Globalisaion 阅读材料.docVIP

Winners and Losers?Globalisation is defined by the spread and integration of people, goods, finance, knowledge and culture across the planet. Each of these dimensions of globalisation has advanced since the dawn of civilisation, at a pace determined by the available technologies for transport and communications.? Motherboard of a laptop ?Greenpeace International Accelerated now by microchip technology and the efficiency of container shipping, globalisation has drawn attention to itself on account of its far-reaching consequences.The impact on ordinary households is most apparent in high and middle income countries. Most everyday goods are imported from a single country, China; simple enquiries about banking or insurance may involve a call centre in India; a globetrotting executive can sustain family intimacy through social media tools.?These illustrations of globalisation are broadly positive in their effect on individuals, creating space for personal fulfilment, stimulating wealth and encouraging cross-cultural experience.?At national level, the economic opportunities presented by globalisation have been responsible in part for the success of countries such as China, Vietnam and Brazil in achieving significant poverty reduction. But most low income countries have been less fortunate and there is rising concern that?the global poor have been left behind?in the slipstream.?Whereas sharply rising volumes of foreign trade and investment over the last twenty years have transformed standards of living in industrialised countries, the number of sub-Saharan Africans living in extreme poverty has risen.?Whereas internet technology has revolutionised our capacity for knowledge and interaction, swathes of South Asia and Africaprovide no electricity, let alone computers. Whereas the global supply chains of our supermarket culture deliver exotic year-round affordable foods, over 900 million people in the developing world experience hunger.?Contemporary globalisation