The first four activities (2.1-2.4) introduce students to global connections among nations using the nation-state as the basic unit.  The remaining activities (2.5-2.8) focus upon multinational formations.  The theme is multinational corporations and their impacts on the social, economic, political and environmental spheres.  The focus on economic linkages is suggestive, not prescriptive.  Other possible themes might include political unions like the European Community or the United Nations or any specific agency therein, or the distribution and power of world religions, or international environmental organizations like Greenpeace.  The goal is for students to understand the connections of nation-states to these entities and to grasp the effects of these relationships on their own lives and the environment.
 

Learning Outcomes
After completing the activities in this unit, students should:
understand the concept of the nation-state in terms of a community;

• have explored how nations relate to larger (supranational/global) communities and have considered the environmental consequences of these linkages;
• understand the role MNCs play in the establishment of a global  community;
• have learned about the changes in social relations and the environment brought about by  multinationals; and
• have formulated their own opinion on the impacts of MNCs using their previously acquired understanding of citizenship (national and international), democracy, and communities at various scales.

Activity 2.1  Interviewing the Local Community	-- Interviews with local residents
Activity 2.2  From Cradle to Grave	-- Research on the geographic path of a product
Activity 2.3  Trade Diversity	-- Data compilation on international trade
Activity 2.4  The Nation State and Global Linkages of Citizenship	-- Text comprehension and essay writing
Activity 2.5  International Trade and Film	-- Analysis and group discussion of film
Activity 2.6  Pretty Women	-- Analysis and discussion of images in advertising
Activity 2.7  Multinationals in Context	-- Research project on a multinational corporation and creative presentation
Activity 2.8  Multinational Corporations-- Monsters or Friends?	-- Text comprehension and essay writing

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Suggested Readings
The following readings accompany the activities for this unit.  Choose those readings most appropriate for the activities you select and those most adequate for the skill level of your students.

• Background Information to Unit 2 (all students should read)

• Garreau, J.  1979.  Nine nations of North America.  The Washington Post, March 4.  Reprinted in Annual editions: Geography 1991/92, G. Pitzl, ed.  Guilford, CT: Dushkin Publishing Group, pp. 153-159.
A classic by now. A short summary of his book was repeatedly published in Annual editions: Geography (look for back issues of the early 1990s).  For a visualization of the nine nations, see Supporting Material 2.4.  The chapter is a challenge to, and therefore a possible basis for discussion of, the notion of a nation-state since Garreau’s nations cross current state and national boundaries as we know them.
• Greider, W.  1995.  The global marketplace: A closet dictator.  In R. Nadar et al., eds.  Who will tell the people?  San Francisco, CA: Earth Island Press, pp. 195-217.
Great article; journalistic style; polemical, interesting, engaging.
• Kaplan, D.  1994.  Two nations in search of a state: Canada’s ambivalent spatial identities.  Annals of the Association of American Geographers 84(4): 585-606.  (provided)
Similar to Garreau, but applied to the topical issue of Quebec and Anglo-Canada. An article in social and spatial-scientific language, but an interesting focus on identity and perception as opposed to political boundaries as determinants of “nation” boundaries.
• Kennedy, P.  1993.  The future of the nation state.  In Preparing for the twenty-first century.  New York, NY:  Random House, pp. 122-134.
The article itself is well written and easily understandable, but it may require some more background reading for introductory-level students or in-class discussion on what a nation-state is.

• The Economist.  1993.  Everybody's favorite monsters: A survey of multinationals.  March 27, pp. 5-20.
A more conservative reading, but a good one. Fairly long and perhaps more useful as background reading for the instructor than for students.
• Maria Mies.  1986.  Housewifization international: Women and the new international division of labour.  In Patriarchy and accumulation on the world scale.  Atlantic Highlands: Zed Books, pp. 112-128.
A provocative, polemical reading, and one that requires a fairly sophisticated understanding of social science jargon. Great for well-read students. Otherwise it may be more appropriate for the instructor to read the chapter and convey the main point (multinationals exploit women) to the class.

 

Activity 2.1:   Interviewing the Local Community

 

Goals
Students identify global linkages through trade relations by interviewing local residents about the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or by interviewing managers of local retail stores.
 
Skills

• informal interviewing
• communicating (listening, interpreting, forming arguments)
• graphically displaying information (maps, charts, etc.)
• oral reporting
• working in a group/ collaborative work

• Student Worksheet 2.1
• Note pad and pencil
• Battery-operated tape recorder (but note pad and pencil will do just fine)
• Some pro-and-con background information on the North American Free Trade Agreement

Option 1
One impressive way to realize our global connections is to look at trade relations. This can begin in a common setting like a grocery store. Instead of having students look at product labels, divide them into small groups (of maybe three or four) and ask them to contact the sales manager of a local grocery store and request an hour or so of her/his time to talk about the locations from which the store gets its products.  Discuss with them the kinds of questions they might ask the manager.  Depending on the size of your town/city, interview teams should go to different grocery stores or different types of stores (auto parts supply store, furniture store, office supplies store, a produce stand, etc.).

Students should report back to the class in the form of an oral report and/or thematic maps and other graphics (bar charts, pie charts, tables, etc.).

Option 2
While NAFTA usually doesn’t make it into the headlines of American newspapers anymore, the economic, social, and environmental impacts of NAFTA are becoming evident. Some regions, industries, or economic sectors are more affected than others, so this activity may be particularly instructive in these regions (e.g., the U.S./Mexican border) or in areas dominated by certain industries (e.g., some branches of agriculture).  Before beginning this activity, students should have a well-developed understanding of what NAFTA is, what the predicted impacts are in different areas, and what the relevant arguments are on each side of the debate.  Have students do some background research on NAFTA or present the material to them in a class lecture/ discussion.

As an activity, students interview local residents (i.e., people in the streets, people in an unemployment office, workers of a specific factory, and so on) to find out how much they know about NAFTA and to what extent they have been or are being affected by NAFTA.  Students should form pairs and do at least five interviews per pair.  Within each pair, students should alternate interviewing and note taking. Focus on economic, social, and environmental consequences. (How do supranational agreements affect Mr. Jack Jones of Odessa, Texas?)
After completing their interviews, students should be prepared to present their findings orally to  the class, relating both general findings that they derived from the interviews and personal stories (while respecting the interviewees’ right for anonymity).
 
 
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Activity 2.2:  From Cradle to Grave

 

Goals
In this activity, students gain an understanding of all the materials that go into a product, the places this product has been, the number of people involved in producing and distributing it, and how the product symbolizes our connection to distant people and places and to the global environment that we use as a source for raw materials and as a sink for our waste.
 
Skills

• data searching
• production process understanding
• graphic and textual representation of findings

• Any labeled product (i.e., a can of soda, a CD, etc.)

Students should summarize their findings in any creative way, e.g., a collage, or a poster with maps, graphics, tables and text, and/or a short summary report (less than one page).
 

Alternative
A variation of this activity is for students to find out the same kind of information about each individual “ingredient” that went into making the product:  places and countries of origin, pathways, the various steps in the production process, the people involved (age, gender, race, ethnicity, class), etc.  The idea, again, is to appreciate our manifold connections to people of all races, ethnicities, and classes, to near and far away regions, and to the global environment.
Ask students to begin thinking about how these connections make a difference in our daily lives.  Do they diminish the differences -- economic, social, cultural, ethnic, etc. -- that existed or still exist between regions, countries and cultures?  Do you feel that this is good or bad, and  why?  How do these relations improve or worsen the quality of life in each of the involved countries or regions?   How are these relations gendered?
 

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Activity 2.3 Trade Diversity

 

Goals
The purpose of this activity is to give students a qualitative and a quantitative notion of global economic relations.
 
Skills

• data acquisition
• transferring numeric data into graphs (e.g., pie charts, histograms)
• interpreting statistical data
• report writing

• Student Worksheet 2.3
• Sources of international economic statistics (e.g., the U.N.’s International trade statistics yearbook, Volumes I [trade by country] and II [trade by commodity], U.N.: New York)

• total trade volume
• most significant trade partners (and the volume of the trade with each one)
• the export-to-import ratio
• the major trade products (for one possible source see above)

The purpose of this activity is to give students a qualitative and a quantitative notion of global economic relations.  Again, this relatively abstract understanding should be brought back home in a class discussion by asking students to think about what the numbers and relations mean for their way of life. If the U.S. had a higher export-to-import ratio, what would that mean for, say, car prices? If Canada’s trade partners had a more equal share in the total trade volume, what would that mean for product diversity? Why is it that I (located in Massachusetts) can get a cheaper quart of milk from Wisconsin than from Vermont? (Fill in any product and region of your choice!) What are the implications of this situation for the environment, here and there?

These kinds of questions are a personalized way to get at the main themes of this unit -- free trade and isolationism, and the economic, social and environmental costs and benefits of either.

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Activity 2.4   The Nation-State and Global Linkages of Citizenship

 

Goals
Through readings, in-class discussion, and a short essay, students explore the nation-state, free trade, and the linkages between a nation and supranational entities.
 
Skills

• text comprehension and reflection
• organizing a sequence of arguments
• writing

• Student Worksheet 2.4
• Suggested Readings: Kennedy (1993), Greider (1995), Garreau (1979), and Kaplan (1994)
• Supporting Material 2.4  (because of copyright restrictions, this map is only available in the printed version of this module)

• What is the nature of "community?"
• Is the nation state really a community?
• Is there such a thing as global community?
• How are you aware in your daily life that you belong to this community called “the nation” (alternatively: your nation of origin)?
• What do you know about free trade?
• Is free trade good or bad in your opinion, and why?
• According to Greider, what are the dangers of free trade and economic globalization? Who wins and who loses? How could it harm people's standard of living? How could it undermine democracy? What alternative vision of global community does Greider suggest?

Following the in-class discussion, students write a relatively short (2-3 pages long), reflective paper as a homework assignment on the assigned readings and class activities.  Use the following examples as paper topics:
 
 

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Activity 2.5  International Trade and Film

 

Goals
Students are introduced through film(s) to issues connected to international trade (i.e.,  multinational corporations, effects on workers, etc.)
 
Skills

• film comprehension
• interpretation of information
• critical discussion of movie

• A copy of the movie The Global Assembly Line¹  (58 min.)
The Global Assembly Line is a 1986 movie produced by Lorraine Gray and New Day Films, also available from Public Broadcasting System (PBS). The movie shows the lives of men and women factory workers when U.S. factories are moved to free trade zones in Mexico and the Phillippines. Although the movie focuses on workers, managers get to say a few words in justification for hiring women instead of men (their hands are small and nimble...). Maria Patricia Fernandez-Kelly, a noted scholar of the maquiladores, is one of the authors.
• A copy of the movie One Man’s Enterprise²  (59 min.) (optional)
If you or your students think that The Global Assembly Line was too biased toward the worker, then counterbalance it with One Man’s Enterprise. This 1981 movie by WGBH (PBS) traces the progress of a Czech immigrant to Canada who started a shoe company, which expanded into a multinational in order to lower the labor costs and expand the  market. The company expands into Africa and Southeast Asia and develops a colonial type relationship with the workers in those places.

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Activity 2.6   Pretty Women

 

Goals
Through an examination of images in advertisements, students gain an understanding of how the seeming pleasures and profits of one part of the global society often involve the exploitation of another part.
 
Skills

• critical assessment of implicit messages in advertisements
• oral presentation

• Used fashion magazines (students bring in their own)
• Suggested Readings: Mies (1986) and The Economist (1993)

Alternatively, students may focus on the depiction and exploitation of minorities (e.g., American Indians and the appropriation of their cultures, or other native peoples from across the world and the exploitation of specialized knowledge by pharmaceutical and other companies) or the exploitation of nature. Interestingly, these go often hand in hand and thus comprise another theme to look for in all types of periodicals.

In combination with the readings, students should gain an understanding of how the seeming pleasures and profits of one part of the global society often involve the exploitation of another part.  Use this activity and the images students select to initiate a class discussion of how MNCs make use of exploitative images in their advertizing to sell their products.  How does this advertizing reinforce stereotypes and misconceptions?  Do these images reinforce or threaten a global sense of community?
 

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Activity 2.7   Multinationals in Context

 

Goals
Students research a MNC in order to understand the socioeconomic, political, and environmental contexts in which the MNC operates.  Students also understand the reasons why MNCs locate where they do and identify the roles that MNCs play in their own lives.
 
Skills

• data acquisition
• analytical thinking
• creative writing
• graphic, textual, and/or oral presentation of findings

• Access to socioeconomic statistics, textbooks, and/or maps of various countries (e.g., U.N. Statistical yearbook, Annual, New York, NY: UN.)
• Newspaper articles
• Annual reports
• Access to data gathered by local/regional organizations, e.g., an environmental group, a labor union (optional)

• What does this corporation do/produce/distribute?
• What’s the degree of vertical and horizontal integration?
• Where is this corporation’s headquarters located? And where is the production plant located? (In other words, who works, and who earns the bulk of the profit?)
• Which countries are involved in this venture?
• What is the socioeconomic, political and environmental context in which the MNC operates its production plants? In other words, why did the MNC locate in a particular host country? (Be sure to include issues like gender and average age of workers, wages and benefits for laborers, natural resources, environmental regulations, level of prosperity, political regime, and tax rates in the host country, size of potential market, etc.)

Students learn in this activity that industries in general, and multinationals as primary examples, do not locate in certain places accidentally. As in each unit, students should also bring the issue of multinationals close to home. If the students look at MNCs in a global context, the following questions are important for them to consider:

• How do we profit from [this MNCs] operation in [...] (fill in an example, and a host country)?
• Why should I worry about the slack environmental regulations and enforcement in Tanzania? -- All I want is a cup of coffee ...
• So what’s the connection between my lunch (a McDonald’s hamburger) and the global climate?
• How many people does it take to drill a hole in the wall with a Black & Decker drill? (This is not a joke, but a question to stimulate critical and relational thinking.)
• I drove to school this morning with my Kawasaki motorcycle that had Exxon gas in the tank and Firestone tires on the wheels. How many countries were involved in getting me to class on time?

Goals
In a written assignment on multinationals, students synthesize what they have learned through readings, class discussions, and other activities in this unit.
 
Skills

•  text comprehension and reflection
•  organizing a sequence of arguments
•  writing

• Student Worksheet 2.8
• Suggested Readings: The Economist (1995) and Mies (1986)

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