CIAO DATE: 04/2011
Volume: 25, Issue: 1
March 2011
Front Cover (PDF)
Cover Verso (PDF)
Table of Contents (PDF)
About the Authors (PDF)
Editor's Note (PDF)
At its inception, Macalester College had a dual dream: on the one hand, to encourage students to cultivate their growth through rigorous study and critical self-reflection; on the other, to educate students for a condition of freedom, civic action, and a vocation of leadership. This dream was captured by the pioneering works and lives of Edward Duffield Neill and James Wallace, two of the College’s most significant founders and builders. Thus, in its new Institute for Global Citizenship, Macalester keeps faith with the dream by creating with and for students, contexts conducive to a distinctive synthesis of intellectual intensity, self-monitoring, and preparation for public usefulness in a multicivilizational global milieu.
Helinna Ayalew
The importance of leadership has been demonstrated repeatedly throughout history. Countless examples of extraordinary leaders, ranging from Mahatma Gandhi to Vladimir Lenin and Mao Tse-tung to Barack Obama, remind us of the effect one or a small group of political leaders can have on a society. These great historical figures are transformational leaders because they were able to spearhead fundamental change within their societies. While the inspirational and forward moving variant of leadership is well documented, it has also been known to go awry. Leadership positions have been abused by many leaders—what James McGregor Burns would characterize as ―power-holders‖—in countries throughout the world. This study is an endeavor to understand what goes into the creation of a successful leader, and how those characteristics can be implemented in political leadership today. It is an attempt to demystify the sometimes perplexing leaderfollower relationship. Globalization has brought with it many new challenges and opportunities for societies all around the world. Leaders have had to react to these new developments; their reactions in turn affect the lives of people both within their societies and around the world. These challenges and opportunities vary according to context, yet there are certain threads of similarity. One phenomenon that most societies have had to deal with, albeit to varying degrees, is the creation and/or sustenance of multicultural societies. This essay examines the way in which leaders in the Netherlands and South Africa have responded to forced societal change brought about by global economic, social, and/or political pressures. It then questions how these leaders contributed to the multicultural project within their respective societies. The case studies will look at two transformational political leaders: F. W. de Klerk in South Africa and Pim Fortuyn in the Netherlands.2
At the Intersection of Domestic Acts and Globalization: The Case of Irregular Migrants15 (PDF)
Federico Daniel Burlon
Sixty-five percent of the Netherlands is below sea level: ten thousand miles of dykes, gates, and dams hold back the sea.ii As the water besieges the land, some politicians and scholars claim that immigrants are doing the same to the country.iii On the other side of the Atlantic, immigration to the United States also has been compared to a tide that must be contained.iv The fears surrounding immigration have been one of the focal points raised by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and by his successor, Ban Ki-moon.v As a result of the dramatic increase of migration flows and the large number of irregular migrants worldwide,vi immigration has moved from low to high politics.vii Fuelled by a mentality that sees domestic security as threatened, the salience of irregular immigration is grounded in parallels drawn between the control of illegal immigration and the control of crime.viii According to Adam Crawford, the conflation of illegal immigration with crime has led Western governments to rule through the politics of fear of crime and insecurity.ix The impact of these policies on irregular immigrants illustrates what John Tomlinson calls the reflexive nature of globalization.x An insightful avenue to take in order to explore globalization is the study of human mobility.xi Globalization has placed immigrants at the nexus of the increase in migration due to lower transportation costs,xii the development of the international human rights regime,xiii and the enactment of increasingly restrictive immigration policies by developed countries.xiv The interplay between these processes crystallizes in detention centers, and renders immigrants vulnerable to human rights violations.xv Studying globalization from a comparative perspective, this essay analyzes the impact of the International Human Rights Regime (IHRR) on American and Dutch immigration detention policies. In the last decades, detention has become the established way of dealing with irregular migrants. It lamentably obscures various essential examples of alternative legislation.
Immigrant Children and Globalization: Formal Education in Producing New Citizens (PDF)
Lelde Ilzina
Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan once expressed that arguing against globalization is like arguing against the laws of gravity. When globalization is viewed as a force that creates a tide of incentives against the artificial levies of national borders, the comparison seems accurate.ii Flows of capital, goods, services, people, and information crush against the formally defined stringent borders of nation-states, not permanently erasing but undoubtedly loosening them. Implying the irrefutable authenticity of globalization, Annan claims that its inevitability does not mean we should accept globalization as a law that ―allows only heavyweights to survive. On the contrary: we must make globalization an engine that lifts people out of hardship and misery, not a force that holds them down.‖iii Globalization is an indubitable reality that benefits some and challenges others. To ignore it or pronounce it fictional is not only unwise, but harmful. Such outlook prohibits one from acknowledging the rapid changes occurring in the world and impedes the process of adaptation. Instead, one should strive to unravel the complexities of globalization, recognize its failures, and make a commendable effort to correct its shortcomings.
Mishal Khan
Globalization as a theoretical lens guides us toward a greater understanding of some of the most turbulent transformations that are taking place in the world today. Anthony Giddens provides a compelling definition of this phenomenon, framing it as ―the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa.‖i Nothing demonstrates this more sharply than the impact of global events on those Muslim populations residing in what can be broadly defined as the ―Western‖ world. This ironically termed ―reverse colonization‖ii entails an unprecedented number of people from Muslim countries migrating to the Global North, laying the foundation for a myriad of challenging negotiations and novel circumstances. However, there are a number of concurrent transformations that are taking place within Muslim populations that have become the subject of increased scrutiny. The rise of radical Islam, the enhanced religiosity of Muslim youth, and the increased wearing of headscarves by women are all aspects of a global Islam that has attracted the widespread attention of policymakers, scholars, and ordinary citizens alike. This study sheds light on one of the most contentious issues that arises time and time again in any discussion of Islam. Undeniably, no conversation is complete without invariably citing the role of women--the fly in the ointment, if you will. As one scholar recounts, ―today the ‗woman question‘ is a battleground both inside and outside the Muslim world. That is, the woman question raises the sharpest criticism of Islam and Muslim societies from the outside and is at the same time one of the most hotly debated areas within Islamic and Islamist circles.‖iii The contemporary globalized world yields circumstances that have forced Muslims and non-Muslims alike to address the question with increased urgency. While the dissemination of women‘s rights norms and rhetoric has prompted a confused mix of engagement and rejection across the Muslim world, it is compelling to examine how this encounter plays out in populations residing within the West. How have American and European Muslim women become politicized in this conversation about global Islam? What battles are being fought by Muslim women themselves? What discourses must be navigated in order for them to overcome their difficulties? If there is a ―clash of values‖iv occurring right now, Muslim women are situated squarely in the midst of it. This essay will argue that the impact of the politicization of Muslim women both limits and extends their ability to confront abuse and rights issues within the Muslim community, focusing on domestic violence. I argue that this politicization has direct consequences for the normative impacts of women‘s rights and feminist rhetoric in both the Netherlands and the United States, the two countries chosen as case studies. This research is motivated by a personal stake in the questions that are addressed. As a Muslim woman, understanding that it is crucial to be critical of the many different agendas and complexities that pervade any conversation about Muslims in the world today will be key in deciding where I can conscientiously position myself in the debate, and therefore carry out my life‘s work.
The Political Ecology of Water: Globalization and Transboundary Water Management (PDF)
Elizabeth A. Larson
I had been thinking about how to begin this yearlong research project when I asked one of my 17-year-old students in Khayelitsha, a township outside of Cape Town, “How do you think pollution can harm people?” He described how the family that lives in the shack next to him pours their wash water into the alleyway and it runs down the hill, picking up more debris and joining with other families‟ wastewater. He added that this pollution could get into the groundwater and affect the water that everyone drinks. It was there that this research paper began to take shape. My student‟s example of wastewater running down the hill from shack to shack is an illustration of how the actions of one person towards their environment can affect others in unforeseen ways. People are beginning to realize their effect on the environment that we all share, and through globalization even states are seeing how their decisions concerning environmental management are affecting other sovereign states. As the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) wrote in Our Common Future: “the physical effects of our decisions spill across national frontiers.”i Globalization has changed the way in which people relate to the environment, in particular the way in which people relate to water. Different forms of globalization have produced conflicting discourses surrounding the issue of water, which in turn have affected the way that transboundary watercourses are managed. The phenomenon that I address in this study is globalization‟s effect on water discourses and the management of transboundary watercourses. The discourses that surround water are influenced mainly by three facets of globalization: economic globalization, the rise of supra-national and international institutions, and global civil society. Transboundary watercourses precede the global era, yet globalization has had a fundamental impact on how they are managed and governed: “Institutions are getting better and more resilient, management and understanding are improving, and these issues are increasingly on the radar of global and local decision makers.”ii In addition to institutional strength, and perhaps aiding it, is the proliferation of technology. Technological innovations have made transboundary watercourses easier to map, model, and manage on a higher level than in the pre-global era.iii Globalization has also expanded the worldview of actors that manage watercourses. Consequently, there has been an increased tendency to derive international solutions for local and regional problems concerning water.iv As was well stated by Joost Fontein, “water can no longer be understood simply as a „natural resource‟ subject to contradictory and contested efforts to be managed, controlled, provisioned, contained, or conserved. The political materiality of water can indeed be a lens through which to fathom the depth of the „complex reciprocity‟ of human-environment relations.”v
The Commodification of Human Life: Human Trafficking in the Age of Globalization (PDF)
Yanchuan Liu
This study seeks to answer three questions. First, to what extent does globalization contribute to the vulnerability of victims of cross-border human trafficking? Next, how have the United States and the Netherlands responded to this phenomenon, and why have the two governments responded in the way they did? Finally, as developed countries tighten their borders out of security concerns when economic inequality continues to attract migrants from developing regions, is there space for the convergence of the interests of destination countries and those of the migrants so that these individuals will have safe, legitimate alternatives to the irregular movement that leads to severe exploitation, such as Trafficking in Human Beings (THB)? To answer these questions, the essay proceeds as follows. Following the introduction, the second section serves three purposes: it first defines human trafficking; then it distinguishes this concept from human smuggling, with which it is often confused; and finally, it explains why this research paper concentrates on human trafficking. Through an analysis of the link between human trafficking, globalization, and global equality, the third section identifies the context in which THB is taking place. This section also illustrates the methodology of this project. Lastly, the article questions the contradiction between state security and human security by comparing the response of the U.S. with that of the Netherlands to THB. It is important to keep in mind that THB takes place on both domestic and international levels. This project will focus only on the latter.
Languages and Loyalties: Shaping Identity in Tunisia and the Netherlands (PDF)
Krista Moore
The 16th-century Spanish grammarian Antonio de Nebrija once said that ―language has always been the companion of empire.‖i Colonial empires of past centuries indeed produced language practices that influence speaking habits today. However, as the world becomes increasingly entrenched in the processes of globalization, global interactions are amplified. When discussing the place of language in globalization, it is therefore valuable to acknowledge colonial legacies while looking at the implications of a more recently significant phenomenon: international migration. Given the power of national governments to shape national identities, the contexts of colonization and immigration raise interesting questions about how government policies influence the connotations of languages. While the policies imposed by colonial regimes and those enacted today in response to immigration are not identical, both offer opportunities to investigate how language policies may affect individual identities. The ―Globalization in Comparative Perspective‖ year abroad, sponsored by the Macalester College Institute for Global Citizenship, was a prime opportunity to study the role of language in the globalizing world. Peter Singer writes of globalization: ―Over the past few centuries the isolation has dwindled. Slowly at first, then with increasing rapidity. Now people living on opposite sides of the world are linked in ways previously unimaginable.‖ii I use two case studies to exemplify how increasing global interaction compels governments and citizens to re-examine identities that were, perhaps, previously less challenged. My fall semester in Tunisia offers insight into the lasting effects of mixing a history of French colonization with the cultural legacies of an Arab state. My spring semester in the Netherlands, alternatively, facilitated a study of the ways immigration may generate an urge to protect an identity that was once taken as a given. Both locations have experienced encounters between different cultures, with different languages. The more I observed language dynamics in these locations, the more the rationales behind the choices fascinated me. Amartya Sen’s arguments influence my conviction that language as a medium of identity requires a multi-faceted analysis. Sen acknowledges the society-wide effects that designations of identity generate, but he also emphasizes the role of personal choice in their expression. Inspired by Sen’s claim that a person faced with plural identities prioritizes them based on political and social circumstances, this study asks: In what ways do government language policies influence how an individual evaluates the significance of his or her concurrent identities?
Establishing Regional Integration: The African Union and the European Union (PDF)
Sougrynoma Z. Sore
Whether they are world travelers, global citizens, slum dwellers, or farmers in remote villages, people all across the world have, in one way or the other, been exposed to the forces of globalization. Globalization has infiltrated all aspects of life, and as such, is now one of the ―catch‖ terms that has entered the daily jargon. Globalization seems to be everywhere, continuously influencing and affecting the individual. In international relations, these global forces have also shaped state behavior and the way states interact on the international scene. The rise of global capitalism and the emergence of non-state actors as influential borderless entities have distributed power to the most economically advanced of the world. Furthermore, the increasing interconnectedness of the world has progressively undermined borders, making them more and more illusory. Space has become trans-local. We now live in a world where the interests of small and big nations are ever more intertwined. Ulrich Beck describes globalization as ―the process through which sovereign national states are criss-crossed and undermined by transnational actors with varying prospects of power, orientations, identities and networks.‖1 In the history of state and empire formation, such international power dynamics have triggered desires to build coalitions and create strong ties that would grant more leverage in the global arena. This gave rise to regionalism. As a discourse, regionalism can be explained through several theoretical frameworks, depending on the context of bloc formation. The (neo)realist approach to regionalism is best described by World War and Cold War state integrations. The basic assumption is that fear of domination by one state, or the desire to control one state‘s authority, induces nations to seek alliances. In that framework, national interests are most important. Later theories, such as neofunctionalism and neo-liberalism, would focus more on the interdependence of, and the increasing demand for, cooperation between states to explain regionalism.2 Various models of regionalism have developed throughout the world since the 1940s. Some regional entities have only concerned themselves with trade relations, leading to the creation of Free Trade areas like the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA). Others embarked on a journey of economic and political integration, as exemplified by the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU). The two regional organizations are particularly interesting because, while they achieved very different degrees of integration, they both received criticism for their lack of democracy. These controversies triggered my desire to research the AU and the EU under the scope of the legitimacy of regional integration and democracy. To engage with the topic, I asked the following research questions: What is the role of democracy in legitimizing the AU and the EU? How important is democracy for the future of these two regional entities as legitimate representatives of their populations?
Appendix (PDF)