Lesson 2 - TCW

Lesson 2 — Understanding Global Inequalities

• Francis Moore Lappé

• Joseph Collins

“The World is only divided into two” This is according to?

1. Minority of Nations

2. Majority of Nations

The division by Francis Moore Lappé and Joseph Collins: The global inequality among nations.

Minority of Nations

A smaller group of countries that industrialized early and developed highly productive agricultural and manufacturing sectors.

Majority of Nations

A larger group of developing countries that face structural disadvantages, limited industrial capacity, and unequal access to global wealth and opportunities.

Colonialism

According to Francis Moore Lappé and Joseph Collins:

Destroyed the already and initially built cultural patterns of production and change.

Colonialism

The reason why so many countries remain in poverty and underdeveloped is its history of

• Colonial Mind

• Forced Peasant Production

• Plantation

• Suppressing Peasant Farmers

Reasons why colonialism destroyed the initial built cultural pattern of production

Colonial Mind

This is the mentality of the colonizers who colonize other people to be their subjects. The colonizers see agriculture in the subjugated lands as primitive and backward.

Because of this, their colonization process is justified and they see it as a necessary process.

John Stuart Mill

An English economist, philosopher, and colonizer-apologist.

John Stuart Mill

He argued: “Colonies should not be thought of as civilizations or countries, but as agricultural establishments whose sole purpose is to supply the larger community to which it belongs.”

Benevolent Despotism Approach

Mill argued that British rule in India was a form of “benevolent despotism”—a temporary, paternalistic governance that would eventually lead to self-rule.

He thought British governance could modernize India by introducing education, legal institutions, and economic reforms.

1. Coerced Labor

2. Taxation Policies

3. Monopolized Markets

4. Land Alienation

5. Destruction of Traditional Economies

Key features of forced peasant production (5-CTM-LD)

Coerced Labor

Peasants were forced, through laws, taxes, or physical violence, to grow specific crops desired by the colonial administration, often at the expense of their food security.

Taxation Policies

Colonial governments imposed heavy taxes, payable only in cash, forcing peasants to use cash crop farming to earn money.

Monopolized Markets

Colonial authorities or private companies-controlled trade and prices, ensuring low payments to peasants while maximizing profits for the colonizers.

Land Alienation

In many cases, fertile lands were taken over by colonial authorities and turned into plantations, forcing peasants to work under harsh conditions.

Destruction of Traditional Economies

Local economies that relied on diverse agricultural production were transformed into export-driven economies, often leading to famine and dependency on imported food.

• India (British Raj)

• Dutch East Indies (Indonesia)

• French West Africa

• Congo (Belgian Rule)

• German East Africa (Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi)

Examples of forced peasant production (5-IDF-CG)

India (British Raj)

The ____ forced ____ farmers to grow cash crops like indigo, cotton, and opium instead of food crops, leading to famines such as the Bengal Famine of 1943.

Dutch East Indies (Indonesia)

The ____ “Cultivation System” (Tanam Paska) in the 19th century required Javanese peasants to set aside land for cash crops like coffee, sugar, and indigo, benefiting the Dutch economy while impoverishing locals.

French West Africa

The ____ colonial administration compelled ____ farmers to grow peanuts and cotton, often using forced labor.

Congo (Belgian Rule)

Under King Leopold II, rubber extraction was enforced through brutal means, including mutilations and executions for those who did not meet quotas.

German East Africa (Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi)

The Maji Maji Rebellion (1905–1907) was partly a response to the German policy of forcing peasants to grow cotton for export.

Marketing Board

An organization set up by the government to regulate the buying and selling of certain commodities such as coffee, cotton, and cocoa.

Examples of Mercantilist Marketing Boards (4-DB-FE)

• Dutch East India Company (VOC)

• British East India Company (EIC)

• French Compagnie des Indes

• English Wool Staple System

Dutch East India Company (VOC) and British East India Company (EIC)

Monopolized trade in Asia and controlled the spice, tea, and textile industries.

French Compagnie des Indes

Managed colonial trade under state supervision.

English Wool Staple System

Regulated wool exports and maintained high-quality standards.

Plantation

armers are forced to work in plantation fields through either enslavement or economic coercion.

Impact of the Plantation System (3-WFE)

• Wealth Accumulation for European Nations

• Forced Labor and Social Hierarchy

• Environmental Degradation

Colonies became major sources of wealth for European powers, strengthening their economies under mercantilist policies.

Wealth Accumulation for European Nations

Forced Labor and Social Hierarchy

Enslaved and indentured workers had no rights, while European settlers and plantation owners amassed wealth and power.

Environmental Degradation

Large-scale monoculture led to soil depletion, deforestation, and ecological destruction.

Suppressing Peasant Farmers

The colonial government formulated a policy of keeping the price of imported food low through removal of tariffs and subsidies.

European governments suppressed peasants in their home countries to control domestic agriculture and labor.

• Economic Inequality

• Resistance and Revolts

• Foundation of Capitalism

Consequences of plantation and peasant suppression (3-ERF)

Economic Inequality

European elites and colonial plantation owners became wealthy, while peasants and enslaved workers remained impoverished.

Resistance and Revolts

Slave revolts in the Caribbean, such as the Haitian Revolution (1791); peasant uprisings in Europe, like Pugachev’s Rebellion in Russia (1773).

Foundation of Capitalism

The suppression of peasant land ownership and the plantation-based economy contributed to the transition from feudalism to capitalism.

Neocolonialism

is an indirect form of control through economic or cultural dependence. It is also defined as the continuing active control exercised by the past colonizer government to control the affairs of the newly independent state.

Neocolonialism

Colonialism in its modern dress.

Characteristics

• Independent in theory but trapped outwardly by international sovereignty.

• Indirect and subtle control on socio economic and political activity.

• Past colonizer countries maintain their exploitative relationship with past colonies.

• Under the guise of developmental aids and support, technological and scientific assistance.

• Creates a system of dependency.

Colonialism

Colonialism vs. Neo-Colonialism Control: Direct rule by a foreign power

Neo-Colonialism

Colonialism vs. Neo-Colonialism Control:

Indirect influence via economy, politics, and culture

Colonialism

Colonialism vs. Neo-Colonialism Presence: Physical occupation

Neo-Colonialism

Colonialism vs. Neo-Colonialism Presence: No direct military or administrative presence

Colonialism

Colonialism vs. Neo-Colonialism Main Actors: Governments and settlers

Neo-Colonialism

Colonialism vs. Neo-Colonialism Main Actors: Multinational corporations, financial institutions, and powerful states

Colonialism

Colonialism vs. Neo-Colonialism Resistance: Anti-colonial movements, wars of independence

Neo-Colonialism

Colonialism vs. Neo-Colonialism Resistance: Economic nationalism, calls for fair trade, resistance to foreign intervention

Economic liberalism

advocates for a free market with minimal government intervention, emphasizing individual economic freedoms, private property, and open competition.

Neoliberalism

It is a policy model that transfers control of economic factors to private sector from the public sector.

It also seeks to abolish fixed exchange rates, back deregulation, permit private property and privatize businesses run by the state.

Neoliberal Globalization

Neoliberal Globalization is the main driving system that continue systems of exploitation.

• Economic Liberalization

• Deregulation

• Privatization

• Labor Export

• International Division of Labor

Five essential characteristics of Neoliberal globalization (5-EDP-LI)

Economic Liberalization

• It is characterized by the flooding of the local market with imported goods that destroy the local industries and livelihood of the populace.

• Under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture (AOA) the Philippines is required to allow the progressive importation of rice (1% of domestic consumption in 1995, 2% in 2000 and 4% by 2004).

Immanuel Maurice Wallerstein

American sociologist and economic historian best known for developing a general approach in sociology that led to the emergence of the world-systems approach.

• Core

• Periphery

• Semi-Periphery

World System theory: Three categories

Core

exploit other countries for labor and raw materials.

Periphery

countries provide the labor and raw materials to core countries.

Semi-Periphery

is a mixture of both core and Periphery

Kondratieff Cycle

• A long-term economic cycle lasting approximately 40 to 60 years, first proposed by Russian economist Nikolai Kondratieff in the 1920s.

• It suggests that capitalist economies experience regular, long-duration waves of expansion and contraction driven by technological innovations, major industrial shifts, and socio-economic changes.

Kondratieff Wave or K-Wave

Kondratieff cycle is also known as:

1. Spring: Expansion/Boom

2. Summer: Inflationary Boom

3. Autumn: Recession

4. Winter: Depression/Reset

The Phases of the Kondratieff cycle

Spring: Expansion/Boom

• New technology or an industrial revolution drives growth

• Low inflation, rising employment, or investment

• Example: The Industrial Revolution (1780s–1830s) saw innovations in textile machinery, steam engines, and mechanization.

Summer: Inflationary Boom

• Growth continues, but inflation starts rising.

• Speculative bubbles and overinvestment occur.

• Example: The Roaring Twenties (1920s) saw a stock market boom fueled by mass production (e.g., automobiles, electricity), followed by the Great Depression.

Autumn: Recession

• growth slows, profit declines, and financial stress rises.

• Investment weakens while earlier innovation sustains activity.

• Example: 1970’s Stagflation - oil shocks high inflation and economic stagnation

Winter: Depression/Reset

• unemployment, debt distress, and business failures intensify.

• Older industries decline while conditions for renewal emerge.

• Example: 2008 Global Financial Crisis — bank failures, layoffs, and accelerated digital reconstructing

• First Wave (Late 18th – Mid 19th Century)

• Second Wave (Mid-19th – Late 19th Century)

• Third Wave (Late 19th – Early 20th Century)

Historical examples of K-waves

First Wave (Late 18th – Mid 19th Century)

• Innovation: Industrial Revolution (steam engines, mechanized factories).

• Boom: Expansion of railways and textile industries.

• Bust: Recession in the 1830s–1840s.

Second Wave (Mid-19th – Late 19th Century)

• Innovation: Railroad Expansion, Steel Industry.

• Boom: Growth of US and European industries.

• Bust: The Long Depression (1873–1896), marked by banking failures and deflation.

Third Wave (Late 19th – Early 20th Century)

• Innovation: Electricity, Automobiles, Chemical Industry.

• Boom: Mass production and economic prosperity.

• Bust: Great Depression (1929–1939).