Introduction to Sociology 3e: Chapter 10

Capital Flight

The movement (flight) 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 for passage, and are subsequently paid too little to regain their freedom.

Deindustrialization

The loss of industrial production, usually to peripheral and semi-peripheral nations where the costs are lower.

Dependency Theory

A theory which states that global inequity is due to the exploitation of peripheral and semi-peripheral nations by core nations.

Extreme Poverty

The state where one is barely able, or unable, to afford basic necessities.

First World

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

Fourth World

A term that describes stigmatized minority groups who have no voice or representation on the world stage.

GINI Coefficient

A measure of income inequality within a country; can be used to compare one country's inequality to another's.

Global Feminization of Poverty

A pattern that occurs when women bear a disproportionate percentage of the burden of poverty.

Global Inequality

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

Global Stratification

The unequal distribution of resources between countries.

Gross National Income (GNI)

The income of a nation calculated based on goods and services produced, plus income earned by citizens and corporations headquartered in that country.

Modernization Theory

A theory that low-income countries can improve their global economic standing by industrialization of infrastructure and a shift in cultural attitudes towards work.

Peripheral Nations

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

Relative Poverty

The state of poverty where one is unable to live the lifestyle of the average person in the country.

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 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.