Power and Globalization

An overriding theme to emerge during the fall 2006 offering of “Money, Culture and Globalization” concerns the nature of power and its exercise in the global community. Who exercises the power to make treaties or war? Who benefits most from the industrial use and exploitation of the earth’s natural resources? What is the role of the media in legitimizing the empowerment of some and the disempowerment of others, the entitlement of some and the disentitlement of others? What role do knowledge and truth play in determining how power is, or should be, exercised? How do variables of culture, religion, language and class affect our perceptions of truth? Are our universities places that challenge or support the status quo? Is imperialism a thing of the past or do old empires live on and function in new ways? How do the structures of power affect the health and wellbeing of communities, the apportionment of addictions, criminalization and internalized violence? These are some of the questions addressed in the video clips, specially prepared texts and links assembled below.