Globalization From Different Perspectives

By: Grady Christopherson

This week we learned about the Zapatista movement and heard from an international marketer from Gemalto. Carlos Romero, who handles international marketing for Gemalto, explained to us the scope of the company’s operations. Although the name Gemalto doesn’t really ring out as far as companies go, it is present in many things that we use everyday. For example SIM cards in cellular telephones, ATM technology, and passports just to name a few. He went on to explain the process of marketing on the international level for his company and who he has to do deal with on a weekly basis. All in all it was very interesting to gain an insight into the work of an international marketer for such a large company as Gemalto.

Carlos Romeros sharing his work about marketing in Gemalto.

Later in the week our very own business professor gave a talk about the Zapatista movement—what it stands for, and the history of it. It is a response to neo-liberalization and globalization. It started the day NAFTA was signed, in the morning of January 1^st, 1994. The Zapatistas took over several towns in Chiapas, an impoverished region in Southern Mexico. They manage to retain a major part of this territory even now. Although it may seem like the Zapatistas are a violent guerilla group, they are more peaceful if you take a second glance. They have already pledged to become involved in getting what they want through the political process through peaceful means. They still have guys with masks and guns to protect their territory from the Mexican government. As far as their demands, for the major part none have been met, and they change every couple of years. But they are mainly based around the Zapatista motto, Tierra y Libertad, land and freedom. They see globalization as threatening to their community in Chiapas and you can’t blame them, Mexico definitely sees the ugly side of globalization every day.

All in all it was a great week—we heard about topics from two very different places of the world. But these topics are not so different—Carlos Romeros showed us the rosy side of globalization and Antonio Ortega showed us why the Zapatistas have been fighting globalization for all these years.