Posts Tagged ‘globalization’
November 19, 2009
Source: Transparency International
Transparency International posted their latest report on the most corrupt countries. On their scale of 10 (zero being the most corrupt), the majority of the 180 participating countries rank a five or higher. Unsurprisingly, the most corrupt countries are:
- Somalia, with a score of 1.1,
- Afghanistan at 1.3,
- Myanmar at 1.4
- and Sudan tied with Iraq at 1.5.
The highest scorers in the 2009 CPI are:
- New Zealand at 9.4,
- Denmark at 9.3,
- Singapore and Sweden tied at 9.2
- and Switzerland at 9.0.
Using this report as a springboard, the Global Sociology blog offers a good summary of a paper by Keith Darden on instutionalized graft. Interestingly, Darden argues that graft doesn’t necessarily represent the breakdown of political institutions. Instead, he writes:
“I argue that graft often serves as a form of unofficial compensation that reinforces rather than undermines the formal institutions of the state and can provide leaders with additional means to control subordinate officials. In sum, despite the deleterious effect that graft may have on democracy and economic development, there are circumstances under which graft may reinforce the state’s administrative hierarchies.”
Posted in sociology | Leave a Comment »
Tags: corruption, crime, data, globalization, policy, politics, sociology
October 28, 2009
(h/t J.D.) The International Museum of Women has a new online exhibit called “Economica” about the experiences of women in the global economy. The site features podcasts, slideshows, and forums on gender and globalization. In particular, I’d recommend checking out their list of films. It’s a terrific resource. The “Your Voices” section is also interesting.
Posted in sociology | Leave a Comment »
Tags: families, gender, globalization, inequality, poverty, sociology
October 1, 2009
Treehugger has an interesting post on helping poor women deal with climate change. The blog includes links to several organizations advocating for women’s rights around the world. Since the majority of people living under the poverty line are women and the poor are hurt the most by climate change, it makes sense for the Clinton Initiative and Oxfam to focus on helping poor women deal with environmental disaster.
According to Treehugger and the Girl Effect Campaign:
There’s strong evidence to suggest that investing in women’s empowerment and education also yields disproportionate returns. For example, when a woman earns income, she invests more than 90% back into her family, compared to only 30-40% for a man. Yet as Brian noted in his post on the CGI, only 1% of funding given to developing countries is given to women.
Oxfam is also participating in this initiative. Their Sisters on the Planet Campaign is ”highlighting women around the world who are actively involved in empowering their communities and fighting climate change.” They have created videos profiling women, such as Sahena from Bangladesh to show “how women can not only empower themselves to help their communities, but how that empowerment creates a wider cultural shift toward inclusion and respect for women.”
Posted in sociology | Leave a Comment »
Tags: environment, gender, globalization, inequality, social change, sociology
September 23, 2009
SOURCE: Daily Mail
Via Fringe Thoughts, I came across this article in the Daily Mail about a fleet of ships anchored off the coast of Singapore. The number of containers ships idling near Sungai Rengit is equivalent to the British and U.S. navies combined. According to the article in the Daily Mail, “if ever you had an irrational desire to charter one, now would be the time. This time last year, an Aframax tanker capable of carrying 80,000 tons of cargo would cost £31,000 a day ($50,000). Now it is about £3,400 ($5,500).”
You may be wondering what ships abandoned in Southeast Asia have to do with us. The Daily Mail explains:
These empty ships should be carrying Christmas over to the West. All retailers will have already ordered their stock for the festive season long ago. With more than 92 per cent of all goods coming into the UK by sea, much of it should be on its way here if it is going to make it to the shelves before Christmas.
But retailers are running on very low stock levels, not only because they expect consumer spending to be down, but also because they simply do not have the same levels of credit that they had in the past and so are unable to keep big stockpiles.
Stopford explains: ‘Globalisation and shipping go hand in hand. Worldwide, we ship about 8.2 billion tons of cargo a year. That’s more than one ton per person and probably two to three tons for richer people like us in the West. If the total goes down by five per cent or so, that’s a lot of cargo that isn’t moving.’
The knock-on effect of so many ships sitting idle rather than moving consumer goods between Asia and Europe could become apparent in [the West] in the months ahead.
‘We will find out at Christmas whether there are enough PlayStations in the shops or not. There will certainly be fewer goods coming in to Britain [and the United States] during the run-up to Christmas.’
Posted in sociology | Leave a Comment »
Tags: economics, globalization, sociology
