On The Negative Effects of Natural Resource Extraction due to Globalization
In the past few decades, we have witnessed the rise of globalization. In this paper, I will argue that this rise has allowed for companies to extract resources outside of their own domestic jurisdiction in developing nations, hindering positive sustainable development in those countries. Foreign multinational companies are infiltrating developing economies and exploiting their natural resources, doing damage to the development of those countries in the process. This paper will demonstrate the significance of the interaction between globalization and natural resource extraction by highlighting key factors, dilemmas, and policy recommendations. In order to do so, I will discuss the effects of the Canadian Mining Company Gold Corp's actions in Honduras.
Globalization is the process by which the world has become inextricably linked and interdependent[footnoteRef:2]. Globalization allows for multinational corporations to freely move across borders, thus allowing resource extraction to take place more easily[footnoteRef:3]. Natural resource extraction can be seen as an example of high-end globalization, as it is multinational corporations infiltrating foreign countries for profit [footnoteRef:4]. [2: Haslam 2012: 541] [3: Haslam 2012: 114 ] [4: Takamura, September 9th Globalization and Development: Who Is Gaining? Who Is Losing?]
Due to a fast growing demand for natural resources on a worldwide scale, companies have had to resort to “mega extractive” practices in resource extraction, greatly affecting the lives of people living near the sights of extraction, which are mostly in low income to middle income communities[footnoteRef:5]. We can see the global inequality surfacing from natural resource exploitation through the market driven incentives of companies, who are purely concerned with their personal profit and less so for the communities their extraction affects[footnoteRef:6]. Due to globalization nation states are very vulnerable to other countries decisions made abroad. Institutions who would not be impacted by their own choices for communities’ abroad, are not being held accountable for these choices, as they are not the ones who are living with the consequences [footnoteRef:7]. This quote exemplifies the current situation of globalization and natural resource extraction: “‘Global’ in the dominant discourse is the political space in which the dominant seeks control, freeing itself from local, regional, and global sources of accountability arising from the imperatives of ecological sustainability and social justice” [footnoteRef:8] This quote exemplifies how globalization has allowed for companies to free themselves from their domestic laws and exploit the lack of efficient legal systems in many global south countries as part of the development stages they are still in. Many multinational corporations are accused of social injustice and for possessing a lack...
