Response to Tyler's Week 8 Post

I like the questions you are raising with the Global Transformations book. I agree in wondering how the quote in page 266 works in conjunction with the reality that many people suffering from AIDS aren't receiving the treatment they so desperately need. May I hypothesize that both statements are true. Held seems to overstate the progress of globalization today but his assertion is most probably true in saying that pharmaceutical MNCs are expanding beyond the borders of the developed world. At the same time, many countries in AIDS stricken Africa do not house MNC branches. Perhaps what Held is stating is an optimistic look into the very near future but not a comment on current state of affais.

As for your comments on the Pieterse book, could it be possible that a large majority of our indifference to the global AIDS crisis is that it doesn't seem to affect us daily? That is, could the epidemic be so far removed from our "reality" that we don't care to respond? "Out of sight, out of mind," seems to be an appropriate addage here.

In light of this, what does Pieterse add to the conversation? Could a world without borders breakdown move us beyond our borders of "reality"? Could we eventually see our brothers and sisters in Uganda truly as brothers and sisters? That is, are our conceptions of nation/state/people hindering us from reaching out with compassion? I realize that I'm leaning toward the possibility of an unrealistic utopian society, but I think they are questions worth asking.