Global Stratification: An Overview of Global Inequality and Poverty

Posted on Aug 19, 2024 in Geography

Terminology

After WWII

First World: high-income, industrial countries, liberal democracies
Second World: socialist countries
Third World: non-industrialized, low-income countries

But

Second World no longer exists
Great variation in the Third World

New Terminology

High-income countries: richest 72 countries
Middle-income countries: 70 countries
Low-income countries: 53 countries with lowest productivity and most severe poverty

Model Focuses On:

Economic development, not whether countries are socialist or capitalist
Gives better picture of relative economic development

High-Income Countries

With the highest overall standards of living
Have a per capita gross domestic product (GDP) greater than $12,000
Income range: $12,000 to $45,000

Examples: Canada, the United States, countries of Western Europe, Mexico, Chile, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand

Middle-Income Countries

With a standard of living about average for the world as a whole
Income range: $2,500 to $12,000
About 52% of people live in or near cities; the rest live in rural areas with limited services

Examples:

High end: Venezuela, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan (annual income per capita $11,000)
Low end: Nicaragua, Cape Verde, Vietnam (annual income per capita $3,000)

Low-Income Countries

With a low standard of living in which most people are poor
Per capita GDP is less than $2,500
Mostly agrarian societies with some industry but limited technology
Hunger, disease, and unsafe housing are common

Examples: South Asian countries, like Bangladesh and Pakistan and Sub-Saharan African countries, like Ethiopia, Chad and Congo

Severity of Poverty

Poverty is more severe in low-income than high-income countries
High-income countries: 78% of global income supports 23% of world population
Middle-income countries: 61% of global income supports 21% of world population
Low-income countries: Only 1% of global income supports 17% of world population
Human Development Index: a quality of life measure
Includes per capita income, education, and longevity
In 2003, Norway (1st), Canada (4th), and Niger (last)

Relative vs Absolute Poverty

Relative poverty: People lack resources that others take for granted. This sort of poverty exists in every society.
Absolute poverty: A lack of resources that is life-threatening. Some may exist in Canada, but most is in low-income countries.

Extent of Poverty

In Canada, 9.3% of the population is classified as poor
In low-income countries they are worse off:
In Sub-Saharan Africa, one-fourth of the population is malnourished
13% of the world’s population suffers from chronic hunger

Poverty & Children

100 million children in poor countries are forced to work the streets (beg, steal, sell sex)
Homeless girls become pregnant and have children of their own
Half of all street children are in Latin America and live in makeshift huts, bridges/alleyways

Poverty & Women

In all societies, a woman’s work is undervalued and underpaid or entirely overlooked
Greater disadvantages for women in poor societies
70% of the world’s 1 billion people living near absolute poverty are women
Most women in poor countries receive little or no reproductive health care

Slavery

200 million men, women, and children (about 3 percent of humanity) live in conditions that amount to slavery
Chattel slavery: one person owns another
Slavery imposed by the state in the form of forced labour
Child slavery: very poor people force their children to work, beg, or steal
Debt bondage: employers hold workers to pay for their debts
Servile forms of marriage: married against their will; slaves to husband or forced into prostitution
Human trafficking: moving of men, women, and children to perform forced labour brings big profits to organized crime

Explanations of Global Poverty

Technology: One-quarter of the people in low-income countries use human or animal power to farm land
Population growth: Population in some poor countries in Africa doubles every 25 years
Cultural patterns: People resist innovations
Social stratification: Low-income countries distribute wealth very unequally
Gender inequality: women have no jobs

Global Power Relationships

Colonialism: the process by which some nations enrich themselves through political and economic control of other nations
Neocolonialism: a “new” form of global power relationships that involves not direct political control but economic exploitation by multinational corporations
Multinational corporations: very large businesses that operate in many countries

Global Stratification: Theoretical Analysis

Modernization theory: Explains global inequality in terms of technological and cultural differences between nations

Historical Perspective:

Entire world poor until a few centuries ago
Industrial technology improved living standards
High-income countries benefited most, but low-income ones have changed little

Modernization Theory

The Importance of Culture:

Tradition is the greatest barrier to economic development
Many oppose technological advances
According to Max Weber: the Protestant Reformation generated a progress-oriented way of life; wealth was a sign of personal virtue and individualism replaced community

Rostow’s Stages of Moderation

Traditional stage: Veneration of past
Take-off stage: Use of talents and imaginations, sparks economic growth
Drive to technological maturity: Diversified economy takes over and absolute poverty is greatly reduced
High mass consumption: Mass production stimulates consumption and steadily raises living standards

Role of High-Income Nations

Controlling population: exporting birth control technology
Increasing food production: exporting high-tech farming methods
Introducing industrial technology: introducing machinery and information technology
Providing foreign aid: investment capital to support the productive efforts of poor countries

Critical Review

Modernization theory has many supporters and has shaped foreign policies of high-income nations, but
High-income nations often block paths to development
Low-income countries still struggle with the consequences of colonialism
Ethnocentricity and also self-righteousness blame poor societies for not developing (blame the victim)

Dependency Theory

Explains global inequality in terms of the historical exploitation of poor nations by rich ones

Historical perspective:

People in low-income countries were better off in the past than descendants now
Colonial process underdeveloped countries
Prosperity of rich comes at expense of the poor

Importance of Colonialism

Europeans were successful colonialists
Great Britain controlled one-quarter of world’s land
Europeans and Africans engaged in the slave trade from 1500 to 1850
Formal colonialism has disappeared, but economic relations between high-and low-income countries perpetuates pattern of domination

Wallerstein’s Capitalist World Economy

Prosperity or poverty of any country is a product of the global economic system
Core: High-income countries
Periphery: Low-income countries
Semiperiphery: Remaining countries
The world economy benefits high-income nations (by generating profits) and harms the rest of the world (by perpetuating poverty and dependence)

Dependency Involves

Narrow, export-oriented economies: Poor countries produce only a few crops for export to rich countries
Lack of industrial capacity: Poor countries must sell raw materials to rich countries and then buy finished products back from them at high prices
Foreign debt: The poor countries of the world owe the rich ones some US $3 trillion

Role of Rich Nations

Different from modernization theory
Global inequality viewed in terms of how countries distribute wealth: high-income have overdeveloped themselves and underdeveloped the rest of the world
Population control and boosting output will only help high-income countries and elites in low-income countries
Corporations cooperate with elites in low-income countries, e.g., to grow commodities, to payoff massive foreign debts, not grow food for the poor

Canada & Low-Income Countries

2003: $3.2 billion spent on aid to low-income countries (Goal: $8 billion or 0.4% of GDP 2015)

Asian 2004 tsunami, Canadian official response was slow, but outpouring of generosity by Canadian people was phenomenal

Much aid is linked to trade (“tied aid”) or military activity (Afghanistan)
Many universities are involved in overseas research, development, and education
Canada promotes democratic coexistence of diverse ethnic groups through multiculturalism

Global Stratification: Looking Ahead

During 20th century living standards rose in most of the world: India and China are now middle-income countries
However, Inequality is still a concern
Governments have played a large role in development
Growth depends on raising productivity
Great strains are placed on the environment & peace comes with dignity and security