Corporate Globalization

 Julian Luna
English 495
Professor Wexler
May 9, 2012
                                                Corporate Globalization
With the globalization of cooperation across the globe, cultures, and business are expanding as people continuously become more dependent on each other. It is with the expansion of business that economies continue to grow and contribute to the further advancements of business around the globe as neoliberalism becomes more enforced in the advancement for free trade. While growth in other countries can be prosperous for some, it also has adverse effects on many of the citizens it affects. The representation of capitalism in Slumdog Millionaire captures a process that encompasses the displacement of people, while providing new financial opportunities through the blending of cultures.

            In the first half of the film, viewers are presented with a slum that has not been influenced by the industrial growth that follows capitalism. Instead, the slums are a depiction of the waste and excess that capitalist companies dispose of. Nevertheless, this polluted neighborhood is the home of the main characters that are children, and, therefore, providing an example of the industrial evolution of two brothers that grew up in this environment. During the police interrogation, the detective justifies his bias in accusing Jamal of cheating, because in his mind no one from the slums could ever possibly know all the answers. This stereotyping contributes to the separation of the common people with the advancements of capitalism that have displaced the poor who are unable to grow with the new technologies. These social disadvantages are a result of the economic gap that capitalism creates between upper and lower class workers. This separation between the common man and its capitalist rulers are represented through the increased development of high-rise buildings that leave the previous slums in the dark.  The relationship between the buildings robbing the light from the slums can serve as a metaphor for the displacement and disruption of a community, which occurs from capitalism’s manipulation of the people who are vulnerable to the overpowering influence of these building owners. In the film, the two brothers Salim and Jamal look with amazement upon the high rise building being constructed directly where their childhood slum previously existed. In this reference the division between the two brothers roles in the development of their new city, represents the divide between the common people with the city gangster rulers who have learned to benefit from the business. This separation between the past and present embodies capitalism’s reliance “in how finance asks people to imagine their future or more specifically to see the future as already at hand” (Martin 1). While this idea of living in the future is embodied through Salim in the film, the reality is that his neglect for his brother Jamal demonstrates the sacrifice of those moving forward induce on the people of the slums who can not advance. The betrayal committed between the two brothers in many ways symbolizes the betrayal of capitalism on a countries people.

Rather than creating individual business opportunities for the majority of people they are allocated as service workers and not business owners. A scene where the two brothers travel on the roof of a train symbolizes their advancement in a capitalist society as servants as they arrive to the Taj Mahal where they make money by providing tours to foreigners on vacation. This scene is a replication of the United States intentions after the war in Iraq as Bush stated that, “Tourism is to become the vehicle for increasing employment” (Martin 5). The execution of this action is seen in the film as India expands its tourism to international visitors, therefore, allowing the young boys to benefit from international wealth. This is the first step of the global expansion that capitalism promotes in a developing country. After succeeding as tourist guides, the boys return to their old home where capitalism has developed the city into a growing metropolis. As adults the protagonists in film, Jamal and Salim, find their old home developed and offering employment for service jobs. Jamal ultimately becomes a tea server for a phone answering company that works to serve international clients. Through the interlinking of international capitalism with India in the film, it supports the ideals of a capitalist society which must always grow in order to survive. This ideal of capitalism has contributed to the globalization of society, as customers in the west call operators in India for assistance. The operators in India celebrate their achievements through the prosperity of companies in the west who rely on their exported labor in India. When the Indian corporate directors thank the Indian employees for their achievements in the film it is done through the recognition of the main corporation in a magazine, which gives no direct reference to the laborers in India.  A lack of recognition in the film, symbolizes the exploitations of labor in India, which go unrecognized by foreign companies who have established their business there.

            As capitalism continues to globalize, as a result of its reliance of looking toward future profits and expansion, it lacks the desire to be concerned with how their business might be harming the people. While the expansion of business in India has allowed for industry to flourish as a result of its cheap labor, and high demand for work, companies neglect to see the impact they are having on foreign cultures. The insight from Slumdog Millionaire allows for people to understand how advancements in India are now interlinked with the dependence of western society in the endless expansion of capitalism in a global economy.

                                                                         Works Cited

       Harvey, David.  A Brief History of Neoliberalism.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.  Print.  

 Martin, Randy.  “Where Did The Future Go?”  Logos 5.1 (2006): n. pag.  Web.  29 April 2012. 

                        Slumdog Millionaire.  Dir. Danny Boyle.  Fox Searchlight Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, 2009.  DVD.