Publish : 06 Jan 2022, 01:25 AMUpdate : 06 Jan 2022, 01:32 AM
In the era of globalization, the nation-state has no cultural boundaries. Regional issues have become global and, in the same way, global issues have become regional. Contemporary globalization is the increasing flow of trade, finance, culture, etc, that we all know, but this flow occurs through the lens of neoliberal capitalism. A system that has all but split the world world asunder.
When we talk about globalization and the changing nature of the nation state, it is essential to know about the idea of the nation state itself and the characteristics of neoliberalism.
Nation-state
At first, it is essential to say that state is an abstract matter. It has no exact definition. People encountered it differently in their everyday practices. The nation-state is something whose significant portion of the population holds a common identity and culture. Some characteristics of a nation-state are an independent territory, a central government, a specific population, and the ability to interact with other independent states.
Neoliberalism is a policy model which encompasses economics and politics. It transfers control of economic affairs from the public sector to the private sector. It works for the manifestation of free-market capitalism. Today, we consider the rapid growth of economic capitalism as neoliberalism on a global scale. According to scholars, globalization as a whole is inextricably connected with neoliberalism. The main features of neoliberalism are the role of the market, deregulation, privatization, etc.
In the current epoch of globalization, a country doesn’t have anything called its “own." Amalgamating themselves with the culture and process of the others has created a hybrid entity. Now, people are going beyond their cultural boundaries. They’ve systematically influenced their nation state. As a result, the term “ethno” is widely ambiguous in ethnography.
Neoliberalists believe that the government should be removed from the economic sphere in order to shape the market towards its own goals. The primary concepts of neoliberalism are eradicating tax, quota, and other existing barriers to foreign investment. Free market trade is the one true coda.
Transnational corporations maintain the economy of any given country. Thereby, the role of nation states is reducing day by day. In the neoliberal belief system, the market is always experiencing issues. A form of “global governance” evolved from this belief system the aim of which is to resolve global problems. This is not a conventional form of governance as it operates under enterprise logic. They perform some certain activities which the national agencies previously performed.
The structure, logic, and nature of the nation state is changed through the process, and the ideological validity of the market increases manifold. At a certain level, it shows that there is no boundary to a state, thus a borderless situation is created. The government's own control system is curtailed.
The global government favors strong economic countries, most notably the US.
If we look closely, we would see that developed countries are the primary beneficiaries of globalization, while developing countries have become even more exploited and marginalized. The golden age of globalization happened in the late nineteenth century when almost every country started using a common financial system called “the Gold Standard.”
Since then, the process of “regionalization” has been kept well and alive. Now, world economics is ruled by the three main economic blocks: North America, Europe, and East Asia. They are the primary beneficiaries of world trade and economics. Due to these three major financial blocks, foreign investment is limited to companies from a handful of advanced economies.
Multinational corporations open their outlets in third-world countries and, materially, the profits that arise from these corporations are consumed by their home state. Moreover, Western countries tend to export their culture, thinking, and ideals over to countries of lesser development status, creating a cultural hegemony so to speak.
The national government has little authority to regulate the works of the multinational corporations as the government is totally incapable of controlling the process of globalization. It just cannot be stopped. That's why the American sociologist Daniel Bell, in 1997, said: “National governments are largely incapable of answering big questions such as the impact of global economic competition or the destruction of the world's environment.”
Because of the absence of an authentic economic policy, most developing countries can’t be efficient in their economics. The negotiation power of those countries to consult with the multinational corporation is reduced. Countries reform themselves to fulfill the desires of the global government. These activities affect traditional values, thoughts, and other components of their culture. Many countries face environmental and social damage due to globalization. Women and children are abused, human rights are violated.
Rinse and repeat.
“Third world countries can’t benefit much from global governance” this denotation can be proved by an example of an organization known as the UN Security Council. The organization has 15 members with powerful countries like the US, China, the UK, Russia, and France being permanent members. When in need of a law to solve a crisis, the organization requires nine votes, where the votes of the five countries mentioned above are crucial.
Then it turns out that developing countries, like our own Bangladesh, have no value in this decision-making process -- the decision adopted by those powerful countries. According to Neo Gramscian theorist Robert W Cox, international organizations legitimize the regulation of the ruling countries as a "world order." Through this, others are controlled. International organizations are considered the mainstay of such authoritarian tactics.
The conventional image of a nation state is changed forever due to globalization. Powerful countries have benefited from this global process. Ironically, the globalization process is more fragmented than global. Instead of people and unions, it has globalized money and corporations. This process basically reduces the rule and authority of the nation-state, but, above all, it has given way to the process of denationalization if anything.
Grave new world
Is globalization simply neoliberalism in a grander disguise?
In the era of globalization, the nation-state has no cultural boundaries. Regional issues have become global and, in the same way, global issues have become regional. Contemporary globalization is the increasing flow of trade, finance, culture, etc, that we all know, but this flow occurs through the lens of neoliberal capitalism. A system that has all but split the world world asunder.
When we talk about globalization and the changing nature of the nation state, it is essential to know about the idea of the nation state itself and the characteristics of neoliberalism.
Nation-state
At first, it is essential to say that state is an abstract matter. It has no exact definition. People encountered it differently in their everyday practices. The nation-state is something whose significant portion of the population holds a common identity and culture. Some characteristics of a nation-state are an independent territory, a central government, a specific population, and the ability to interact with other independent states.
Neoliberalism is a policy model which encompasses economics and politics. It transfers control of economic affairs from the public sector to the private sector. It works for the manifestation of free-market capitalism. Today, we consider the rapid growth of economic capitalism as neoliberalism on a global scale. According to scholars, globalization as a whole is inextricably connected with neoliberalism. The main features of neoliberalism are the role of the market, deregulation, privatization, etc.
In the current epoch of globalization, a country doesn’t have anything called its “own." Amalgamating themselves with the culture and process of the others has created a hybrid entity. Now, people are going beyond their cultural boundaries. They’ve systematically influenced their nation state. As a result, the term “ethno” is widely ambiguous in ethnography.
Neoliberalists believe that the government should be removed from the economic sphere in order to shape the market towards its own goals. The primary concepts of neoliberalism are eradicating tax, quota, and other existing barriers to foreign investment. Free market trade is the one true coda.
Transnational corporations maintain the economy of any given country. Thereby, the role of nation states is reducing day by day. In the neoliberal belief system, the market is always experiencing issues. A form of “global governance” evolved from this belief system the aim of which is to resolve global problems. This is not a conventional form of governance as it operates under enterprise logic. They perform some certain activities which the national agencies previously performed.
The structure, logic, and nature of the nation state is changed through the process, and the ideological validity of the market increases manifold. At a certain level, it shows that there is no boundary to a state, thus a borderless situation is created. The government's own control system is curtailed.
The global government favors strong economic countries, most notably the US.
If we look closely, we would see that developed countries are the primary beneficiaries of globalization, while developing countries have become even more exploited and marginalized. The golden age of globalization happened in the late nineteenth century when almost every country started using a common financial system called “the Gold Standard.”
Since then, the process of “regionalization” has been kept well and alive. Now, world economics is ruled by the three main economic blocks: North America, Europe, and East Asia. They are the primary beneficiaries of world trade and economics. Due to these three major financial blocks, foreign investment is limited to companies from a handful of advanced economies.
Multinational corporations open their outlets in third-world countries and, materially, the profits that arise from these corporations are consumed by their home state. Moreover, Western countries tend to export their culture, thinking, and ideals over to countries of lesser development status, creating a cultural hegemony so to speak.
The national government has little authority to regulate the works of the multinational corporations as the government is totally incapable of controlling the process of globalization. It just cannot be stopped. That's why the American sociologist Daniel Bell, in 1997, said: “National governments are largely incapable of answering big questions such as the impact of global economic competition or the destruction of the world's environment.”
Because of the absence of an authentic economic policy, most developing countries can’t be efficient in their economics. The negotiation power of those countries to consult with the multinational corporation is reduced. Countries reform themselves to fulfill the desires of the global government. These activities affect traditional values, thoughts, and other components of their culture. Many countries face environmental and social damage due to globalization. Women and children are abused, human rights are violated.
Rinse and repeat.
“Third world countries can’t benefit much from global governance” this denotation can be proved by an example of an organization known as the UN Security Council. The organization has 15 members with powerful countries like the US, China, the UK, Russia, and France being permanent members. When in need of a law to solve a crisis, the organization requires nine votes, where the votes of the five countries mentioned above are crucial.
Then it turns out that developing countries, like our own Bangladesh, have no value in this decision-making process -- the decision adopted by those powerful countries. According to Neo Gramscian theorist Robert W Cox, international organizations legitimize the regulation of the ruling countries as a "world order." Through this, others are controlled. International organizations are considered the mainstay of such authoritarian tactics.
The conventional image of a nation state is changed forever due to globalization. Powerful countries have benefited from this global process. Ironically, the globalization process is more fragmented than global. Instead of people and unions, it has globalized money and corporations. This process basically reduces the rule and authority of the nation-state, but, above all, it has given way to the process of denationalization if anything.
Anas Ibna Rahman is a freelance contributor.