Geography on a global Scale
The programme to be followed by the OIB is that of the Te L, ES (BO Feb 7-11 2004) which, according to the French ministry, is subdivided into three parts to facilitate a study of geographical regions and processes on different scales. The aim is to provide the students with an appreciation of socio-economic (geographical) divisions on a global scale and the processes by which they are linked. The three parts being:
A Globalised world The three major global areas of economic power The worlds in the path of development
Two text books “l`espace modial” (Jalta, Joly, Reineri, 2004, Magnard and Knafou, 2004 Belin) propose the following structure (including teaching time) and examples.
1. A Globalised world (10h): A. Globalisation and interdependence Questions: Globalisation, a new organisation of the world? Is globalisation responsible for economic decline? (case study Argentina) Can globalisation be the road for development (case study Ireland) How does migration reflect the globalisation process?
i) Definition/ History
ii) Manifestation: Global exchange Migration of people Movement of commodities Movement of capital Connections: Maritime/ aerial/ telecommunications Cultural Exchange
iii) Actors Nation States Global organisations: UN, IMF, World Bank, WTO Transnationals Trading Blocs Non-governmental Organisations
iv) Location Triad Global cities Privileged sites
Case studies: EU, major pole of global economy EU, major global agricultural power London, global city Rotterdam, the first European maritime port

B) Counter-globalisation Question: The world, between uniformisation and diversification Cultural Diversity/Alternatives Regional Trading Blocs Regional and global instability Counter-globalisation movement Environmental threats




2)The three major global areas of economic power (22hours)
a) The United States: A global superpower Questions: USA, the only superpower?
i) Characteristics Military Economic: Production of goods and services/ financial/ trans-nationals Soft Power: Culture Brain Drain Structural: Global/ regional organisations
Problems Economic weaknesses Dependence Inequalities
ii) Internal Organisation Question: Growth poles/ centres of innovation Communication structure Migration patterns Case studies : California Innovation as the origin of a new geography of industry
The Atlantic Seaboard Interface between USA and the world Case studies: N.E USA « Main Street America » Megalopolis: New York


b) East Asia: Region of economic expansion
Questions: To what extent does Shanghai represent the renewed Asia? To what extent has the Chinese dispora lead to the harmonisation of Asia?
Economic characteristics: GNP; HDI; Economic Growth; Trade Conditions and characteristics of development Role of Japanese model Asian Crisis
Case studies Coastal China: Workshop of the world Singapore: first of major Asian ‘hubs’. Japanese megalopolis: characteristics and problems
c) European Union
Questions: What is the global strategy of the European car industry? Is Slovakia a European Tiger?
Trade Migration Multipoles Core/periphery Role of the EU in the world
Case study: Rhinelands


3) The worlds in the path of development (18 hours)
a) Inequalities of Development Question One or more souths? Has globalisation lead to the marginalisation of Africa? Sao Paulo, is it typical of LEDC urban development? Is globalisation responsible for the development of inequalities? Do illegal activities benefit from globalisation?
i) North/South Divide History Indices Unity or diversity
ii) Development Strategies Development theories One or More Souths? Sustainable development Case study: One or more Brazils? Aids, the plague of the South

Case studies: Relationship between development and the environment Inequality of development and global agricultural trade b) Mediterranean: North/South Interface Q: Is the Mediterranean a barrier or an area of exchange? Jerusalem, is it typical of the cultural differences in the Mediterranean?
Divergence/ Convergence through Exchange Inequalities Exchange : Goods ; Capital ; Migration ; Tourism Political alliances/ common concerns Politics of development
Case study : Souse, a tourist area.
c) Russia: An area of re-composition
Q: Does the recent transformation of Moscow reflect developments in the whole country? Tchetchnia: Does the war illustrate the limits of democratic construction in Russia? Why is Russia no longer a superpower?
Economic redevelopment Demographic crisis/ social inequalities Political system Transport system Regional inequalities

Aim

To cover the programme.

Prepare you for the exam.

To develop your work, research, communication and reasoning skills.

To stimulate your awareness and understanding of the world around you.

Exam

a) Four hour written exam including:

2 geography questions (one essay, one document)

2 history questions (one essay, one document)

The candidate is to answer tow questions; one history the other geography.

b) 15 minute oral on one of 10 presented subjects (5 history and 5 geography)

Globalisation

“The idea of tolerance and mutual concession is based on admitting the compatibility of many different philosophical views of the world.” Hajime Nakamura (1964)

Time-space convergence is an integral part of our changing world. Consider:

In 1850 undersea communication cables were laid around the world.

In that year, an American built clipper ship , the Oriental, made a record journey from Hong Kong to London in 97 days.

In 1935, a freighter from Los Angeles took 19 days to reach Tokyo.

Today day there are more than 170 million internet hosts and an email can be sent across the globe in seconds.

A New Global Order is evolving lead by the spread of capitalism. The decline in communism has lead to experiments in the privatisation of ownership and entrepreneurial profit-making. Globalisation is the increasing linkage between countries and global, capitalist enterprises and economic systems. It has many dimensions:

a) Change in one aspect has a ripple effect throughout all the others.

b) The bulk of world business is conducted by multinational or transnational enterprises controlling financial, manufacturing and distribution systems.

c) Foreign aid is dispensed more by international organisations than by individual countries either by transnational organisations such as the IMF or by non-governmental organisations (Oxfam).

It is important to acknowledge that globalisation is only part of the picture. The counter movement is regionalism. Regional organisations are concerned with such things as defence, cultural, environmental and economic issues. Although globalism and regionalism appear contradictory they are integrated phenomena operating at varying scales and settings. Regional trading blocs such as the European Union or the North American Free Trade Association regulate economic interchange in the interests of reducing foreign competition.

Geographer Harm de Blij (1997) recognises that geographical realms have three sets of spatial criteria:

1. Physical and cultural characteristics are the largest units into which the can be divided the ecumene (the inhabited world).

2. They are found on the similarity of functional interactions between people and their natural environment.

3. Focus on and incorporate the world's largest population centres.

When studying geography it is necessary to be aware of Space.

To study, observe, measure, quantify, recognise: what makes a place unique.

To be aware of scale and how interactions change with scale.

To acknowledged the historical setting of place.

To realise that process through time will lead to change.

To understand that culture defines space.

To appreciate that theoretical models have been created to highlight the consequence of process on space.

Hence:

It is necessary to know case studies.

To be aware of models such as: Myrdal, Friedman, Malthus, Demographic transition model.

To appreciate the role of organisations such as IMF, World Bank, Gatt, trading blocs, multinationals.

Question

Discuss with reference to examples the statement made by Philippe Legrain(2002) [in his book: Open World The truth about globalisation] that 'globalisation is the only route out of poverty'.

Consider these two quotes:

“Rather than the rising tide of the market lifting all boats, structural adjustment and liberalisation policies with no concomitant obligations on redistribution appear to have sunk some social groups, especially the poor and the vulnerable.” Noreena Hertz, The Silent Takeover

“ My concern is not that there are too many sweatshops but that there are too few.... those are precisely the jobs that were the stepping stones for Singapore and Hong Kong and those are the jobs that have to come to Africa to get them out of backbreaking rural poverty.” Jeffrey Sachs, professor at Harvard University.