CFI

One World, Many Markets: Justice, Progress, and Globalization

At the dawn of a new millennium, the world is rapidly achieving an unprecedented degree of economic and cultural integration. With the fall of the Soviet Empire and the eclipse of communism, we have entered a much-heralded era of the Free Market. Political, financial, and psychological barriers to trade are being overwhelmed. A truly global economy is evolving.

The effects of this are profound. Millions of people around the world are benefiting from cheaper consumer goods and increased opportunities for gainful employment. Many others are seeing their jobs drift to different countries and continents where workers are often paid at exploitative rates. A mass movement of people has mirrored the increased mobility of capital. Everywhere, migrants are settling in new places, searching for opportunity. These immigrants have often enriched the social, intellectual, and artistic life of their host countries by stimulating various cross-cultural exchanges. But the presence of growing numbers of newcomers has also strained social services and traditional patterns of life, arousing xenophobic responses from native populations.

This process of global transformation is unfolding without central direction. Such is the logic of the market. Powerful international agencies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have become the focus of protest by people concerned about the effects of globalization. But the phenomenon transcends the authority wielded by these massive organizations.

In many ways, globalization is the natural progression of the forces unleashed by industrialization and modernization in the nineteenth century. Many of the concerns being raised today about the aggrandizement of power by international corporations and the debasement of local cultures echoes the fears voiced a century ago about the encroaching power of the "trusts." Contemporary disaffection with the "McDonaldization" of the world reflects an earlier critique of modern life, evoking the "anomie" discerned by early sociologists and the "angst" of the existentialists.

This symposium will explore the issues raised by globalization. Should we welcome the growing interconnectedness of the world? Should we try to harness the forces remaking the world? Can we gain some control over the process of globalization? And what does globalization mean to ordinary human beings, for so long schooled to think of themselves as members of discrete local communities? Are we entering a time of human liberation, or are we facing an era of growing alienation?

We will examine these questions from a variety of disciplinary standpoints, drawn from across the liberal arts, confident that only from such a multi-faceted perspective can we begin to comprehend globalization and its effects.

Participants

Martin Albrow: Lecturer, consultant, Woodrow Wilson Center Fellow 1999-2000, and author of several books including: The Global Age: State and Society beyond Modernity

Alex Avery: Director of Research and Education at the Center for Global Food Issues at the Hudson Institute. He has written on agricultural, food safety, regulatory and global population issues for major newspapers, magazines, and scientific journals. His article on international food regulations will appear in the Wiley Encyclopedia of Food Science and Technology, second edition.

Kevin Bales: Principal Lecturer at the Roehampton Institute, University of Surrey, England and author of Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy

Colin Bradford: Professor of Economics and International Relations, Distinguished Economist in Residence at American University in Washington, DC, and author of numerous publications both in English and Spanish. He is currently convener of a group to research "Globalization in Crisis: An Action Agenda for Global Human Security and Sustainability." Dr. Bradford is the Class of '65 Speaker.

Schedule of Events

Sunday, November 5, 2000
3:30 p.m. Reception - Ogle Center
4:00 p.m. Speaker - Martin Albrow - Ogle Center
Global Justice and American Dreams
7:30 p.m. Speaker - Kevin Bales - Ogle Center
The Globalization of Slavery
9:00 p.m. International Club Reception - Ogle Center

Monday, November 6, 2000
10:00 a.m. Roundtable Discussion - CC Board Room
4:00 p.m. Speaker - Alex Avery - Ogle Center
Free Global Trade: An Engine for Economic Growth and Global Conservation
7:30 p.m. Speaker - Colin Bradford - Class of '65 Speaker - Ogle Center
The Globalization of Culture and the Economy: Toward Pluralism or Homogeneity?; Economic Lessons from the Humanities
9:00 p.m. Reception - Ogle Center

Tuesday, November 7, 2000
10:00 a.m. Roundtable Discussion - CC Board Room
11:30 a.m. End of Symposium

To request a brochure or for more information about the Center for Free Inquiry, contact us at cfi@hanover.edu or call at (812) 866-6848.