SYG2000 Chapter 10 Study Guide

Global Stratification

The unequal distribution of resources among nations.

Gross National Income (GNI)

The total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country, including GDP plus net income from abroad.

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)

A method of measuring the relative purchasing power of different countries’ currencies over the same types of goods and services.

High-Income Nations

Countries that are highly industrialized, technologically advanced, and have high standards of living, such as the United States, Germany, and Japan.

Middle-Income Nations

Countries with developing economies that have moderate levels of industrialization and average standards of living, such as Brazil, China, and South Africa.

Low-Income Nations

Countries that are least industrialized, often agrarian, and have low standards of living, including Afghanistan, Haiti, and Ethiopia.

Absolute Poverty

A condition where household income is below a necessary level to maintain basic living standards, often defined by the World Bank as living on less than $1.90 a day.

Relative Poverty

A condition where household income is a certain percentage below median incomes in a given location, more common in high-income nations.

Feminization of Poverty

The phenomenon in which women represent disproportionate percentages of the world’s poor, caused by factors such as the wage gap and lack of access to education.

Modernization Theory

A theory suggesting that low-income countries can improve their global economic standing through industrialization and other forms of economic growth.

Dependency Theory

A theory that suggests global inequality is the result of the exploitation of peripheral and semi-peripheral nations by core nations.

World Systems Theory

A theory that categorizes the world into core, semi-peripheral, and peripheral nations, emphasizing social and economic inequalities.

Global Commodity Chains

Worldwide networks of production and distribution that highlight the interconnectedness of global economies and the role of multinational corporations.

Capital Flight

The movement of capital from one nation to another, via jobs and resources

Chattel slavery

A form of slavery in which one person owns another

Core nations

Dominant capitalist countries

Debt accumulation

The buildup of external debt, wherein countries borrow money from other nations to fund their expansion or growth goals

Debt bondage

The act of people pledging themselves as servants in exchange for money or passage, and are subsequently paid too little to regain their freedom

Deindustrialization

The loss of industrial production, usually to peripheral and semi-peripheral nations by core nations

First world

A term from the Cold War era that is used to describe industrialized capitalist democracies

Fourth world

Stigmatized minority groups who have no voice or representation on the world stage

GINI coefficient

A measure of income inequality between countries using a 100-point scale, in which 1 represents complete equality and 100 represents the highest possible inequality

Global inequality

The concentration of resources in core nations and in the hands of a wealthy minority

Peripheral nations

Nations on the fringes of the global economy, dominated by core nations, with very little industrialization

Second world

a term from the Cold War era that describes nations with moderate economies and standards of living

Semi-peripheral nations

In-between nations not powerful enough to dictate policy but acting as a major source of raw materials and an expanding middle class marketplace

Subjective poverty

A state of poverty composed of many dimensions, subjectively present when one’s actual income does not meet one’s expectations

Third world

A term from the Cold War era that refers to poor, unindustrialized countries

Underground economy

An unregulated economy of labor and goods that operates outside of governance, regulatory systems, or human protections