9699 · 7.3
Globalisation, power and politics flashcards
Revision flashcards for Cambridge 9699 Globalisation, power and politics (syllabus 7.3). Flip, recall, then mark a real past-paper question.
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TNC power?
Revenues exceed many GDPs; locate globally for cheap labour/tax.
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Wallerstein — world-systems?
Core exploits periphery through unequal trade.
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IMF/World Bank role?
Loans with structural adjustment — austerity, privatisation conditions.
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Nation-state decline?
Hyperglobalists yes; sceptics — states still control borders, military, law.
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Global civil society?
NGOs, social movements challenge TNC/state power (optimist view).
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Neo-colonialism?
Economic domination without formal empire — debt, trade rules.
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Nation-State Sovereignty
The principle that a state has supreme and absolute authority within its own territorial boundaries. Globalisation challenges this through the influence of TNCs, global financial markets, and the authority of international governmental organisations (IGOs).
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Hyperglobalist Thesis
The view that globalisation is creating a 'borderless world' in which the power of the nation-state is declining significantly, being replaced by the power of global markets and transnational corporations. A key theorist is Kenichi Ohmae.
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Regulatory Arbitrage
A practice used by TNCs to exploit differences in national regulations (e.g., tax laws, labour rights, environmental standards) by moving operations to the location offering the most favourable conditions, thereby maximising profit.
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Global Governance
The process of political cooperation among transnational actors (states, IGOs, INGOs) to negotiate responses to problems that affect more than one state or region. It is not a world government but a fragmented system of authority.
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Transformationalist Thesis
The argument that globalisation is not simply eroding state power but fundamentally restructuring it. Power is reconfigured within complex networks of states, IGOs, and TNCs, and state sovereignty is pooled and shared. Key theorists include Giddens and Held.
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Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs)
Economic policies which countries must follow in order to qualify for new World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans. They typically involve privatisation, trade liberalisation, and cuts to public spending.
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Race to the Bottom
A situation where countries lower their labour, environmental, or tax standards to attract foreign investment from TNCs, leading to a general decline in standards.