Globalization and Neoliberalism

Globalization, according to the lecture readings, is the ease of global interconnections. Furthermore, from a more economic perspective, it is the process of capitalist models dominating the world economy. For instance, to illustrate, Beulah Brown, a middle-aged Jamaican woman, responsible for providing the daily bread for her relatives, lost her job at the Community Health Aide Program owing to the adoption of a structural adjustment policy—a capitalist model. Moreover, after the loss of her career (to illustrate the first definition of Globalization), because of Globalization, she effortlessly moved from Jamaica to her relatives abroad, worked, and earned some good money (571-573). Neoliberalism, closely related to Globalization, is the political approach of favoring less government spending, free-market capitalism, and deregulation.

Focusing singly on the impact of the fashion industry, the documentary, The True Cost, draws back the veil and reveals the actual people who pay the price for the clothes worn all over the world. By highlighting the plight of the personnel engaged in this enterprise, and the burden borne by the environment due to pollution, this film displays the appalling impact of Globalization and Neoliberalism. In the first half of the film, heaps of harmful wastes are shown; women working hard in clothing companies, even with their children; their poor economic conditions—all these, collectively, emphasize the untold suffering borne by the workers behind the scenes.

Globalization, as pointed out in the documentary, promised better working conditions, better remunerations, and better products to both workers and buyers. Unfortunately, to the surprise of the workers, only the latter has been achieved, leaving workers in deplorable conditions all over the globe. For this concept to be sustainable and reliable, therefore, the health of the workers should be considered and improved.