I came across the document copied at the end of this post in the faculty room this morning. I glanced down it and, perhaps prompted by a book I’m reading now (From the Ruins of Empire), I began to comment to myself on the questions picked and the wording used. (If you want to repeat my naive experience, scroll down to the end now to glance over the questions before reading further.)
After noticing with favor that the questions started with asking about the meaning of the term under discussion (“globalization”), I noticed that that the question about the “positive effects of globalization” (question 4) preceded the one on negative effects (question 6).
Then there was the wording of question 5: “When people trade, how do both sides benefit?” Having been reading about the run-up to the Opium Wars in China, my immediate response was “they don’t.” Even a pro-globalization questionnaire might better word such a question as “… how can both sides benefit?”
Even in the Directions, the wording is “write the answers [my emphasis] to each question” rather than “write answers to each question” or (to my mind even better) “respond thoughtfully to each question.”
The overall tone of the questions seems to me to be pro-gloibalization (perhaps not surprising since the questions were copyrighted by the National Council on Economic Education in NYC).
I chuckled when reading the document as I made some of the above comments to myself, and a colleague in the faculty room asked me why. I pointed out a couple of the examples above, and they replied with, “Well, it’s for ninth graders <pause> And the course moves fast. <pause> And we point out some negative effects during the discussion.” I told him I wasn’t criticizing the course, merely noticing that even when people think they’re being neutral, there is usually a hidden perspective. And of course, people aren’t necessarily trying to be neutral much of the time (in this case, though I didn’t point it out, it’s unlikely the people writing the questionnaire were doing more than trying to appear neutral).
All of the above show why, to me, studying a bit about deconstruction is useful. It may often be presented using literature as a study vehicle, but people well beyond English majors can find its study quite helpful.
TEN BASIC QUESTIONS ABOUT GLOBALIZATION
Directions: Write the answers to each question. Use the back of this page if you need more space.
- What is globalization?
- How new is globalization?
- What has led to increased globalization?
- What are some positive effects of globalizatoin?
- When people trade, how do both sides benefit?
- Why {sic} are some negative effects of globalization?
- What roles do the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO) play in globalization?
- What are some effects of multinational businesses?
- What are some of the issues involved with outsourcing jobs?
- What is the future of globalization?