Introduction
Globalization has penetrated everywhere of the world and continuously reshaped the economic flow as well as social institutions. There is currently a debate on whether or not there is a conflict between globalization and welfare states. The main feature of welfare states is that governments provide a well comprehensive protection in terms of redistribution, full employment, high social and labour standards, and economic growth by adopting a series of social policies (Yeates, 2007, p.640). Because of new structure of global labour division and pressure to maintain economic competitiveness advantages, Globalization has made this full protection become more expensive for governments and uneconomic to comprehensive strengths of countries. However, this does not necessarily mean the diminishing of ‘welfare’ states as the deepening process of globalization and welfare states are concepts full of dynamics and connotations. As shown in statistical research, welfare states are updating their social policies in order to provide new effective forms of protection to their citizens instead of less engaging in supplying welfare. Moreover, although facing the mutual challenges of globalization, different countries have distinct responses given the special nature of each state. The Canadian new social policy paradigm is going to be reviewed in this paper to reveal how states could minimize the conflict between globalization and essence of welfare states.
Challenge of Global Division of Labour
Globalization refers to the ‘international integration of markets for good, services and capital’ which happens almost everywhere of the world and is usually studied at a global level (Genschel, 2004, p.616). This integration also comes a...
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...d policy decision-makers need to face the challenge not only from changing domestic society but also the global factors. Canada, as a traditional welfare state who has a relatively open economy, is adopting a new social paradigm which gives prominence to the function of education to secure its citizens and maintain its economic competitiveness worldwide. It is an effective way to strive in a global competition era but still less than a perfect model. Someone is still worse off and could not benefit from government shifting social policy. Low-skill workers or those who are poor and difficult to get necessary skill and knowledge to succeed in the society should be given importance to the governments of welfare-states. Traditional social redistribution should become more targeting on specific disadvantaged groups given by stronger economic capacity of welfare states.
Canada is a country that was built by immigration. Every year, thousands of hopeful immigrants come to Canada in order to have a better life. And for some, a better life can be achieved. However, for many others, this is simply not the case. In recent years, the number of visible minority immigrants has increased. And while this country’s ethnic diversity has benefitted from this influx, the economic landscape has shifted in a way to disfavor them. This economic disparity can be found through the income inequality that many immigrants face due to their educational background, low social and cultural capital, and occupational choices. It is these factors that have led to an overqualified work force, higher unemployment rates, and a widening
Porter, A. (2003). Consolidating Neoliberal Reforms: Globalization, Multi-Earner Families, and the Erosion of State Support for the Unemployed. Gendered States: Women, Unemployment Insurance and the Political Economy of the Welfare State in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Blau, J. (2004). The dynamics of social welfare policy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc.
“…three major provincial social welfare programs to reduce poverty is assessed for each province across time. These programs are Social Assistance, Provincial Tax Credits, and Workers’ Compensation” (Weaver, Habibov & Fan, 2011). As the quote explains, these plans seek to reduce the appearance of poverty across different provinces across Canada as well as to monitor how changing government officials may or may not have an impact on the overall financial standings within each individual province and/or territory. It is unclear whether or not poverty standings will begin to change in Canada and across the world. It is the responsibility of the governments and community leaders to ensure that residents within the community have adequate access to the necessary resources and funds needed in order for highest quality of life possible. “Many elements of false consciousness (particularly denial of injustice and exploitation, rationalization of social roles, and false attribution of blame) are directly relevant to attributions for poverty and wealth and are considered to be key mechanisms through which individuals justify the system” (Godfrey & Wolf, 2015). Without civil and unbiased leadership, there will continue to be issues at the structural level of any given
The Canadian insistence on the collective concerns of peace, order and good government has meant that state projects such as education are seen in terms of their overall impact on society. To understand the growth of schooling in Canada, special attention must be paid both to official policies and the changing nature of children's lives.
Wall, Katherine. "The end of the welfare state? How globalization is affecting state sovereignty." global policy. N.p., 17 Aug. 2012. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. .
Poverty is a serious issue in Canada needs to be addressed promptly. Poverty is not simply about the lack of money an individual has; it is much more than that. The World Bank Organization defines poverty by stating that, “Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time”. In Canada, 14.9 percent of Canada’s population has low income as Statistics Canada reports, which is roughly about two million of Canadians in poverty or on the verge of poverty. In addition, according to an UNICEF survey, 13.3 percent of Canadian children live in poverty. If the government had started to provide efficient support to help decrease the rates of poverty, this would not have been such a significant issue in Canada. Even though the issue of poverty has always been affecting countries regardless of the efforts being made to fight against it, the government of Canada still needs to take charge and try to bring the percentage of poverty down to ensure that Canada is a suitable place to live. Therefore, due to the lack of support and social assistance from the government, poverty has drastically increased in Canada.
Over the past few decades, factors such as globalization, de-regulation, credentialism, and technological progress have brought momentous transformations to the economies of the world. Wealth imbalance between countries has contracted, while income inequality within countries has expanded. The demand for highly skilled workers has increased, and so have the salaries for the most successful individuals in society. Less educated people, however, have fared relatively worse. This is quickly attracting the attention of governments of many countries, including Canada.
The prospect of the welfare state in America appears to be bleak and almost useless for many citizens who live below the poverty line. Katz’s description of the welfare state as a system that is “partly public, partly private, partly mixed; incomplete and still not universal; defeating its own objectives” whereas has demonstrates how it has become this way by outlining the history of the welfare state which is shown that it has been produced in layers. The recent outcomes that Katz writes about is the Clinton reform in 1996 where benefits are limited to a period of two years and no one is allowed to collect for more than five years in their lifetime unless they are exempted. A person may only receive an exemption on the grounds of hardship in which states are limited to granting a maximum of 20% of the recipient population. The logic behind this drastic measure was to ensure that recipients would not become dependent upon relief and would encourage them to seek out any form of employment as quickly as possible. State officials have laid claim to this innovation as a strategy that would “save millions of children from poverty.” However, state officials predict otherwise such as an increase in homelessness, a flooding of low-waged workers in the labour market, and decreased purchasing power which means less income from tax collections. The outcomes of this reform appear to be bleak for many Americans who reside below the poverty line. How does a wealthy country like America have such weak welfare system? Drawing upon Katz, I argue that the development of the semi-welfare state is a result of the state taking measures to ensure that the people do not perceive relief as a right and to avoid exploiting the shortfalls of capitalism ...
Canada has not demonstrated social justice in the area of Aboriginal peoples. Canada’s Aboriginal population faces more barriers than the non-Aboriginal population when it comes to education, poverty, and unemployment. Although Canada is known as one of the best countries for education, it has failed Aboriginal Canadians. The education attainment for the Aboriginal population is lower and unequal than non-Aboriginal Canadians. A 2011 Statistics Canada survey shows that only 22.8% of Aboriginal peoples had completed a high school or postsecondary education, which resulted in lower attainments of certificates, diplomas or degrees.
An outstanding mechanism frequently used to interpret ‘Globalization’ is the ‘World Economy’. Back to the colonial age, the coinstantaneous behaviors of worldwide capitals and energy resources flowed from colonies to western countries has been regarded as the rudiment of the economic geography (Jürgen and Niles, 2005). Nowadays, the global economy was dominated by transnational corporations and banking institutions mostly located in developed countries. However, it is apparently that countries with higher level of comprehensive national strength are eager for a bigger market to dump surplus domestic produce and allocate energy resources in a global scale, thus leads to a world economic integration. This module was supported by several historical globalists (Paul Hirst, Grahame Thompson and Deepak Nayyer) ‘their position is that globalization is nothing new but more fashionable and exaggerate, a tremendous amount of internationalization of money and trade in earlier periods is hardly less than today.’ (Frans J Schuurman 2001:64).
The term ‘Globalization’ refers to is the integration of economies, industries, markets, cultures and policy-making round the globe. It explains a progression by which both national and regional economies, societies, and cultures have become incorporated through the universal system of commerce, communication, migration and transportation.
There is an undeniable fact that there has been a rise in globalization. It has become a hot topic amongst the field of international politics. With the rise of globalization, the sovereignty of the state is now being undermined. It has become an undisputed fact that the world has evolved to a new level of globalization, the transferring goods, information, ideas and services around the globe has changed at an unimaginable rate. With all that is going on, one would question how globalization has changed the system that is typically a collection of sovereign states. Do states still have the main source of power? What gives a state the right to rule a geographically defined region? It is believed by many that due to the introduction of international systems and increasing rate of globalization, the sovereignty of the state has been slowly eroded over time. My paper has two parts: First, it aims to take a close look at how globalization has changed the way the economy worked, specifically how it opened doors for multinational corporations to rise in power. Second, to answer the question, is it possible for it to exist today? And even so, should it?
The interrelation and the integration of people, companies, governments and nations can be described as globalization. Globalization was produced due to international trade and investments with the help of technology. In today’s world, globalization is very essential. Advancements and technology help the process needed for globalization. Many countries and organizations similarly are affected by this phenomenon, on the other hand, smaller countries have benefited from larger contributors to the world’s market.
Globalisation is a very complex term with various definitions, in business terms, “globalization describes the increasingly global nature of markets, the tendency for transnational businesses to configure their business activities on a worldwide basis, and to co-ordinate and integrate their strategies and operations across national boundaries” (Stonehouse, Campbell, Hamill and Purdie, 2004, p. 5).