Political and Economic Transition of People with Disabilities Related to Globalization Jihye Jeon
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World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Vol:8, No:9, 2014 Political and Economic Transition of People with Disabilities Related to Globalization Jihye Jeon characterized much thinking about globalization. This study Abstract—This paper analyzes the political and economic issues adds more challenge to market fundamentalism by highlighting that people with disabilities face related to globalization; how people disability issues within the global political economy. with disabilities have been adapting globalization and surviving under The purpose of this study is to examine how globalization is worldwide competition system. It explains that economic integral to the field of Disability Studies. This study is not about globalization exacerbates inequality and deprivation of people with disabilities. The rising tide of neo-liberal welfare policies emphasized whether globalization should be welcomed or rejected by the efficiency, downsized social expenditure for people with disabilities, disability community, but it considers how globalization can be excluded people with disabilities against labor market, and shifted analyzed with regard to the independence of people with them from welfare system to nothing. However, there have been disabilities. This study aims to recognize the opportunities and people with disabilities' political responses to globalization, which are barriers that globalization based on neo-liberalism [2] creates characterized by a global network of people with disabilities as well as and to explore what problems people with disabilities are participation to global governance. Their resistance can be seen as an attempt to tackle the problems that economic globalization has confronted with and how they resist against. produced. It is necessary paradigm shift of disability policy from dependency represented by disability benefits to independency II. WHAT IS GLOBALIZATION? represented by labor market policies for people with disabilities. Globalization is complicated term to define, though it is clear that globalization has changed many things, from world order Keywords—Economic Globalization, People with Disability, to individual life. There have been lots of discussions about Deprivation, Welfare Cut, Disability Right Movement, Resistance . what globalization is. The Nobel laureate, Amartya Sen (2002) I. INTRODUCTION noted that globalization is neither new, nor in general a folly and through persistent movement of goods, people, techniques LOBALIZATION is one of the most important topics in and ideas, it has shaped the history of the world [3]. Gthe social sciences and economics over the past several The vast majority of globalization theorists present it as a decades. Most researchers agree that globalization influences characteristic of economic activity. It refers to the integration every part of everyone in global society, including people with and merging of national economies as a result of the disabilities. However, there are few analyses of how transnational activities of firms and global financial mobility. globalization will effect on people with disabilities. People with Hurrell and Woods saw globalization as integrated economic disabilities have been largely marginalized throughout history activities and insisted that globalization is to be welcomed and segregated in most societies; they continue to be ignored in because it is based on a powerful cluster of liberal assumptions, the movement toward globalization. such as economic efficiency [4], [5]. Also they saw Disability has been considered as a medical issue to be cured globalization as a more advanced form of internationalization or rehabilitated, but disability study scholars have attempted to and a more recent form of economic activity that implies “a reconceptualize it as a social issue. The social model of degree of functional integration between internationally disability, developed by British disability studies scholars, dispersed economic activities.” understands disability experiences as social oppression and Most globalization theorists have focused on economic separates disability from impairments, although the medical changes; however, not all theories concentrate on developments model is still powerful perspective on disability outside of in the international economy. Some theorists emphasize disability scholars’ discussion. There are many papers and evidence from political changes and the development of a discussion related to the paradigm shift on disability from global society. Bretherton and Ponton insisted that medical model to social model. Nevertheless, there are few International Science Index, Humanities and Social Sciences Vol:8, No:9, 2014 waset.org/Publication/10000930 globalization must be viewed as a new, distinct phase in world studies considering disability issue as to be evaluated in the politics [6]. They stated: Political globalization refers to a global context. growing tendency for issues to be perceived as global in scope, Efforts to promote fair trade, equitable economic exchanges and hence requiring global solutions and to the development of and the regulation of the global economy have gained support international organizations and global institutions, which in recent years as activists, academics and progressive policy attempt to address such issues. More tentatively the concept makers have challenged the market fundamentalism [1] that has also suggests the development of a global civil society, in which local groups and grassroots organizations from all parts of the Jihye Jeon is with the Division of Policy Development and Research, Korea world interact (P.26). Disabled People’s Development Institute, Seoul, 150-917,Republic of Korea Another central tenet among many interpretations of (phone: 82-2-3433-0658; fax: 82-2-412-0463; e-mail: [email protected]). International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 8(9) 2014 3112 scholar.waset.org/1307-6892/10000930 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Vol:8, No:9, 2014 globalization is the notion of culture. Roland Robertson asserts A. Labor Market in Global Economy and Disability that globalization involves “the development of something like The global economic structure under globalization requires a global culture” [7]. Martin Shaw echoes the diverse aspects of much more competitive labor market than a market based on globalization: We have not just some global connections but the classical capitalism. Goods, services, labor, capital and so on clear outline of a global society. We have a global economic are able to move globally. Among them, labor costs are one of system, with production and markets coordinated on a world the important elements that determine the price of goods and scale; elements of a global culture of worldwide networks of services and labor mobility tends to increase the wage gap communication; globally vibrant political ideas and the between skilled workers and non-skilled workers. This possibility of coordinated political action (p. 3) [8]. situation is spoken as following catchy phrases; “race to the Instead of focusing on distinguishing each part of bottom”, “leveling the playing field” and “low wage globalization as economic, political, or cultural, Mark Neufeld competition.” All of those phrases describe how globalization suggested five dimensions that were born as the result of increases labor mobility and produces low wage competition. globalization: changes in production, types of states, world International Labor Organization(ILO)’s study stated the orders, community identities, and types of democracy [9]. problems globalization created as “many developing countries According to him, globalization creates global enterprise face serious social and economic dislocation associated with capitalism and a hyper-liberal world order, and the generic persistent poverty, growing unemployment, loss of traditional culture of possessive individualism. The possessive trading patterns and a growing crisis of economic security” and individualism is based on three assumptions: “humans are estimated the total number of migrant workers and family individuals and are free because they possess their own members to be about 120 million [11]. Globalization and trade capacities; society is the relations of exchange between free liberalization have had impacts on employment conditions. equal individuals as owners and users of their capabilities; and Industrialized countries and developing countries have political society is to protect property including capacities.” demands for cheap and low-skilled labor in agriculture, food Neufeld suggested that globalization creates this possessive processing, construction, unskilled manufacturing jobs, and individualism as common sense. low wage services like domestic work and sex sector. Through these discussions, It can be concluded that Immigrant workers meet the needs. At the same time, the globalization has three aspects: economic, social/political, and factories, which prefer to employ unskilled workers with small cultural. The world works just like a single country. There is salary, move to the underdeveloped countries. The wage one government like the UN, a competitive liberal economy, a differential is bigger between skilled workers and unskilled or global mass culture and consumption, and high technology to less skilled workers in developed and developing