MODULE ONE

WHAT IS THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

Module Overview

The goal of this module is to provide an introduction to

the basic concepts related to the study of globalization.
The first lesson introduces Globalization by providing
the various definitions of globalization and reflects on
how these definitions are contextualized in the
Mindanaoan setting. The suggested teaching-learning
activity in page __ will aid your students in establishing
the definition that will be adopted by your class as well
as the students’ personal definition of globalization.
Lesson 2 provides brief background on how nations
were established before globalization was possible.
Lesson 3 on the interstate system discusses how
nations interact in in the globalized world order. These
lessons lay the groundwork in preparing the students
in the detailed analysis of globalization in the later
modules. You may a lot up to 2 sessions for each
lesson.

Students may extend their learning by visiting “The

China Ship” series by the South China Morning Post. By
navigating the chapters of the series, students will learn The Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation.
about the Philippine’s role in the early forms of global Read more at
trading in the late 16th century. Globalization is believed to https://multimedia.scmp.com/culture/article/spa
began when circumnavigation route between Asia and the nish-galleon/chapter_01.html
Americas was charted by Ferdinand Magellan and Juan
Sebastian Elcano in 1522. This route kicked-off 250 years Photo source
of trade between Asia and the rest of the world. https://multimedia.scmp.com/culture/article/spanish-
galleon/img/chapter_01_map01.jpg

This module is expected to run for at least 2 weeks, covering the following key concepts:
Globalization
Nation, state and nation-state
Imagined communities
Westphalian Treaty
Colonialism

1 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

Lesson 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

The table above from The Future of Jobs Report 2018 reveals the emerging high-demand skills of
the future as well those that are in decline in three categories: Today, 2018; Trending, 2022 and
Declining, 2022. Take a look at the skills listed in each of the categories and evaluate where our
students’ current skills belong. What do you think are the expertise and skills that students are
gaining form their respective programs and in which category do these skills belong? Do you think
the skills and expertise they gain from college will be in demand once they graduate? Will they be
bale to use these skills and expertise in your own locale or can they use these to get a job anywhere
in the world? These are questions that are crucial for you and your students to answer and explore
while you are in college. After all you would want to know if what you have learned in college
would be relevant to society once you graduate.

These questions reveal that it is crucial for colleges and universities in the Philippines to prepare
students on how to stay competitive in a constantly evolving jobs market of the future. Central to
the success of future workers is a motivation and agility to advance and adjust to the emerging
roles and skills needed by their respective workplaces and to take advantage of new opportunities
through continuous retraining and upskilling. By understanding what the contemporary world is all
about, this subject therefore aims to prepare students on what they can expect as they go out of the
classrooms and into the workplace.

A World Bank (2017) report finds that major cities in Mindanao are finding it hard to fill the skills
demand in the sectors of information technology, manufacturing, construction, and utility firms in
Mindanao. The report hints that as leading cities in the region are transforming into manufacturing
and high-skill services economies, “skills will become even more important”. Skills shortages in
Mindanao is largely attributed to inadequate support for basic education and inadequate training
programs in many parts of the region, and the migration of skilled workers. Once again, this
situation requires us to reflect on how we can better prepare our students for the needs of
Mindanao through this subject.

However, before we can further analyse the events in the contemporary world, it is important to
define the phenomenon that is continually shaping modern workplaces that will welcome our
students when they finish their college education.

This lesson will help your students to: following:

2 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

1. Articulate what makes globalization contemporary
2. Identify the conceptions of globalization and its underlying philosophies
3. Identify the definition of globalization that will be adopted for the course

3 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

Defining Globalization

SAMPLE PHOTO
Having established that globalization as a phenomenon that we need to master, we will now define
what exactly it is. This lesson will focus on the discussion of how globalization is defined on
Anthony Gidden’s (2007) proposal which describes globalization as "the intensification of
worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are
shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa”.
You experience the process of globalization when you purchase a product from your local sari-sari
store that was manufactured in China and when you find out about the current events in New
Zealand through the internet. Consider how immigration policies of the Donal Trump can have
great impacts on the goals and actions of Filipino professionals. This is what Giddens meant when
he says globalization is when “local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away”.
Now, from the same definition, let us delineate further the assumptions that underpin how
globalization occurs:
a. Globalization involves the intensification of social relations worldwide.
Social relations in the form of interactions, conversations, expression of emotions, etc. is
now possible to
b. Globalization link worldwide distant localities.
c. Globalization enables for events many miles away shape to local happenings, and vice versa.
Another way that we can understand how globalization occurs is through the concept of “global
village” introduced by Marshall McLuhan. In his book, Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic
Man (1962), Mcluhan introduced the term “global village” to describe how mass communication
technologies such as newspapers, books, radio, television and movies has created a community that
spans the entire world. Today, we include the internet, cable tv and social media as electronic media
that binds the global village.
In the appendix for this lesson, you can find additional definitions of globalization from different
social scientists which you can adopt in your class. The Active Learning portion of this module also
provides an activity that students can perform in order to learn more about the definitions of
globalization.

4 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

“May Starbucks ba sa Mindana?”
Back in January 2019, I, along with 9 Filipino
youth I met in a leadership training in Bangkok
mounted a workshop for university students in
Mindanao. As we were deciding on the prizes we
planned to give out during the workshop, one of
my team mates who is a native of Manila, asked:
“May Starbucks ba sa Mindanao?” [Is there
Starbucks in Mindanao?]. While I found this
innocent question funny, it is revealing of how
some Filipinos from other parts of the country
Starbucks Torres St. is the 8th Starbucks store in
may view Mindanao: rural, underdeveloped and Mindanao and the 1st stand alone in Davao City.
untouched by globalization.
https://www.facebook.com/DavaoFoodGuidePH/photos/a.1040449415979393/1676957212328607/?ty
pe=3&permPage=1

While Starbucks opened its first branch in the Philippines back in 1997 in Makati City (Uy, 2017), it
has since then brought their “coffee experience” to other parts of the country including Cagayan de
Oro, Davao and General Santos.

Filipino historian Lisandro Claudio observed the presence/placement (?) of Starbucks branches
right across shanties and slum areas that characterize the major cities in the Philippines. Claudio
(2014) writes:
At first glance, the coexistence of the Starbucks and the shanty point to the incompleteness of
globalization in the global south. If one conceives of globalization as the spreading and consumption
of cultural/commercial signifiers, the shanty represents the tenacity of the local, which is unable to
participate in a cosmopolitan culture represented by the Starbucks. The underdevelopment of the
global south, it would seem, prevents it from being globalized, revealing the inherent unevenness of
the process.

Here in Claudio’s take on the how globalization occurs in countries like the Philippines, he points to
the “inherent unevenness of the process”. Claudio reminds us that while we, in our respective
locales, participate globalization through the foreign films we watch in the local cinemas, the H&M
or Forever 21 clothes we wear or the Starbucks coffee we drink, the impact of globalization is not
the same for everyone. However, Claudio also recognizes that the presence of global brands in
Philippine cities, such as Manila, Davao or Zamboangas, speaks of the “tenacity of the local”; that
despite the difficulties entailed in participating in globalization by ordinary citizens, Mindanaoans
including, we still try to experience this phenomenon called “globalization”.

Reflection Questions:
How about you, what other global clothing brands, global restaurants or global stores have opened
in your respective locales? And do you think New Yorkers, Manilenos and Mindanaoans experience
globalization in the same way? Why or Why not?

5 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

Lesson 2: Establishing the Nation

After establishing that globalization is a process

that renders the entire world into a single
village, in this lesson, we will look back at an
essential component necessary in the process of
globalization: the nation. While we
presupposed in the previous lesson that
globalization occurs when locales are linked
and shaped by worldwide events; locales
essentially belong to nations. A simple way of
understanding how globalization occurs is

nations interacting with each other using a Early Communities in the Philippines
Filipino Heritage: Making of A Nation, Volume 4
common language (commonly English), and
through the platforms provided by the internet and organizations like the United Nations. In this
lesson we will identify the characteristics of a nation that enable it to interact with other nations.
But first we will narrate how nations began.

In “Globalization: Prospects and problems”, author Jo Ann Chirico (2013) proposes that nations
began from communities made up of a group of people who have something in common: they may
be sharing the land where they source their sustenance in which case they may need a common set
of values and rules necessary for interaction while sharing the land and its resources [needs
grammar revision]. As the interactions within and among these small communities increased,
their interdependence with each other grew. This enlarged their sense of community and from
this grew the concept of a nation. Community remains the basis of a nation, a people who feel they
share a common identity and belong together . The idea of nation developed gradually as the way of
identifying an “us”.
minds.

This lesson is dedicated to the story of how communities became nations, how nations became
empires and how wars that empires led to an agreement we now know as the Westphalian Treaty
of 1648. At end of this lesson, students are expected to identify the principles laid down in The
Westphalian Treaty that became the stepping stone of the modern international system. This lesson
will help students to:

1. Analyze the diffusion of the nation-state from the treaty of Westphalia to the wave of
contemporary nation-state building
2. Establish the concept of “Nationhood” in the Westphalia Treaty

6 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

Before we begin the story of the Westphalian Treaty, you can find a brief discussion by
UNESCO of what nation-state means including its two components, nation and state, at
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/international-
migration/glossary/nation-state/ .

In Benedict Anderson’s seminal work, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread
of Nationalism, nation is described as an “imagined political community”. For Anderson a nation is
not merely exist as the people and its government but that it also exists subjectively within people’s
minds as an image. You can also read more on Anderson’s work through the summary provided in
this link: https://www2.bc.edu/marian-simion/th406/readings/0420anderson.pdf

7 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

Forging the Westphalian Peace

The Painting entitle The Course of Empire: Destruction,1836 by Thomas Cole

Largely in Europe, nations grew out of warfare. The continent experienced religious and
political wars, almost without end, from the 14th to the 17th century. By this time, the Holy
Roman Empire has weakened and disintegrated into a patchwork of princely dominions
that frequently “fought against the empire and one another for sovereignty, territory, and
freedom”. In these wars, the concept of the nation became the protector of the people that
identified themselves as belonging to the community, against the Empire and other nations.
Thus, the emergence of a national identity composed of the individual identities of the
people that professed belonging to the nation or community.

As the wars raged on, the idea of an empire (one ruler for all of humankind) became
unpopular and nationalism, the right of a group with a common identify and heritage to
govern itself, gained appeal. Nations as we know it today and the global system, such as the
United Nations or UN wherein nations allow themselves to be governed by, emerged from
the ruins of these wars. By mid-1600’s many of the European monarchs were bankrupt at
the expense of wars they waged one each other. By then, most of them had already signed
treaties with one another. In 1648, they met in the Westphalia region of Germany to broker
a peace [needs paraphrasing; Chirico, ch3] through a series of treaties now known as the
Peace of Westphalia. While the treaty was meant to end the Thirty Years’ War in Europe, it
is now widely recognized to have established the international system that recognized
sovereign states as its core. Chirico (2013) describes the consequential outcomes of the
8 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World
treaty:

“As a consequence of the Treaty (or Treaties) of Westphalia, secular political power
was stripped from religious authorities. . . Rather than the empire dictating the
official religion of a territory, monarchies gained control over religion within their
borders. France and Sweden gained disputed territories. Religious membership
became voluntary for most individuals, but state membership became mandatory.
Trade and commercial activities usurped power from religious authority and to
some extent also from the crown. Religious and political freedoms from empire
were established, not for individuals, but for nations. In short, nations gained
sovereignty.” (Chrico, 2013 page 61)

Moreover, the treaty became the basis of “an association of states, each of which claimed
sovereignty within its political boundaries and legitimacy based on the nation within”
(Chirico, 2013 p61). This is called “the Westphalia system of states”, which remains today
as the defining characteristic of the modern nation-state. The Treaty of Westphalia
established in 1648 shaped how nations behave within their territories and prescribed
how they should behave towards other nations.

While the Treaty of Westphalia did not bring lasting peace to Europe, it “established the
principle of state sovereignty and the basis of global governance” (Chirico, 2013 p62) that
is still present today. Through the treaty:
[m]onarchs granted themselves and one another the authority to speak for, make
commitments for, and sign treaties on behalf of the people they claimed to
represent. In return, they obligated themselves to care for the common good,
protecting people’s security, economy, and other interests. States granted
themselves a monopoly on the use of violence within their borders, and the right to
use violence in protection of their people. Without the power to compel people to
act, states could not make promises on the international stage.

You u can read the entire chapter entitled Setting the Stage Foundations Globalization by
JoAnn Chirico (2013) in this link: https://us.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-
binaries/56780_Chapter_3_Chirico_Globalization.pdf.

This chapter also provides the important principles of the treaty of Westphalia which were
considered as the foundation of global governance of that period.

9 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

The painting entitled The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster, 15 May 1648 by Gerard ter Borch.

License of use: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/image-download-terms-of-use?img=n-0896-00-

000029-wz-pyr.tif&invno=NG896

You can also watch a 2-part documentary feature on the Treaty of Westphalia entitled The
Thirty Years' War - how was peace achieved? In the links below:
here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ohsWMbNVN4&t=3s

10 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

Sulu-China Relations

The preceding text

discussed how
nations began from
communities and
how nations
establish relations
with other nations
through an
international
system. In the
following narrative,
we will be
acquainted with how
one area in Photo of the Tomb. Attribution:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiT5s-
Mindanao had cptnhAhXNfXAKHXG7CxMQjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmobile.filipino.china.com%2F715
forged and %2F20161217%2F836145_1.html&psig=AOvVaw2V1pcv90M8cMVT13VGASNu&ust=155566508491
6715
maintained
relations with another nation.

Abu Bakr established the Sultanate of Sulu in 1450 (Abinales, 2006). Sulu, is the island group in the
south west of the Mindanao and northeast of Borneo, was the first sultanate and supra-barangay
state in the Philippine archipelago. Its economy was traditionally commercially oriented. More than
a hundred years before the Spaniards came, Sulu participated in expansive maritime network of
trade in southeast asia. They had expert navigators and merchants who travelled in small craft,
trading as far as Brunei and Ternate (Indonesia).

Sulu had already appeared in Chinese records beginning in 1349 having sent several tribute
missions during the early Ming dynasty. In one such mission, Paduka Pahala, who travelled to China
to pay fealty in person fell ill and died at the Chinese court in 1417. The Chinese emperor, Yongle,
arranged an elaborate funeral as "standard for a brother of the empire" (Tordesillas, 2015). This
historical incident is only one evidence of Sulu’s vibrant and strong trading and political relations
with other nations prior to the arrival of the Spaniards on the shores of Limasawa in 1521.

By the middle of the 16th century, the Sulu Sultanate was already considered a de facto and de jure
nation state, having entered treaties with Spain in 1578, Britain in 1761, the French in 1843 and the
Americans in 1842, 1899 and 1915 (Caballero-Anthony, 2007 )

You can watch a news feature ABS-CBN about the Sultan who died in Shantung, China in
this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQSFg2mYsk4.

11 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

Lesson 3: The Global Interstate System

As we learned in lesson 2, the Westphalian theory was the model for the modern interstate system.
But what exactly is the interstate system? In the final lesson of this module, we will get to know
how modern nations deal with each other in a global interstate system by understanding the
imperialism and colonialism.
Imperialism refers to the “various methods that one country employs to gain political, economic
and military control over another country or geographic area (Ritzer, Dean, 2015). Colonialism on
the other hand is the one of the methods in which one country takes control of a geographic area
that involves the settlement of settlers (ex. Spaniards in the Philippines) and formal mechanisms
of control such as the appointment of a governor general to the Philippines or viceroy to India. The
key difference between imperialism and colonialism is that “imperialism means the practice, the
theory, and the attitudes of the dominating core in ruling the distant territory while ‘colonialism’,
that is usually the consequence of imperialism, is the implanting of settlements on distant territory”
(Said in Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin 1998: 45). The era of when colonial masters depart from their
former colonies has been labelled post-colonial period.
To sum up, imperialism and colonialism are the ways in which nations of the past asserted
dominance and influence on each other. The fact that we now have concepts such as neo-
colonialism and ‘US imperialism” means that these mechanisms have not ended yet.

The state model in Europe formed out of the treaty of Westphalia was brought to the colonized
lands. Beginning in the late 1400’s, European states, especially the Spaniards and Portuguese,
claimed territories over vast areas of sparsely settled lands in THE Americas, Asia, Africa and
Oceania. European colonizers marked the boundaries in their new territories wherein they
exercised dominion. The “Age of Discovery” began with the Spanish, who conquered the Aztecs and
the Incas, explored and colonized widely in the Caribbean, Mexico, the southern portions of what
was to become the United States, and Central and South America. Spain was able to extend theur
dominion to the Pacific when they colonized the Philippines and Guam. The Portuguese empire on
the other hand included Brazil, the largest colonial territory in South America; Angola and
Mozambique in Africa; and Goa in South Asia. However, beginning in the early early 19th century,
rebellions and wars for independence ended the first phase of European colonialism by the. By
1825 most of Spain’s colonies were politically independent but they managed to hold on to Cuba
and the Philippines until 1898(Kottak, 2011).

At the end of this lesson, students are expected to:

i. Assess the role of colonialism in shaping global political and economic hierarchy of societies
of today
ii. Define neo-colonialism, internationalism (include socialist international/ Comintern) and
globalism
iii. Explain the effects of globalization on governments
iv. Identify the institutions that govern international relations

12 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

How Colonialism shaped current global political and economic hierarchy
Colonialism many territories all over the world with environments severely ravaged (liquidated/
extracted), education of most populations were neglected, severe ethnic and religious tensions
were sowed. Most former colonies had economies and infrastructure based on the export of a of
agricultural crops and minerals. Because most had weak to no democratic institutions, many of
these colonies were unprepared for statehood or economic prosperity (Chirico, 2013)

In the post-colonial era, many nations, including the Philippines, define their borders based on the
lines drawn by their former colonial masters. Understanding how nations conduct affairs today in
the global stage entails the recognition/ taking into consideration) of its colonial past. As Ritzer and
Dean (2015) reminds us, postcolonialism relates “to the various developments that take place in a
former colony after the colonizing power departs”. While colonial systems have largely
disappeared, this power relationship endured through multinational corporations and global
financial institutions like the World Bank and the IMF. These World Bank and IMF, which are
largely dominated by the rich core countries, make loans to countries in the periphery and
semiperiphery countires. By setting the terms of these global loans and repayment, they ensure
financial rewards flow back to wealthy countries.

Although 130 former colonies gained their independence over the course of the twentieth century,
exploitation continues today through neocolonialism (neo is Greek for “new”), a new form of
global power relationships that involves not direct political control but economic exploitation by
multinational corporations (Macionis, 2012). A multinational corporation is a large business that
operates in many countries. Corporate leaders often impose their will on countries in which they do
business to create favorable economic conditions for the operation of their corporations, just as
colonizers did in the past (Bonanno, Constance, & Lorenz, 2000).

And like many former colonies, the Philippines is a prime example of a nation struggling to
economically as a result of hundreds of years colonial exploitation by the Spaniards and the
Americans.

Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory

Today’s global economy is largely shaped by colonialism which designated some countries as
sources of resources, cheap labor, and markets. It left a political legacy of weak governments
dominated by oligarchies, monarchies, or dictators leaving most of the population deprived of basic
services and unable to rise form poverty.
An excellent way of understanding how colonialism shaped global political and economic hierarchy
of societies of today is through Immanuel Wallerstein’s model of the “capitalist world economy
which suggests that the prosperity of some nations and the poverty and dependency of other
countries is intentional as a result of the global economic system (Macionis, 2012). The World
Systems Theory is also discussed in lesson two of module two as a form of economic globalization.

13 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

For now, we will use this theory to understand how impacts/ effects of colonization is manifested in
modern states. Wallerstein attributes the structure of the global economy to colonization that
began 500 years that enabled Europeans to gather wealth from the rest of the world.

Wealthy nations are designated by Wallerstein as the core of the world economy. Through
colonialism, these countries funneled raw materials from around the world to Western Europe
which powered the Industrial Revolution. On the other hand, low-income countries are the
periphery of the world economy. Through colonialism, these poor nations provide raw materials,
cheap labor, and a vast market for industrial products that enrich the core countries through their
multinational corporations.

Consequently, the world economy benefits rich societies by generating more profits for wealth
countries at the expense of poor countries.

The world economy thus makes poor nations dependent on rich ones. Today, multinational
corporations operate profitably worldwide, channeling wealth to North America, Western Europe,
Australia, and Japan. For more comprehensive discussion of the world systems theory (Martínez-
Vela, 2001).

You can read more about the world systems theory

http://web.mit.edu/esd.83/www/notebook/WorldSystem.pdf

How Globalization affects national governments:

For some nations in the periphery, they have no choice but to participate in globalization even as
this renders them in exploitative relationships with the core countries. Another way that
globalization affects governments is that it makes possible for countries and people from all over
the world to be more connected and interdependent economically, politically, and socially.

Below is an excerpt from Chirico’s (2013) Chapter on Globalizing Political Culture and State
Governance
Globalization affects internal changes in states through external and internal pressures.
External pressures on states compel conformity to global standards/ Globalization
pressures confront states wth a variety pf potential costs if they refuse to comply and
promise benefits if they do. States conform global standards to gain admission to regional
and interest-based alliances, such as the ASEAN and APEC, to receive loans, attract
investments, gain trading partners, or simply maintain a good reputation and legitimacy in
the eyes of their domestic audience, their allies and the world generally.

Under the terms of Westphalia, whoever held power was recognized by the rest of the
world as the government, regardless of how they attained their rule. Bestowing legitimacy
on a state government is an important function of globalization. Internal pressures for
change come from citizens and other state actors such as institutions and NGOs.

14 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

 Over the course of globalization, the structure and dynamics of governance within countries
has continued to evolve. Pressures to develop the structural mechanisms and normative
principles on which governance is judged have never been greater. Now there is no state
function--- from providing welfare, granting protection of rights, to security and the conduct
of foreign affairs—that is unaffected by globalization.

The intensity of countries’ interdependence and the breadth and depth of global systems
has put governance within and among countries at the center of globalization debates. How
countries govern matters to other countries and to the mechanics of global economy, polity,
and social community. The pressures on states to conform to global standards result from
the diffusion of emerging global political culture and participation in global systems.

To understand why “how countries govern matters to other countries and to the mechanics of
global economy”, let us discuss the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI). WGI is comprised of a
set of composite indicators governance published by World Bank. A country’s score in the WGI
determine the its likelihood of attracting foreign investments, tourism, financial and other forms of
aid, and global reputation. In other words, the WGI is similar to Westphalia Treaty in that it is a set
of norms in which countries abide in order to create and maintain relations with other countries.

These set of norms set by the WGI are elaborated in its six dimensions of governance including:
Voice and Accountability; Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism; Government
Effectiveness; Regulatory Quality; Rule of Law; and Control of Corruption. In western standards,
each of these aspects of governance matters for development, and so unsurprisingly rich countries
on average rank higher in the WGI than poor countries do (Kaufmann & Kraay, 2017)

For more on the WGI, you may visit: https://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/#home.

15 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

Imperial Manila and the Marginalization of Mindanao
National capitals have always served as representations of power in the nation and before
the world, so that Manila has generally been viewed as the Philippines and the Filipino
people [rephrase]. It is the seat of political-economic and sociocultural power. Manila is a
metropolis, ‘the economic and political epicentre of the country’. Manila connects the
country to the world, being the major transport, finance, political, and socio-cultural hub of
the nation (Porio, 2009)

Because of this, the term ‘Imperial Manila’ was coined/ came about to describe the
dominance of the capital city in the economic and political affairs over local governments.
Among the main complaints are that imperial Manila benefits disproportionately from both
public and private sector spending and investments; that it controls public spending
allocations to LGUs; and that it also passes on unfunded mandates to local government
units (LGUs), further shrinking their elbow room to finance and craft their homegrown
development strategies.

Thus the present system is reflects the core-periphery analyses of Wallerstein wherein the
local governments represents the periphery that depends heavily on the central
government that seated in Manila. On the other hand, the central government fails to
support decentralization, and often ends up consolidating power by controlling much of the
public resource allocations leading to underdevelopment in many local provinces
(Mendoza & Ocampo, 2017)

Looking at the poverty incidence in Mindanao, we might say this is not far from truth. As of
2015, poverty incidence in Mindanao is at 36.2% which higher than the national average of
21.6%. The largest share of the country’s poor population comes from Mindanao with four
of the five poorest regions are in Mindanao: Regions IX, X, XII, and XIII, and the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, all of which had poverty incidence above 39% in
2015 (ADB, 2017)

16 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

 Active Learning

Suggested Activity 1: Defining Globalization

In Part 1 of this activity, the class will be able to Agree on a working definition of globalization for
the course. You can discuss the definitions provided in the appendix of this module. The teacher may
provide minimal input for each the definitions of globalization.
Divide the class into 3 to 5 groups and assign them to analyse the definitions given in appendix __. Each
group will identify identify the key words in their assigned definition. The key words must be concepts
or words that directly relate to what globalization is. A representative from each group will then share
their discussions to the entire class.

After each group representative has provided their input, you may now facilitate the class discussion in
identifying the key concepts about globalization that makes sense to the class and create working
definition of globalization for the course.

Part 2 of the activity will help the students to write a personal definition of globalization based on a
concept map. As each group representative is sharing their group’s output, each student may take down
the concepts or words that makes sense to him or her on what globalization is. To guide the
students, you may give this question: What are the key words about globalization that makes it easier for
you to understand it?

In assigning a concept map, you have your students use the template below. The students may fill-up
the spaces with the key words or concepts they took note earlier. Ask the students to write their own
personal definition of globalization based on the concept map they have created.

_________ _________

_________ _________
Concepts
related to
Globalization
_________ _________
_________

_________

Personal Definition of Globalization

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

17 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

Suggested Activity 2
Recognizing how globalization has become an “inescapable” phenomenon for every Filipino starts by
enumerating the products that you use in their morning routine. You may ask you students to list down
all the things and products they use every morning while preparing for school, excluding food. Then
have them identify these products as either local or global and to answer the questions that follow.
You may use the template below:

Products I use every morning: Local Product Global brand (ex.

(within your city Nestle, proctor
or province)  and gamble, etc.)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Reflection Questions for the Students:

1. Which category did you have more check marks?
2. What this say about your consumer behaviour?
3. Do you agree that globalization is an inescapable phenomenon?

Other ways that students can recognize and reflect on how globalization touches their lives can be
through the following questions:
1. Is it possible to make friends with someone who lives outside of the Philippines? Is it possible to
stay in touch with them? What makes this possible?
2. Identify a local clothing brand (shirts, shoe brands, bags, etc.). Are their products made in the
Philippines? If not, why do you think they choose to manufacture their products abroad?
3. What sports do you like to play or watch? Is this sports famous only in the Philippines? Do you
watch the local and/or international tournaments of this sports? How are you able to watch the
international tournaments?

You may ask 3-5 students to share their answers to the entire class.

18 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

Performance Assessment

Presenting the Worldwide Governance Indicators

You may group your students into 5-6 groups according to the dimensions of the
Worldwide Governance Indicators. Assign each group to research the descriptions and
details of their assigned dimension. It is also helpful to review how the Philippines
performed based on WGI. You can find the results for the Philippines in t his link:

http://governance.neda.gov.ph/worldwide-governance-indicators/

Have each group or a representative present to the entire class what they have researched
using the guide questions below:

1. What does your assigned dimension measure?

2. What does it mean if the country scores high and low for this dimension?
3. What is the rank or result of the Philippines in your dimension?
4. Explain why the Philippines’ rank declined, stagnated or increased in this
dimension.

You may grade the students’ group performance using the rubric below:

MARKING RUBRICS Excellent Proficient Average Poor

Content: All content Content Demonstrated Few facts

Relates to topic, directly related directly related Basic related to the
detailed, and accurate to the topic. to the topic. understanding topic. Most
Opinions were Almost all of the topic. Information was
always opinions were Many opinions opinion.
supported by supported by were not
fact if possible. facts. supported by
facts.

Knowledge: Showed a Showed a Showed basic Showed little or

Demonstrate thorough working knowledge of no knowledge of
knowledge of subject knowledge of knowledge of the topic. Able the topic.
the topic. Able the topic. Able to address Unable to
to use assessor to satisfactorily assessor answer assessor
questions to answer questions by questions or
further assessor repeating parts comment
demonstrate questions and of the further on any

19 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

 understanding provided presentation - part of the
of the topic. additional did not provide presentation.
Appeared to be information any additional
an expert on upon request. information.
the subject
being
presented

Posture/Eye Stood upright Posture was Sometimes Posture was

Contact/Mannerism: and appeared good for most rocked, shifted, poor. Slouched,
Appropriate posture confident of the or appeared shifted from
and effective eye throughout. presentation. uncomfortable. foot to foot, and
contact Avoided Made eye Made occasional appeared very
rocking, contact eye contact with uncomfortable.
shifting, and numerous one or two Made almost no
other nervous times during audience eye contact with
behavior. Made presentation. members. Did the audience.
eye contact Did not rely not rely too Looked down at
throughout the too heavily on heavily on notes notes or visual
assessors. notes or visual or visual aids aids.
aids.

Enthusiasm: Appeared Appeared Showed some Showed little or

Energetic, confident, enthusiastic enthusiastic confidence and no enthusiasm
not frenetic and confident and confident little excitement about the topic.
at all times. at all times. about the topic. Nervous. Did
Moderated May have Attempted to not moderate
level of appeared modify behavior level of
excitement to overly to engage excitement in
hold audience's enthusiastic at audience on one response to
attention. times. Held or more audience
audience occasions. Lost reaction. Lost
interest for attention of audience
most of the some audience interest.
time. members.

Audience: Moderated Adjusted Spoke more Did not adjust

Engage and interact speaking style volume, pace, loudly when speaking style
with audience based on and requested by based on
audience enthusiasm audience audience
feedback. several times. members. reaction. Could
Calmly and Answered Presenter was not answer
eloquently audience clearly audience
addressed questions and uncomfortable. questions.
audience addressed Presenter Presenter made
questions and comments. attempted to no visible effort
comments. Presenter adjust to hold audience
Engaged adjusted enthusiasm or interest.

20 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

 audience for enthusiasm or pace to hold
the duration of pace to hold audience
the audience attention.
presentation. attention.

Pace: Speaker Speaker's pace Tended to speak Consistently

Speaks at an adjusted pace was too quickly or spoke too fast or
appropriate pace to stay within appropriate too slowly too slow
allotted time. throughout
Speaker
answered
audience
questions
without overdo
it or covered
additional
material if
there were no
questions.

Timing: Perfect timing Adequate Too short or too Finish abruptly

Length of Presentation Timing long
Length of Q&A

Adopted from: Chan C.(2009) Assessment: Presentation, Assessment Resources@HKU,

University of Hong Kong [http://ar.cetl.hku.hk]: Available: Accessed: 10May2019

21 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

Web-based Tools in Learning [need better title for this part]
The South China Morning Post or SCMP is a Hong Kong based English-language newspaper whose
an online service provides relevant materials for this course through their work entitled The China
Ship. Here, authors Adolfo Arranz and Marco Hernandez show how globalization purportedly began
in the”16th century when the Spanish silver dollar went transcontinental” through the Galleon
trade.
The of the acceptance of Real de a Ocho as common currency arose when Spanish navigators in the
Philippines established a circular shipping route, known as the tornaviaje, between Asia and the
Americas. More than 250 years of uninterrupted trade ensued between Asia and the rest of the
world.”

Guide to using “The China Ship” series for “The Contemporary World”
1. Follow the link below
https://multimedia.scmp.com/culture/article/spanish-galleon/chapter_01.html

2. You may read the entire series and integrate the relevant information discussed.
Chapter one discussed the discovery of the tornaviaje which began in the
Philippines. Chapter two then provides an extensive and interesting discussion of
how the Galleons that journeyed from Manila to Acapulco were built in the
shipyards of Cavite. The third chapter provides a compelling visual narration of the
voyage from Philippines to Acapulco dubbed “A journey of dread”. The final
chapter gives an extensive discussion on how “Spain instituted a common currency
in the form of the Real de a Ocho or the Spanish dollar, globalization’s first chapter
had been written. The acceptance of the dollar coins for commercial transactions
throughout Asia, the Americas and much of Europe, resulted in a cultural exchange
between nations, as well as the relatively free movement of people and goods
between the three continents”

3. You may integrated “The China Ship” in your discussion or assigned as supplemental
reading or activity to your students. Below are examples of guide questionsyou’re
your students to reflect upon as they go about exploring the series:
a. Why was the discovery of the tornaviaje important in the history of
globalization?
b. What role did the Philippines play in the discovery of the tornaviaje?
c. Describe the process of building the Galleon. From what place in the
Philippines were the materials taken from? How many workers were needed

22 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

 to build one Galleon? How long did it take to build the ship? How many tress
were needed?
d. What goods were carried by the Galleon in its first voyage?
e. What for you is the most interesting information you learned about this
journey?
References

Abinales, P. N., & Amoroso, D. J. (2017). State and Society in the Philippines. Rowman &
Littlefield.

Caballero-Anthony, M. (2007). Revisiting the Bangsamoro struggle: Contested identities

and elusive peace. Asian Security, 3(2), 141-161. Page `144-145

Chirico, J. (2013). Globalization: Prospects and problems. Sage Publications. Page 61

Claudio, L. E. (2014). Locating the Global South (Vol. 1, pp. 185-99). London: Sage
Reference.

Giddens, A. (2007). The consequences of modernity. 1990.page 64

Macionis, J. J. (2012). Sociology 14th Ed. Pearson Education, Inc. Page 280

Martínez-Vela, C. A. (2001). World systems theory. Engineering System Division, 83, 1-5.

Mendoza, R. U., & Ocampo, J. (2017). Caught between imperial Manila and the provincial
dynasties: Towards a new fiscal federalism.

Porio, E. (2009). Shifting spaces of power in Metro Manila. City, 13(1), 110-119.

Ritzer, G., & Dean, P. (2015). Globalization: A basic text. John Wiley & Sons. Page 56
Kottak, C. P. (2011). Cultural anthropology: Appreciating cultural diversity. New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill.
Kaufmann, D., Kraay, A., Kaufmann, D., & Kraay, A. (2017, September 22). Measuring the
ups and downs of governance. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-
development/2017/09/22/measuring-the-ups-and-downs-of-governance/

References sourced online:

https://news.abs-cbn.com/blogs/opinions/09/12/15/our-hearts-are-connected-sulu-
king-heir-ph-china-relations
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2017/09/22/measuring-the-ups-
and-downs-of-governance/

23 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/linked-documents/41076-048-sprss.pdf
http://governance.neda.gov.ph/worldwide-governance-indicators/
https://multimedia.scmp.com/culture/article/spanish-galleon/chapter_01.html
https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs-report-2018
http://www.starbucks.ph/about-us/our-heritage/starbucks-philippines
https://www.esquiremag.ph/food-and-drink/food/do-you-remember-the-first-starbucks-
in-the-philippines-a00204-20171201

Appendix 1: Definitions of Globalization, Steger, M. B. (2017). Globalization: A very short

introduction (Vol. 86). Oxford University Press. page 10

24 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

Appendix __: Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson lifted from
https://www2.bc.edu/marian-simion/th406/readings/0420anderson.pdf

25 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World

26 MODULE 1: Introducing the Contemporary World