Neoliberalism and Australia Essay

Globalisation has become a fashionable term used for numerous years amongst humanities and social sciences. Usage of this term has been driven by an academic fascination with the world as an increasingly interconnected place, in which localized forms of culture have become increasingly subject to homogenizing global influences (Maguire, J)

When it comes to globalization, everyone may have a different vision of it’s outcome. For Marcelo Gleiser, the author of “Globalization: Two visions of the Future of Humanity”, a completely globalized world may result in a dystopia. In contrast, Jeffrey Wasserstrom, the author of “A Mickey Mouse Approach to Globalization” and Tanveer Ali, the creator of “The Subway Falafel Sandwich and the Americanization of Ethnic Food” may think of globalization as other cultures sharing each other’s components to interact on a new level and spurring a more “open-minded” (Ali 27) individual.

Australia became a commonwealth of the British Empire in 1901. It was able to take advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop its agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the British effort in World Wars I and II. Now, Australia has a prosperous Western-style capitalist economy, with a per capita GDP at the level of the four dominant West European economies. Rich in natural resources, Australia is a major exporter of agricultural products, minerals, metals, and fossil fuels.

For a while now I have seen myself as citizen of a global community that begins in Australia but is reflective of, and permeable to the influence of outside cultures. There is little doubt that English speaking countries have more influence on Australians like me, however as LDC’s (lower developed countries) technologically advance, interactions and familiarity with outside cultures will instill confidence in the world’s people, ultimately leading to a global civil society (Rourke 2012) – at least that is what the idealist in me believes. Throughout this unit I have been able to identify with liberalism and determine where I sit on the realism verses idealism spectrum. In Liberalisms Inevitability, Jeff Manza writes “… Liberals do not understand

Some argue that globalization will, on the long term, bring all cultures as a unique Western, if not Americanized, culture, while others argue that some cultures will persist in order to keep their own essence and therefore avoid the homogenization of all cultures. Alongside pure tradition, global conflicts, contradictory political regimes and the diversity of economic systems, some cultures are bound to face issues when trying to fully fit in a global western culture, and that is why cultures are adaptable to one another, but with some limits that we will express in this essay.

Baum, I 2003, The impact of ownership concentration in the media business on the quality of information delivered to the consumer, viewed on 15 October 2004, , pp. 15 & 17.

Globalization is the process by which different societies and cultures integrate through a worldwide network of political ideas through transportation, communication, and trade. Generally, globalization has affected many nations in various ways; economically, politically, and socially. It is a term that refers to the fast integration and interdependence of various nations, which shapes the world affairs on a global level. Simply put; globalization is the world coming together. In this essay I will discuss multiple perspectives on globalization through the analysis of these three sources.

Gina Rinehart’s accumulation of Fairfax shares is used as a case study in the context of a political economy analysis because of the existence in the case study of political systems protecting economic and power structures in society. The traditional justification for journalism has been that it can act as a watchdog on powerful government and corporations. The issue with Gina Rinehart’s share in Fairfax, is that one of the most powerful sectors in Australian society, the mining industry, were seeking to dominate one of the important accountability mechanisms in a democracy though economic means. Gina Rinehart, who is Australia 's richest person, began accumulating shares in Fairfax in late 2010. In February 2012 she became Fairfax Media’s largest shareholder, purchasing a 14 per cent stake in the company. She later increased her stake and was believed to be planning a takeover before being forced to sell down to 14.99 per cent (Sarah Thompson 2015). When Rinehart bought the shares in 2012 it was widely expressed, even by Fairfax Media, that she was interested in gaining ‘influence’ rather than making a commercial decision (Barnes 2013). As well as her stake in Fairfax Media, Rinehart also owns 10% of commercial television network Ten, where she holds a board position. In 2010, when she bought a large stake in Channel Ten, conservative columnist Andrew Bolt also wrote that, ‘Rinehart is on a mission. Channel 10 is just the vehicle’ (Barnes 2013).

Over the centuries, the media has played a significant role in the shaping of societies across the globe. This is especially true of developed nations where media access is readily available to the average citizen. The media has contributed to the creation of ideologies and ideals within a society. The media has such an effect on social life, that a simple as a news story has the power to shake a nation. Because of this, governments around the world have made it their duty to be active in the regulation and control of media access in their countries. The media however, has quickly become dominated by major mega companies who own numerous television, radio and movie companies both nationally and

Until the 1980s, the control of the media was in the hands of the national government. From then, the control shifted to private outlets and by the 1990’s, there were more than fifty multinational companies who controlled it (“Mass Media”). Today, only about six major companies control the larger fraction of media in America (Williams, Par. 1). Norman Solomon wrote in the New Political Science Journal that most reporters and editors work for just a few huge companies. These journalists and editors are on the payroll for “mega-media institutions”, of which, only about six exist (Solomon 297). How much will the public learn if these companies generally control the output of information?

‘Neo liberalism is responsible for most of the global economic problems we are experiencing today’

News Corporation accounted for six popular national newspapers in the UK. This level of ownership impacts the variety of ideas and values that can circulate. Concentration of media ownership threatens democracy in political journalism(Baker, 2007), leading to over-representation of political viewpoints, values that are favoured by media owners. There is a negative correlation between media domination and levels of pluralism which is needed in society, to sustain representation. The concentration of media ownership leads to less competing suppliers, thus leaving a gap in a democratic political system. Due to Rupert Murdoch’s large media empire, it has been said that he has wielded political power through his influence over headlines. It could be interpreted this way when considering the support given by News Corporation owned newspapers, to Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s and Tony Blair in 1997. The impact of Rupert Murdoch can also be shown

In this essay I will give a detailed explanation of what sociologists mean by the term ‘globalisation’ and how they have tried to explain it.

If we talk about the role of media in globalization process we should firstly say that what the media is. The media is media technologies that are intended to reach a large audience by mass communication. Today the media play a key role in enhancing globalization. And the media also play important role in facilitating culture exchange flows of information between countries. The media spreads through international news broadcasts, new technologies, television programming, film and music. There are a lot of broadcasts of media. Foe example: We can say about internet, TV, radio, newspapers, books, billboards and etc. The media connects the world to a network of information easily accessible for all of us. In this discussion arises a question: Which role has media in globalization process? I think the role of media in globalization process is very important. And my point of view is that the media is a part of the globalization process, it is like “pen” of the globalization process, because media shares everything that the globalization process dictates. The important role in globalization process has Internet, which connects all the countries around the world. Internet is called “world wide web”. So if we say about the globalization process we should remind that the developed countries globalize enough. However, there are some countries which do not globalize enough. For example, states of 3rd world, hungry states and others.

Globalisation is the process of interconnectedness and the integration of national and regional culture, economies, and society through the global network of communication, immigration, transportation and trade (Financial Times Lexicon, 2017). According to Reiche (2014), globalisation did not mean much in the past fifty years. It could be primarily focused on the trade and also foreign direct investment which are the economic side of the world but it has been expanded to a broader range which including media, culture, technology, trades and political factors nowadays. Although globalisation is considered as a wide range nowadays, it still can be classified as four main characteristics which are stretched social relations, intensification of flows, increasing interpenetration, and global infrastructure (Held, 2004). However, cultural imperialism has the most typical impacts on globalisation. This essay will define and explain cultural imperialism and its impact from the pessimistic globalist and transformationalist perspective.