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Quiz for Thinking Like a Historian: Globalization: Its Proponents and Its Discontents

Question

1. Petra Mata, a Mexican immigrant to the United States, writes, “I was employed in 1976 by . . . Levi Straus & Company. I earned $9.73 an hour and also had vacation and sick leave. Levi’s provided me and my family with a stable situation, and in return I was a loyal employee and worked there for fourteen years. On January 16, 1990, Levi’s closed its plant in San Antonio, Texas, where I had been working, leaving 1,150 workers unemployed, a majority of whom were Mexican-American women. The company moved its factory to Costa Rica.” Mata’s story provides evidence to support which of the following conclusions?

Garment workers in the United States bore the brunt of American factory closures in the 1990s.

Globalization has encouraged American companies to seek cheaper sources of labor outside the United States since the 1990s.

Mexican immigrants took most of the manufacturing jobs that were available in the Southwest in the 1970s and 1980s.

Even popular companies like Levi Strauss had to close once Chinese imports became available in the United States.

Correct. The answer is b. Petra Mata’s story illustrates American companies’ tendency to seek the lowest possible labor costs. The story reveals that Levi Strauss hired low-cost immigrant laborers in the 1970s and 1980s and, when globalization and free trade made it possible to move beyond the nation’s borders, it moved its operations to Costa Rica, where labor costs were even lower.

Incorrect. The answer is b. Petra Mata’s story illustrates American companies’ tendency to seek the lowest possible labor costs. The story reveals that Levi Strauss hired low-cost immigrant laborers in the 1970s and 1980s and, when globalization and free trade made it possible to move beyond the nation’s borders, it moved its operations to Costa Rica, where labor costs were even lower.

Question

2. According to source 2, the iPhone global supply chain figure, who in the Apple supply chain benefits most from the corporation’s participation in the integrated global economy?

Chinese workers

American workers

Asian business owners

Apple shareholders

Correct. The answer is d. The figure shows very clearly that most of the money generated by Apple’s production of the iPhone goes to Apple profits, despite the fact that globalization makes it possible for Apple to outsource its production to laborers overseas.

Incorrect. The answer is d. The figure shows very clearly that most of the money generated by Apple’s production of the iPhone goes to Apple profits, despite the fact that globalization makes it possible for Apple to outsource its production to laborers overseas.

Question

3. According to the passage issued by the Seattle Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (source 3), the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) policies in many nations recall which of the following historical trends?

Cold War-era interventions by the United States in Central America

The Marshall Plan in Western Europe after World War II

The U.S. occupation of Japan after the end of World War II

Manifest Destiny and the transformation of the American West

Correct. The answer is a. The National Lawyers Guild suggests that the policies of the WTO and its allied institutions around the world have been to promote or even create militaristic governments that represent the interests of foreign businesses rather than the interests of their own citizens. This analysis implies that the WTO in the twenty-first century is pursuing the same types of policies that the United States pursued in Central America in the 1950s when it supported repressive right-wing regimes that protected the interests of American corporations.

Incorrect. The answer is a. The National Lawyers Guild suggests that the policies of the WTO and its allied institutions around the world have been to promote or even create militaristic governments that represent the interests of foreign businesses rather than the interests of their own citizens. This analysis implies that the WTO in the twenty-first century is pursuing the same types of policies that the United States pursued in Central America in the 1950s when it supported repressive right-wing regimes that protected the interests of American corporations.

Question

4. In a 2000 press release, the World Trade Organization concluded that, “To alleviate poverty, developing economies need to grow faster, and the poor need to benefit from this growth. Trade can play an important part in reducing poverty, because it boosts economic growth and the poor tend to benefit from that faster growth.” This statement provides evidence to support which of the following conclusions?

The World Trade Organization advocated the deregulation of the American banking industry.

Economic globalization was the result of the World Trade Organization’s 2000 ad campaign.

The World Trade Organization pioneered the emergence of the multinational corporation.

The World Trade Organization saw capitalist development as the remedy for poverty.

Correct. The answer is d. In this press release, the World Trade Organization was making the case that free trade and the globalization of capitalism were the best solutions for the problem of poverty around the world.

Incorrect. The answer is d. In this press release, the World Trade Organization was making the case that free trade and the globalization of capitalism were the best solutions for the problem of poverty around the world.

Question

5. Petra Mata’s story (source 1) serves as evidence to challenge the points made in which one of the other sources presented in this feature?

iphone global supply chain figure (source 2)

World Trade Organization (WTO) press release (source 4)

Political cartoon (source 5)

Speech by former president Bill Clinton (source 6)

Correct. The answer is b. Mata’s story serves to challenge the WTO’s assertion that globalization is a sure solution to the problem of poverty.

Incorrect. The answer is b. Mata’s story serves to challenge the WTO’s assertion that globalization is a sure solution to the problem of poverty.