regionalism response to globalisation

• Theme 1: For - economic

  • regional blocs promote globalisation. for example the EU's internal market with its 4 freedoms is often regarded as the highest form of globalisation
  • WTO - claimed that regionalism is the first step to successful economic globalisation, helps their unilateral trading system
  • EU made agreements with other blocs such as canada and japan - makes trade feer and creates an interconnected world
  • 2021 top 5 EU export products were machinery and equipment, pharmaceutical products, motor vehicles, chemical products, and computer, electronic and optical products
• Theme 1: Against

  • often the case that these regional blocs compete with institutions of economic global governance if they are inward looking
  • EU good example - labelled as fortress that conducts 'free trade within and unfair trade outside'
  • EU engages in unfair dumping practices such as sending below the market value milk to cameroon or dairy to ghana
• Theme 2: For - cultural regionalism

  • regional forms have often been used as a way to reassert local cultures in the face of americanisation and pax americana
  • globalisation has been critiqued for creating a global monoculture, where unique characteristics have been flattened out and been replaced with homogenous american culture
  • the arab league has an important cultural aspect to it - main objectives being promoting the arab islamic culture across the arab world and elsewhere
  • EU has large creator fund, creative europe, receives over 2 billion euros annually to support local arts and heritage
• Theme 2: Against

  • local outputs are now based on global monoculture, as shown by nollywood - built in the image of hollywood
  • arab league attempted to protect their culture but failed due to the diversity between the members
  • failure of cultural globalisation mainly down to social media, with youtube/ netflix giving everyone access to a flat monoculture
  • attempts of regional forums to prevent cultural globalisation has been unsuccessful
• Theme 3: For - political regionalism

  • countries have grouped together a way to prevent american dominance - backlash against bretton woods institutes
  • EU regional economic fund, invests in infrastructure of underdeveloped member states
  • china's promotion of its belt and road initiative, an attempt to challenge america's dominance
  • through creating separate institutions which mimic the work of the global ones, political regionalism can be labelled as a response to globalisation
• Theme 3: Against

  • states in political regional blocs pool sovereignty and become more influential collectively, significantly increasing states power within international organisations and forums
  • africa union works with the UN security council to send peacekeepers across africa - political regionalism compatible with globalisation
  • nations form political regional forums to facilitate globalisation