What does it mean
to think critically
about
globalization?
2.10.2025
Group A: Government of a Developing Country
•Your Goals: Create jobs, protect local industries, attract foreign investment.
•Your Hidden Interest: You fear being too dependent on foreign companies.
•Big Fear / Red Line: Your farmers and workers being undercut by imports and cheap labor.
•Catchphrase: “We need growth, but on our own terms!”
Group B: Government of a Rich Country
•Your Goals: Promote free trade, open markets, protect your multinational companies.
•Your Hidden Interest: You secretly subsidize your own farmers and industries.
•Big Fear / Red Line: Losing influence to rising economies.
•Catchphrase: “Free trade is great—as long as it’s on our rules.”
Group C: Multinational Corporation
•Your Goals: Access cheap labor, avoid high taxes, expand into new markets.
•Your Hidden Interest: You want weak labor laws and limited environmental rules.
•Big Fear / Red Line: Governments raising taxes or enforcing strong worker rights.
•Catchphrase: “We bring jobs and investment—don’t scare us away!”
Group D: Civil Society / NGO
•Your Goals: Protect workers, promote fair wages, education, health, and the environment.
•Your Hidden Interest: You rely on donations, so you need visibility.
•Big Fear / Red Line: Exploitation of vulnerable people and destruction of the planet.
•Catchphrase: “People and planet before profit.”
Group E: International Institution (IMF/WTO/World Bank)
•Your Goals: Promote liberalization, enforce rules, stabilize the global economy.
•Your Hidden Interest: You are heavily influenced by rich countries’ interests.
•Big Fear / Red Line: Countries refusing to follow your trade rules or loan conditions.
•Catchphrase: “Rules and reforms are the price of global prosperity.”
Global Fairness Agreement
Recognizing that globalization creates both opportunities and inequalities, member states agree to
pursue trade rules that promote freedom, justice, and sustainable development.
Article 1 – Tariffs & Trade
•Developing countries will reduce tariffs by 20% over 10 years.
•Rich countries will eliminate subsidies on agriculture within 5 years.
Article 2 – Labor & Wages
•Multinational corporations must pay a minimum living wage in all countries where
they operate.
•Independent monitoring (funded partly by NGOs) will report on compliance.
Article 3 – Development Fund
•A Global Equity Fund will be created, financed by 0.5% of all trade revenues.
•The Fund will support education, healthcare, and climate adaptation in developing
countries.
Article 4 – Intellectual Property & Technology
•Patents on essential medicines and green technologies will be shortened to 5 years.
•After that, they must be made available at low cost to poorer countries.
Article 5 – Enforcement
•IMF/WTO will oversee implementation, but developing countries can appeal rules if
they prove harm to their populations. Amartya Sen
Ha-Joon Chang
Support the articles that fit
your group’s interests.
Disagree/modify the ones Propose compromises to get
that threaten your position. others on board.
•Sen’s Question: Does this article expand real
freedoms and capabilities (health, education,
participation)? •Chang’s Question: Does this article change global
power structures, or reinforce old inequalities?
Who gains most from this clause? Who might lose?
What compromises are possible?
So, Who are the “winners” and “losers” here? How does this connect to what we
just acted out?
•“Which groups in our negotiation do
you think represent the winners
here? The losers?”
•“Does this data support the idea
that globalization expands freedoms
for all, or does it show structural
inequalities?”
So, Who are the “winners” and “losers” here? How does this connect to what we
just acted out?
•“Which groups in our negotiation do
you think represent the winners
The data helps us test whether our
here? The losers?”
arguments match reality — and whether
tackling inequality needs freedom-
oriented reforms, structural changes,
•“Does thisordata support the idea
that globalization expands freedoms
both. for all, or does it show structural
inequalities?”
What the Graphs Tell Us
•Winners:
• Asian middle class → rising fast.
• Global elite → extreme income gains.
•Losers:
• Middle classes in US & Western Europe → stagnation.
•Debate:
• Some argue the “trough” reflects Japan & Eastern Europe, not just
Trump/Brexit voters.
• But overall pattern holds: global middle up, rich-world middle
squeezed.
•Big picture:
• “The elephant is sinking” → slower global growth overall, except
for the super-rich.
•Original Graph (Lakner & Milanovic, 1988–2008): Household surveys (missed the super-rich).
•Updated Graph (World Inequality Report, 1980–2016): Uses tax data → captures top 1% incomes.
•Result → the “trunk” explodes: Top 1% took 27% of all income growth.
Suggests slower gains globally + rising concentration of wealth.
Do we need freedom-oriented policies (Sen),
structural reforms (Chang), or both?
How might their ideas combine to offer a richer
approach to reducing inequality?
“To think critically is not to say globalization is
good or bad—it’s to ask better questions about it.”
As a problem statement, you can keep the title of the task: What does it mean to
think critically about globalization?
Learning goals can be:
•What is critical thinking? Are there different definitions of the term?
•What forms of critical thinking are linked to Global Studies? Or, how does Global
Studies engage with critical thinking? Or why is critical thinking a pillar of Global
Studies?
•What are the origins of critical thinking in social sciences?
•What is the “critical paradigm” in the social sciences?
•What is the goal of critical thinking? Or what is the link between global citizenship
and critical thinking?
1.“Globalization lifts millions out of poverty.”
2.“Globalization destroys local cultures.”
3.“Globalization is inevitable in a digital world.”
- What assumptions are behind this headline?
•Whose perspective is highlighted? Whose is missing?
•What questions would a critical thinker ask?