Dual Crises of Globalization: Arizona and the Gulf of Mexico

Transnational Institute
Jeb Sprague and Cesar Rodriguez

From the plumes of corporate crude in the Gulf of Mexico, to the assault on migrants in Arizona, the U.S. appears locked in a continual state of emergency. However, both crises have their roots in fundamental structures of our society that are at the core of globalization today.

The explosion on April 20th at BP’s offshore drilling rig fifty miles off the coast of Louisiana led to the worst oil spill in the country’s history, killing 11 workers and unplugging an oil gushing vein in the sea floor. Just three days later, Arizona governor Jan Brewer signed into Law SB 1070, which requires state police there to check the legal status of anyone suspected of being undocumented. While seemingly unrelated events, it is important that we consider how the two are intricately connected within a system that values the accumulation of capital over the livelihoods and survival of people and the environment.

Sociologist Leslie Sklair has described two central crises in the era of globalization: (1) a class polarization crisis with the “creation of increasing poverty and increasing wealth within and between communities and societies;” and (2) an ecological crisis with “the unsustainability of the system.”