Identify and describe the political changes and developments that accompanied globalisation.

OR

Define and describe the difference between Fordism and post-Fordism.

Globalisation is a term used to describe the process by which organisations and businesses trying to create global influence or at an international scale. Political changes have definitely impacted Globalisation and accelerated its pace. They were as follows:

• The collapse of the erstwhile socialist world – It is true that the downfall of the erstwhile socialist world had accelerated the influence of Globalisation. It also precisely showed the economic and political approach that strengthened the economic policies of the globalisation. All these changes are termed as neo-liberal economic measures. The approach is taken with regard to liberalisation policy in India which reflects the policy of the free enterprise. This also meant that the market would be free from any control which results in efficiency and fairness and this is also significant for both state regulation and state subsidies. Thus, the globalisation which is there has both political and economic vision. We have a different type of globalisation known as inclusive globalisation. It means that it includes all the sections of society.

• The growth of regional mechanisms for political collaboration – some of the examples that indicate the role and growth of regional associations are, The European Union (EU), the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and South Asian Regional Conference (SARC) and recently we have, South Asian Federation of Trade Association (SAFTA).

• The growth of international Governmental Organisations for political collaboration – another political development that took place is the emergence of International Governmental Organisations (IGOs). The international Governmental Organisations is a body in which government participates and takes the responsibility of regulation, and controlling the management of the particular sphere of activity that will lead to the expansion of its scope across national boundaries. For example - the World Trade Organisation (WTO) takes major decisions related to the rules that govern trade practices.

• International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) – INGOs is that type of organisation which doesn’t involve government participation or connected to any government institutions. They independently make a decision with regard to Policy and international issues. Some of the examples of International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) are Greenpeace, The Red Cross and Amnesty International, Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders).

OR

The term ‘Fordism’ means a system of production. In the early part of the early part of the 20th century, American industrialist Henry Ford made this term popular. He is the one who popularised the assembly line method of mass production of a standardized product like cars.

The term ‘post-Fordism’ means a method of flexible production adopted by multinational companies (MNCs). These MNCs because of the availability of cheap labour, either off-shore their production units or outsource the whole process of production and distribution to third world countries.