Disadvantages of Globalization

Every concept has its own advantages and disadvantages, and globalization is no exception. Of late, these advantages and disadvantages have brought it to the debating table, thus divided the world into two - those supporting globalization and those opposing it. In this article, we will try to evaluate its disadvantages in order to figure out why the critics of this concept are opposing it so fiercely. At the end of the day, everybody deserves a fair chance, and we can't just take the advantages of globalization into consideration and go ahead with it.

Globalization: An Overview

It is very difficult to come to a consensus on the issue of globalization. While some people define it as a process whereby various economies, societies and cultures come together as a global network by means of communication, trade and transportation, others restrict its definition to globalization of economies i.e. whereby various national economies are integrated and brought on a common platform to create a world economy. Experts from the field of economics are of the opinion that the latter should be specifically referred to as economic globalization to distinguish it from overall globalization. At the end of the day, we can informally put it as the entire world turning into a global village, and development in various fields forming the basis for the same.

Disadvantages of Globalization

So what's the harm if the entire world is coming together on a common platform? Why are we even discussing whether globalization is good or bad for the world? As we said earlier, everything has a good side and a bad side. The bad side of globalization predominantly revolves around the fact that the preferences differ from nation to nation, and coming to a consensus on any issue becomes more difficult when too many nods are required. When it comes to globalization, the difference between the rich and poor nation can be a major hindrance. Even though the richer nations will try to assimilate and help poor nations come up, they will not sacrifice on their national interests willingly.

Economic Problems: If the entire world becomes a global village, any sort of economic disruption in one nation will have a disastrous impact on various other nations which are closely related to it in terms of trade and commerce. It will be a domino-effect wherein disturbance in one economy would result in disturbance in another, and so on!

Cultural Problems: Culture and globalization also seem to be at the loggerheads. Critics of globalization are also of the opinion that it will hamper the age-old cultures which have been followed religiously all over the world. There are many countries in the world which would never agree to compromise when it comes to culture or religion. Migration will become even easier, and the influence of local cultures and traditions will slowly start to wear down. Incessant westernization of Southeast Asian nations has already put western cultural beliefs and traditions under the scanner in these countries.

Unemployment: One may feel that globalization is promoting employment, but the fact is exactly reverse of this is happening, especially in developed countries wherein people are losing jobs as a result of outsourcing. Several major companies from the United States and United Kingdom have outsourced their jobs to the developing nations in Asia, this has in turn resulted in unemployment in these countries.

Spread of Diseases: Increase in flow of people will also result in spread of diseases, and thus make people more vulnerable to health issues. We do have many examples in history wherein outbreak of a particular disease happened in some part of the world, and before we could realize it spread throughout the world.

The critics of globalization and those involved in anti-globalization movement often argue that the implications of this phenomenon will be seen in economics, culture, health and employment, and most of the countries are not ready to take on these disadvantages head-on. Taking their seriousness into consideration, it is not at all possible to turn a blind eye towards these negative effects of globalization. The need of the hour, therefore, is to evaluate the pros and cons of this concept to find out which of the two have an edge over the other.