The downside of globalization

Globalization is good, right? Not necessarily. Displaced workers, easy spread of disease, for example, are two negative consequences of globalization.

In class, we discuss the impact of globalization on women, specifically, that there's some evidence that women in more globalized countries tend to do better, in terms of access to health care and education, legal rights, etc.

However, I don't think it's a simple relationship. More globalized countries are also richer countries, an.d maybe it's just that women do better in countries where there are more resources available.

MIDEAST: Women Migrant Workers With HIV Get Raw Deal - IPS ipsnews.net

BBC News - Mothers tempted to abandon babies in Moscow

Human Trafficking in Europe a 2.4 Billion Euro Industry UN Dispatch

Geographic Name Changes

One minor source of confusion can be when a country, region, or city changes its name or goes by more then one name.

From "Turin" to "Torino": Olympics Put New Name on the Map

As in this case, lots of differences stem from translation to English.

In other instances, it's political. For example, St. Petersburg (Russia) went to Petrograd (anti-German feeling in WWI), then to Leningrad (after the Russian Revolution), and now back to St. Petersburg.

For these -- 1 homework point for each that you can explain ("This is the old name, this is the new name"). Find one or two more that I didn't, for 1 or 2 more points.

Other examples of "old" and "new" names -- Volgograd, Persia, Myanmar, Zaire, Beijing, East Pakistan.

Defunct names -- countries that no longer exist -- Yugoslavia,
Czechoslovakia

For other examples, look at internet suffixes -- .ch, .de, .za, .es, .kh. And the really really strange internet domain -- .cat (which is not yet actually in use).