The North-South Gap

The North-South Gap CHAPTER TWELVE Dr. Clayton Thyne PS 235-001: World Politics Spring 2009 Goldstein & Pevehouse, International Relations, 8/e Student notes version

State of the South • World’s poor region states called: • Third world countries, less developed countries (LDCs), underdeveloped countries (UDCs), or developing countries • Scholars do not agree on • About a billion people live in abject poverty – no access to basic nutrition and health care • Concentrated in ____________________ • Two decades ago, similar situation in _______________, but average income per person there has increased • Every 6 seconds… • 5 million children…

State of the South • Millennium Development Goals • Sets targets for basic needs measures to be achieved by ________ • The 5 regions of the global South differ on poverty reduction, income level, and growth.

Figure 12.1

Basic Human Needs • Food, shelter, and other necessities • Education allows a new generation to meet over basic needs and more through the demographic transition.

Basic Human Needs • Children suffer from hunger in the global South. • Health care • Safe water • Importance of NGOs: www.sunflowersolar.com/articles/HP110_pg44_Yewdall.pdf • Shelter • War is a leading obstacle to the… • Disasters

Figure 12.2

Figure 12.4

World Hunger • Of all the basic needs of people in the global South, the most central is food. • Malnutrition: • Hunger: • 820 million people (1 in 8 worldwide) are … • Rural communities and farming • Colonialism disrupted… • Shift to commercial farming (cash crops); displacement of subsistence farmers from the land. • Impact of international food aid on…

Rural and Urban Populations • The displacement of subsistence farmers leads to massive population shift. • Urbanization: • Capital accumulation is concentrated in ______. • Influx of people can cause difficulties. • Slums • Land reform

Women in Developing Countries • Economic accumulation in poor countries is closely tied to the status of women in those societies. • Hold inferior social status to men in the countries of the South (more so than in the North) • Discrimination against girls is widespread in education and literacy. • Work of international agencies to help women

Migration and Refugees • Millions of people from the global South have crossed international borders, often illegally, to reach the North. • The home state – no obligation to… • Migration produces complex patterns of… • Most industrialized states try to limit immigration from the…

Migration and Refugees • Migrants are distinguished from refugees • Refugees are people fleeing to find … • Number of refugees in 2006 was… • Kurds in Turkey – • Palestine - • Economic impact • Nationalism:

Theories of Accumulation: Capitalism • Capital: • Capitalism • Based on liberal economics stressing … • System of private ownership of capital that relies on … • Views the global South as … • Cycle of accumulation depends on … • Concentrates __________________ • No state is purely capitalistic • Principles of capitalism underlie the global economy with its great disparities of wealth

Theories of Accumulation: Socialism • Socialism – concerned with the … • Sees the North-South divide as more of a … • Believes capitalists exploit … • Generally endorses the use of the … • Does not exist anywhere in pure form. • In theory, central planners are supposed to use resources in a rational way that maximizes overall efficiency. • Russia and Eastern Europe: • China: • Privatization • Does not mean socialism is dead: New mixes of socialism and capitalism are being created.

Theories of Accumulation: The World-System • The global system of regional class divisions has been seen by some IR scholars as a world-system, or a capitalist world economy. • View is _____________ in orientation; global level of analysis • Class divisions regionalized • Third world regions … • Industrialized regions … • Class struggle between the two • Semiperiphery: • Actual patterns of world trade support the world-system theory to some extent • But the shift of export-oriented manufacturing from the industrialized countries to Asia reflects globalization

Table 12.3

Imperialism • Imperialism structured world order starkly around the … • At the same time, imperialism depends on the …

World Civilization • North America • Europe • China and Japan • Latin America • Africa • Arab caliphate and the Middle East • Europe

History of Imperialism 1500-2000 • European imperialism • 15th century, with the development of oceangoing sailing ships in which a small crew could transport a sizable cargo over a long distance • Decimated indigenous populations • Decolonization • 19th century • 20th century

Figure 12.6

Effects of Colonialism • Being colonized had a devastating effect on a people and culture. • White domination seen as normal after … • Negative economic implications • Positives of colonization • Anti-colonial movements

Figure 12.7

Postcolonial Dependency • Accumulation in the global South did not take off once colonialism was overthrown. • Left few people with the experience to … • Economies had been narrowly developed. • Inherited borders that were drawn in … • Government corruption of …

Figure 12.8

Postcolonial Dependency • Dependency theory • Dependency as a situation in which … • A dependent country must borrow capital to … • Types of non-colonial dependency • Enclave economy • Nationally controlled production by … • Penetration of national economies by …

Revolutionary Movements • Political revolutions seek to change the … • Social revolutions seek changes in the … • Cold War years: communist insurgency • Chinese revolution • Latin America • By early 1990s, communist third world revolutions seemed to have …

Post-revolutionary Governments • Even though revolutionaries advocate the broad distribution of wealth, they tend to find after taking power that centralizing accumulation is more practical. • Gives the state more control of … • New elite may begin to look like … • Impact of … • Marxist strategies have …

The North-South Gap