
Fall 2001
Dr. Scott Schaffer

Week 13-14 Discussion Questions: The Globalization Reader, pp. 212-341 + TWO of chs. 47-49

Due Date: Group questions – Th Nov 29; individual questions – T Dec 4. This is the last set of discussion questions for the semester.

Concept Identification: Define the following concepts as they are used by their authors. For each concept, be sure to identify a) the author who discussed it, b) the definition, c) the importance the concept has for the development of the author’s argument or for the study of social problems, and d) any concepts you think are related to that concept and how they’re related from throughout the course. When necessary to clarify where the concept is coming from, the chapter number is in parentheses.

Government knowledge vs. market knowledge Tensions between the market and society Interventionism Protectionism Privatization INGOs IGOs Global social movements Globalization of democracy Demonstration effects Diffusion effects Democratic assistance

Women and development (35) World culture Universalism Individualism Rational voluntaristic authority Rationalizing progress World citizenship Relation between INGOs, nation-states UN Charter principles (38) UNHCR New World Information Order (NWIO) Deregulation of information media

Gatekeepers (42) Homogenization vs. heterogenization Cultural adaptive mechanisms (43) Fundamentalism Westernization vs. Americanization Five dimensions of global cultural flows (44) Deterritorialization Production fetishism Fetishism of the consumer Peripheral corruption scenario Creolization scenario Islamization

Individual Questions:

Part V (p.240): Answer questions 5, 6, and 8.
Part VI (p.280): Answer questions 1, 4, and 7.
Part VII (p.316): Answer questions 1, 2, and 6.
Part VIII (p.368): Answer questions 1 and 3.

Group Question: Examine closely the “Seven Common Misunderstandings about the WTO” (pp.236-39), “Beijing Declaration” (pp.259-261), and UNESCO Resolution 4/19 (p.288). Compare the kinds of ideas put forth by these international documents in terms of who benefits and who loses in them. Then, address this question: To what extent do you think that these documents represent either the imposition of Western values on non-western countries, or an equal or equitable negotiation between “first world” and “third world,” or a set of checks on the West imposed by non-Western societies? What values are portrayed in these documents that gives you this idea?