Globalization Blog

The phenomenon of “Voluntourism” has become a popular and emerging trend of global citizenship over the past decade. According to World Vision, voluntourism is “a form of tourism in which travelers participate in voluntary work, typically for charity” (“Voluntourism: the good and the bad”). From the outside perspective, voluntourism seems like an act of kindness and compassion, but from the inside, voluntourism tends to provide more harm than generosity. The majority of those who make up the “voluntourist” demography are wealthy individuals, high school/university students and Christians. “All seek personal growth, connection to those less fortunate, and the satisfaction of making a difference” (Rosenburg, 2018). These voluntourists tend to target helping needy children in orphanages or build some type of shelter for a local village. Although this is a noble act, most poor countries cannot keep up with the uptake of these new buildings. Visiting orphanages tends to do the most harm...

Music is a sound that we hear everyday. Whether it’s by choice through the use of our headphones, or in the hallways of the campus we walk, music is an inevitable concept that surrounds us daily. We often take for granted the ability we have to listen to different musical genres ranging from Francophone to Afrobeat, available at the tips of our fingers. These above genres and the influences they have on the hits we hear on the radio today, can be credited to the process of globalization. Many countries around the world listen to American music and vice versa. America has one of the strongest music industries in the world, with some of the most famous artists. It is no surprise that other countries want to compete with this, as music has become a very profitable market. Countries will compete by “westernizing” themselves. A modern-day example of this is the Korean musical genre of K-Pop. K-Pop is Korean pop music that “consists of an assortment of other genres such as electronic, ...

In September of 2019, north-east Brazil experienced an oil spill that covered thousands of kilometers of the coastline. Oil spills aren’t necessarily uncommon events, but what is interesting about this spill is that the Brazil government is unsure where the oil has come from. The oil seen in the spill has been identified as crude oil. Crude oil is a type of fossil fuel used to produce products such as gasoline and diesel. Crude oil is considered an important resource due to the high demand for use of it to power our cars and other modes of transportation. Although Brazil does produce crude oil through their oil company, Petrobras, the Brazilian environment ministry has claimed that the oil seen in the spill is not a product of Brazil. This is said to be due to different characteristics that oil obtains depending on where it is originated from. The Brazilian government firmly believes that it’s neighbouring country, Venezuela, is to blame for the oil spill’s origin, but because ...

I wake up in the morning and immediately reach for my Apple iPhone that was built in China. I spend several minutes staring at my closet and my drawers full of clothes that were produced all over the world, trying to decide what to wear today. I go downstairs, I make myself a cup of a cold, refreshing iced coffee that was manufactured in Vietnam, and quickly grab a banana grown in Central and South America. Lastly, I go into my PT Cruiser, manufactured in Toluca, Mexico, and start making my way to school. This first hour of my everyday morning wouldn’t be possible without globalization. My favourite part of my morning that would not be possible without globalization is drinking coffee. It only takes 30 seconds to brew a cup of coffee, but the process of getting my coffee from the Dong Nai plant in Vietnam to my Keurig machine takes much longer and is something that not a lot of people realize would not happen without globalization. Coffee is mainly grown in the regions of Africa, L...