After reading the articles for this week, the emphasis on digital media and the role it plays global activism movements reminded me of a documentary i had seen call We Are Legion: The Story of Hacktivists. This film deconstructs the idea of hacktivism and gets down to the roots of the issue and its ultimate purpose. Hacktivism original purpose was the creation of software that … [Read more...]
Modern Islam: Rooted in Western Influence
In chapter 52 of The Globalization Reader, Kurzman tells us “Islamist political platforms share significant planks with Western modernity.” (p.393) Many of the Islamic states are against the monarchies of traditional Islam and societies like the Saudi dynasty in Arabia even favor egalitarian meritocracy. Many of the practices of this new age in Islam try to reinvent the ideas … [Read more...]
Cocainenomics
After reading Mittelman’s piece on Global Organized Crime, the first thing that came to mind was Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel. This drug enterprise is a prime example of “The rise of transnational organized crime groups spurred by technological innovations, especially advances in commercial airline travel, telecommunications…allowing for increased … [Read more...]
Does It All Come Down to Money and Power?
In chapter 26 of The Globalization Reader, Ashok Bardhan looks to explain the global financial crisis "The Crash". Bardhan's argument for the crash in the financial sector globally is over-financialization and globalization. When we discuss financialization we are talking about financial capital overriding what we see as the traditional industrial economy as well as the … [Read more...]
Peace, Contextualized by Self-interest
Responding to Article #8 of The Globalization Reader, Liberalism In his article, Burchill discusses "The spirit of commerce"and in doing so shares with his readers the way in which the liberal idea of free trade can promote peace. Burchill begins this section by discussing the idea that Liberals believed in, that war and commerce were simply incompatible notions. After … [Read more...]
