Uprooted: Refugees of the Global Economy

Identifying and assigning responsibility for economic and cultural damages and inequities in the world's increasingly cramped quarters--indeed our world today seems like a rude and dysfunctional extended family living in a too-tight apartment--depends to a large extent on your political leanings. The view from the left is that many of the world's mounting political and economic woes can be largely attributed to the big brothers in the family--the highly industrialized, free-trading capitalist nations and their resident multi-national corporations. Uprooted is an openly partisan attempt to reveal how corporate globalization and free trade policies, abetted by international lending organizations such as the World Bank and the IMF, have toppled the fragile economic and cultural ecologies of developing nations. The video presents three stories of families and individuals from the Philippines, Bolivia, and Haiti, focusing on how the lives of the poor and working class have been radically disrupted and displaced by the move toward a profit-motivated global economy. Although this is very obviously a heartfelt and generally well-produced work, 28 minutes is simply not enough time to effectively present either the complex nature of the issues at hand or the lives of the individuals profiled. In addition, the short running-time has led the filmmakers to conflate issues pertaining to globalization and those centering on immigrant rights--related perhaps, but each deserving its own longer treatment. While this video might be a good, short discussion opener for classes in world economic and political development or immigration, collections seeking a more effective look at the personal toll of globalization are directed to installments of Bullfrog Films' excellent 30-part Life series (VL-11/01). Aud: C, P. (G. Handman)