As globalization changes the way our world works, human economies become more connected and grow together into one large system that touches almost all human societies differently.
The economy is defined as a cultural adaptation to the environment that enables a group of humans to use the available land, resources, and labor to satisfy their needs to thrive. These systems usually take the form one of three different structures: reciprocation, redistribution, and market exchange.
Reciprocation is an economic system in which a pattern of relations and institutions that humans construct to help them collectively meet the needs of their community. An example of this concept could be the sharing of food between kin groups or gift-giving between tribes of people, in which gifts are expected to be reciprocated at a later date. Though this is generally not the basis for modern economies, undercurrents still exist, such as a parent providing for a child or friends supporting one another.
A redistribution is a form of exchange in which accumulated wealth is collected from the members of the group and reallocated in a different pattern. The collection of goods flows through a central location- where it is then sorted, counted, and redistributed. This kind of economic system can be seen in some small-scale societies in which the community’s resources are collected by the leader, who then redistributes them to the people in a way they deem acceptable. In a large-scale society like the United States, this might be seen in family groups, where those who earn wages share their wealth with those in their family who do not.
Contemporary, large-scale societies are now heavily influenced by market exchange systems. Market exchanges are based on the idea of buying and selling land, natural resources, goods, services, labor, and ideas; sometimes facilitated through bartering but usually based on an exchange medium such as money. This system of market exchange has grown to connect societies on a global scale, beginning with trade routes established over 2000 years ago connecting Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe in a dynamic network of exchange. This type of trade moved into colonialism and the Triangle Trade, during which periods nations began to extend their political, economic, and military power beyond their own borders over an extended period of time to secure access to raw materials, cheap labor, and markers in other countries or regions. Today, this network of trade has expanded to cover the entire globe, with trade relationships spanning international borders.
Here in Savannah, this is best exemplified in the shipping port located on the Savannah River, which brings in goods from countries all over the globe.
The Port of Savannah is a driving factor within Georgia’s growing global economy. Currently, the port holds the spot as the third-largest port within the United States. With its largest competitor being Long Beach, New York. However, geographically Savannah often found itself competing with Charleston. Charleston firstly holds a much larger population than that of Savannah, as well as a similar port. Despite this, Savannah has been able to hold the consumer interest through its accumulation and distribution of goods at a “reasonable” time frame, its reputation as a reliable port, as well as its readily and growing resources.
To attain a greater understanding of the role that Savannah plays in the global economy, we spoke with Jennifer Collins, a project manager for the Savannah Economic Development Authority. Though she is a recent addition to SEDA, she has lived in the city for almost two decades. This makes her no stranger to Savannah’s ever-changing socio-economic landscape.
Her eighteen years living within the city had given her the experience to understand how to operate within the “small city.” She continued her conversation with us explaining how she had come to realize that many of the people within Savannah had similar connections and often knew one another. She emphasized the importance of evolving as a person and networking to reach the right places within the Savannah structure.
After Jennifer’s personal interview we questioned her primarily on the economic landscape of Savannah’s social and business aspects.
She talked about her personal experience seeing the growth of Savannah and the influences SCAD had made by itself. The city itself had greatly been altered for the better by the growth of both the port of Savannah as well as the success SCAD has seen. SCAD and the port of Savannah held a pseudo hidden symbiotic relationship. SCAD’s expanding footprint had created new prospects for the port as well as corrected one of the major issues Georgia had previously lacked, its shortage of new talent and education. Additionally, the school was continually renovating and creating new building infrastructure to accommodate its growing student body; in turn improving the housing market. Jennifer said the consumer interested “created a win for both the students and the city.”
Finally, our interview was cut off after asking questions regarding the taxation of Savannah’s shipping containers. She used equivocation to avoid the question and gave us an answer revolving around companies having the option to create taxes on foreign containers.
After exploring the port and talking to Jennifer, we interviewed some people around town to get an idea of how the residents of Savannah feel about the port.
Riley:
My first interview on Broughton Street involved two girls working at Paneras. Both girls had lived in Savannah their whole lives, Mya (17 years) and Miciah (18 years). Both girls had relatives who were currently working within the Port of Savannah. Mya had a cousin who worked somewhere within the shipyard and Miciah had an uncle who worked as a coast guard within the Savannah port authority. Additionally, the most interesting portion of the brief street interview was neither of them had seen active changes within Savannah. Mya went as far as to say “Savannah is making dumb moves, and doesn’t believe its changing for the better.”
My second interview was with a woman not originally from Savannah. She had been here in Savannah for approximately 5 years, and was working as a cycle rickshaw when I approached her. She also had a family member who worked at the port in Savannah. Her grandfather was currently working as a “logistics supervisor.” He had the job of keeping the numbers/book keeping accurate and according to plan. However, despite her kinship with a member involved in the port she did not believe the port actually affected the socio-economic status of Savannah. She believed the driving force of Savannah’s improvements lied in its tourism as well as the growing educational systems.
The third interview was of an elderly woman I met who was waiting at the bus stop. At first it appeared as though she was very uncomfortable being interviewed. However, she quickly opened up and told me about herself. Originally, she was not from Savannah, but had been living here for approximately 8 years to live closer to family. She quickly grew excited after learning we were interviewing her for a student project. She herself was two months away from graduating with a bachelors in theology. Despite her tangent, she was very happy to talk about her opinions on the improvements to the city. She was a firm believer in the port being the central driving force of Savannah’s prosperity. At one point she even exclaimed “oooo- as soon as that port gets deepers it’s gonna get jumpin’.”
Finally, my last street interview was with a woman working in the Blend coffee shop. She was a former SCAD alumni who had decided to stay within Savannah. She was approaching her sixth year in Savannah. Unfortunately, she had no connections to the port. However, she fully believes the profit brought in through both the port as well as the prevalent tourism was gentrifying the city. She called it the “Disney-world effect.”
Emma:
I interviewed two of my coworkers, Jane and Ahdo. Both are in their early twenties and moved to Savannah within the last few years.
Jane is originally from the Philippines, and moved to Savannah two years ago. She did not know much about the port, but had family back home that worked similar jobs. When I asked whether she would consider working at the port she said “Ohh no. I like working in a restaurant. No way.”
Ahdo is from Brooklyn, and came to Savannah five years ago for SCAD. He didn’t know many specifics about the Savannah port, but he did say he believes it is good for the local economy. He went on to talk about how he thinks Savannah can’t rely on tourism and schools like SCAD and Georgia Southern to drive the city, that we need industries like the port to balance.