The curricular unit deals with four major themes subject to economic globalization: the process of historical construction, financial markets, business and social contestation.
After brief considerations about the concept of globalization and its various dimensions (economic, political, cultural and ideological), to situate this theme in its context, this first module focuses on the processes of global economic history. It gives greater emphasis to the themes of economic expansion and technological and production transformations, the division of labor, inequalities of wealth and income. Finally, from a perspective of long economic history, it deepens our understanding of the link between globalization and development, focusing especially on the last 80 years.
Financial markets can be seen as an early adopter of globalization. The role of key international institutions such as the IMF and World Bank contributed to an increased degree of globalization in the financial markets. Overall, it moves from the single-country focus of other finance modules and gives students an international perspective on finance and how the risks can be spread out all over the world. A view on the role of regulation is also provided in order to better address how free ride can limit equality and fairness of market participants.
Globalization has shifted some of the influence and capacity of political and economic direction of states to transnational corporations, which massively expanded activity across national boundaries. It is therefore necessary to study the challenges inherent in this process: large corporations operate in territories where, on the one hand, their home states have no legal standing and, on the other hand, the legal and democratic building is rather fragile (as in certain regions to be developed). Finally, a brief summary of the different geographic and cultural perspectives on corporate social responsibility will be made.
In the fourth and last theme we will look at some contemporary social movements, namely the anti-globalization movements. With an increasing media space, its status in public opinion ranges from the desired return of populations to the center of the political stage and the threat to the benefits of globalization, sometimes violent and reactive. These movements are characterized by the heterogeneity of objectives, having in common the idea that free trade and transnational corporations are contributing to the ecological crisis and shaping a society with greater social inequalities.