Rantanen’s
definition of Globalisation, “a process in which worldwide economic, political,
cultural and social relations have become increasingly mediated across time and
space,” fails to capture an important element, the environment.
Just like
economic, cultural and social relations, the environment has also become
increasingly mediated across time and space.
The environment
is a living and breathing organism that enables us to visibly see the effects of globalization. It could even be argued that the environment is actually nature’s
way of giving humanity a report card on the health of our activities.
The ever-expanding
global community is greatly impacting on the environment and the physical
changes in environmental conditions are not just isolated to the activities
taking place in the originating region. The affects are felt right across the
globe and our actions are affecting people and places we probably don’t even
realize exist.
In relative terms, the realization that the environment is greatly encapsulated in, and effected by globalisation, has only been recently realized. The world is now waking up to this fact and there are now movements underway to examine the implications of globalisation on the environment and what we can do to minimize the damage.
Three Earth Summits have been held since 1992 to address the impact of globalisation on the
environment and another one is scheduled to be held in 2012. While progress has
been slow, these summits are prime examples of the environment being a key element
to globalisation and add weight to my claim that it should be included in
Rantanen’s definition.
Rantanen, T 2005, The media and globalization, Sage,
London
References:
Sacklax40
2008, Human Impact On The Environment,
Slideshare, Retrieved 22nd July 2012, <http://www.slideshare.net/sacklax40/human-impact-on-the-environment-presentation >
Information
Unit on Climate Change 1992, Fact Sheet
201 How policy-makers are responding to global climate change, Centre for
International Earth Science Information Network, Retrieved 22nd July
2012, <http://ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/iucc201/fs201.html>
Earth
Summit 2012 2012, Earth Summit 2012,
Earth Summit 2012, Retrieved 22nd July 2012, <http://www.earthsummit2012.org/ >
I like your thoughts on the environmental side of globalisation, and I agree that they are rarely addressed together. Just some notes; when you say that the global community is greatly impacting on the environment, it would be beneficial, as a reader to have an example. It is clear that you have done research by collecting you links, etc., but it would be worth incorporating some scholarly references to add some weight to your argument (you also need to reference Rantanen, i.e. Rantanen, T 2005, The media and globalization, Sage, London, pp.1-18.)
ReplyDeleteThis is a good post that clearly shows how environmental factors are being ignored, I think it might have been good to talk about the implications of that though, and why it's so important we consider it. I also agree with Dana, I think you need to reference the quote but also where you found out about the world summits.
ReplyDeleteHi there. Yes, I do agree with you that environment is also one of crucial aspects of life, You explained it so well as you gave the hyperlinks, very well references which can straighten your idea and thought. My feedback is, health is also fundamental aspect of life that Rantenan did not mentioned it. All aspects are interconnected and have become increasingly mediated across time and space. However, I like the way you put your sources, very elaborative and comprehensive. It seems like you really did a research. Good job!
ReplyDeletecheers
Pristan
The first thing about your post that stood out for me, and something I hadn’t seen much of in other ALC215 blogs, was your use of hyperlinks. I think they’re a great way of including additional background information, without hindering the flow of your argument. Secondly, I thought it was fantastic to see someone critique the lack of awareness for the environment in some of these prominent definitions of globalisation. As a reader, I found your phrasing of the environment as ‘humanity’s report card’ both creative and effective in engaging me and getting your point across. I do agree with some of the above criticisms (i.e. include more stats to back up your points), having said that, I still think the post reads and presents really well. Keep up the good work.
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