WATCH: Unit 9 Overview

Is the world getting better or worse? Before  you answer, consider a few claims. First:   "the world is awful." Today, 5.2 million children  under the age of 5 die each year. This number,   given as a percentage of total children of  that age, is called the "child mortality rate."   5.2 million children is pretty awful. But here's  another claim: "the world is much better."   Today, the child mortality rate is 3.8  percent. In 1800, it was 43 percent. If it was still that high today, 61 million  children would die each year. Much better, right?   But here's one last claim: "the world can be much  better." If everywhere in the world enjoyed the   conditions found in the world's richest countries,  the child mortality rate would fall from 3.8   percent to under 0.4 percent, about 10 times less.  Almost 5 million fewer children would die each   year. These three claims tell us quite a bit about  how our world has changed and the problems that   remain. Our advances in technology and medicine  have saved the lives of millions of children.   We've made remarkable improvements, and yet,  the benefits of these changes have been unevenly   distributed. At the same time, some of the  innovations of our global age have put us in   danger. And the harms of these changes are also  experienced unequally by people around the world.   Let's look a little closer. One way  that we can better understand this   is by examining one major cause of child  mortality: malaria. How are child mortality,  mosquitoes, and climate change all related, and  what did they tell us about globalization? We'll   get to that in a minute. But first, I probably  need to explain what I mean by "globalization." Hi, I'm Rachel Hansen, and this is Unit  9: Globalization 1900 to the present. People who study globalization have offered  lots of definitions of the term and many   different dates from when it started. We began  this course over 800 years ago. In some ways,   the story since then has been one of increasing  global connections. But in the last century,   those connections have expanded and intensified  through a process called globalization.   After 1945, our world entered a period  sometimes called "the Great Acceleration,"   in which new technologies sped up many trends. Our  populations skyrocketed, our economies expanded.   We use more energy and produce  more stuff than ever before.   We are increasingly connected by jet planes,  by ships that bring us goods from distant parts   of the world, by cell phones and laptops  that allow instantaneous communication.   This is globalization at a pace we have  never experienced before. This globalization   is sometimes described as causing a flattening  of experience around the world. This means that   as we all connect and share culture and ideas,  the world looks "flatter" to some who study   it. As if we're all coming to rest on the same  level, more or less, having the same experience.   But other scholars have suggested  that globalization is really "lumpy."   Because its effects are so uneven, it  creates inequalities among communities.   In this unit, we explore this debate. We ask:  How are our lives today similar and different,   and how can history help explain  these variations and commonalities? In this class, you've learned about some of  humanity's great achievements. Yet, it's a   sad truth that we are often the victims of our  own progress. In previous units, you've learned   how long-distance trade contributed to the Black  Death; you've learned about the social problems   that grew out of industrialization; and you've  seen national revolutions, that were meant to   liberate people, morph into extremist ideologies  like fascism. Exploring our achievements and our   failings through the six themes will better help  you evaluate the good and bad of globalization.   The pace of technological innovation in the  past century has revolutionized our world.   We've created new technologies and new sources  of energy that have allowed us to feed and   sustain a rapidly growing population while also  allowing instant communication and rapid travel   across the globe. Globalization has also connected  us in one giant worldwide economic system.   The products we use and consume are often grown  or made in several different places within several   different parts of the world. Similarly, profits  in one part of the world often depend on labor   and consumers in entirely different regions. But  these profits are not always distributed evenly.   Meanwhile, these shifts in technology and  production mean that people in different places   often consume the same products and culture. In  fact, some people have argued that we increasingly   share one global culture. That helps us to  understand each other, but also means that some   local cultures and traditions are disappearing.  Our forms of governance are also globalizing.   Once, the nation-state seemed to be the ultimate  form of government. Today, our interactions often   transcend borders. International organizations  like the United Nations attempt to regulate an   increasingly complex and global world. But  somehow, there is still a great deal of war   and conflict. Maybe this is partly because the  effects of globalization have been uneven and   unequal. It seems to create vast benefits for  some people, but only limited change for others,   and great suffering for some. As a result, in many  places, people resist elements of globalization.   The rapid pace of innovation has allowed us to  affect our environment more than ever before. But   many of our innovations have had disastrous  effects on our environment. Climate change   threatens all of us, but some people will  experience much greater harm than others. We   can see one clear example of this by examining the  connections between malaria and climate change. Malaria is a deadly disease caused by a parasite  carried by mosquitoes. It's one of the leading   causes of child mortality. Since 1946, the world  has made incredible progress in fighting malaria.   Take a look at this map. Historically, malaria  was present in about half the world since 1946.   Malaria has been contained to 27 of Earth's land  mass. Fewer people die of the disease, and it's   found in fewer places. That's a remarkable change.  But look at those dark purple parts of the map.   That's where malaria is still a big  problem, thanks to environmental conditions.   Those purple areas also contain some of  the world's poorest regions, where lack   of access to medicine, insecticides, and other  preventatives makes the disease much more deadly.   94 percent of the 409,000 people who died  of malaria in 2019 lived in Africa. Malaria   reveals both the benefits and lumpiness of  globalization. Our innovations in international   cooperation have eliminated this disease in many  places and helped lower child mortality. Yet,   not everyone in the world has  experienced these benefits equally.   Do you remember the three claims I  read at the beginning of this video?   The world is awful, it's much better, it can be  much better. There's a fourth: without action,   the world could get much worse. Malaria is a case  in point. As this map and chart show, humanity   has made incredible progress against malaria.  However, since 2017, death rates have started to   rise again. Why? Well, the answer also has to do  with another one of the impacts of globalization:   climate change. Our use of fossil fuels has  transformed the planet. Changes in rainfall,   temperature, and humidity are expected to increase  the geographical range of malaria again and to   make it even worse in places where it already  exists. These changes will disproportionately   affect low-income countries, who will see  increased deaths and negative economic impacts.   Modern science and globalization have allowed us  to fight diseases like malaria and drastically   reduce child mortality. We've seen a billion  people escape extreme poverty. We've created   vaccines and medicines that have eliminated  diseases that used to ravage our species.   These are the miracles of our age.  And yet, the same forces that make   this possible also threaten to unravel all the  astounding achievements of the last century.   We will all suffer from climate change,  but as the example of malaria highlights,   some will suffer much more than others.  Globalization has been uneven and unequal.   Yet, global diseases like malaria and global  challenges like climate change remind us that   humanity shares many challenges in common. These  are complex problems. How can the history of the   last eight centuries help you understand them now,  and how can it help you prepare for the future?