Globalization, Health and the Global South

A Critical Approach

Jimoh Amzat, Oliver Razum

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000512830
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicina
• Subtopic: Prestazione di assistenza sanitaria

Globalization is a form of social change, reshaping the socio-spatial milieu in which humans strive, and in which health and disease are managed and controlled. And yet the effects of globalization are distributed unevenly, with opportunities open for some but not for all.

Globalization, Health and the Global South is an important textbook for any student of this fascinating area. Examining the dynamics of globalization through the lens of the Global South, it highlights risks and vulnerabilities that affect different regions and contexts, exacerbating inequalities despite the continuing speed of global processes. The books takes a critical approach to the topic, offering readers a deep understanding of health discourses and discusses a range of key topics, including migrant health, the role of politics and diplomacy and the Coronavirus pandemic.

Including further reading and end of chapter discussion questions, this essential textbook will be important reading for students across the health and social sciences.

1 Conceptualizing Globalization and Health

DOI: 10.4324/9781003247975-1

1.1 Introduction

Entering into any discussion about globalization is challenging because of the complexity of the subject and the process of globalization. Such complexity is informed in the globalization of “everything” and as “everything” is globalizing. Globalization is a force penetrating nearly every aspect of human endeavor, and therefore, almost every human endeavor can be explained in terms of the intricacies of globalization. That we are living in a truly global world is incontrovertible, but the rate at which different regions are globalizing and if these regions reap the benefits of globalization is open to debate. Globalization is a process with differential effects in different regions. Globalization can also be observed from various positions or perspectives and could be region-specific. The primary focus of this chapter is to examine the meaning and intricacies of globalization and health. The interconnectedness between globalization and health is continuously being examined, because their combined implications, on the epidemiology of diseases, strengths of the healthcare system and access to healthcare, are still unfolding.

Globalization is also perpetually under investigation because it is an unstoppable force in human evolution and it facilitates increasing interdependence. In the mid-1970s, Wallenstein (1976, 2004) explained the world as a capitalist system, thereby demonstrating the differential socio-economic and political positions of the regions. Wallenstein expressed the unequal trends of the global connectedness (of the regions) in terms of globalization of capitalism or economic “cooperation”. Wallenstein (1976, 2004) observed that globalization is historical, and it is a reality that every society has to contend with. Again, globalization, as an evolutionary force, continues to infiltrate every aspect of human life. Health is not an exception. The evolution of globalization is enabled partly by increasing technologization, which is facilitating diverse trajectories, possibilities and challenges.

Globalization is a ubiquitous process: No region is exempted from it. It is a trend, a process and it is probably irresistible. The remotest part of the world is also beckoning for a global connectedness or experiencing the trend in some ways. Such a remotest place that is considered disadvantaged because of the limited waves of globalization is a source of concern. The limited experiences of the indices of globalization define certain places as remote and therefore hold specific implications for their social existence, including health conditions. One process enhancing globalization is transportation technology, which is creating boundless boundaries, thereby also ensuring conglomeration of ideas and diffusion of cultures. The world is characterized by shared ideas, values, cooperation, unprecedented growth and, more importantly, a common destiny in every sphere of life. The “common destiny” is also expressed in population health. Before venturing into some specific matters of globalization and health, it is essential to make some conceptual clarifications to lay a clear foundation for subsequent polemics in subsequent sections and chapters.

1.2 How to Define Globalization and Health

Both globalization and health are complex processes, but deeply interrelated. As it will later be seen (see Section 1.3), there are fundamental justifications to discuss globalization and health. The first critical question is, how do we define globalization and health?

1.2.1 What Is Globalization?

Globalization is not entirely a new concept; it has always been with us. It has featured in previous writings of great philosophers, including Friedrich Hegel, Auguste Comte and Karl Marx (see Eriksen, 2007). Eriksen (2007) asserted that Hegel (1770–1831) speculated about globalization when he observed the notion of consciousness of connections between disparate places. Hegel foresaw a world-spirit (Weltgeist), a global community or village. Comte’s idea of the science of human society can also be likened to the notion of globalization. Comte was particular about social statics, what holds that society together; and social dynamics, what changes society (Amzat and Omololu, 2012). Globalization has, to some extent, been both a factor of social statics and dynamics. Comte espoused that the last stage of social development is an industrial or scientific stage, which is one of the hallmarks of the globalized era. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (2012 [originally published 1848]) also discussed the world capitalist system, which can be correlated with a global adventure. Marx and Engels (2012) envisaged a global expansion of the world capitalist system to increase the accumulation of capital. Marx explained the idea of historical materialism, which starts with the material production activities of human beings (Shirong, 2016). The extensive material production is a significant impetus explaining the social transition from regional history to world history (Shirong, 2016). The first manifestation of globalization is economic globalization, which is a result of the global expansion of capitalism. Overproduction leads to the spread of capitalism, basically in search of new market, which propels economic globalization. Marx and Engels advanced a grand narrative predicting a world situation with many contradictions, including capital accumulation, pauperization, alienation and exploitation.

Most grand narratives are ambitious by viewing human society as a single entity, thereby projecting “global” theories of society (Amzat et al., 2015; Amzat and Maigari, 2020). It can, thus, be argued that industrialization or the industrial revolution of the 18th century set the pace for globalization. Colonialism and the expansion of capitalist projects also prelude the development of globalization. The concept of division of labor in the work of Ibn Khaldun and later Emile Durkheim was also a historical antecedent of globalization. Durkheim was more interested in the societal division of labor, which necessitates and ensures mutually interdependent or symbiotic relationships, thereby ensuring integration and interaction, which are the defining issues in globalization. Durkheim identified some elementary forms of globality, including the extent of constrictive geographical boundaries, the degree of political centralization, the degree of consensus over cultural symbols, the intensity and ease of communication and transportation⸻all of which contribute to greater moral and material density of the globalized era (Hirsch et al., 2009).

Globalization is a gradual process but only became a significant discourse in the 1980s. Before, there was westernization, which in the Global South is often described as neo-colonialism or imperialism. Globalization is sometimes regarded as an instrument of neo-colonialism, which creates apprehensions in many quarters. There is always the tendency to reduce the entire process of globalization to cultural globalization (Javed, 2014). Although colonialism had been abolished, globalization is its technical extension, which involves a means of domination in terms of education, economy and politics (Javed, 2014). Such domination dovetails into all cultural practices, including eating habits and value orientation. Westernization is often used to connote the imposition of western cultures on the rest of the world. The expansion of western culture is evident around the globe, and such expansion is simply a minute aspect of globalization. Therefore, westernization is not synonymous with globalization (Eriksen, 2007). Westernization is one-directional, but globalization involves a multi-directional flow of ideas—globalization advocates for harmony in heterogeneity, not homogenization. Events or ideas from a Global South may become global. For instance, there is a global fight against any gender violence irrespective of place.

Irrespective of how globalization is conceived, it is close to three of the central concepts in sociology: Society, solidarity and conflict. The notion of a global village equates to a unified society with intense connectedness or unified heterogeneity. Some social precepts are global, including solidarity, universal healthcare and happiness. It is often difficult to act blind to the enormous social problems of infant mortality, famine and conflict around the world because their projection is often on a global scale (see Luhmann, 1997). There is often much to achieve with solidarity or globalization. The preceding is not without caution to the internationalization of health risk and conflict or terrorism, which now occur also on a global scale. This kind of physical conflict is not even the only conception of conflict in sociology. The main conflict is between groups (for instance, South and North) with different interests and ideologies, which set the regions in constant rivalry. Hence, the conception of globalization is different across regions, and the yardsticks of measuring also vary accordingly.

Globalization is about increasing socio-political and economic scales and influences across several boundaries. The dissipating boundaries can be observed in every sphere of life with the instantaneous speed in social change (in all forms) and the exchange of information. Globalization is a process resulting in the complex, yet simple, nexus of all regions of the world’s affairs. “Globalization is a social change, increased connectivity among societies and their elements due to transculturation; the explosive evolution of transport and communication technologies to facilitate international cultural and economic exchange” (Ernest, 2007, p. 20). Globalization is the instantaneous exchange of information, ideas, goods and virtual primary proximity (as a single society) among different parts of the world. The world is now in the era of global relationships, with both positive and negative impacts, that break the barrier of distance and a drive toward a common “destiny”.

In addition, globalization means “an unprecedented compression of time and space reflected in the intensification of social, political, economic, and cultural interconnection, interdependency and the transformation of human society” (Anonymous, 2019). In other words, globalization facilitates interaction and integration among the people and various component institutions (political, economic, religious and educational), which have become so intense, dynamic and boundless. To Lechner (2005, p. 331), “globalization refers to the worldwide diffusion of practices, expansion of relations across continents, organization of social life on a global scale, and growth of a shared global consciousness” (see Table 1.1). Globalization signifies the compression of the world as a single society, which gives rise to a widespread intensification of socio-political and economic interaction and shared consciousness. Communication technologies have always been seriously implicated as a significant force driving globalization. The information and communication technologies have facilitated the multiple webs of interaction and the increasing integration of various global components. The ease of communication explains the limitless interaction patterns beyond physical contact. The embrace of virtual realities is the basis for a new form of communication without any form of “deep” social interrogation. Identities are now virtually represented, reified and accepted as real persons with whom communication or transaction is enabled. The new trend of machine-driven communication has set the world closer than ever before. The most exciting aspect is the high acceptability, i.e., trust in technology in the representation of identities and realities. It is a (global) world of virtual connectivity.

Globalization manifests in some intense dynamic and persistent forces responsible for social change or transformation. The forces include transportation, communication technology, social media and trade. For example, the advancement in transportation is limiting the space and distance across boundaries. The boundaries are disappearing bit by bit; the world regions are closer than ever before, and the gradual dissipation of the boundaries is still on. While this is highly expedient, it can also be facilitative of the outbreak of infectious diseases (such as the Coronavirus and Ebola virus diseases). Social media is another driving force, which is responsible for social connectedness across the globe. Social media facilitates the technology-dri...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Conceptualizing Globalization and Health
• 2 Many Faces of Globalization of Health
• 3 Social and Global Determinants of Health
• 4 Globalization and Health: A Theoretical Lens
• 5 Globalization and NCDs in the Global South
• 6 Globalization and Infectious Diseases
• 7 Globalization and Health: The Case of COVID-19
• 8 Global Health Politics and Diplomacy
• 9 Globalization and Migrants’ Health: A Global South Perspective
• 10 Global Health Targets and the Global South
• 11 Global Health Initiatives in the Global South
• Index