The South and Economic Globalization - Essay Example

?There has always been a widely accepted feeling about the south and its leadership as being rather conservative (to use a mild terminology) since before the days of the American civil war up to the nineteenth century. James. C. Cobb in his book Away down South dissects the psyche of the south; its history and the factors that contribute to its sense of identity over its long and event full existence. He takes a third of the book to concentrate on the state of the south since the end of the civil war. He delves deeply into the phenomena of white supremacy and Yankee hating plus the corresponding reactions shame and guilt among the scholars of the south and resistance from the black community. The book continues in this vein moving along the time line until the second world war from whence a tremendous change starts sweeping through the south; altering its identity amid strong global influences. This change is witnessed amid strong resistance from the south’s white leadership who try to stem the new influences that threaten to change the status quo that has existed and given the south its distinct identity up to that point in time. Cobb uses a huge base of historical and literary references to illustrate his points and succeeds in providing a very balanced and unbiased account of the state of the south. The only criticism that can be leveled his way is the lack of reference to the medical situation through out the narration. The health maladies that plagued the south at various durations over time have also had an impact on the self- identity of the south and deserved some mention as well. To illustrate the state of the south since the Second World War, we have to rely on the available literature and Cobb is a renowned historian of repute especially concerning the south. The study of the south is intricately interwoven with the history of America and its only fitting we look at it to understand the state of America since the end of the second world war. In the book, Cobb utilizes a skillful literary interpretation together with an in depth analysis of the social composition to create his intricate analysis. He portrays a genuinely felt obligation to racial and social justice without compromising his exceptional standards of scholarship. Finally, he puts forth a heart felt appeal against using history in the politics of identity. The image of the south has undergone change all through its existence and none is more profound than the change experienced after the Second World War and intensified during the civil rights era. The white supremacists fought hard to cling on to the status quo from this period but the winds of change were blowing harder and getting even harder to ignore. The very definitions of the southern way of life as it was known up till then were shaken to the core. The African Americans were at this time examining their southern heritage more keenly and openly and beginning to embrace their southern heritage amid their championing of their black identity. There is a distinct feel of the south’s development and evolution being dissected in the book and its wide array of relevant topics got fromfrom the national ascendance of southern culture and music, to a globalized Dixie's allure for foreign factories and a flood of immigrants, to the roles of women and an increasingly visible gay population in contemporary southern life. The heart of the book illuminates the struggle for Civil Rights. For instance the author refers to a time when Jim Crow still towered over the South in 1945, but Cobb shows that Pearl Harbor unleashed forces that would ultimately contribute to its eventual downfall. Rising black political influence outside the South and the incongruity of combating racist totalitarianism overseas while condoning the same at home, created the opportunity for returning black veterans to organize the NAACP's postwar attack on the South's racial system. This assault elicited not only vocal white opposition but also led to increasing violence that climaxed in the murder of young Emmett Till in 1955. This event keyed up rather than demoralized the black resolve however. As a result of this new found courage, blacks in Montgomery organized the famous bus boycott, also bringing the Rev. Martin Luther King to prominence and laying ground for the spectacular protests and confrontations that succeeded in finally bringing deep racial changes. It also succeeded in introducing the now accepted two-party politics to the South which had until this point vigorously objected to this. With the continued changes taking place in the south, there has been a steady remolding of the identity of the south. The global homogenization that swept the planet in the new millennium has also prompted a new identity reclassification bearing in mind that the south has had its culture exported all over the world and in turn has also assimilated other new cultures into its midst as a result of globalization. So the south has despite stiff resistance from the conservative white leaders’ mainly, there has been a steady change in the identity of the south over the period since the second world war ended. So there have been questions about the new south and its identity which has now been diluted and not one major identity can be pointed out as being the unique identity of the south does this mean the south has lost its identity? This is the question that preludes an identity crisis that can be said to be brewing in the south in contrast to the situation that was there pre second world war. According to Daniel, Pete in his book “Going among Strangers: Southern Reactions to World War II,” many southerners who took part in the second world war were thrust into a different reality where they were forced to take in a lot of new ideas and experiences. This made it very hard when the war was over fro them to just go back south and continue the life they had lived before the war. The southerners had either gone to the battle front or had ended up living in the cities during the war. In the cities, the white southerners had had to fight with people of all orientations including blacks for housing, jobs and even for seats on public transport. So the blacks who had taken part in the war went back south with new ideas of a life of equality while the whites went back south having experienced a life of equity with the blacks. This experience also opened up the eyes of the rural southerners who got a taste of affluent living in the cities and the comfort of a steady income as well. This made some opt to stay in the cities while those who went back also went back with new technological advances that reduced their reliance on human labor somewhat. A huge population now shifted from the rural areas to the urban centers in a major change of lifestyles; in the book “Going among Strangers: Southern Reactions to World War II,” the author estimates that about 7 million people only out of 10.2 million were left on the rural farms. This urbanization has to be credited with a lot of the recalibration of the south’s mentality concerning issues like the equality of black people in their society. The south has transformed rapidly since the Second World War and is in the 1990s attracted more than half the business drawn to the United States. It is actually the most industrialized region in the USA a far cry from what it was in the pre Second World War period. It says a lot to how much the identity of the south has changed if we can quote from the example given in the book that; 1 out of 8 industrial employees in the south are employed by a foreign company. This has certainly transformed the south in all ways from economics to the way society behaves towards each other. The large number of relatively cheap non union labor makes the south very attractive for the world industrialists who are also attracted by the huge subsidies that are provided by the regions political leaders. It’s safe to say the days of the rigid non reformist political leadership are gone and the new ones are actually very encouraging of even foreigners to the south. The cheap labor is also as a result of the influx of mostly Latinos into the south which several decades back (PRE second word war) would have been unimaginable. So the identity of the south has undergone a massive metamorphosis to reach where it is now. However one thing that has not changed much is the tendency to finance economic development at the expense of human development. This is noted by Cobb, in his book “Beyond the ‘Y’all Wall. The same is noted by Eckes in his book “The South and Economic Globalization, 1950 to the Future,” where he also points out that convergence and harmonization of flows that are as a result of social, economic, political and technological factors over the last half century have combined to make the south less distinctive than it was once. This is both good and bad as some of the distinctions lost may be better forgotten but some good has been lost as well. References Cobb, Away Down South, chapter 6 (pp. 164-184); Cobb, “Beyond the ‘Y’all Wall:’ The American South Goes Global, in Cobb & Stueck, Globalization and the American South, 1-18; Daniel, Pete. ““Going among Strangers: Southern Reactions to World War II,” Journal of American History, Vol. 77, No. 3 (Dec., 1990), pp. 886-911); Eckes, “The South and Economic Globalization, 1950 to the Future,” in Cobb & Stueck, Globalization and the American South, 36-65. Read More