Globalization, Social Issues and Public Policy Assessment - Assignment Example

Globalization, Social Issues and Public Policy Assessment The topic of globalization, social issues and public policy assessment basically entails creation of awareness on how the government uses its guiding principles to create a sense of order in community issues. In addition, this topic entails creating an awareness of how non-governmental organizations can influence community issues when they take action or be actively involved. However, this is not all that the topic entails; it is a topic that covers many disciplines, but the most basic quality that is required for the above issues is the quality of good leadership, which can be used to identify and sort community issues that affect local communities and global communities (Hamel, 2001, p. 202). Globalization, social issues and public policy shall be addressed separately in this paper. In addition, this paper will seek to answer three main questions regarding community in the light of this topic (Paehlke, 2004, p. 276). Globalization involves integration of economies and societal/cultural groups, with the main mediums of integration being technology, communication, commerce and transportation. The economies and social or cultural groups that are integrated are not only locally related to each other; globalization, as the name suggests, involved integration of international economies and communities and cultures all over the world. There are many forces that fuel and drive globalization, and these forces act jointly in doing so. The main driving factors include politics, religion, biological, science and technology and, last but not least, socio-cultural issues (Kutting, 2004, p. 61-63). Social issues can be defined as issues and controversies/ tight spots affecting individuals or whole societies. One common thing about these issues is that they are all directly or indirectly related to ethics, values and morals (France, 2008, p. 246). There are many social issues; so many that they cannot be numbered. However, the most common include issues in abortion, rape, HIV/AIDS, criminal justice, crime, disability, gender, pornography, racism/tribalism and ethnic issues, environmental dilapidation, education, gay and lesbian issues, overpopulation, marriage and divorce, family, drugs, immigration, dating, human trade/ slave trade and eating disorders among many others (Hamel, 2001, p. 215). Public policy entails government endeavours in addressing globalization, social issues and other issues affecting the public. In the effort to deal with such issues, the government forms policies, laws and regulations at all levels of government. There are three main aspects that are considered and that act as guidelines to the government when it is making such policies: the problem being addressed, the players of the problem and the policy for the problem (Kutting, 2004, p. 83). The problem, basically, is the public issue at hand. The player of the problem is the party that has the main influence in dealing with the issue and in forming and implementing policies. The policy can be termed as the final decision reached upon by the government to act on the issue. However, policies are not only made and influenced by the government; even the private sector and non-governmental organizations, cultural organizations and even religion greatly influence making, interpretation and implementation of public policies (Gerston, 2010, p. 131). Question 1: What do you understand by the term "community"? The term “community” cannot be successfully defined using one single and conclusive definition. It is a term that needs to be defined differently from every angle and discipline so that its full meaning will be brought out. There have been many efforts to define community from different fields and disciplines such as biology, sociology, anthropology, legal field, et cetera (Bauman, 2001, p. 178). In biology, a community is defined as a collection of living organisms, and these organisms are interactive to each other and they share or populate the same surroundings. For these organisms to interact and share the same environment there are several conditions in place that create a common ground for these organisms to identify with each other (France, 2008, p. 174). For instance, if these living organisms described are human beings, then the common issues may include shared resources, culture, similar belief and ethical or moral systems/values, similar wants, similar intentions and similar threats. The more common conditions there are, the more the cohesiveness between the organisms (Block, 2008, p. 212). Defining community in sociology has proved to be the hardest thing ever, because sociology is such a wide field and a field dominated by much controversies and wide freedom of opinion expression. For instance, before 1960, there were recorded almost a hundred different independent definitions of community from the sociological perspective (Delanty, 2010, p. 123). Therefore, there is no single and conclusive definition of community in sociology, but there are several successful attempts to define community in this discipline (Block, 2008, p. 228). The most common definition of community in sociology is: a group of people who interact with each other and share the same environment, be it a living or working place. Interaction, in this case, involves sharing similar values, which is made even more solid by the fact that these people live or work in the same geographical setting. In addition, these interacting groups are said to be larger than a family or a common household if they are to be considered as community (Gerston, 2010, p. 144). Also, community does not necessarily have to be local; international communities exists, that even though they do not share the same geographical location, they share the same values, preferences, threats and beliefs (Cnaan & Milofsky, 2007, p. 411). Communities have one thing in common; they portray similar characteristics and behavioural aspects. Socialization is the process in which these characteristics and behaviours are absorbed and adopted by individuals and groups in a community (Kutting, 2004, p. 116). Most socialization, in most cases, happens when an individual is of an early age. It is at this time that certain values are acquired, skills are developed and roles are learnt. However, socialization is not only limited to children, but it also happens to adults, especially those who have moved from their traditional community into another, say through migration. For children, the main player in socialization is the family unit. Other players that follow include peer groups, school, the media, the government and other people interacted with (Delanty, 2010, p. 128). The term “community” has so many sets of variables under it, and these variables can be used to attempt defining community. These variables include environment, interest and communion. The environment is the common territory that is shared by the people involved (Delanty, 2010, p. 87. Interest is the other variable, and it entails any other common thing shared between people in a community except environment. Most of the times, interest includes intangible factors that are common and shared. Interests include religion, occupation, ethnicity and moral/sexual views. This explains why one can talk about the lesbian community, the Hindu community and the African community. The first has common interests in sexual and moral orientations; the second have common interests in religious beliefs and the third share the same geographical and ethnic or racial origin (Bauman, 2001, p. 62). Communion suggests a degree of attachment to a common thing that the community looks up to. This “thing” can be a deity, an idea or a cultural practice (Block, 2008, p. 225). One thing needs to be made clear, however; the different variables in describing a community are not independent in defining community, but at any instant, these variables can overlap partially or totally. You can have an instance in which people share the same environment or geographical location, the same interests and the same communion. You can also have an overlap of two of the variables with the exclusion of the third variable, and still have a community defined (Delanty, 2010, p. 137). The term “community” is such a wide term, and defining it cannot be limited to one thing, a single variable, or even a single definition. In addition, interdisciplinary definitions at times overlap. For instance, the sociological and anthropological definitions of community may at some point overlap (Delanty, 2010, p. 130). Question 2: Identify the issues that have been of concern to community groups (such as the impact of globalization, environmental concerns and social equity issues). First, it is important to familiarize oneself with the different groups in community. A community group can be defined as a group of people who share the same threats, needs, preferences and characteristics. For a group to be defined accurately as a community group there has to be a level of cohesion in the group, and the meeting or togetherness of the group cannot be by coincidence. For instance, people in a cinema hall watching the same movie cannot be called a community groups. The same case applies to people queuing in a bank (Gerston, 2010, p. 134). A community group has to be characterized by common rules, beliefs, values, preferences and origins, if necessary. The people in the community group have to share the same motives, shared roles, time-honoured bonds, customary norms, customary rewarding, and punishing systems for those who either break the norms or portray exceptional upholding of the same (Cnaan & Milofsky, 2007, p. 394). There are different types and classifications of community groups, but the most basic type of classification is that of dividing the groups into two; primary and secondary. Primary community groups are smaller, and the main unifying factor is small, for instance relationship by blood or marriage (Kutting, 2004, p.84). Such community groups have this unity and oneness going on for decades and even centuries. Primary groups mainly interact with each other on a face-to-face basis, as opposed to larger groups, which do not interact in the same manner (Bauman, 2001, p. 96). Secondary community groups are much larger than primary community groups, and these groups mainly interact on formal grounds or grounds based on institutions. Secondary groups may or may not last for as long as primary groups can (Smith, 2001, p. 220). However, secondary groups can rarely be independent of primary groups, but primary groups are most of the time contained in secondary groups. These two groups are inseparable and interactive; at times, primary groups can cause the formation of secondary groups while the reverse is also true (France, 2008, p. 162). For instance, a family can begin a business or a chain of businesses, leading to the formation of secondary groups in the businesses, which interact formally. In addition, a secondary group such as a school can lead to formation of primary subgroups within it when smaller groups of people start forming friendships, clubs or other common groups (Smith, 2001, p. 221). Every community has issues of concern within it, and these issues of concern can either affect the community as a whole or affect community groups. Most of the issues of concern are usually cause by the different activities of these groups within the community, and the issues grow to become issues of global concern. The major issues affecting community groups that are going to be addressed herein include globalization, environmental concerns and social equity issues (Bauman, 2001, p. 129). Globalization is an issue that has greatly affected community groups all over the world. In fact, globalization is now no longer a community issue but a global one. However, globalization has not only affected community groups negatively; there are some positive aspects of the same (Smith, 2001, p. 142). For instance, industrialization is one of the positive aspects of globalization. Industrialization has been developed I that communities are able to access foreign markets, making it easy for those who are in trade, because they have more customers at their exposure (Hamel, 2001, p. 216). The financial sector has also been improved by globalization, in that lenders and borrowers of finance have local and international lenders and borrowers at their exposure, hence greater financial opportunities. Globalization also has an economic benefit in that since the world has become a global village, the economic crisis of one country or community can be sorted by other communities or countries (Block, 2008, p. 60). Information and technology have also developed immensely because of globalization. Exchange of information between different parts of the world is now possible within a matter of seconds. There has also been a change in culture because of globalization, which has made it possible for different cultures to interact and even merge. This has been made possible via communication, transport, tourism and trade (Kutting, 2004, p. 63-66). However, the positive effects of globalization end there. Globalization is now seen as a giant that cannot be conquered, especially because of its detrimental effects on societies and community groups. Unemployment in developed nations is one effect of globalization (France, 2008, p. 262). This is because these nations have resorted in outsourcing services and labour especially in manufacturing. This is done by the developed countries placing their manufacturing industries in developing or underdeveloped countries where costs of labour and production are low (Smith, 2001, p. 91). This results to unemployment in the developed countries (Cnaan & Milofsky, 2007, p. 301). In the same breath, globalization has caused exploitation of labour, because of the need of lowering production costs, standards of occupational health and safety are ignored, leaving the workers working in very poor and inhumane conditions. Globalization has affected community groups by creating an atmosphere where there is no job security (Cnaan & Milofsky, 2007, p. 314). Job security has been reduced because of the increasing competition, technological advancement and outsourcing in the trade sector today. Job insecurity has resulted to lowering of the living standards of families and other secondary community groups (France, 2008, p. 200-202). Another major challenge posed by globalization is terrorism and crime. Globalization has caused great development in technology, innovation and invention. As a result, there are machinery that is more sophisticated and military hardware at the exposure of terrorists and criminals. Because of this, terrorism has gone to the next level, and terrorism attacks are becoming more severe every day (Paehlke, 2004, p. 136). Terrorists and criminals also have the advantage of fast, effective and confidential communication via the internet, cellular devices etc. globalization, which goes hand in hand with modernization, has lead to the development and spread of lifestyle diseases (Block, 2008, p. 176). Lifestyle diseases come because of issues like automation of machines, such that people do not exercise regularly and availability of instant and junk foods. Billions of dollars are spent every year by families and community groups on treatment and management of lifestyle diseases. This leaves the families in bad financial conditions, and the tension caused by dealing with such challenges also results to weakening and even breaking of families, marriages and other units in community groups (Paehlke, 2004, p. 278). Another challenge of globalization to most community groups is the fact that the positive effects of globalization only seem to be reserved for the rich and socially, religiously or politically advanced and advantaged. On the other hand, all the adverse effects of the same seem to be reserved for the poor and disadvantaged ones. Cultures are different all over the world, these cultures all have different sets of values, ethics and morals, and each culture has its negative and positive aspects. Because of globalization, the bad side of other cultures has the gateway of seeping into other cultures because of the ease of communication between countries via internet and mass media (Cnaan & Milofsky, 2007, p. 234). This has caused pollution of values in other cultures and communities. No wonder there is a daily struggle in families, marriages, institutions and communities generally with social issues such as pornography, divorce, gay and lesbian rights, fashion, politics, corruption, crime, et cetera. HIV/AIDS is a global disaster, and its spread has been fuelled by different aspects of globalization (Kutting, 2004, p. 65-66). Environmental concerns are also greatly affecting community groups. The environment has been greatly affected because of the activities of human beings and because of globalization. Human activities have resulted to pollution and dilapidation of the environment, and this has altered the balance in climatic conditions. There are hundreds of environmental concerns to community groups, and some of them include environmental health, ozone depletion, pollution, overpopulation, global warming, land use, waste management and exploitation of natural resources (Block, 2008, p. 252). These issues have resulted to the formation of slums and there is an increasing spread of diseases due to congestion and poor environmental conditions. The quality of natural resources has been lowered, and both renewable and non-renewable resources are being exploited and depleted massively (Kutting, 2004, p. 64). Social equity is also another issue of concern. Social equity can be defined as the social state in which the people involved all share the same status to a certain degree. Issues of social equity are identified and programs and policies are developed to ensure that there is fairness in treatment of different social and community groups. The major issue in social equity affecting community groups is the issue of discrimination based on gender, race, ethnic origin and age (Hamel, 2001, p. 227). Question 3: How have these groups reacted and with what success – particularly in relation to exercising community leadership. Different community groups have reacted in different ways to wards the various issues of concern to communities. Some reactions include formation of protesting organizations, mass action et cetera, and some of these reactions have yielded successful results while other reactions have failed to bring the desired results and the desired changes (Bauman, 2001, p. 112). One of the reactions of communities is the anti-globalization movements. These are movements to counter globalization to reduce or eliminate the negative effects of the same. This movement is mainly a reaction of grassroots communities in developing countries. There have been many demonstrations, protests and actions against globalization (Paehlke, 2004, p. 109). Some protests have been successful, and many international deals have been cancelled due to protests by different community groups in the country to which the deal or treaty is proposed. However, many have also been killed and arrested during such protests and movements (Hamel, 2001, p. 97). Different community groups have also protested against degradation of the environment they are living in. many industries and dumpsites have been closed after consistent protests by angry community members. Organizations and movements have also been formed to address various issues in social equity (Gerston, 2010, p. 152). There have been several cases of protests by community groups and organizations that have forced the resignation of government officials because of encouraging or implementing practices that deny community groups the social equity they deserve. Of all the three major issues affecting community groups, globalization has been the hardest issue to fight, and governments and community groups are slowly giving in. This is due to the indication that any country that rejects globalization faces the risk of remaining underdeveloped indefinitely (Hamel, 2001, p. 219). In order for community groups to organize themselves in taking action against some issues of concern, they have appointed community leaders to mobilize community groups. Most of the time, the leaders appointed are those living within the community under the same or similar conditions as opposed to a political or any other type of leader, who lives in much better conditions that the community group he or she represents. Conclusion Globalization involves integration of economies and societal/cultural groups, with the main mediums of integration being technology, communication, commerce and transportation. Social issues can be defined as issues and controversies/ tight spots affecting individuals or whole societies and they are all directly or indirectly related to ethics, values and morals. Public policy entails government endeavours in addressing globalization, social issues and other issues affecting the public. No clear definition for the term community exists and it varies depending on the field in which it is being defined. For instance, in sociology a community is a group of people who interact with each other and share the same environment, be it a living or working place. The impact of globalization on community has been both positive and negative. For instance it has enabled communities to access foreign market, enhanced foreign financial flow and increased speed of information exchange. On the negative side, globalization has resulted in unemployment to some local communities due to outsourcing of labour; underpayment of labour especially in developing countries; lack of job security and has also increased terrorism and crime. Globalization has also been criticised for its contribution to environmental pollution which impacts on local communities negatively. The pollution ranges from ozone depletion, overpopulation, global warming, land use, waste management to overexploitation of natural resources. The major issue in social equity affecting community groups is the issue of discrimination based on gender, race, ethnic origin and age. Different community groups have reacted in different ways towards the various issues of concern to communities. Many communities are opposed to globalization due to its negative impacts. This opposition has led some governments to put into place protectionists laws to protect their local communities. To protect the environment many laws and policies have been put into place by different communities to protect their environment. To ensure equity, some communities have come up with policies and legal frameworks to protect the minority groups in the community. References Bauman, Z. (2001). Community: seeking safety in an insecure world. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Block, P. (2008). Community, the structure of belonging. California: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Cnaan, R. A. & Milofsky, C. (2007). Handbook of Community Movements and Local Organizations. London: Springer Publishers. Delanty, G. (2010). Community. New York: Taylor & Francis. France, G. F. (2008). Debating Globalization. TellerBooks Webstore. Gerston, L. N. (2010). Public Policy Making: process and principles. New York: M.E Sharpe Publishing. Hamel, P. (2001). Globalization and Social Movements. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Kutting, G. (2004). Globalization and the Environment: greening global political economy. New York: SUNY Press. Paehlke, R. (2004). Democracy’s Dilemma: Environment, Social Equity and the Global Economy. Cambridge: The MIT Press. Smith, M. J. (2001). When the Hands are many: community organization and social change in rural Haiti. New York: Cornel University Press. Read More