Module 6

GLOBAL DIVIDES:
THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH
• Manifestations of the social division is
evident anywhere, it is everywhere. The
distinction is also clear among countries.
Thus, making everyone think that there are
rich class and poor class. The rich becomes
richer while poor becomes poorer.
At the end of the discussion, the students
must:

• Understand the concept of ‘Global South’;

• Differentiate the Global South from the Third
World; and
• Analyze different lenses of global relations.

OBJECTIVES
• Distinctions of the Global North and the
Global South, Comparison of Starbucks and
the Shanty, Conceptualization of the Global
South, Analysis of States and Interstate
Inequalities, Colonialism-Modernity-Creation
of Global Inequality, Challenging the Colonial
Order, Closing the Gap

COURSE OUTLINE
Picture Analysis – Look at the pictures. Study
and analyze them.
• High-rise Buildings

LET’S GET READY

• Shanties

LET’S GET READY

• Condominiums

LET’S GET READY

• Rural Poor Communities

LET’S GET READY

• Rich and Poor People

LET’S GET READY

Points to Discuss:
• What can you say about the pictures?
• Are they seen in the Philippines? Other parts
of the world?
• What could be the reason why there is social
division?
• Do you believe that there is inequality and
discrimination in most countries? Why?

LET’S GET ON WITH IT

III. Conceptions of Global Relations
Major Premise:
The underdevelopment of certain
states/peoples and their lack of
representation in global political process is a
reality.
Prevalent: Imbalances of aggregate economic
and political power between states.
 Introduction: The Starbucks
and the Shanty
Spaces of underdevelopment in developed
countries may mirror the poverty of the
global south, and spaces of affluence in
the developing world mirror those of the
global north.
The global south is everywhere, but it can
also be somewhere, and that somewhere
is located at the intersection of entangled
political geographies of dispossession and
repossession.
 Introduction: The Starbucks
and the Shanty
• This sameness represents the cultural
homogenization that many critics have
associated with globalization.

• The residents of the shanties live in the

“weak states” where governments are
too poor, weak, corrupt, and unstable to
supply its citizens with basic needs.
 Introduction: The Starbucks
and the Shanty
• There is something more confronting
about poverty in the global south, and the
north/south divide is as visible as the
processes of globalization that engender
it.
 Introduction: The Starbucks
and the Shanty
• If one conceives of globalization as the
spreading and consumption of cultural/
commercial signifiers, the shanty
represents the tenacity of the local, which
is unable to participate in a cosmopolitan
culture represented by the Starbucks.
 Introduction: The Starbucks
and the Shanty
Critics of dominant economic paradigms call
the forced liberalization and marketization of
developing economies “globalization or neo-
liberalism”. This globalization, led by
International Financial Institutions (IFIs) like the
World Bank (WB), the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), and the World Trade Organization
(WTO) saddle developing economies with debt
while making them more vulnerable to global
economic shocks.
 Introduction: The Starbucks
and the Shanty
• This form of globalization is likewise
uneven, as the economic norms the
developed world applies to itself are never
the same as those it imposes on the
developing world.

• Double standard in the prescription of

‘cures’ for ailing economies in the
global south
 Introduction: The Starbucks
and the Shanty
• It is common for WB and IMF, dominated
by economists from the global north, to
demand that developing economies cut
government spending and raise interest
rates to reduce inflation.
• The shrinking of the public sector
ultimately means a reduction in services
like healthcare and the increase in interest
rates reduces domestic consumption.
 Introduction: The Starbucks
and the Shanty
• The developed world does not apply the
same standards to itself.

• From the perspective of ‘anti-globalization’

critics, the contradictions at the heart of
neo-liberalism cause and reinforce the
endemic poverty of the global south.
 Introduction: The Starbucks
and the Shanty
• Structural adjustment – deepens
inequality in the world’s poorest countries.
• Poverty is also being globalized.
• Globalization creates both affluence and
poverty.
• Globalization challenges the dominance of
the state, nevertheless produces changes
on the structure of states, and, therefore,
requires responses from states.
 Conceptualizing without
Defining
• Critics of cold war-era power politics
deployed the term ‘Third World’ or the
logic of non-alignment in their rejection of
‘colonialism’ from both the USA and the
USSR.
• Third Worldism or non-alignment – no
longer tenable in light of the collapse of
the Soviet Bloc or the Second World. –
began as a common resistance to new
forms of colonialism.
 Conceptualizing without
Defining
• Phenomena – the underdevelopment of certain
states/people and their lack of representation in
global political processes.
• Global South
A. is everywhere, but it is also somewhere, and
that somewhere, located at the intersection of entangled
political geographies of dispossession and
repossession.
B. both a reality and a provisional work in
progress.
 Conceptualizing without
Defining
C. can be located in between the objective
realities of global inequality and the various
subjective response to these.
D. is not a directional designation or a point
due south from a fixed north. It is a symbolic
designation meant to capture the semblance of
cohesion that emerged when former colonial
entities engaged in political projects of
decolonization and moved toward the realization
of a postcolonial international order (Grovogui,
2011).
 Conceptualizing without
Defining
• The terms “Third World”,“developing
world” and “global south” are all ways to
represent interstate inequalities.
• First, there are forms of power inequality
that cannot be reduced to discussions of
state politics. Jonathan Rigg (2007), for
instance, emphasize the everyday nature
of politics in the global south, where local
practices subtend, transcend, and
overwhelm statecraft.
 Conceptualizing without
Defining
• Bayat (2010) has theorized the notion of
“non-movements” or the “quiet
encroachment of the ordinary”
encapsulated in the “discreet and
prolonged ways in which the poor struggle
to survive and to better their lives by
quietly impinging on the propertied and
powerful, and on society at large”.
 Conceptualizing without
Defining
• Second, not all of the formal colonial
entities are states.
• Similar arguments can be made about
other indigenous peoples displaced by
powerful, often white, settler colonialists.
• Finally, the process of globalization
places into question geographically-bound
conceptions of poverty and inequality.
 Conceptualizing without
Defining
• Increase and intensification of global flows
spread both poverty and affluence. Spaces of
underdevelopment in developed countries
may mirror the poverty of the global south and
spaces of affluence in the developing world
mirror those of the global north.
• There is a global south in the global north, and
vice versa.
• Third Worldism – a vehicle for the
mainstreaming of human rights.
 Why Must We Insist on Analysing
States and Interstate Inequalities?
• First, decolonization process produced
states, now recognized as sovereign
under the system of international law
promoted by the United Nations.
• The likelihood of being poor is higher for
people who live in states now considered
associated with the global south, in
regions like Asia, Africa, the Middle East,
and South America.
 Why Must We Insist on Analysing
States and Interstate Inequalities?
• Many of these formerly colonized
countries are the same ones inadequately
represented in global organizations like
the World Trade Organization (WTO) and
the various international banks.
• The resistance to global trading regimes is
also largely organized through states, as
evidence by the emergence of the Group
of 33 in the WTO.
 Why Must We Insist on Analysing
States and Interstate Inequalities?
• Second, solutions to problems produced
by globalization are largely forwarded and
articulated on a state level.
• Global institutions have yet prove that
“they can diminish international
inequalities”, while “nation-states
(supplemented in Europe by the European
Union (EU)) are in a position to diminish
regional or group inequalities to some
extent”.
 Why Must We Insist on Analysing
States and Interstate Inequalities?
• State remains “the main mechanism for
social transfers”, making it the strongest
vehicle for social redistribution.
• Walden Bello (2006) contends that
development in the global south must begin
by “drawing most of a country’s financial
resources for development from within
rather than becoming dependent on foreign
investments and foreign financial markets”.
 Why Must We Insist on Analysing
States and Interstate Inequalities?

• Responding to issues such as global warming

requires global approaches.
• States are empowered to regulate firms working
within their borders.
• While activists and governments from the global
south lobby for more stringent international
climate legislation, a more robust climate policy
can only emerge if northern states acknowledge
their disproportionate capacity to damage the
environment.
 Why Must We Insist on Analysing
States and Interstate Inequalities?
• Last, even phenomena largely considered
“transnational” are the results of state
policies.
• Acts of deterritorialization such as labor
migration need to be placed in the context
of the state.
• Transnational global spheres are already
prefigured by the policies of state
authorities.
 COLONIALISM, MODERNITY, AND THE CREATION
OF GLOBAL INEQUALITY
• The global south is a product of Western imagination.
The Spanish conquest of Latin America in the 16th
century produced what we now recognize as Latin
America.
• The French “mission civilisatrice” – which held that
colonization was a necessary tool for the spread of
civilization – allowed for the subjugation of vast parts
of Africa and Southeast Asia in the late 19th and early
20th centuries.
 COLONIALISM, MODERNITY, AND THE CREATION
OF GLOBAL INEQUALITY

• The US, which sought to distinguish itself from the

colonial powers of Europe, deployed a similar logic
upon colonizing the Philippine islands in 1898.
• Colonialism was represented in paternalistic terms,
glossing over the violence of the colonial project in
the process.
Global economic integration is not only
inevitable given the rise of new technologies; it
is more importantly, a normative international
goal to not partake to globality is backwards.

Civilizational Discourse: Dominant ideology of

colonialism and the logic that shaped the birth
of the international order.
Modernization Theory (Rostow): outlined
historical progress in terms of a society’s
capacity to produce and consume material
goods which became the key foreign policy
precept of the Kennedy administration.

Clash of Civilization (Huntington): A clash of

civilizations is the main source of conflict in
the post-cold world war world, rehashes many
of colonial stereotypes associated with the
backward civilizations.
End of History (Fukuyama): The complete triumph of
Western capitalism and liberalism turns the West
into the telos (ultimate end) of political organization,
which all must aspire to.

The Lexus (Friedman): Global progress is seen in terms

of a binary between embracing free trade and being
left behind by the pace of international economic
and technological developments. The alternative to
Lexus is stagnation, making injunction to globalize
an imperative in the quest for global modernity.
 CHALLENGING THE COLONIAL ORDER

Lenin: Capitalism’s strength is premised on the

creation of new market via imperialism.

It was through associating imperialism with

capitalism that the international left made an
end of unfriendly relations with nationalism
with the colonized world.

International left ignored the national liberation in favor

of international class struggle. It did not prioritize the
struggle of colonized people in its policies.
 CHALLENGING THE COLONIAL ORDER

Sukarno: Colonialism has also its modern dress,

in the form of economic control, intellectual
control, actual physical control by a small but
alien community within a nation. It is a skillful
and determined enemy. It appears in many
guises.

Third Worldism: Began as common resistance to

new forms of colonialism.
 CHALLENGING THE COLONIAL ORDER

1960s to 1970s - the international Left’s interest in

the post-colonial world intensified.

It was during this time when guerilla leaders of national

liberation (Ho Chi Minh and Che Guevarra) became
icons of progressive politics in the West.

Radical visions from the Third World became integral to

the global language of protest.
 CHALLENGING THE COLONIAL ORDER

Berger (2004) – by the late 1970s, successful

capitalist development in East Asia had displaced
the Third Worldist idea that the hierarchical
character of the world economy was holding back the
Third World.

The emergence of conservative, anti-Western

nationalisms and regionalisms in intensely capitalist
countries like Malaysia reveal how criticisms of neo-
colonialism may turn reactionary.
 The concept of a gap between the
Global North and the Global South in
terms of development and wealth.
 Global North
• Richer countries are almost all located in the
Northern Hemisphere, with the exception of
Australia and New Zealand.
• In the North lay the More Economically Developed
Countries (MEDCs) in the world. Some countries
which lay in the Northern part of the divide are
Canada, United States, Greenland, and Russia.
• They are considered the
"richer" and more stable
countries.
 Global South
• Poorer countries are mostly located in tropical
regions and in the Southern Hemisphere.
• The area below the North-South Divide is what is
known as the South or the "Poor Side". These
countries are known as developing countries,
meaning the GDP, HDI and general standard of
living within these countries are considered
inferior to that of countries in the "North".
• Some examples of these countries
include Somalia, Vietnam, Haiti
and India.
 Exceptions
• As with any aspect of Geography,
there are several exceptions to the
North-South Divide, i.e. countries
geographically located in the South
but are MEDCs. Examples of some of
these countries include Taiwan,
Australia, New Zealand and
Singapore.
 Climate
• An observation of the map shows that
most MEDCs are far from the
equator. It's possible that the climate
in the areas around the equator is
simply not pleasant, and therefore
deterring people from visiting or
migrating to that country and thus
slowing down the economy.
 Climate
• It may also be possible that an
agriculture-based economy in the
countries near the equator seems to
be the most logical, and therefore the
percentage of people working in the
tertiary industry would decrease.
 Migration
• A close observation of some of the countries in
the "North" (i.e. United States, Australia, New
Zealand) indicates that a number of these
countries were established (relatively) recently.
With the United State being established in 1776,
Australia being established in 1901, and New
Zealand being established in 1856, migration to
these previously sparsely populated areas was
fairly commonplace in the 18th and 19th
centuries.
 Exploitation
• It is possible that a country without a
stable government can easily be exploited
by TNCs (Transnational Companies) for
their natural resources. Although the
exploitation of oil and child labor in several
countries is well-known, perhaps the most
exploited country, contains copious
amounts of an element used to create
nuclear weapons, uranium.
 Exploitation
• Uranium, in its natural state, appears to be
useless. However, it contains a small
amount of the right isotope, which can
then be used to create nuclear weapons.
This means that massive amounts of
uranium must be extracted from, thus
leading to extended exploitation and the
perpetual poverty wrought on throughout
the country.
Possible Words
Exploitation
Climate
Migration
Colonization
Divide
Advantage
MEDC
LEDC
TNC
OPEC
HDI
GDP
 Closing the Gap
• The United Nations has developed a
program dedicated to narrowing the divide
through its Millennium Development
Goals. This includes improving education
and health care, promoting gender
equality, and ensuring environmental
sustainability.
At this point, cite actions and programs of the
present government in alleviating poverty.
Evaluate them.
• Assuming that you are the leaders of our
country, what will you do to address the
poverty problem? Explain your answer.
• Will there come a time that the global
divides between states disappear? What
can be done to achieve equality?

LET’S STRENGTHEN IT
MODIFIED TRUE OR FALSE. Write the word TRUE if the statement is correct
and if the statement is wrong, change the underlined word to make it
correct. Write your answer in the space provided before the numbers.
(10 points)

______________________________1. It is common for WB and IMF,

dominated by economists from the global north, to demand that
developing economies cut government spending and raise interest
rates to reduce inflation.
______________________________2. According to Grovogui, third world is
a symbolic designation meant to capture the semblance of cohesion
that emerged when former colonial entities engaged in political projects
of decolonization and moved toward the realization of a post-colonial
international order.

LET’S TEST YOURSELF

______________________________3. The government remains the main
mechanism for social transfers, making it the strongest vehicle for
social redistribution.
______________________________4. Poverty is also being globalized;
globalization creates both affluence and poverty.
______________________________5. Thomas Friedman, in his “End of
History”, stated that global progress is seen in terms of a binary
between embracing free trade and being left behind by the pace of
international economic and technological developments.
______________________________6. Third Worldism began as common
resistance to new forms of colonialism which became a vehicle for
mainstreaming human rights.

LET’S TEST YOURSELF

______________________________7. The Global North is considered as
the More Economically Developed Countries (MEDCs) since they are
rich, industrialized and basically democratic-capitalist.
______________________________8. The UN has developed a program
dedicated to narrowing the divide through its MEDC and LEDC which
includes improving education and health care, promoting gender
equality, and ensuring environmental sustainability.
______________________________9. The global south’s vision is to have
environmentally sustainable growth.
______________________________10. If one conceives of globalization as
the spreading and consumption of cultural/commercial signifiers, the
shanty represents the tenacity of the local, which is unable to
participate in a cosmopolitan culture represented by Starbucks.

LET’S TEST YOURSELF

During the Covid-19 pandemic, social division was highlighted even more.
To avoid being poor and deprived, what will you do as a simple citizen
and as a simple student in order to have good quality of life in the future
especially in times of crisis? How will you do it?

• ____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

MY REALIZATION
Claudio, Lisandro E. and Patricio Abinales. 2018. The Contemporary World. C & E Publishing,
Inc. Quezon City.
Steger, Manfred B., Paul Battersby, and Joseph M. Siracusa, eds. 2014. Chapter 12 of The
SAGE Handbook of Globalization. Two volumes. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.
The global north - south divide: A description and explanation. URL=http://ismgeoc.
wikifoundry.com/page/The+global+north+-+south+divide%3A+A+description+and
+explanation
The Global North/South Divide. URL=https://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/6AFE1B7F-9141-
472A-95C1-52AA291AA679/0/60s GlobalNorthSouthDivide.pdf
Saluba, Dennis J., Carlos, Abigeil F., Cuadra, Jovy F., Damilig, Angelita D., Corpuz, Raizza P.,
Endozo, Maria Lorena A., Pascual, Marilou P., Hermogenes, Michael C., and Capacio,
Jocelyn G. 2018. The Contemporary World. Panday-Lahi Publishing House, Inc.
Muntinlupa City.
Wallerstein, Immanuel. 2004. “The Modern World-System as a Capitalist World Economy:
Production, Surplus-Value, and Polarization.” In World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction,
pp. 23-41. Durham and London: Duke University Press.

REFERENCES