What I thought about as I was reading this was what has changed in the last
ten years or so since this was presumably written... Certainly the
technology and what it enables has proceeded as expected and as someone
mentioned exogenous forces (energy limitations, environmental boundaries
etc.) have begun to force their way into these analyses.
A few other observations though...
1. the institutional structures and particularly state structures
haven't evolved in response to the tech at anything like the pace of
industry/biz/finance... The degree of the time warp there is clearly evident
in the perplexed and confused astonishment with which the WikiLeaks phenom
has been greeted by "the powers that be"... That such a set of events such
as WikiLeaks was written into the DNA of PCs and the Internet was clearly
evident to anyone who chose to look coincident with the type of analysis
being presented below
2. the forces of globalization have acted as a peculiar trigger in
transforming China (and to an emergent extent India) from objects of
globalization and recipients of the forces of globalization to subjects and
initiators of global forces and trends. Both Canada and Australia have
sailed through the recession quite nicely it appears with winds coming from
the West across the Pacific rather than from the South. China's rapidly
emerging role in Asia and |Africa and even it appears in the Eurozone could
probably not have been anticipated as an impact of the tech revolution but
almost certainly it was. Where that leads us in Canada is still hard to
determine but our fate is increasingly tied up in China's industrial (and
resource use) policies.
3. increased globalization seems to have increased pressure for
migration rather than lessened it... The wide dispersion of images and
knowledge of opportunities and (relative) deprivation has led to migration
presssures from a range of social classes. (Interestingly, as with the
education of women leading to decreased birth rates, enhanced economic
development (opportunities) seems to be leading to a degree of reverse
migration as well.
4. increased globalization and thus an increased reliance on technology,
rational systems, science seems to have triggered a broad based if socially
specific retreat from these in the developed countries--with increases in
religiousity, anti-science movements, general know-nothingness
Some, as they say, unanticipated consequences...
Interesting times as we confront the blank page of a new year.
Mike
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Arthur Cordell
Sent: Friday, December 31, 2010 8:33 AM
To: <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected];
'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION'
Subject: [Ottawadissenters] Globalized Labour: A Canadian Perspective
Here is something I wrote over a decade ago. In cleaning up my files at
year's end I came across it. I think it still holds up.
Apologies to those who are seeing it again. If so, just delete.
Arthur
Globalized Labour: A Canadian Perspective
Arthur Cordell
With globalization domestic labour in the developed world increasingly finds
itself competing with labour from low-wage areas of the world. Often
low-wage areas are low in other areas as well: they often have little or no
environmental protection, few health-care or pension benefits, often don't
have or ignore child labour laws, etc. Low-wage areas are often kept low
because labour is not allowed to organize to collectively bargain for better
wages and benefits.
With globalization the developed world finds itself in a peculiar dilemma.
With powerful global networks of communications and distribution it finds
itself competing with the formerly separate markets of Asia and Latin
America. Jobs in the auto factories, steel mills--jobs in factories from all
sectors of the economy have moved offshore. Firms using information
technologies can issue orders, manage inventories, buy resources, design
products, or do research just about anywhere in the world. Firms can bring
together all factors of production to produce goods and services anywhere on
earth: global information and communication technologies mean that
corporations can have a virtual presence anywhere. With global brand names
the final product is produced anywhere; the final product is sold anywhere.
Global networks mean that work can be done elsewhere and imported into
Canada by satellite or ground links. New computer-related jobs have emerged
in the Barbados, Philippines and Ireland. Software is written overseas where
skills can often be obtained at one-fifth to one-third of the cost in North
America. For example, Bangalore in India is emerging as a centre of software
expertise. There is a growing global competition for the 'good jobs' that
are to be found in the 'new economy.'
Information technology is distance and time insensitive. Globalization
implies the increasing porosity of national boundaries. The notion of a
Canadian workforce doing 9 to 5 activities in a jurisdiction called Canada
is rapidly eroding. We have gone through the competition with low wage
countries in textiles, electronics and other manufactured products. Now a
sophisticated information infrastructure promises to make service workers
halfway around the world competitive with Canadians. Software, telephone
order takers, data entry, online data bases, etc. can be located wherever
the skills exist at the lowest cost. What are the long term implications for
Canada? For the mix of skills needed? Maintaining a high standard of living
means providing high value added jobs in Canada: how will this be
accomplished in the context of globalization?
Going global is the phenomenon where activities going on somewhere in the
world are relevant for someone somewhere else: the interested parties
include multinational firms, banks, and governments and citizens. Everybody
and everything is connected in a delicate interconnected networked globe.
Ultimately all citizens of the world become linked in a complex web held
together by communications networks. Response is, more and more, needed and
expected in real time. We are moving to a 24 hour work day.
Questions of time management and personal stress arise as the work day
blurs. Stock market closings in New York are followed by closings in
Vancouver, Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, and New York again. The race may go not
to the nimble but to those who can operate with very little sleep or who can
manage their time, and stress levels, most effectively.
The global market place is creating a 24 hour day. The stress associated
with the phenomenon goes beyond the banks, stock markets and multinationals.
It is increasingly common to watch morning television and see an interview
with someone in another time zone and learn of a market collapse, or a
bombing, a kidnapping, etc. With the strong visuals of global satellite
television we are suddenly jolted awake and learn that something has
happened during the night that will have an affect on us during our work
day. What are the implications for Canadians as citizens, as workers; for
government?
While most can recall the mantra of 'thinking globally but acting locally,'
a question arises as to the role of nation-states. It may be that
globalization is leading to a reversal of the mantra: it may be that the new
reality is one where acting globally and thinking locally is all that
nation-states can effectively manage.
The relative newness of globalization has caught governments off guard. It
was thought that government could issue a policy here, monitor a development
there and could, in general, muddle through. But global networks are
transformative. Globalization challenges the authority of existing
institutions.
The role of the nation state is being reviewed. With porous borders and
blurring boundaries governments in the developed areas have to grapple with
a host of issues that don't lend themselves to easy solutions: the economic
and political power of the multinationals; capital 'flightiness' to tax
havens; harmonization among all countries leading to possible lowered wages
and environmental controls; the opening up of the domestic labour force to
global competition.
The New Wealth of Nations means that governments have to develop policies
for the following propositions: That information has emerged as a strategic
resource that leads to new ways of organizing and achieving consensus. That
economic independence has given way to economic interdependence. That having
a work force that knows how to use computers is just as important as having
an economy that produces computers. That the range of information
technologies that make up the information infrastructure of an economy can
yield a competitive advantage in a complex, global, interdependent world
where decisions and responses are taking place in 'real time.'
A borderless world has emerged. Satellite communications and real time
transactions have linked the global business centres. Services flow between
countries. The technology is distance insensitive. When economies were based
on 'land, labour and capital,' barriers could be set up to control the
movement of goods, people and money, so as to protect and advance national
interests. Is this still possible when everything is increasingly based on
flows of electronic information through global networks? How can a nation
promote the wealth and welfare of its citizens in the information age? What
are 'national interests' in an increasingly globalized world?
Areas where national governments intervened in the past may no longer be
possible or desirable in the borderless, global world of tomorrow. National
jurisdictions may prove difficult or impossible to regulate; perhaps
regulation can only be achieved at a different level: more local in some
instances and more global in others.
Consider the emergence of global standards. Harmonization is taking place in
many areas. Converging standards will affect the regulatory regimes of all
countries. Ways of doing things that have gone on without question will be
challenged by cheaper and faster methods of 'doing business.' Regulations
concerning stock transactions and banking, environmental controls,
occupational health and safety, etc., will be challenged as harmonization
begins to take place. Will the world adjust to the best regulated countries,
the worst, or somewhere in between. How will Canada cope? How will
harmonization take place?
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