The South Australian Globalist
Free trade f e at u r e a r t i c l e To m J o h n s o n
C
ertain terms and phrases are thrown around in world politics until they become clichéd and meaningless. ‘Globalisation’ would certainly fit into that category. However, one core component of this concept will continue to raise significant debate in the next 25 years. Free trade, and the global pursuit to remove the barriers hindering international trade, will persistently spark battles between cultural identities on matters far broader than simply economics. For governments around the world, the issues surrounding Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) arguably have the greatest political concern. While FTAs are narrowly defined as a reduction or removal of international trade barriers, such as import taxes called tariffs, these negotiations are often tied to human rights, environmental concerns and cultural imperialism issues. The present momentum of globalisation has now made this issue more significant than ever, as politicians must compare the liberating benefits of FTAs against the outlined negatives. The single aspect, which perhaps influences people’s stance on this issue the most, is their personal identity. According to the Assistant Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco, Annick Wibben, this form of identity politics creates ‘insider/ outsider’ perceptions. Wibben’s theory argues that by being ‘inside’ a certain group of race, nationality, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality or religion, you are therefore ‘outside’ another group. The ramifications of this are that the ‘others’ are polarised and thus we cannot empathise with their circumstances effectively. In terms of free trade, this means the ‘developed’ world the ones usually arguing for FTAs - cannot fully understand the effects that these agreements have on the ‘developing’ world. As a Caucasian descended from European heritage, my ability to empathise with this ‘outside’ group, and their reasons for rejecting FTAs, is limited. My economic identity is fairly common in Australia; a middle-class citizen of this wealthy Western 16
Free trade, and the global pursuit to remove the barriers hindering international trade, will persistently spark battles between cultural identities on matters far broader than simply economics.
country. Such an identity has influenced my mostly supportive attitude towards FTAs. Greater competition from such agreements will benefit my identity’s consumer culture, as lower prices, broader choice and greater technical innovation apply to goods and services. Additionally, my identity as a young adult planning to enter the workforce with a tertiary degree helps form this opinion, as FTAs open more foreign investment into Australia, thus creating higher demand for skills. My gender also influences this as society perceivably has a tradition of placing greater pressure on males to achieve and sustain employment. However, my national identity as a conservative Australian rejects the cultural implications of FTAs, particularly concerning the creative industries, including literature and broadcasting, as such agreements reduce the availability of local content; something often highly desired by those sharing my identity. However, this identity restricts the broader understanding of the free trade debate. For instance, those ‘inside’ my group are more likely to perceive investment by multinational corporations into developing countries as spreading income and employment, particularly to suppressed minority identities who are denied alternative work due to their race, gender, sexual orientation or religion. However, the ‘outside’ group may be more likely to perceive this investment as exploitation, as poorer human right laws enable multinational corporations to overwork and underpay their workforce in generally unsafe conditions.