Globalization is not an abstract noun. It is the ordinary shape of a digital product: mined in one country, made in another, assembled in a third, designed in a fourth, sold in a fifth.
A phone's chain, with where the value stays and where the cost lands drawn underneath.
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Why the chain can be this long
- Coordination is nearly free. A five-country chain needs constant communication, which used to be its limiting cost.
- Work crosses borders without the worker. Software, design and support move; the person stays where labour rules do not follow.
- Payment is immediate. Settling a transaction across borders used to take days and now takes seconds.
- Demand is visible everywhere at once. A sale in one country adjusts an order in another the same day.
Where value and cost part company: Most of the value is captured at design and at the sale. Most of the environmental and health cost lands at mining, assembly and disposal — and those two groups live under different governments.
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Real-world examples you can name
Agbogbloshie e-waste site, Accra — scrapyard cleared July 2021
A scrapyard where imported electronics were stripped and cables burned to recover copper, releasing lead and dioxins. It became the standard example of e-waste exported from rich countries to poor ones. Authorities demolished much of the site in 2021; the trade moved rather than stopped.
Who it affected: Workers and nearby residents exposed to heavy metals and smoke.
Platform work and employment status — UK Supreme Court ruling on Uber drivers February 2021; EU platform work directive adopted 2024
Work is allocated by an app rather than a manager. The UK Supreme Court held that Uber drivers are workers entitled to minimum wage and holiday pay, and the EU has since legislated a presumption of employment where a platform controls the work.
Who it affected: Couriers and drivers, and companies whose model assumed self-employment.
The people still offline — ITU Facts and Figures — 2023 estimate
The International Telecommunication Union estimated roughly 2.6 billion people had never used the internet, with the gap concentrated in low-income countries and, within countries, among women, rural populations and older people.
Who it affected: About a third of humanity, who cannot reach services the rest treat as default.
| Who | Gains | Carries |
|---|---|---|
| Buyers | Cheaper, better products | Very little |
| Designers and sellers | Most of the value | Very little |
| Assembly workers | Wages where there were few jobs | Long hours, tight margins |
| Mining and disposal communities | Some income | The environmental and health cost |
How this is tested — the chain gives you a structure for any question about global effects, and structure is most of a part-c mark. It comes up two ways:
Paper 1 — structured question
- Part c: evaluate the global impact of a digital product
- Part b: explain why a rule in one country does not reach a harm
Paper 2 — source-based question
- Q4: synthesise sources from different points in a supply chain
- HL Paper 3: recommend, and say where in the chain it applies
The trap: “globalization is good for the economy”: Which economy, and which people in it? Walk the chain and say who gains at each step and who carries the cost.
Explain one reason why a rule about a digital product may not reduce its environmental cost.
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To what extent do global digital supply chains benefit the countries that take part in them?
Model answer plan
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