There was a lot of very interesting info here. From the discussion on the social order, to the WTO, to economic hit-men. Very intriguing. The WTO clip was very helpful, too. You made some excellent links to the reading, and chose some choice quotes to exemplify your points. One of the issues watching the presentation related to overall coherency... how do these segments tie in together.
How does the configuration of the social order help us to understand what is going on in the world when it comes to global economics and institutions?
How are rap music, the WTO, and economic hit men related?
What might it say about who holds power in a global society? And what affects will this have on the various identities across the globe.
10 comments:
I would have to say that this was a very interesting presentation, but very segmented with how the topics were presented. The component about the economy, corporations, organizations, and how they were organized was interesting and well done. I think a definition you might want to use to link all the ideas to one another is global stratification. I think this idea goes back to what was mentioned two lectures ago. The concept of money and power also links to ideology and identity. People with much more money and power have more well known identities than the average person. Just some terms and concepts for you guys to think about, but otherwise an excellent presentation that I enjoyed very much. Well done!
This was a great presentation that offered alot of new information. Social order helps us understand what is going on in the world because it is a concept used in sociology, history and other social sciences. It is a relatively stable system of institutions, pattern of interactions and customs, capable of continually reproducing at least those conditions essential for its own existence. Rap music, the WTO and economic hit men are related because all three are taking place everywere around the world. Those with lots of money and wealth hold the power everywere in global society.
Shamus, that's a really excellent point re: stratification. I think actually seeing that stratification in some visual way might have helped, too. Such interesting material, though.
Janine, that's a very good definition of the social order. You're right to say that it affects everything....
A
Because social order and global institutions are structured and operated similarly, to understand one is to understand the other. Knowing the workings of social order directly reflect comprehending institutions.
Janine put it well when she said that Rap music, the WTO and economic hit men were related by their presence around the globe. It was very interesting to see how rap had transferred and incorporated itself into other cultures and languages. This proves that global culture has immense power when it comes to spreading ideas, cultures, and the like. It helps to move and spread parts of societies to places where they couldn’t exist otherwise.
Stuart
Social order and global institutions are similar in the fact that those people with the most money have the most power and vise versa. Therefore, like Stuart says, if you learn about one it is just like learning about the other.
I also think the reason they talked about the WTO, rap music, and economic hit men was to show that those things are present everywhere. That connection didn't jump out at me during the presentation but I can see it now after taking a closer look.
Well done!
-Lauren
I have a few things to add for clarity on why the presentation seemed segmented. We never actually could meet as a group because two of the group members live off campus and work long hours, we had to do a large portion of the presentation via email. This is not an excuse but just some background to the complications of doing a group project.
I agree with Shamus when he says that the project would have been nicely tied together with some backround on global stratification. I guess we just kind of thought that of the idea as being assumed rather than actually going into any detail. Global stratification ties everything from rap music to the WTO together. This is due not only to wealthy individuals who control the majority of power but also other counties trying to emerge as industrialized nations. I kind of look at it in the same way a younger sibling may want to be "just like" an older sibling or their parents. This in a more subtle way also increases the affects of globalization.
This shows that those who are wealthly hold the power in society. In such cases as the WTO where the organization is comprised of the wealthy elite, as well as the Western Cultured which is veiwed globally as being wealthy have an increasing amounts of control and power as the world becomes more globalized. Thus furthering the gap between the rich and poor.
Stratification is not something that is a new concept. Hierarchies have been in place in almost every country in the world, for example Spain and Latin America, as well as India where castes still exhists.Giving this backround would have been a great idea for this presentation thanks for the feedback!
Sam
Organizations whihch pushing globalization is holding power, I think. Because, today, expanding globalization, in other world, expanding capitalism. So, the free market is expanding, too, and the gap between poor and rich also is expanding.
Social order and global instutions are very influenced each other, I think.
WTO, rap music, and economic hit men are spreading aroud the world, are intresting points.
Susumu Ikeda
I agree with Lauren, that the wealthy are more likely to hold power. That's why we often hear about the wealthy getting wealthier while the poor get poorer, thus expanding the gap.
Rap music, the WTO and economic hit men have evolved somewhat over time to gain global attention. For example, rap didn't always have the bling-bling city image.
Fallon
I really enjoyed the presentation. I had never heard the term economic hit men until it was mentioned during your presentation.
I just want to share that there are no businesses to small to be bullied by these "hitmen" I work for a man who used to own an oil distribution business in rural Aroostook County, one of the small towns surrounding Presque Isle. There is a business that is all over Maine and New Brunswick that have there hands in logging, paper, and oil. They wanted to buy his business when he was not interested in selling. Two men showed up in his office for a "civilized" meeting to tell him that they wanted to buy his business. He declined and they told very subtly that his business would be closed before long then. They were so sly about it that he did not realize they threatened his business until he was almost home that night.
This shows that even in rural Maine, there are these hit men who go to businesses and try to bully them out of the market.
In addition to everyone else's comments I had also never before heard the term economic hit men. It's very scary to think that capitalism has taken such a threatening and invasive turn. But I guess it has been going that way for a while now...which is probably an understatement. And also it is importnat to recognize that as globalization is occuring so is the spread of capitilism and there fore also its implicit values and ethics system is also being shared all over the world. All in all we have to think, what aspects of our American capitilism culture do we want to be shared?? I always just seem to be so torn about the state of the capitlism society. There is so much good, but it comes along with so much bad as well.
Anyways though, I thought that this presentation brought alot of new ideas to light, and that each of them talked very well.
Brittany McIntosh
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