Part I: Answer one of the following: Critically engage with the historically-lingering division of the globe into three "worlds" (by any names), and if this is a valid way to approach the idea of...

Answer one of the following:

1. Critically engage with the historically-lingering division of the globe into three "worlds" (by any names), and if this is a valid way to approach the idea of sustainability.


2. Identify the key elements of "ecological modernization." Your essay should also include references to corporate "greening" and how this enhances the bottom-line. Critically assess the connection between brand, consumerism, and unsustainable practices in the West, also looking at the "double logic" associated with green business practices.


3. What are the major paradoxes of the UK's relationship with sustainability? What role does the history of the island of Britannia play, if any?


4. Discuss the U.S.'s mixed legacy on the environment since the late 1800s. Be sure to discuss the impact of Watts and Pruitt in your essay, as well as the notions of green backlash/brownlash in the current political milieu.


5. Interrogate the viability of cap-and-trade and other forms of environment regulation in the developed world.
   
   


6. Explain the centrality of the idea of "transformation" in post-socialist countries as it relations to realm of sustainability.


7. Inter-relate the ideas of Nature, the proletariat, and actually existing socialism, focusing on how ideology shapes policy.


8. Examine the Soviet Union as the world's most anti-sustainable economy.


9. Contextualize the noosphere as a factor in shaping the geosphere and the biosphere. Discuss the contemporary impact of European imperialism on the developing world and how this informs everyday issues of sustainability.


10. What is the poverty trap and how does it relate to the environment? What solutions can mitigate its effects?
    
    


11. Identify how globalization helps and hurts the "poor" (be sure to cite Rudra's essay). Is gender a major factor that should understood in relation to this?

Part II:

Respond to the post below:

Globalization will more readily “bypass the poor” if there are existing geographical dis- advantages, an overabundance of unskilled labor in agriculture and manufacturing, and weak institutions (Ruda, Pg.290). Everyone has heard the saying the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Globalization brings opportunities but it also brings risks.One of the opportunities globalization brings is the free trade. Free trade means that there should be no controls on trade or capital investments.

We imagine that under globalization the developing third world countries are supposed to have the same rights to produce and export goods to the developed world. However, the reality is that they simply do not have the capacity to manufacture and export goods the same way the develop world does. “what is happening is that first world countries are dumping their excess goods into the markets of the third world, so instead of being developed we are conditioned to accept our dependency of what we eat and wear…” (Enerio, 2007). The gap between rich and poor is now greater, corporations take the advantage of cheap labor and as a result worker live in poverty.

The bottom line thus far is that without government intervention, we have little reason to expect that the hypothesized benefits of globalization for the absolute poor—increased real income and earning opportunities—will materialize. Further, if the benefits of globalization are unequal and disproportionately benefit the rich, any ancillary improvements for the poor are likely to be minimal (Ruda, Pg. 295).

Globalization has impacted gender and is a major factor. By adding inequalities between men and women and among women we create discrimination. “…segregation by gender, mean that not all women have fully benefited from the economic opportunities brought about by globalization. And even among women who did benefit, remaining gaps, primarily in wages and working conditions, still need to be closed.” Gender inequality is more costly in an integrated world because it diminishes a country’s capacity to strive internationally.

Sources:

Rudra, Nita; Tobin, Jennifer. Annual Review of Political Science."When Does Globalization Help the Poor?" May2017, Vol. 20 Issue 1, p287-307

Enerio, Jacinta. “GLOBALIZATION: Making the Rich Richer and the Poor Poorer?!?” BPS Politics, March 12, 2007. https://bpspolitics.wordpress.com/2007/03/12/globalization-making-the-rich-richer-and-the-poor-poorer/

"The first rule of sustainability is to align with natural forces, or at least not try to defy them." ~ Paul Hawken

MAIN ASSIGNMENT:

Compare three countries' sustainability vectors. One must be from the developed "West", one must be a post-socialist state, and the third must be in the developing world (i.e., a First, Second, and Third-World country). An appropriate triad would be: Sweden, Slovenia, and Suriname. Superlative essays will: 1) provide a precis of each country's economic development/agro-industrial base; 2) pervading attitudes towards the environment/natural resources; 3) discernible efforts towards sustainability since 2000; and 4) provide a critical assessment of the success of such efforts.