Politics in Minutes (2016)

Anti-globalization

Globalization offers the potential to reduce poverty in the less developed countries through international trade and the location of transnational corporations’ production facilities. But unless regulated by international agreements the benefits are heavily one-sided. Unfair trade deals and exploitation by multinationals hinder rather than help developing countries. Growing awareness of this continuing inequality has resulted in the formation of a movement opposing the injustice of this aspect of globalization. Loosely known as the anti-globalization movement, it would more accurately be described as a movement against corporate or neoliberal globalization, as its criticism is directed against the unregulated power of transnational corporations to maximize their profits by exploiting the resources and workforce of poor countries. It is not opposed to international trade per se, and one offshoot of the movement has been the establishment of the Fairtrade Foundation to ensure producer countries receive fair payment for their goods and labour.