TCWD111GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND SOUTHGROUP 1

▪ Singapore
THE NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE ▪ South Korea
- Economic division between richer and poorer countries ▪ Taiwan
- More of a socio-political and economic classification ▪ All of Europe
- The division goes beyond merely geographical since not ▪ Greenland
all states found north of the equator belong to the
THE GLOBAL SOUTH
Global North and vice versa
- Includes the Less Economically Developed Countries
- Not a strict geographical categorization of the world but
(LEDCs)
one based on economic inequalities which happen to
o Countries are considered LEDCs because of:
have some cartographic coherence (Rigg, 2007)
▪ Unstable government
- Objective classification uses the United Nations
▪ Poor economy
Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human
▪ Poor standard of living/quality of
Development Index (HDI)
life
- 1996: the term Global North & Global South first
▪ Low Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
emerged
and HDI
THE GLOBAL NORTH ● Some have skewed HDIs
- Includes the More Economically Developed Countries due to a relatively high
(MEDCs) GDP and an exceptionally
o Countries are considered MEDCs because of: low standard of living
▪ Economic stability (example: Indonesia)
▪ Change/development - Developing countries
▪ Better standard of living/quality of - “Poor side”
life - Most lies south of latitude 30° North
▪ Other aspects such as life - Remaining 133 countries
expectancy, education levels, o Examples:
medical sector, and technological ▪ Somalia
development ▪ Vietnam
- More affluent and economically stable countries ▪ Haiti
- 64 countries with a high HDI ▪ India
- Most are located north of the 30th northern parallel - Includes most nations located in Africa, Central
- Generally includes the following nations: America, South America, Mexico, Middle East (except
o Member nations of the G8 (Group of 8): Israel), and the developing parts of Asia (except Japan
▪ United States of America since kasama siya sa Global North)
▪ Canada - Why is the South at such a disadvantage?
▪ France o Colonization: LEDCs were former colonies of
▪ Germany MEDCs (most of MEDCs were imperialists at
▪ Italy some point in history)
▪ Japan ▪ Exception: United States of America
▪ Russia (a former British colony), has
▪ United Kingdom developed into the most powerful
● four permanent members country in the world (Guttal, 2016)
of the UN Security Council
(currently 5, including
China) FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD WORLDS
- This term was influenced by the Cold War between the
o Some countries that lie below the equator
USA and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics/Soviet
(nasa south sila pero kasama sila sa Global):
Union/Russia (USSR)
▪ Australia
▪ New Zealand FIRST WORLD
o Others - Conveniently drawn upon political ideologies and
▪ Israel alliances with the USA
▪ Hong Kong - Preached for Democracy and Capitalism
▪ Macau
TCWD111GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND SOUTHGROUP 1

SECOND WORLD numbers of well-educated, competent professionals to

- Communist block led by Russia, China, and other states the global workforce
- Employed Marxist principles
Perspectives
THIRD WORLD - The fact remains that inequality and inequity remain
- Coined by the French scholar Alfred Sauvy in 1952 to inherent and almost foundational
distinguish the formerly colonized and presently - Inequality is not a surface phenomenon, but a deep
neo-colonized societies of Asia, Africa, and Latin structural defect
America from the modernized “first world” of capitalism - Despite social-economic improvements, there continue
and the modernizing “second” world of socialism to be significant differences between North and South
- Nonaligned and underdeveloped countries in living conditions, consumption levels and
- Unstable political and economic conditions patterns, social and economic structures, access to
- Became a central political slogan for the radical left services and resources, and political power
(1960s) - Guttal (2016)
- The terms suggests that Third World countries, o While theorizing may seek to challenge the
embarking on the long part to modernity, had one of traditional North-South divide, it still uses the
two paths to follow: the capitalist or the socialist labels of North and South to denote more or
(Dirlick, 2007) less the same conditions as in the original
- Interchangeable terms (Riggs, 2007): conceptualization.
o Less-developed World o Systems and institutions of global economic
o Majority World and financial governance continue to be
o Non-Western World dominated by the North despite attempts by
o Poor World developing countries to secure greater power.
o Undeveloped World - Magallanes (2012)
- Developing world: states previously part of the Third o the term Global South is historic and de
world who found the necessity and means to grapple contextualized. It omits a critical core of
with the economic demise; associated with dynamic variables that characterize different
industrialization kinds of countries, especially historical,
- Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs)/”Asian Tigers” economic, social, cultural, and political
o Taiwan variables, among others
o Hong Kong - It is important to look at the historical, political, and
o South Korea cultural contexts of these countries to understand why
o Singapore they are considered poor
- The term Global South is neutral, less negative, and
more apolitical compared to the term Third World. It
BRANDT REPORT (1983) sits well within the platform that Globalization seeks to
- Published by a commission chaired by former German induce.
Chancellor Willy Brandt - The uneven development of the Global South since the
- Brandt line: North/South line; imaginary line dividing term was coined has rendered the geography of the
the global north from the global south term even more complicated to the point where it may
- Popularized the term “The South” have become an obstacle to understanding the
contemporary global situation.
- Dirlick (2007)
FLASHPOINTS AND PERSPECTIVES OF THE DIVIDE
Advantages o Some of such as the People's Republic of
- Synthesizing term China, India, the societies covered by the term
Brazil, Turkey - have benefited from
Disadvantages globalization to become more assertive in
- Ambiguous because it used a simple geographical global relations - with the PRC aspiring to
criteria to describe a complex social situation which world leadership and hegemony
distinguishes poor countries from the wealthiest - Already, the output of the developing world's three
- Outdated since the world has changes considerably leading economies (Brazil, China and India) is close to
when the term was articulated; many parts of the South equaling the combined output of the longstanding
(especially in Latin America and Asia) contribute large industrial powers of the North - Canada, France,
TCWD111GLOBAL DIVIDES: THE NORTH AND SOUTHGROUP 1

Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United promoting gender equality, and ensuring environmental
States. sustainability.
- Mendez (2015) - In addition, the IMF, World Bank and other progressive
o According to the 2013 UNDP Human Northern countries have embarked on developmental
Development Report, it is estimated that 80% initiatives such as providing loans and grants to the
of the world's middle-class population will be Global south countries in order that these nation states
living in developing countries by 2030. may also attain development in the long run.
o There is this ongoing global transformation is
a phenomenon known as "South-South
cooperation". Once consigned to the margins, SUMMARY
South-South cooperation is coming to occupy - The Global North-South divide is a categorization of
an important place in the changing theory and nation states based on factors like economic
discourse of development. South-South development, political stability as well as living
cooperation gave voice to aspirations for a standards.
development path untainted by ideological - This division was fashioned out of the Cold war era
conflict, and to an acknowledgement that categorization of countries into the First, Second and
relations between developing countries Third World.
should be a crucial means of achieving these - The Global North-South divide is not simply based on
aspirations. geographical orientation for there are Asian countries
- Jean Grugel (1990) that belong to the Global North.
o Enumerated the three factors that direct the - The term South was branded out of the Brandt report in
economic development of states within the 1983.
Global South: - The perspectives as well as countries that fall under
▪ elite behavior within and between such categorization is in a state of flux and is constantly
nation states changing.
▪ integration and cooperation within
geographic areas
▪ and the resulting position of states
and regions within the global world
market and related political
economic hierarchy
- BRICS (association of five major emerging national
economies)
o Known for their significant influence on
regional affairs and all are members of G20
▪ Brazil
▪ Russia
▪ India
▪ China
▪ South Africa (inducted in 2010)
- Robertson (1993)
o Globalization is not simply it as a
"compression of the world", the improvement
in economic interdependence will contribute
to the further "shrinking" of the world and is
expected to shake even more the volatile
Global North-South divide.
- The United Nations has developed a program dedicated
to narrowing the divide through its Millennium
Development Goals aimed at Sustainable development.
This includes improving education and health care,