Globalisation an Overview
The WTO meeting held in Seattle on 30th November 1999 is an event that gained its prominence not because of what was discussed by the WTO behind closed doors but because of the violent protests that it attracted. Seattle N30 as the protesters called it did not have the distinction of the being the first anti-globalisation protest, it was the second but it was a first in the amount of media coverage it attracted. Some 600 protesters injured and thousands arrested it was unprecedented at the time and no doubt that many a causal observer wondered for the first time what the fuss was all about. Globalisation it seemed was no longer universally synonymous with progress. An all encompassing definition of the term “globalisation” is as useless as it is elusive but for the purposes of this analysis we will look at the the integration of economic activity through the systematic dismantling of trade barriers in order to foster free trade. It is this aspect of globalisation that is deliberate and by design and it attracts the largest number of critics and proponents. Whether it is a voluntary integration such as the European Union or involuntarily imposed though IMF conditionality, the idea, at least in theory is to reduce the relevance of sovereign borders when it comes to trade and the means of production. This seemingly noble endeavour is fraught with controversy.
History
The global trade in goods and services and the movement of capital and information is not something new. Between the years 1850 and 1914 the world was intensely integrated, it was also a period of heavy immigration specially from Europe into the United States (de Larosiere 2004) The former general manager ...