Ch. 12: Global Stratification and Poverty

1. Ch. 12: Global Stratification and Poverty

2. Hans Rosling's 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes (from The Joy of Stats - BBC Four, 2010)

3. Defining the Terms • First world/third world outdated terms • i.e. Wallerstein says all one world now • “Developed” and “developing” nations often used but neglects the fact that there are countries that are “underdeveloped” because of exploitation • Many now refer to high, middle, and low income countries but those terms tend to ignore social aspects

4. Relative vs. Absolute Poverty on a Global Scale • Relative Poverty: • Exists in every society • Some people lack resources that are taken for granted by others • High income countries focus on this • Absolute poverty: • Life threatening absence of resources • Often measured by median age of death, life expectancy or infant mortality

5. Median Age, Life Expectancy and Death Rate (2014) • Median age: • Globally, 29.7 years, Canada, 41.7 • By contrast, Uganda, 15.5 and Zambia, 17.7 • Life Expectancy: • Canada, 81; Uganda, 58; Zambia, 59 • Death rate per 1,000 population: • Globally 7.89, Canada 8.39, Zambia 12.92 South Africa 17.49 Source: Global Health Facts, World Bank

6. Distribution of Poverty • Global income unevenly distributed • High income countries lie mostly in northern hemisphere • Per capita income (average) ranges from $10,000 (Chile and S. Africa) - $37,000/year (U.S. and Norway) • Middle income $2,500-$10,000 (i.e. Mexico, Egypt, Indonesia) • Low income <$2,500 are mostly agrarian • Central and east Africa, some parts of Asia

7. Global Income and Wealth 2009-2010

8. Global Consumption Patterns

9. Atlas of Poverty • For more information, you can examine and download the Atlas of Poverty at the CIESIN Global Poverty Mapping Project • Poverty maps can be used to visually display the different dimensions of poverty and its determinants • Can highlight regional differences within nations

10. According to CIESIN … • “At a global scale, poverty is usually represented by national-level indicators such as gross domestic product or population living on less than one U.S. dollar per day “ (http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/povmap/methods_global.jsp) • Results not easily available at subnational level so CEISIN uses infant mortality rates and data on malnutrition in children as proxy variables for poverty

11. Infant mortality map • Child malnutrition map • (Source: Ceisin)

12. Global Poverty Change • According to a World Bank report some progress has been made in alleviating poverty globally • 1.4 billion people in the developing world (one in four) were living on less than US$1.25 a day in 2005, down from 1.9 billion (one in two) in 1981 (http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/0,,contentMDK:21882162~pagePK:64165401~piPK:64165026~theSitePK:469382,00.html)

13. Average Annual Income, by Country, 2008

14. Global Spending 2011 (in US$ billions) Additional annual cost, basic education for everyone in the world 6.3 Additional annual cost, water and sanitation for everyone in the world 12.4 Annual dog and cat food sales, USA 18.6 Additional annual cost, reproductive health care for all women in the world 18.6 Additional annual cost, basic health and nutrition for everyone in the world 20.1 Annual global perfume sales 27.5 Annual TV advertising, USA 60.0 Annual global revenue, strip clubs 75.0 Annual global revenue, cocaine sales (2008) 88.0 Annual beer sales, USA 96.0 Annual global arms sales 1,700.0 • (compiled by R. J. Brym, University of Toronto)

15. Global Revenue and GDP for Countries and Corporations • 2015 data from Global Justice Now showing revenues for governments and corporations(note that Walmart is #10 on the list, just after Canada) • 25 giant companies that are bigger than entire countries (Belinchon and Moynihan, Business Insider, 2018)

16. “Structural Adjustment” as a Cause for Poverty in the Developing World • IMF has been heavily criticized for instigating policies that exacerbate poverty in developing countries • Guided by ideology of neoliberalism • Policies prioritize debt repayment and economic restructuring • Poor countries forced to reduce spending on health, education and development • Result: lowered standard of living

17. “Structural Adjustment” (cont.) • Poor countries forced to sell off resources and raw materials in order to pay off debt • GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the world’s 7 richest people combined

18. “Structural Adjustment” (cont.) • According to Susan George (A Fate Worse Than Debt, 1990): • “Debt is an efficient tool. It ensures access to other peoples’ raw materials and infrastructure on the cheapest possible terms. Dozens of countries must compete for shrinking export markets and can export only a limited range of products because of Northern protectionism and their lack of cash to invest in diversification. Market saturation ensues, reducing exporters’ income to a bare minimum while the North enjoys huge savings.” • (http://www.globalissues.org/article/3/structural-adjustment-a-major-cause-of-poverty)

19. Globalization: A Very Short Introduction (Steger, 2003) • Distinguishes between globalization and globality • Globalization is a social process that creates interdependence and connections • Globality refers to globalized social conditions • Social, cultural, economic and political interdependence • Rate of exchange (or one-way flow) of information and materials • Globality not as high as we think • i.e. cell phone and computer technology absent or low in many areas

20. Forms of Globalization • Economic globalization • Governed by neoliberal ideology • Includes privatization of public enterprises, economic deregulization, trade liberalization, reduced public expenditure and expansion of international markets • Transnational corporations flourish under this • Political globalization • Spreading of “democracy” but in many cases not true democracy (may not include broad electorate, free press, protection of minority rights or gender equality)

21. Challenges to the Ideology of Globalization • Terrorism is seen by many to be a challenge to globalization • On the other hand, governments instigate a form of government terrorism to promote globalization • Involvement in foreign affairs by official government agencies • i.e. the role of the CIA in Chile and Nicaragua • Noam Chomsky and Michael Moore have challenged the U.S. use of “preventative war” in the name of democracy (i.e. watch “The Lies That Led to War” CBC 2007) • Or watch BBC’s Planet Oil Episode 1(TVO, 2018)

22. Global Stratification • Trend analysis shows that the gap between the richest and poorest countries has steadily increased over the past 2 centuries: • 3 to 1 in 1820 • 11 to 1 in 1913 • 35 to 1 in 1950 • 44 to 1 in 1973 • 72 to 1 in 1992

23. Explanations for Global Stratification and Global Poverty • Imperialism: • Past colonization by European countries • Exploitation of colonies led to continued exploitation of natural resources now

24. Explanations: World System Theory (Immanuel Wallerstein) • No such thing as “Third World” • all one world of economically interdependent nations • Global capitalism is a series of interdependencies • industrialized nations benefit from other countries • Core nations (the wealthy developed countries) have high levels of industrialization and urbanization - exploit the periphery • Semi peripheral nations more developed than peripheral and less than core nations • Peripheral nations little capital or development • uneven patterns of urbanization

25. Questions… Is Canada core or semi-periphery? • has elements of both core and periphery, but being wealthy, tends to benefit from a world system in spite of being a producer of raw material Most peripheral countries in tropical or sub-tropical areas (Africa, South America, and Caribbean) and are predominantly non-white. Why?

26. Explanations: Development and Modernization (Rostow) • Need to eliminate psychological barriers to development and social inequality • People see poverty and hardship as inevitable • Stages of EconomicGrowth (1971): • traditional stage—very little social change • take-off stage—growth and competition, individual achievement • technological maturity • high mass consumption

27. Explanations: Dependency Theory • Underdevelopment in itself not necessarily a problem • Low income of developing (poor) nations is caused by dominance of developed (rich) nations • Retards both economic and human development

28. Explanations: Culture of Poverty (John Kenneth Galbraith) • Nations at the bottom of the stratification structure remain there because they have values, customs, traditions and ways of life that undermine development and keep them in poverty • “blaming the victim”

29. A Word about the Sociological Perspectives on Global Stratification… • Functionalism • Inequality helps society survive therefore a positive function i.e. Davis and Moore set the stage for thinking in 1945 by concluding that stratification of society is desirable and inevitable • Underlies both neoliberal and neoconservative thought • Conflict Perspective • Source of global inequality lies in global economic conflict • Wallerstein’s theory an example • Symbolic Interactionism • we respond to the global situation with ignorance and/or discrimination – we label and blame the poor • accept either the sense of superiority or inferiority and it structures our global interactions

30. Sociological perspectives (cont.) • Feminism • Feminization of poverty and inequality a global issue • In every society, women have lower status and power than men and consequently, experience increased levels of suffering and hardship • Population Health Perspective • Many negative health consequences due to inequality and poverty (i.e. Richard Wilkinson: How Inequality Harms Societies)

31. A Focus on Human Development as a Way to End Global Poverty and Inequality • When the Human Development Index (HDI) which measures life expectancy at birth, literacy, and GDP/capita is combined with other measures of deprivation, employment, and technology, Canada stands 9th in the world out of 177 nations • This makes it hard for us to focus on and act to end global poverty and stratification

32. A Focus on Human Development • “The real wealth of a nation is its people. And the purpose of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives. This simple but powerful truth is too often forgotten in the pursuit of material and financial wealth.” (from the first Human Development Report,1990) • Watch: People First: The Human Development Reports 2010