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3 North South Divide

The document discusses the concept of the North-South divide and why it may be considered an outdated idea. It covers the origins and evolution of terminology used to describe developing and developed countries, including First/Second/Third World and Global North/South. Key points discussed include the fragmentation of the Global South into different economic groups in the late 20th century with the rise of countries like BRICs and how greater globalization and interdependence has challenged the simple binary division of the world.

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304 views16 pages

3 North South Divide

The document discusses the concept of the North-South divide and why it may be considered an outdated idea. It covers the origins and evolution of terminology used to describe developing and developed countries, including First/Second/Third World and Global North/South. Key points discussed include the fragmentation of the Global South into different economic groups in the late 20th century with the rise of countries like BRICs and how greater globalization and interdependence has challenged the simple binary division of the world.

Uploaded by

AminahSolomon
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The North South Divide

LO: Describe the north


south divide and explain
why it could be said to
be an outdated idea.

Key Language:
North south divide:
Global south
First world/Second
world/Third world
Developed
Underdeveloped
HW: Watch and make notes on the Hans Rosling video on the blog. Bullet
points notes then a paragraph explaining what you learnt.
http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_reveals_new_insights_on_poverty.html

Starter
What countries would you place in first,
second and third world categories?
Is there such a thing as the fourth world?
If so what countries would be in it?

Third World
Popularised by Worsley in his 1964 book, he
saw it as essentially a political term that
labelled a group of nations with a colonial
heritage from which they had recently
escaped, and to which they had not desire
to return.
He also asserted that their collective bond
was poverty.
Issues with this term?

1970s
The West, the Communist Bloc and the
Third World,
Issues with these terms?

Fragmentation of the Global


South
How did the Third World splinter off into
different groups?
Emerging economies
OPEC
Asian Tigers
Introduction of the Fourth World?

1980s
The 1980s led to the notion of two worlds
and most of the terms used today are
structured around this idea:
Rich/poor
Developed/underdeveloped
North/south

The Brandt
Report
1980

Qs:
Is the N prosperous at the expense of the S?
Is it about dependency or interdependence?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of this type of measure?

The Brandt Line


Advantages

Disadvantages
Terms N/S are
geographically
inaccurate.
Not as good as the
core/periphery model as it
doesnt explain changes
over time.

The Brandt Report


Conclusions

More increase needed in transferring resources btwn rich and poor


countries (rich countries allocating 0.7% of their GDP to aid)
The solution to food shortages was for food production in poor
countries to be increased to meet their own needs, external aid
should be used to develop local food production capacity, not
shipping in food which may depress local prices.
Longdismantle
term impact
of his
Rich countries should
trade barriers.
He believed that TNCs
which controlled somewhere between
recommendations?
and 1/3 of world production (concentrated in just a few corporations)
needed to establish a mutually agreed investment regime to ensure
that host countries benefit as well as the TNCs. He also believed
that they needed to be tighter regulated regarding ethical behaviour
and labour practices.

Reasons for poverty in sub-Saharan


Africa (4th world)

HIV/AIDs
Civil Conflict e.g. War
Poor education
Crime
Corruption
Malaria
Population growth
Low investment rates
Poor infrastructure
Lack of export markets

Read the brilliant Wolfensohn


article
http://www.europesworld.org/NewEnglish/
Home_old/Article/tabid/191/ArticleType/arti
cleview/ArticleID/20581/language/enUS/Default.aspx

Empire : BRIC: The new world


order
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=OjR1GGP_Vns&feature=relmfu
Watch this for HW.

What is the North-South


divide, and why is it
sometimes said to be an
outdated idea? (15, June10)
Go through mark scheme and examiners
report on this.

What is the North-South


divide, and why is it
sometimes said to be an
outdated idea? (15, June10)
Explain the idea of the north south divide
Could be said to be outdated because
BRICs
Globalisation

Conclusion: is it outdated?

What is the north south


divide?
Mid 20th century: USA
and EU (the north)
accounted for 90% of
world GDP.
Partly a legacy of
colonialism: resources
were stolen from
developing nations by
their colonial rulers and
infrastructure was left in
tatters.
1989: end of the cold
war broke down on of

Why is the north south


divide outdated?
World is increasingly
inter-dependent (not
just a two-way split)
Economic growth and
developments in health
and technology have
bound the world
together.
Wolfensohn suggests
that two-tier world has
been replaced by 4-tier
(rich, emerging, 3rd
group, poor)

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