Notes
Technology and health
- Communication and transportation advances: radio, TV, the internet, cell phones, container shipping and jet travel connected the world.
- The Green Revolution (high-yield crops, fertilizers, irrigation) increased food production but needed heavy chemical and water use.
- Medicine: vaccines (smallpox was eradicated in 1980), antibiotics, and longer life expectancy. New diseases spread globally: HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and COVID-19.
Environment
Rapid population and industrial growth caused deforestation, pollution, loss of biodiversity, and climate change from greenhouse gases. International responses include the Kyoto Protocol (1997) and the Paris Agreement (2015).
The global economy
- Many countries moved toward free-market policies (Reagan in the U.S., Thatcher in Britain, Deng Xiaoping's reforms in China).
- Free trade agreements and organizations: NAFTA, the World Trade Organization, the European Union, and ASEAN.
- Multinational corporations produce goods in many countries. Critics point to job losses in some places, sweatshops, and widening inequality.
- Asian economies grew rapidly (the "Asian Tigers," later China and India).
Society and culture
- Movements for rights: civil rights, women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and the anti-apartheid movement. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).
- Global culture: music, movies, sports and social media spread worldwide, sometimes creating backlash and efforts to protect local traditions.
- Resistance to globalization: protests against the WTO and rising nationalism.
Practice
It boosted harvests, especially in Asia and Latin America.
The WHO declared it eradicated in 1980.
Countries set goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Examples include major car and tech companies.
Members share a common market, and many share the euro.
Some regions lose factory jobs.
It lists basic rights for all people.
Connected networks speed the spread of disease.
Free response
Write your answer first, then open the scoring guide.
Free-response question
Answer (a), (b) and (c).
(a) Identify ONE technology that increased global connections after 1900.
Show the answer and scoring guide
The internet (or jet travel or container shipping) made communication and trade faster and cheaper.
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(b) Explain ONE environmental effect of global economic growth since 1900.
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Burning fossil fuels for industry and transportation increased greenhouse gases, contributing to climate change.
Check off the points you earned:
(c) Explain ONE way people resisted or responded to globalization.
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Protesters rallied against the World Trade Organization (Seattle, 1999), and some countries passed laws to protect local industries and cultures.
Check off the points you earned: