Final Blog Post!!

The first reading, Wendell Berry’s “Conserving Communities” shows how globalisation has negatively affected small communities, local farming, and people’s connection to the land. He argues that as the world has become more focused on global business, mass production, and profit, local communities have started to disappear. I think it clearly shows how big corporations and industrial farming have taken over which makes it harder for small farms and local businesses to survive. Berry believes globalisation encourages people to prioritise money and efficiency over the environment, food quality, and strong community relationships. Overall, I think he argues that society as a whole has become too dependent on large global systems and that communities would be healthier and stronger if people just solely focused more on supporting local businesses, local food and sustainable living.

The Global to Local reading seems to focus on the idea that globalisation has given huge corporations too much power over economies, governments, and everyday life, but it also explains that ordinary people still have the ability to create change. I think the authors argue that corporate globalisation encourages people to act mainly as consumers instead of active citizens, with society becoming more focused on shopping, profit, and mass consumption. They explain that global businesses often prioritise cheap labour and economic growth over workers’ rights, environmental protection, and local communities.  

The reading also discusses the ways in which people can challenge the negative effects of globalisation through local action and ethical choices. It encourages people to support local businesses, buy local food, join community-supported agriculture programmes, and choose fair trade products to support workers in developing countries. The authors also seem to promote worker-owned co-ops, socially responsible banking and investing, political activism and stronger community involvement. Overall, I think that the text does a really good job at arguing that although globalisation has created many social and environmental problems, people can still work together locally and globally in order to create fairer and more sustainable communities as well as economies.