TeachingRE Issue 4.pdf - the Second Level Support Service

globalization and these are internationalization,liberalization, universalization, westernization andmodernization.While we may not be familiar with theseterms in the abstract, we certainly know them when wemeet them. No one doubts that Coca-Cola is aninternational brand. No one doubts that trade laws havebeen liberalised in such a way that accommodates thefree movement of Coca-Cola across all borders. No onedisbelieves that Coca-Cola has succeeded in marketingitself as a universal brand. No one challenges the notionthat Coca-Cola has come to represent dominantwestern cultural values. And more than likely no onecontests the assumption that Coca-Cola likes to portrayitself as the epitome of the modern.Sugar harvesting PhilippinesSo far, so much agreement. And while there is, if notbroad agreement, at least there is some agreementwhen it comes to describing globalization but there isabsolutely no agreement when it comes to defining theimpact of globalisation.There are the two polar oppositeviews. Simply put: one that says that globalisation is allbad and the other that says that globalisation is all good.In the DVD Partners not Masters 2 which your Geographyteacher might have, I have attempted to very brieflysummarise the two opposing views.There are others ofcourse who straddle both camps but for the most partthe debate is highly polarised. Former President MaryRobinson is one of those who argue that there is amid-way point. In a lecture in Yale University in theUnited States, (funded by the Coca-Cola World FundLecture, no less) Mary Robinson held out the tantalizingpossibility of a more ethical globalization: “Essentially, theargument is that the binding human rights framework ispart of the rules of the road of globalization, a way ofensuring a more value-led, ethical globalization”. 3 I remaindeeply skeptical. Multinationals have very cleverlyincorporated the language of human rights into theircorporate–speak rhetoric but have done nothing tomake that a reality. Corporate social responsibility hasbecome nothing more than a transparent fig-leafintended to conceal the rampant greed of itsshareholders.What is interesting of course from a global perspectiveis that there appears to be a strong co-relation betweenone’s wealth, one’s liquid assets and one favourable viewof globalisation and while it might be uncomfortable tomention it, that includes Mrs Robinson. And that tooapplies to all the leaders in the Western world includingBrian Cowen (the fourth highest paid political leader inthe world), Gordon Brown, Nicolas Sarkozy and AngelaMerkel. And while Barack Obama may be makingisolationist soundings, he too is an apologist forglobalisation. However, where there are few liquid assetsbut where there are much more hard assets in terms ofunderground mineral deposits, good fishing grounds orhighly productive agricultural land, the people in theseplaces are much less likely to look favourably onglobalisation.This is particularly true for people living inthe Global South. For people like Bolivian President EvoMorales, and Paraguay President Ferdinand Lugo, theymight be stuck with globalisation but they don’tnecessarily like it.What relevance or dare we ask interest has all of thisfor students of Religious Education in Ireland? Relevanceit certainly has, interest we cannot guarantee. ButReligious Education is about making sense of this world.While some people might regard this as too secularist aview of religion it does at least provide a lens wherebypeople can reflect on the world around them. (And yesreligion does have an eschatological dimension too butthat is not necessarily my sphere of interest) Of coursesome lenses can provide greater clarity than others andsome even more distortion. Somewhat to my surprise,the very first sentence (p.3) of the Leaving CertificateReligious Education Syllabus 4 would seem to bear thisout.Human development is the development of awareness ofself as separate and unique, with the capacity for reflection,imagination and creativity: open to ideas of truth, goodnessand beauty.Girl Miner BoliviaNow that’s clarity. If this is what the RE syllabus wantsthen who can not want it? What did strike me thoughwas the absence of God in the opening sentence. In a24 TEACHING RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ISSUE FOUR SEPTEMBER 2009