London, 2nd-7th January 2009



Introduction
Few people in the developed world can be unaware of the increasing level of interconnectedness that there is between the people on the Earth. A quick glance at the origin of the clothes one is wearing would be enough to prove the point. This seems to be generally a good thing for developed countries but what about the less developed countries? Are they benefiting as much from the 'shrinking' of the planet as the West is? This International Interdisciplinary Seminar will look at the concepts and processes of development and globalisation and the impact of one upon the other.

We are getting close to the end of the first decade of the 21st century and still seem no closer to closing the gap between developed and less developed countries. In many parts of the world, and particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, there is still a shortage of food, limited access to safe water and insufficient provision of basic education. HIV/AIDS is still exacting a huge toll in these countries. The UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are unlikely to be achieved in many countries by the self-imposed target of 2015.

At the same time developed countries, faced with their own ageing populations and competition from countries such as China and India, are outsourcing more of their manufacturing and service industries to less developed countries. Is this going to help the developing countries or is it yet another way by which the developed countries can maintain their economic dominance?

Many reasons are put forward for why less developed countries are being held back: for example, political instability; corruption; excessive population growth; inappropriate interventions by international agencies such as the World Bank and the IMF and globalisation itself. But if one or more of these are obstacles to development what can be done to overcome them?

In order to understand the impact of globalisation on development it is first necessary to understand what globalisation is. As a concept in popular culture globalisation has only been around for a couple of decades. As a process it has been around for many centuries. Defining globalisation as the integration of economic, cultural, political, and social systems through internationalisation and localisation one can see its reach and implications are enormous. However, one only has to look at the worldwide popularity of Coca Cola, mobile phones and David Beckham to realise that globalisation is happening. While globalisation has brought many advances not everyone is happy about it and have expressed their discontent at recent intergovernmental meetings.

Development is also a concept that needs to be carefully defined and even more carefully measured. Simply measuring incomes is not enough. There are many dimensions to development and these can change without a change in income or, alternatively, income can change without any change in the overall level of development. Measures such as life expectancy, health, education levels, political and religious freedom need to be included when considering what it means to be developed.

One cannot ignore the ethical implications of development and globalisation. What responsibility does the West have for the rest of the world? What is the aim of development? Is globalisation simply the necessary consequence of free market economics or does there need to be a restraining hand? If so who should play this role?

One cannot discuss these issues these days without bringing in the topic of climate change. What impact will globalisation and development have on climate change? Are fears about climate change being used by developed countries to slow down the development of Third World countries? Should richer nations take a greater share of the efforts to slow down climate change?