Globalisation and Antiglobalisation

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Research topic and justification

Globalisation processes have affected all spheres of human life and have become a symbol of modern time. Globalisation is an ambiguous, contradictory and complex process, but its research is impossible without the analyses of its alternative model, anti-globalisation. In fact, the anti-globalisation movement is growing as a result of the increasingly negative consequences of globalisation. There is a growing impact of anti-globalisation on global processes and events. Consequently, the anti-globalisation movement requires analysis of its socio-political nature as it is a fundamentally new pattern of the world development in contrast to globalisation.

Moreover, the creation of the World Social Forum in 2001 is connected with the development of the anti-globalization movement, this forum is also seen as an international unification of all anti-globalisation forces as an alternative to neoliberal globalisation. The turning of anti-globalisation into a new ideology requires a thorough study of its influence on the society and world polity. In fact, the anti-globalisation movement has great influence on education and bright examples of it are the urge to promote fundamental British values in the UK and the problem of keeping soviet traditions in education in Russia.

In fact, it should be noted that the problem of the anti-globalisation movement is still at the stage of initial comprehension. For instance, there is a great number of articles, books and other works on the topic of globalisation, whereas there is little literature on the topic of anti-globalisation. That is why this topic requires expanding and improving knowledge data.

Thus, the provisional title of my research is: Is the urge to keep traditions and values in education a sign of anti-globalisation movement in education? The case study of Russia and the UK. The main aim of my research is to investigate features of anti-globalisation in education and answer the question if it is anti-globalisation that makes policy makers and governments keep traditions and values in education.

1.2 Focus of the study

This aim can be achieved by accomplishing the following objectives:

1. Studying the reasons of anti-globalisation in general and particularly in the sphere of education, its essence and content;

2. Investigating the way anti-globalisation influences education in Russia and the UK, its benefits and drawbacks;

3. Analysing and comparing globalisation of education and anti-globalisation of education;

4. Studying the ways of cooperation between globalisation and anti-globalisation in education.

1.3 My positionality

I am an international student from Russia and currently doing MA in Globalising Education: Policy and Practice in the University of Sheffield. I did my BA in pedagogy in Russia and I have witnessed all the alterations that undergone Russian education under the influence of the Bologna process and globalisation. Moreover, I got acquainted with different points of view on these changes, some of them were extremely negative. In fact, recently more and more scholars and academics started doubting these alterations and expressed the need to stick to the soviet traditions in education. I have been highly interested in this topic since the first year of my Bachelor degree and this interest has brought me to Britain to study Globalising Education: Policy and practice in order to be able to compare globalisation and anti-globalisation movements in education in Russia and the UK.

1.4 The structure of my research proposal

This research proposal is divided into four main sections. I will first outline a relevant literature review that has greatly informed my comprehension of anti- globalisation and the way it effects education in Russian and the UK. In the following section, I will describe the methodology and the choice of methods for my research. The third part will focus on the results analysis. Finally, I will present a plan, detailing each step of the process of undertaking my dissertation.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

A literature review needs, as Bell (1993) states, thorough designing and attention to detail. It also should be creative and flexible in order to be responsive to new developments. In fact, a literature review is very significant to a research, because it demonstrates the way the research being conducted. Kumar (2005) states “the literature review is an integral part of the entire research process and makes a valuable contribution to almost every operational step” (p.30). Therefore, I seek to present theories and existing works on the topic of globalisation and anti-globaisation in the sphere of education.

2.1 Globalisation

It is interesting to note that there is a great number of literature on the phenomenon of globalisation. This term is extensively used to characterize alterations that have taken place in economics, culture, society, and politics over the last decades (Guttal, 2007). Globalisation is a highly controversial process. On the one hand, this phenomenon pushes governments to adopt universally uniform procedures in order to become more open, and more democratic. It has also offered a great choice of consumer goods, financing sources, and technology. However, on the other hand, globalisation puts at risk the diversity of cultures and makes it harder for people to find jobs, which drives them into poverty and makes them work in inhuman conditions (Wells, 2001).

This problem of globalisation was first pointed out in 1981 by the American professor George McLean. In the 1980s, the phenomenon of globalisation turned into a well-known issue. Scholars, academics and sociologists throughout the world began to explore it. Multinational corporations are the main supporters of the process of globalisation. In fact, only “developed” countries and multinational organizations are benefiting from globalisation, because there is no income leveling, but rather income polarization (Peregudov, 2002).A famous sociologist Bauman (1998) points out that even though social affairs take place on a global scale, people are not able to lead or control events. Nations can only witness as borders and societies alter in unplanned and rapid ways. Evaluating globalisation, Bauman (1998) claims that the process of globalisation makes the gap between the rich and the poor even bigger.

What is more, Wells (2001) states that