The Ethical Challenges of Globalization

Globalization has transformed the world from a collection of discrete communities interacting occasionally to an overlapping community of fate. Thus culturally, politically and economically, communities across the world now operate in what is essentially a shared space albeit divided into artificial political condominiums called nation-states. This artificial division, notwithstanding, the intensification of transnational relations occasioned by globalizing forces and processes has opened up novel forms of social bonds and responsibilities. As nations, peoples and communities across the globe become economically, socially and politically connected, the distinction between the global and the local becomes increasingly blurred and events and actions in one locale carries with it the potential to generate transnational and transgenerational consequences. It is precisely because in a globalized world, events and actions are capable of giving rise to transnational consequences, that moral reflection about our responsibilities and obligations has become an imperative. Taking the above observations as a point of departure, this paper seeks to highlight some of the plethora of normative issues and question which are becoming increasingly significant in the age of globalization. These, interestingly, includes the c haracter of globalization itself. Critics have argued that the currently unfolding neoliberal globalization concentrates wealth in the hands of a few while it leaves the majority in the condition of poverty. Other questions relate to the environment, cultural imperialism, human rights, global poverty, the rise of powerful transnational corporations etc