chapter 10
Global Stratification and Inequality
Global stratification refers to the unequal distribution of resources between countries, leading to a hierarchy of nations. This global inequality is the concentration of resources in core nations and in the hands of a wealthy minority, often at the expense of other nations.
Theories of Global Stratification
Dependency Theory
This theory posits that global inequity is primarily due to the exploitation of peripheral and semi-peripheral nations by core nations.
It suggests that historical colonialism and ongoing economic mechanisms (like debt accumulation and deindustrialization in poorer nations) keep less developed countries dependent on wealthier ones.
Peripheral nations often supply raw materials and cheap labor, while core nations process these into high-value goods, perpetuating an unequal exchange.
Modernization Theory
In contrast, modernization theory argues that low-income countries can improve their global economic standing through internal changes.
Key components include the industrialization of infrastructure (e.g., building factories, roads, communication networks) and a shift in cultural attitudes towards work, efficiency, and investment.
It often suggests that traditional values in developing countries hinder economic growth and that adopting Western capitalist models can lead to prosperity.
Types of Nations in the Global Economy
Core nations: These are dominant capitalist countries that are highly industrialized, technologically advanced, and control the global economy. They extract resources and labor from other nations.
Semi-peripheral nations: These are in-between nations, possessing some industrialization and acting as a major source of raw materials. They have an expanding middle class but are not powerful enough to dictate global policy, often exploited by core nations but also exploiting peripheral ones.
Peripheral nations: These nations are on the fringes of the global economy, characterized by very little industrialization and domination by core nations. They are often sources of raw materials and cheap labor, experiencing capital flight and deindustrialization as production moves elsewhere.
Poverty
Extreme poverty: This is the most severe form, where one is barely able, or completely unable, to afford basic necessities like food, water, shelter, and medical care. The World Bank often defines it as living on less than a day.
Relative poverty: This state of poverty means one is unable to live the lifestyle of the average person in their country. It's defined in relation to the economic standard of the society.
Subjective poverty: This is a personal experience of poverty, present when one’s actual income does not meet their personal expectations or perceived needs.
Global feminization of poverty: This refers to the observed pattern where women bear a disproportionate percentage of the burden of poverty worldwide, often due to gender-based economic and social inequalities.
Other Key Terms
Capital flight: The rapid movement of capital (money, investments) from one nation to another, often in response to economic instability or political changes, impacting jobs and resources.
Chattel slavery: A brutal form of slavery in which one person is legally owned as property by another, with no rights.
Debt accumulation: The buildup of external debt, occurring when countries borrow money from other nations or international institutions to fund their expansion or growth goals, frequently leading to dependence.
Debt bondage (indentured servitude): The act of people pledging themselves as servants in exchange for money for passage or to pay off a debt. They are then often paid too little to ever regain their freedom, trapped in a cycle.
Deindustrialization: The significant loss of industrial productive capacity, usually occurring when manufacturing jobs and facilities move from higher-cost core nations to lower-cost peripheral and semi-peripheral nations.
First world: A Cold War era term describing industrialized capitalist democracies (e.g., United States, Western Europe).
Second world: A Cold War era term describing nations with moderate economies and standards of living, typically socialist industrial states (e.g., Soviet Union, China during that era).
Third world: A Cold War era term referring to poor, unindustrialized countries, often newly independent from colonial rule.
Fourth world: A term that describes stigmatized minority groups who lack voice or representation on the world stage, often indigenous or stateless peoples.
GINI coefficient: A statistical measure of income inequality within a country. A coefficient of represents perfect equality, while (or percent) represents perfect inequality, where one person earns all the income. It's useful for comparing income disparities between different countries.
Gross national income (GNI): The total income received by a country from its residents and businesses, regardless of where it