Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Modern Approach in Humanities.
Year: 2018 | Page No:13-17
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/6mah.2018.11.23
Is Globalization leading to No space and No Choice?
Nikita Khanna
ABSTRACT:
The paper tries to highlight the reasons behind the backlash against the increasing economic and cultural reach of multinational companies. Globalization is a process whereby corporations discovered that profits lay not in making products but in creating branded identities that people adopt in their lifestyles. The other very essential argument is that there is an increasing commercial takeover of public space, destruction of consumer choice, and replacement of real jobs with temporary work. There is an assault on civic spaces, civil liberties and employment. Interestingly there is also a democratic resistance arising globally to challenge the hegemony of these brands as they have become revered symbols worldwide. The age of the brand witnesses the evolution of a new relationship between the producer and its product. Originally, brands were meant to assure the quality of the product, today the brand has detached itself from the product to become the selling point. The paper further would give various examples as highlighted by Klein in NO LOGO to analyse how corporate global marketing takes place. It would trace a shift from product marketing to brand marketing that has relegated manufacturing to a subordinate role in contemporary capitalism. The resultant would be degradation of labour, environment and human rights. It would emphasise on the condition of underpaid outsourced temporary contract labourers and further analyse the role played by women workers as globalised labourers where studies have shown these corporations having a huge female unmarried workforce. It then will highlight anti corporate activism in light of contemporary agreements in WTO, the anti WTO movement, and other trade agreements with reference to global injustice and the role played by trade and labour regulations.