Exploring the Dark Side of Globalization through Science Fiction

Globalization looks at the interconnectivity of the world politically, economically, and socially. This interconnectivity comes from an increase in the process of interaction and integration between countries and citizens around the world. With technology being one of the greatest reasons globalization is occurring so rapidly, science-fiction takes advantage of this to imagine globalization in the future and point out the main consequences of globalization. Using the film Sleep Dealer Rivera reveals the major downfalls of globalization highlighting the exploitation of workers, unequal economic development, and hindered interconnectivity. The exploitation of workers stems from corporation’s ability to identify countries with weak labor restrictions

In Sleep Dealer Rivera uses the verticality of the cities to rank their economic development. Santa Ana is the southernmost city discussed in Sleep Dealer. It is also far and away the most underdeveloped city, it is an incredibly dry, barren land with very few inhabitants. The only true signs of development are small hints of technology, such as the Cruz’s high definition television and video chat system. The greatest development surrounds the Del Rio dam, which ultimately hurts economic development in Santa Ana far more than it helps. By privatizing the water source very few people can continue to successfully pursue their career in agriculture. Moving northward, the next city is Tijuana which is labelled as “the city of the future”. Tijuana is more developed in the sense that it offers job opportunities for many, and allows people to become connected to the global economy. Tijuana is still far from being developed though, slums there are growing horizontally, and the black market is an essential portion of their economic lives. Once again, the major economic development is put in place by U.S. corporations. These companies do help people earn more money than before, but as explained about there is a clear exploitation of the workers that significantly slows economic development. Finally, the most northern city is San

One problem witnessed today with immigration is the need for immigrant workers, but increasing amounts of barriers to their entry. With the advanced technology in Sleep Dealer U.S. corporations are able to receive the work they need without actually have to deal with the workers at all. This creates a whole new dissociation between nations, completely cutting off any physical interaction between the U.S. and Mexico. Not only is it possible to enhance physical borders, virtual borders can also be created. These borders created allow for a virtual connection but leave an enormous spatial divide. For example, the drone pilots outsource drones to kill people creating an almost video game like effect that distances the individual from what he or she is actually doing. Rudy Ramirez must face Memo’s father face to face when killing him, and differing from his other killings he feels a strong sense of remorse over killing him. Being face to face and actually seeing the person he was hurting broke down this virtual border that had been created for him. Virtual borders can make it increasingly difficult to grasp that although it is a machine physically performing these acts, ultimately it is whoever is controlling the machine. The virtual borders dehumanize people, they limit the human emotion that typically would