Week 3 Media Item #2: Globalization

The above political cartoon is by Juergen Tomicek from Germany. He depicts a poor civilian of a third world country, who represents the third world as a whole. This person is caged by a spherical cage reperesenting the globe and globalization. It is showing that globalization will not help the Third World countries and the people in them. I chose this political cartoon because it is very relevant to current debates about globalization. It also relates to Johnson's Chapter 3 about capitalism and the distribution of wealth.

Juergen Tomicek's political cartoon relates to Johnson's Chapter 3 Capitalism, Class, and the Matrix of Domination in his book Privilege, Power, and Difference. Johnson talks about how capitalism led to racism, and how it still puts minorities at a disadvantage. In capitalism, he explains on p. 42, the object is to make as much money as possible. So the wealthy are able to become more wealthy since they have the money, they can decide what to do with it and how much to give to the lower classes. He then says on p. 46 that capitalists introduced the "idea of whiteness" in order to get lower class whites to blame their poverty and unsuccessful lives on minorities and divert blame from themselves. It was a racist system to keep the rich wealthy and the poor in poverty. Tomicek's cartoon shows similarities with Johnson's analysis of capitalism. Globalization is expansion of business and culture across the globe. There are those who are against globalization because it puts third world countries at a disadvantage. The money from expanding businesses across the globe favors European and American companies who open markets in the third world in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Meanwhile, the Third World is left in a state of poverty and simply can't keep up with the mass wealth European and American companies are making. The Europeans and the Americans are the capitalists that are the wealthy that are becoming more wealthy, and the Latin Americans, Africans, and Asians are being left behind. The system is caging the Third World countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia to poverty while white Europeans and Americans are making more money.
I thought this cartoon was a very simple way to put the issue of globalization in an understandable form. The system doesn't favor Third World countries, but the European countries and America who are amassing more and more wealth. I thought it was very clever how Tomlicek showed the globe and globalization caging up the Third World. I think that capitalism, as Johnson says, is still unequally benefitting white Europeans and Americans. Although it isn't wrong to make money and to prosper, it does become a problem when other people are put at a disadvantage simply because of who they are. Africans, Latin Americans, and Asians don't see this wealth flow into their countries as it does into Europe and the United States. It is a big issue that often goes ignored in the media and in society because people don't think about it. I think Tomlicek's cartoon is a simple and straightforward way to present the issue, and is effective as a result.

Image citation:
Tomlicek, Juergen. Globalization. Karikaturenwettbewerb cartoon competition. Online. Available: http://cartoon-competition.org/fileadmin/images/ccc/1232_GLOBALIZATION.jpg (July 08 2007).