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Global Inequality, War, and Terrorism
Click on each question to check your answer.
1. Barrington Moore explained that there is a correlation between revolution and class relations. What are some of his ideas?
Answer: Moore found out that which social class attacks the ruling class will determine the outcome of any revolution. When the attackers were mainly peasants, as was the case in China, the result was a communist regime. When the rebels were independent farmers and middle-class people, as was the case in England and France, the result was a parliamentary democracy.
2. What does the world systems theory say about global inequality?
Answer: World system theory, developed by Immanuel Wallerstein, argues that the world has become an interlinked entity where a shared division of labour operates in an unregulated political structure. The result is that core countries (the US and the UK, for example) get cheap labour from peripheral countries. Therefore, any profits accumulated in the periphery trickle into the core countries.
3. What is an example of a counter-globalization movement?
Answer: An example of a counter-globalization movement is “Brexit”—the desire of UK citizens to leave the EU. After joining the EU, the UK experienced a) an increase in refugees and b) decreased economic growth. In 2016 the Prime Minister of the EU held a referendum to determine if the UK should leave the EU. Those who wanted to leave won and so began a lengthily and contentious period of removing the UK from the EU.
4. What are some findings of the 2009 Child Soldiers Global Report?
Answer: About 300,000 children are currently fighting in more than 40 countries around the world. In addition to these numbers, many children are enlisted themselves in civil wars as part of liberation armies in Ireland and Palestine.
5. What is a key change in how wars are fought today as opposed to in a pre-globalized world?
Answer: In a pre-globalized world, most wars were fought to defend territory or natural resources. Now, wars are fought to defend a specific ideology or worldview. One explanation for this shift is that the processes of globalization have led to tensions between more “global” cultures and local norms.