Objective The goal is to arrive at a collaborative understanding of how powerful global economic forces are affecting the way people live and make their living, to identify and evaluate what is good and beneficial in the policies associated with globalization and what is detrimental or harmful, and to provide practical policy recommendations so that people can harness the energies of globalization as their local cultures change.  The objectives are to:  1) Ascertain what social impact the globalization of the free market economy and the policies associated with it is having on cultures and people, especially the poor;  2) Understand and explain why and how globalization is producing these effects;  3) Identify and evaluate its social benefits and disadvantages; and  4) Offer recommendations on concrete courses of action that promote its benefits and curtail its disadvantages. GEC Home  |  Last Updated October 25, 2005