Capitalism: the Global Reach Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels - Annotated Bibliography Example

Running Head: Globalization and Education Education and Globalization Name Course Lecture Date Capitalism, the Global Reach Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: Bourgeois and Proletarians: According to Marx and Engel, a continuous class struggle characterizes society with the oppressed seeking to liberate himself from the oppressor. According to the two, the bourgeoisie society dominates both politics and the economy. With trade liberalization the bourgeoisie class has a chance to extend its influence all over the world. Free trade also brings about brutal exploitation of the working classes. While workers who are excellent at their work are well compensated by their companies in order to keep them, others are laid off if they are found to be redundant. Workers have to commit all their time to the organization to the detriment of other social aspects of their lives like family. Furthermore, professional like doctors, lawyers, and priest lose their respect as their labour is exploited for wages. Marx and Engels concluded that globalization makes the world flat. It gives chance for monopoly to grow. It destroys the nature of the world and tames people to be bourgeoisies. Finally, it creates its own world. Bourdieu, P. (2006) ‘The Forms of Capital’ Chapter 5 in H. Lauder et. al. Education, Globalisation and Social Change Oxford: Oxford University Press Pierre Bourdieu categorizes capital into economic, cultural and social capital. Economic capital is concerned with material possessions like money and property rights. Cultural capital is concerned with a shared understanding of doing things in a community. On the hand, social capital refers to connections between individual that are of social benefit. Social and cultural capital are the foundation for economic capital. In the views of Bourdieu (2006), the amount of capital – cultural, social and economic – possessed by family influence’s the family’s educational outcome. According to Bourdieu (2006), educational inequalities are a reflection of family resources, structures and practices. Education is involved in transforming one type of capital into another in a process he calls conversion. He concludes that family’s have to sacrifice some specific capital for this conversion to occur. Foucault, M. (2006) ‘The Means of Correct Training’ Chapter 7 in H. Lauder et. al. Education, Globalisation and Social Change Oxford: Oxford University Press According to Foucault (2006), strict discipline is part of correct training. In his views discipline succeeds through hierarchical observation, normalizing judgment, simple instruments, and the examination. Hierarchical observation refers to coercion through observation by those in authority. Normalizing judgment means the same offence attracts the same penalty every time. According to Foucault (2006), discipline must be of a mixed nature and must follow set rules and regulation to ensure it closes down gaps instead of creating new ones. Discipline in training and correction operates as the element of a double system of: gratification-punishment. Mixed nature's order is enforced by the disciplinary punishment. Distribution according to ranks and grades achieves two objectives; 1). It indicates the gaps, skills, hierarchies’ quality, aptitude and skill. A combination of normalizing judgment and hierarchical observation techniques is referred to as examination. Said, E. (2006) ‘Orientalism Now’ Chapter 8 in H. Lauder et. al. Education, Globalisation and Social Change Oxford: Oxford University Press. According to Said (2006), methodological failure of Orientalism is not rooted in two flawed core assumptions. It is not wrong to say that the orient is different from the way it is represented. Neither is wrong to assume that since westerners are not Orientalists that they do not have an inner sense of Orientalism. However, both these propositions are faulty. The concept of the Orient as people who occupy a certain geographical location is also faulty. Orientalist are supposed to be radically different individuals who are racially different and are recognized due to their religious, racial of cultural background and due to the fact that they come from the same distinct region. However, the approach of Orientalism is racial and uses lamentable jargon to describe people who come from the orient. Orientalism is still popular in the present world and now is published in the region's languages including Arabic, Japanese and Indian. According to Said (2006), the US attracts millions of students to study in its institutions that are under the patronage of western culture. The US leads in the production of research, business ideas and scholarship meaning the world is dominated by western ideology taught in these schools. Institutions in the Arab and Islamic world remain far behind in terms of influencing the ideology of the world. Therefore, the Arab and Islamic world is now captive to the Western free-market ideology. It takes people who know Orientalism well to free the Orient from western leaning ideologies. Beck, U & Beck-Gernsheim, E. (2006) ‘Beyond Status and Class?’ Chapter 9 in H. Lauder et. al. Education, Globalisation and Social Change Oxford: Oxford University Press In rich nations the question of inequality is no longer a class question but instead it is handled at the individual level. Individualization is a new socio-cultural commonalities used to denote the lack of class struggle in the present economy (Beck and Beck-Gernsheim, 2006) Individualization is shown by a demand by individuals to control their own money and time. Three dimensions of the labour market have arisen from individualization; mobility, education and competition. When people go through the formal educational system they gain marketable skills in the labour market. People with skills are upwardly mobile once they join the labour market. Several individuals will have the same skill while job opportunities remain few leading to a situation where competition arises. Education, mobility and competition remain interdependent dimension in the labour market. While Karl Marx equates individualization to formation of classes, individualization these days is eating away at the class boundaries. With time the ranges of lifestyles have increased exponentially (Beck and Beck-Gernsheim, 2006). While traditional lifestyle is waning this is not indicative of the end of class. The workplace and the firm no longer play an important role in determining the identity of an individual or in the resultant class conflict. Instead new private social bonds are forming with people having personalized modes of life and work. These new social identities and formation cannot be defined as part of the traditional class struggle. Unlike Marx’s prediction of a revolutionary end to class in society, collective individualization of post-modern workers is slowly eating away at class boundaries. Arnot, M. & Dillabough, J. (2006) ‘Feminist Politics and Democratic Values in Education’ Chapter 11 in H. Lauder et. al. Education, Globalisation and Social Change Oxford: Oxford University Press Feminism is a response to a patriarchal society that perceives everything from a male perspective (Arnot and Dillabough, 2006). The authors start by delineating the history of feminist thought and how it has been influenced by liberalism from its origins. Feminism addresses the concept that man is public and woman private which is said to be one of the spheres that influence feminist thought. Feminist believe that democracy can only be achieved when all genders are educated equally. However, much conflict comes up whenever the idea of equal education for both genders is considered with the public and private sphere factoring in into political reality to deny women an equal chance in education. According to Arnot and Dillabough (2006), gender, race and class mark major discrepancies in educational outcome in society. While feminist must continue to lead the opposition to male-centered assumption they must resist the idea of being lumped together as a group while still continuing to have an influential political voice. Feminism though remains relevant in conceiving the relationship between democracy and education. Appadurai, A. (2006) Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy’ Chapter 12 in H. Lauder et. al. Education, Globalisation and Social Change Oxford: Oxford University Press Intercultural exchange can cause a major alteration in the way we communicate. Initially communication was limited to face to face only but now people communicate over a wide range of channels with people of other distinctly different cultures (Appadurai, 2006). War and religious conversion are some of the forces that have traditionally been behind sustainable cultural interactions of this century. The whole world seems to have taken a new interest in the global South and it is important to know how to effectively communicate with these culturally diverse societies. With advances in communication technology a new form of capitalism named print capitalism has taken root (Appadurai, 2006). With more media to transmit information, culture can now be shared across the world more rapidly. With faster communication a global village is formed where people can communicate with others across the world instantly. However, some cultures refuse to integrate with other cultures due to factors Appadurai (2006) refers as the dynamics of indigenization. Most cultures will reject influence from the culture that they have been traditionally in conflict with. Green, A. (2006) ‘Education, Globalisation and the Nation State Chapter 13 in H. Lauder et.al. Education, Globalisation and Social Change Oxford: Oxford University Press Social scientists in political and cultural studies have taken a great interest on the topic of Globalization alongside the obvious interest from economists. Education continues to be influenced by political and cultural globalization in profound ways (Green, 2006). Due to globalization and postmodernist thought, education is no longer a state or a national project; educational planners have to prepare candidates to work in globalized context. Due to economic globalization, learning has been turned into a commodity and people can travel around the world to gain the kind of education they desire. Education no longer involves imparting students with local culture but rather concentrates on them developing global cultural competence. Education is now characterized by greater staff and student mobility, educational policy borrowing and attempts to integrate and internationalize educational curricula (Green, 2006). Advances in communication technology also mean time and space limitation have been overcome and people can take lessons in the comfort of their homes at their most convenient time. However, most national governments still hold considerable control over their educational system and can still use it to target national goals. Robertson, S. L., Bonal, X & Dale, R. (2006) ‘GATS and the Education Service Industry’ Chapter 16 in H. Lauder et. al. Education, Globalisation and Social Change Oxford: Oxford University Press. According to Robertson, Bonal and Dale (2006), the World Trade Organization is set to take over the role of national government as the chief provider of education services in the world. The two show education is indeed a commodity by quoting the $US1 trillion dollars annual global spending in education. The WTO’s General Agreements on Trade in Services, through its functions and obligations will ensure educational system dispense capitalism ideology while turning education into a commodity. According to the three, the WTO agenda in taking over education services in the westernization of global education so liberalism can become the dominant ideology. Once a nation becomes a member of GATS, it is under obligation to remove protectionist rules that favor local producers over foreign ones (Robertson, Bonal and Dale (2006). Such obligation may force the government to stop subsidizing education in local facilities. When government subsidies are removed from education, education is no longer a utility but rather a commodity which can be accessed according to an individual’s ability to pay. It is further noted that Multinational that distribute textbooks are likely to sell set books to developing countries that are US-centric or promote their home country’s political ideology. Exposing education to capitalism has eroded its value as an equalizing opportunity that can lead to meritocracy. Rizvi, F. & Lingard, B. (2006) ‘Globalisation and the Changing Nature of the OECD’s Educational Work’ Chapter 17 in H. Lauder et. al. Education, Globalisation and Social Change Oxford: Oxford University Press. Educational institutions are under enormous pressure to adopt educational policy proposed by western intergovernmental organizations. Western countries use loans and aid to force their policies on developing countries in the name of accountability (Rizvi and Lingard, 2006). Peer pressure and consensus building in negotiation are some of the tactics used to coerce developing countries to accept neoliberal policies for education. Through open debates, a system of directorates at the national and regional levels, policy proposals are communicated to member and nonmember states. The policy is based on the idea that education is mainly a tool to build human resources on order to remain competitive in the labour market. Western ideas emphasize economic goal over social and cultural goals. Through the effort of western countries most countries have adopted neo-liberal approaches to education and privatization of education is taking root in developing countries. This adoption of neo-liberal approach is turning education into a commodity rather than a utility in countries where it is most needed. Olssen, M. (2006) ‘Neoliberalism, Globalisation, Democracy’ Chapter 18 in H. Lauder et. al. Education, Globalisation and Social Change Oxford: Oxford University Press Due to the increased interconnectedness between nations brought about by globalization, nation states are losing control over economic, health environmental and human rights policy (Olssen, 2006). The powerful states now set global policy on most of these issues. However, most states still guarantee individual’s positive and negative rights (Olssen, 2006). Negative rights refer to the control that the state must maintain over individual to ensure that they safely and responsibly enjoy their rights. On the other hand positive freedom is a reference to an individual access to opportunities for development and inclusiveness in society. Education is an important factor in developing and promoting democratic norms in a society. Education is thus one of the rights that a government should provide to its citizen as a positive right to ensure that they have opportunities to develop. Therefore, nation state should retain control over their educational policy to ensure that it remains universal, free and compulsory. Becker, G (2006) ‘The Age of Human Capital’ Chapter 19 in H. Lauder et. al. Education, Globalisation and Social Change Oxford: Oxford University Press. Development of creative ideas and skills and the build-up of knowledge can be referred to as the development of human capital. According to Becker (2009), human capital holds the key to bringing the global economy back from recession. With education the wage gap gaps, skill gaps and gender inequality in the labour market can be significantly reduced. People should continuously seek to better their human capital by continuously studying throughout their lives. Through globalization professionals are able to study online and improve their skills. Communication technology enables online quizzes and exams, group discussions and access to curriculum material. People can also learn when they are free without needing to travel to physical classrooms. People who would normally be unable to gain admission to foreign universities can now gain qualifications from the Globe’s most popular university without having to translocate. Marketing, Finance, management and technology are among the pioneer courses that are offered online with most other following suit in the near future. Globalization in this context is thus a tool for the development of human capital and thus enables individuals and society advance economically. Norton, W et. al. (2006) ‘The Globalisation of Rhetoric and Practice’ Chapter 20 in H. Lauder et. al. Education, Globalisation and Social Change Oxford: Oxford University Press. Most international organizations maintain that the objective of an education system should be economic and utilitarian goals (Norton et. al. (2006). They also hold that a county’s graduates should be competitive and education system should as much as possible address national goals. Student’s should thus be only taught the skills they need for employment a process that Norton et. al. (2006) refers to as vacationalizing. According to Norton et al (2006) this narrow thinking leads to market-oriented education that has no social role. Furthermore, this perspective widens the class inequality in educational achievement. Tertiary education is now divided in academic and vocational institutions with the more wealthy admitted into an academic institution while the poor remain in vocational institutions. Training in academic institutions is geared towards managerial training while in vocational institutions prepare candidates for low paying technical jobs. In so doing the educational system continues to be a tool for maintaining the superiority of the Bourgeoisie over other classes, “inequality begets inequality in so many ways” (p. 303). States should thus turn a deaf ear to those calling for the vocationalizing of education as it leads to the poor receiving poor quality education, meaning that they are denied an opportunity for personal development. Reich, R. (2006) ‘Why the Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer’ Chapter 21 in H. Lauder et. al. Education, Globalisation and Social Change Oxford: Oxford University Press This chapter is concerned about the increasing income inequality between the wealthy and the poor in most global societies. Reich (2006) explains this worrying phenomenon through a metaphor. In the metaphor Reich divides society into three classes; lower class, middle class and upper class. In his views due to low quality skills the lower class keeps on losing their jobs. While the middle class who possess higher skills levels seem to be immobile. On the other hand, the upper class has the human capital to produce ideas and products to sell to foreign countries, thus they keep getting richer. Reich’s (2006) argument is particularly relevant to education which has been commoditized due to the spread of economic liberalism across the world. Wealthy individuals are able to take their children to the best quality educational institution no matter where they are on the globe. In contrast, poor people can only afford the most basic education for their children. When these children grow, upper class children get the best paying jobs while the lower class has to settle for manual jobs or remain unemployed for huge chunks of their lives. Brown, P. & Lauder, H. (2006) ‘Globalisation, Knowledge and the Myth of the Magnet Economy’ Chapter 22 in H. Lauder et. al. Education, Globalisation and Social Change Oxford: Oxford University Press. Brown and Lauder (2006) declare education to be a crucial factor in the modern knowledge economy. The article tells the story of the rise of knowledge wars between states. With trade barriers broken the application of new technologies and high skills has taken centre stage requiring states to develop high levels of human capital. According to Brown and Lauder (2006) increased investment in education cannot solve the social conflicts, social inequalities and unequal opportunities that characterize global education. According to Brown and Lauder (2006), human capital is not enough but the right skill and knowledge alongside zeal and emotional intelligence to handle customers are essential in employable people as nowadays workplaces are under minimal supervision. Increased investment in human capital is not enough to solve the inequalities that characterize education. As seen in some developing countries more human capital sees people competing for one job and those who get the jobs are those who agree to the lowest pay. Kamat, S. et. al.. (2006) ‘Producing Hi-Tech’ Chapter 23 in H. Lauder et. al. Education, Globalisation and Social Change Oxford: Oxford University Press This chapter is concerned about the human resource needs of a country and how it influences immigration policy. Educational policy influence immigration policy and vice-versa. According to Kamat (2006), the educational policy of India and the US made it possible for the immigration of Indian software workers. With a great demand for IT technicians both the Indian and American government had to adopt their policies to plug the knowledge gap present in the US. Several laws had to be legislated to protect local jobs and plug the knowledge gap that was present in the US. The US legislated laws that set aside foreign software workers from US citizens with different rights as those of ordinary US citizens. Both India and the United States benefited from the importation of skills to the United States. This example of globalization shows how the opening up of markets can provide opportunities for developing countries with well developed human capital to prosper. This example of globalization is not controlled by international organizations like the WTO or the UN and is more of a free market exchange. Guile, D. (2006) ‘What is Distinctive About the Knowledge Economy?’ Chapter 24 in H. Lauder et. al. Education, Globalisation and Social Change Oxford: Oxford University Press. Guile (2006) discusses the implications of the knowledge economy on global education. According to Guile (2006), education should prepare workers for the jobs they will work in. In her views, tacit/experimental knowledge is distinct from theoretical knowledge. The more practically applicable knowledge the more beneficial it is to the person who holds it. According to Guile (2006), the social impact of education should not be prioritized over the need to prepare learners to participate in a knowledge economy. In the views of Guile (2006), an individual’s knowledge is almost useless if it cannot serve him as human capital. Guile (2006) seems to emphasize the need to create knowledge that can enhance production in capitalist industries. She admits the net benefit of developing knowledge should be profit both to the individual and the firm that employs that individual. Read More