Globalization to "Slowbalization"
The image above is a product of one of first multinational corporations. The Hudson’s Bay Company was founded in 1670 and has had a massive amount of success over the 251 years that it’s been around. I used the image of a Hudson’s Bay product because it’s Canadas oldest multinational corporations and has had a lot to do with the beginning of economic globalization. The Hudson’s Bay company just like any other company has suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic turbocharging “slowbalization” trends.
“slowbalization” is the essentially the slowing down of globalization. Although COVID-19 has had a major impact on turbocharging “slowbalization” affects, it isn’t the only reason for “slowbalization”. Examples of “slowbalization” could be found before the COVID-19 pandemic had even started. One example would be how trade has gown down from 61% in 2008 to 58% of world GDP as seen in the week 7 slides. Another great example of “slowbalization” before the pandemic would be Trump’s trade wars/tariffs, restrictions on Huawei as seen in the week 7 slides. The COVID-19 pandemic has helped the “slowbalization” movement because of its “Initial & recurring lockdowns severely disrupted global flows (Week 7, Slide 14). An example of how COVID-19 has turbocharged “slowbalization” trends can be seen through the longer waiting time on certain products on amazon. At the beginning of the pandemic the restrictions and lock downs had caused amazon prime to go from a one day wait to a three to seven day wait.
Therefore, “slowbalization” has been around long before the COVID-19 pandemic was even a thing. This doesn’t change the fact that due to the COVID-19 pandemic “slowbalization” has become more visible in our everyday life. Lastly, we can see its effects through the longer waits or back orders in store and online.