{"id":30708,"date":"2023-02-02T12:12:20","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T20:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=30708"},"modified":"2023-02-02T12:12:43","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T20:12:43","slug":"globalization-is-the-reality-of-our-world-and-impacts-our-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/globalization-is-the-reality-of-our-world-and-impacts-our-decisions\/","title":{"rendered":"Globalization is the reality of our World and impacts our Decisions."},"content":{"rendered":"

In his book, The Ages of Globalization<\/em>, Prof. Jeffrey D Sachs sets out the history of globalization through human history.[1]<\/a> Sachs, a world-renowned economics professor, bestselling author, innovative educator, and global leader in sustainable development, uses a multidisciplinary approach to the theme, including Anthropology, geography, history, sociology, political science, economics, and other aspects of human development, to shed light on how we can meet the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century. He\u00a0documents the dynamics of six previous\u00a0ages of globalization: The Paleolithic\u00a0Age, 70,000\u201310,000 BCE; The Neolithic\u00a0Age, 10,000\u20133000 BCE; the Equestrian\u00a0Age, 3000\u20131000 BCE; the Classical\u00a0Age, 1000 BCE\u20131500 CE; the Ocean\u00a0Age, 1500\u20131800; and the Industrial\u00a0Age\u00a01800\u20132000.<\/p>\n

Massetti, in her book review, says, \u201cEach age represents what he terms a scale-enlarging transformation, expanding both population and production while changing the nature of governance and geopolitics. Depending on the climate, technology, and institutional options available to a particular geography, human progress has been spurred or spurned by globalization.\u201d[2]<\/a> Through these ages, Sachs identifies a storyline running through all the seven ages, \u201cone of unfolding progress, albeit progress repeatedly marked by injustice, inequalities, and extraordinary violence.\u201d[3]<\/a> Sachs also observes a unique phenomenon that is also highlighted by Jared Diamond in his book, Guns, Germs, and Steel<\/em>.[4]<\/a> The advantages of the so-called the \u201clucky latitudes,\u201d because, \u201cthey have been home to humanity\u2019s greatest technological and economic progress.\u201d These coordinates are from 25 degrees North to 45 degrees North in Eurasia or the global north. I believe that the next great phenomenon is the gradual rise of the global south, as African and other global southern countries work hard to claim their rightful and respectable place in global affairs despite trade and other global financial policies pitted against them; my dream is valid, and it keeps my hope alive.<\/p>\n

Sachs asserts that the most urgent global problems require nothing less than concerted, planetwide action to secure a long-term future. He defines\u00a0globalization\u00a0as \u201cthe interlinkages of diverse societies across large geographical areas. These interlinkages are technological, economic, institutional, cultural, and geopolitical. They include interactions of societies across the world through trade, finance, enterprise, migration, culture, empire, and war.\u201d[5]<\/a> Within the different ages, Sachs considers how the interplay of geography, technology, and institutions influenced the Neolithic revolution; the role of the horse in the emergence of empires; the spread of large land-based empires in the classical age; the rise of global empires after the opening of sea routes from Europe to Asia and the Americas; and the industrial age. Sachs demonstrates how the dynamics of these past waves offer a fresh perspective on the ongoing processes of globalization in our own time through digital technologies.<\/p>\n

Of great interest are the problems that are facing globalization. Sachs identifies three challenges facing an increasingly globalized humanity: a destabilizing increase in economic inequality with the majority living below the poverty line, a devastating global environmental crisis, and the risk of global conflict that could annihilate humans. The current Digital Age, starting in 2000, is so new and so accelerating that our near future is unknowable, except that we must defeat climate change to continue to thrive and to keep millions of other species from going extinct. We need more equality in race, gender, health care, education, population, and wealth to survive. All these challenges are driven by territoriality and are thus genetic, requiring affirmative effort to change. Capitalism, a territorial economic system, must also be checked.<\/p>\n

Sachs is prescriptive in postulating solutions for these global challenges, an approach that he has been criticized for. He emphasizes the need for new international governance and cooperation methods to prevent conflicts and achieve economic, social, and environmental objectives aligned with sustainable development; He calls for a transition to renewable energy and a universal commitment to sustainable development.<\/p>\n

Sachs highlights the limitations that he sees in the solutions that he prescribes. On the transition to renewable energy, he is not sure that changes can be made quickly enough to avoid irreparable planetary harm; three significant impediments to sustainable development in the current Digital Age, increasing global inequality between individuals, the global environmental crisis, and the risk of war, especially between China and the United States; Lack of political will, because politics are controlled by money, and the influence of the multinational corporations that hijack and control government; and a deliberate campaign of public disinformation that has led to a distrust of scientific facts and institutions.<\/p>\n

Several Criticism has been directed at Sachs; his book is overly prescriptive and out of touch with a global polarity that outweighs a sense of global common purpose; he has ignored major trends in some parts of the world that render his proposed solutions unimplementable, like circumstances that will force Europe to use coal to stay warm in winter and forget to stay green, China is placing poor countries into debt traps rather than helping them, the UN has become a lame duck, is principally dependent on the US, and cannot even stop the war in Ukraine; \u00a0human nature and governments that are looking out for themselves, and only looking out for others if it benefits them; and the misinformed assumption that the world will be benevolent and united to solve the global challenges.<\/p>\n

The book was a great read and very informative about the history of globalization; it triggered me to think of ministry from a global perspective. The author approaches globalization purely from a secular point of view. Still, it helped me reflect on the place of the church and the Christian leader in the context of globalization as I work on my research on the case for holistic ministry and developing protocols for entry into new vulnerable communities. The protocols I will develop and regular retrospection after each new vulnerable community entry will serve as a framework for continuous improvement in our ministry practices for a bigger impact. \u00a0The need to ensure the global applicability and scalability of our holistic ministry model becomes even more critical if we are to agree with Jesus\u2019 global vision for spreading the Gospel that is captured in His words in Matthew 28:19(NASB); \u201cGo, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations\u2026,\u201d for the Bible (NASB) in Hosea 3:3(NASB) says, \u201cdo two walk together unless they have agreed to meet.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Sachs, Jeffrey D. The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions. (New York, NY, USA. Columbia University Press, 2020).<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Massetti, Brenda (2020) “The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions,” Journal of Global Awareness: Vol. 1: No. 1, Article 8, 2020: https:\/\/scholar.stjohns.edu\/jga\/vol1\/iss1\/8<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Sacks, Jeffrey D. The Ages of Globalization.,\u2026pg. 12<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. (New York City, NY, USA. W. W. Norton & Company, 1997)<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Sacks, Jeffrey D. The Ages of Globalization.\u2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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