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There are advocates of globalization, opponents of globalization, and a wide middle which sees globalization as nearly inevitable, largely positive, and in need of sensible management. The single issue which seems to most divide these groups is the role globalization plays in causing or curing global poverty.

There are advocates of globalization, opponents of globalization, and a wide middle which sees globalization as nearly inevitable, largely positive, and in need of sensible management. The single issue which seems to most divide these groups is the role globalization plays in causing or curing global poverty. The advocates say globalization brings the first real chance of prosperity to the impoverished corners of the world.

Opponents say globalization is the cause of growing poverty and inequality on the planet. And those in the middle see how unbridled globalization could wreak havoc on some while simultaneously opening the doors of opportunity to others.

I can't reconcile these vastly different views. But I can give you the broad outlines of the debate so you can see where you fall. And if you already know your role in this argument, maybe this information will help you more clearly see the other side's point of view.

Below are quotes from larger documents dealing with globalization and poverty. I have chosen short excerpts and arranged them in order from the most pro-globalization to the most anti-globalization. Take a look and then stop by the Globalization Forum to tell us where you stand.

"Globalisation, then, is growth-promoting. Growth, in turn, reduces poverty. ...the liberalisation of international transactions is good for freedom and prosperity. The anti-liberal critique is wrong: marginalisation is in large part caused by not enough rather than too much globalisation." - Razeen Sally, London School of Economics

"Agreements like NAFTA and the WTO force nations to respect contracts, which encourages responsible investment and, hence, economic growth. And, you see, economic growth creates a middle class, and a middle class, eventually, demands democracy. That is the story of the 20th century and, God willing, it will be the story of the 21st." - Jonah Goldberg, Editor, National Review Online

"Personally, I do not believe that those [poor] people are victims of globalisation. Their problem is not that they are included in the global market but, in most cases, that they are excluded from it." - Kofi Annan

"I believe that the ultimate logic of globalization will eventually win out; and most, and perhaps even all nations will eventually cross the threshold of democracy and transparent market economies. However, I also believe this will be the work of generations, and that there may be substantial backsliding in the process." - James C. Bennett

Globalization advocates assert that it brings the first real chance of prosperity to the impoverished corners of the world. Opponents say globalization is the cause of growing poverty and inequality on the planet. And those in the middle see how unbridled globalization could wreak havoc on some while simultaneously opening the doors of opportunity to others.

"Globalisation is generating great wealth. This could be used to massively reduce poverty worldwide and to reduce global inequality. The world’s richest 225 people have a combined wealth equal to the annual income of the poorest 47 per cent of the world’s people. We must try to manage this new era, in a way which reduces these glaring inequalities and that helps to lift millions of people out of poverty." - Clare Short, UK Secretary of State for International Development

"Globalization has helped reduce poverty in a large number of developing countries but it must be harnessed better to help the world’s poorest, most marginalized countries improve the lives of their citizens, according to the report 'Globalization, Growth and Poverty: Building an Inclusive World Economy.'" - The World Bank

"There needs to be a better balance between the role of markets and the role of government. Simplistic reforms based on free-market ideology don't work. The way that East Asia managed globalization, which combined an export-orientation with policies aimed at poverty reduction, worked even for the poor people.

These countries did liberalize trade, but only as they created jobs." - Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2001 winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics "A permanent worldwide underclass is in danger of emerging, especially in developing countries, making it increasingly difficult to build the political consensus on which domestic stability, international peace and globalization itself depend." - Henry Kissinger

"The evidence strongly suggests that global income inequality has risen in the last twenty years. The standards of measuring this change, and the reasons for it, are contested – but the trend is clear. The ‘champagne glass’ effect implies that advocacy of globalisation is not enough: international organisations need to move beyond integration into the world economy as the primary goal of policy." - Robert Wade, London School of Economics

"Obscene patterns of poverty and inequalities amidst ostentatious wealth are thus the very stuff of our global system. They raise basic issues of morality and ethics for the prosperous areas of the world. We need to be asking whether the current inequalities are legitimate and just? Can something be done to achieve some degree of human decency?" - Robert Fatton, Jr. University of Virginia (PDF document)

"Neoliberal economic globalisation encourages the pursuit of profit regardless of social and environmental costs. It is associated with increasing levels of inequality, both between and within countries; the concentration of resources and power in fewer and fewer hands (resulting in an erosion of democracy); economic, social, political and economic exclusion; economic instability; spiralling rates of natural resource exploitation; and a loss of biological and cultural diversity." - Friends of the Earth






Contributed by Keith Porter. Reprinted with permission from Globalization.About.com.

To read another Global Envision article about the debates surrounding globalization, see Globalization: Good or Bad? by the same author.