User:Rsh10
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
My name is Rachel. I live in Boston, MA but was born in New York and grew up mostly outside of Reading, PA in a really cool place called Wyomissing. Currently, I am a senior at the University of Pittsburgh. I love being in Pittsburgh, it's a great city. I am double majoring in Psychology and Sociology and have an administrative justice minor. I plan to attend law school next year, I want to focus on family law because I love working with children. I am using this page for my sociology class at the University of Pittsburgh.
This is my first edit to the Wikipedia page.
Today I completed my study questions from chapters 1 and 2 for sociology class. I thought the readings were interesting. I had read the Age of Extremes in one of my other sociology class so it was exciting that I could apply information I learned in one class to another class.
I am in sociology class now editing this page.(1/22/08)
(1/28/08) I have just completed the reading and questions for homework due tomorrow in class. I thought that the first chapter on gender and globalization was very interesting. However, I thought the second chapter on the ACGM was very confusing.
(1/5/08) I'm not sure that any one of these approaches to studying globalization is the best because I think all aspects of globalization are important and it is important to study them at all levels which is not included in any one of these approaches. However, I would be most interested in studying globalization using a global cultural approach. I think this is the most interesting approach to look at the effects of globalization and technology and mass media on society.
(2/19/08)Deindustrialization in Belgium
Introduction and Literature Review Deindustrialization is a shift from employment and production in the manufacturing sector of society to employment and production in the service sector. The process of deindustrialization is closely related to globalization. In industrialized societies countries manufacture and produce their own goods. Globalization however, allows companies to cross borders when searching for goods; setting up international frameworks which enable them to rely on other countries for goods they had previously produced themselves (Brady 2007). This, at least partially, leads to the process of deindustrialization. Deindustrialization is important to study because it has many implications for previously industrialized societies in terms of economic, political, and cultural changes. In the Nineteen-sixties manufacturing jobs made up a large portion of labor force for the average OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) country (about ¼ the labor force consisted of manufacturing jobs). By the Nineteen-nineties manufacturing jobs were held by less than 1/5 of total employees (Alderson 1999). The negative impact of deindustrialization was felt by many of these employees. Countless jobs were shipped overseas to people who would produce the same goods for less money. With jobs crossing international-borders and being given to whoever will take them at the lowest cost, there is increased competition and a great diversity of workers. A diversity of workers from many different countries makes it extremely hard for these workers to organize themselves in groups. Therefore, another negative effect of deindustrialization is decreased union membership (Lee 2005). Without union membership, it is difficult to fight for better working conditions, wages, and benefits. It is also impossible for many of these countries to compete with people overseas who are willing to do the work for extremely low wages and no benefits. This paper specifically looks at deindustrialization in Belgium. It takes into account Belgium’s history, economy, and culture when interpreting the results. Belgium’s society is extremely split based on the two main languages of the country. There are severe language, societal, economic, political, and cultural boundaries between the Dutch speaking Belgians of Flanders and the French-speaking Belgians of Wallonia (Button 2007). In the early 1900’s Belgium was an eager participant in the Industrial Revolution. One of their main industrial sectors was coal mining; which comprised almost two-thirds of their total industrial employment. Many of these coal mines were located in Limburg and were financially controlled by Wallonia (Swyngedouw 1996). The next section of this paper examines employment and sales and production in Belgium in order to determine whether deindustrialization is occurring.
Data and Results Table 1 represents industrial employment in Belgium and uses 100 as a base for the year 2000. Unfortunately data is only available beginning in the year 1999. Industrial employment in Belgium rises between 1999 and 2000 and than falls significantly until 2003. Industrial employment then rises slightly again between the years 2003 and 2006.
Table 1. Industrial Employment in Belgium
Source: OECD; http://stats.oecd.org/WBOS (2007)
Table 2. Production and Sales in Belgium
Source: OECD; http://stats.oecd.org/WBOS (2007)
Table 2 displays the production and sales of total industry in Belgium. It appears that production and sales steadily increase throughout almost all years from 1955 until 2006. There are a few years in which production and sales decline slightly, but then straighten out and continue to rise.
Interpretation and Conclusions Table 1 only contains the years 1999 until 2006 but it can be seen in those years that industrial employment is decreasing; displaying the effects of deindustrialization on employment. Table 2 shows that production and sales of total industry in Belgium is rising, making it appear as if Belgium is becoming more industrialized as opposed to deindustrialized. However, this is clearly not the case; deindustrialization is occurring at rapid rates within the country. One variable that may account for the increase in production and sales is that there have been large population increases in Belgium over the charted period. During the 1950’s Belgium had a population of over 8 million. Currently, Belgium has a population of over 10 million (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2007). With a substantial population increase, there should be a substantial sales and productions increase. So although Table 2 shows that production and sales are increasing, they might be increasing at a lower rate than the population; and Table 2 is therefore misleading. Another item to take into consideration is that these charts are an overall measure of Belgium; however, Belgium is strongly divided into two different regions and peoples. Recall that from 1900 until the early 1950’s coal mines made up 2/3 of industrial employment. Those coal mines began to close in the late 1960’s until they were all closed in the early 1990’s (Swyngedouw 1996). The mines were mostly financed by Wallonia, so these mine closings would have had a major impact on Wallonia, but maybe not such a strong effect on Flanders which had little invested in the mines. Along with the deindustrialization occurring in Wallonia due to the mine closings, significant financial and employment losses and hardships were incurred. Today, the people of Flanders are a lot wealthier than the people of Wallonia. Also, the unemployment in Wallonia is twice that of the unemployment rate in Flanders (Button 2007). Since in Table 1 and Table 2, unemployment and production statistics are representative of Belgium as a whole, the effect of deindustrialization in Wallonia is straightened out by that of Flanders and may appear much more subtle than it actually is. Deindustrialization is clearly occurring throughout the country of Belgium. That is not to say that Belgium is no longer industrialized, but just that it was more highly industrialized during the early 1900’s and has since declined. It is evident that the region of Flanders is adjusting more easily to deindustrialization than the region of Wallonia. The people of Flanders are ‘hopping on the globalization wagon’ by directly investing in foreign companies and quickly increasing and improving their technology.
References
Alderson, Arthur S. 1999. “Explaining Deindustrialization: Globalization, Failure, or Success?” American Sociological Review 64:701-721. Brady, David, Jason Beckfield, and Wei Zhao. 2007. “The Consequences of Economic Globalization for Affluent Democracies.” Annual Review of Sociology 33:313- 334. Button, James. 2007. “Flag is still flying, but Belgium is at half mast; Country in Crisis.” Sydney Morning Herald, December 15. Lee, Cheol-Sung. 2005. “International Migration, Deindustrialization and Union Decline in 16 Affluent OECD Countries, 1962-1997.” Social Forces 84:71-87. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 2007. “Country Statistical Profiles 2007.” Retrieved February 9, 2008. (http://stats.oecd.org/WBOS) Swyngedouw, Erik. 1996. “Reconstructing Citizenship, the Re-scaling of the State and the New Authoritarianism: Closing the Belgian Mines.” Urban Studies 33:1499- 1521.
