Part X of our Globalization Reader sounded the alarm regarding environmental issues and degradation of our world's finite resources. In an 1987 report from the World Commission on Environment and Development, they make a salient point especially clear: the time is now to effectively manage environment resources and create a sustainable future to ensure human progress and … [Read more...]
China’s Empty Cities, A Symptom of “Globalism’s Discontents?”
In Joesph E. Striglitz chapter, "Globalism's Discontents," he argues that "globalization has meant different things in different places." Why have some countries been able to use tools and trade afforded by globalization to the benefit of many, while other countries have seen increases in poverty and exploitation? Striglitz writes that "the most successful globalizing countries … [Read more...]
Twitter Poets re: insidious consumerism destroying Augé “place”
re: our class discussion today -- I am reminded of several poets who respond to the human condition via Twitter, like Steve Roggenbuck, beachsloth, dril, and notably, postcrunk. On the spectrum of Augé concept of place (relational, historical, and concerned with identity, which make identity possible, both for the individual and the group) to non-place (lacking historical, … [Read more...]
Commodification of the Self & “McWorld”
What does the commodified self look like? I am interested in examining what William Robinson calls total commodification of social life in a globalized world, how it connects to the Kardashian-cultural juggernaut and finally, how these 2 concepts reflect McKenzie Wark's theory of the new ruling class. I am continually struck by the way that the Kardashian Empire intuits new … [Read more...]
