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LIFE IN THE THIRD WORLD (AAFS 150)

SUMMER SESSION 2013

INSTRUCTOR: ALEXANDER GYAMFI, PhD
THIRD WORLD: HOW THE TERM CAME TO BE

Alfred Sauvy coined the term Third World in 1952

The term Third World came to be during the Cold War period (1945-1991) to define countries
that remained non-aligned with neither the USA which along with its allies represented the First
World, nor the Soviet Union which along with its allies represented the Second World

The Third World was largely comprised of developing nations which were former colonies of
European powers, and considered themselves not formally aligned with or against any major
power bloc

These definitions provide a way of broadly categorizing the nations of the world into three
groups based on social, political, and economic divisions

The Third World countries include most of Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

Third World has been used interchangeably with the Global South and Developing Countries to
describe poorer countries that have struggled to attain steady economic development

The Third World has also been connected to the world economic division as "periphery"
countries in the world system that is dominated by the "core" (mainly Organization of Economic
Co-operation and Development- OECD countries) countries


3
rd
World Countries: Characteristics


The 3
rd
World is marked by a number of common characteristics

Most of the 3
rd
World countries are former colonies of European powers and
gained their independence after World War II

Distorted and highly dependent economies

Production of primary products

High population growth

Widespread poverty
DEFINING THIRD WORLD

Rich countries have high levels of: income, standard of living, and
literacy rates

Poor countries have low levels of: income, standard of living, and literacy
rates

Some international agencies like Organization of Economic Co-operation
and Development ( OECD) and United Nations (UN) classify countries on
the basis of their economic position

A very common method of defining the term Third World is based on
"Per Capita Income Gross National Product (GNP)
GNP refers to the total value of all goods and services produced by a country's
economy over a specified period of time

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): It is an estimate of the total economic output
of a nation divided by the number of people living in that nation.


DEFINING THIRD WORLD

In the World Development Report (2002), the World Bank classifies
economies based on per Capita Gross National Income (GNI)
The Low Income countries (LIC) are those countries whose per capita GNI in
2000 was $755 or below.

The Lower-Middle Income Countries (LMC) are those countries whose per
capita GNI was between $756 to $2995 in 2000

The Upper-Middle Income Countries (UMC) are those countries whoso per
capita GNI was between $2996 to $9265 in 2000

The High-Middle Income Countries (HMC), are those countries whose per
capita GNI was $9266 and above
DEFINING 3rd WORLD

POVERTY

Extent of Poverty:

Poverty: According to the World Bank, is the state of living on less than $2 a day.
People living at or below this level are said to be in poverty. Poverty can also
represent a lack of opportunity and empowerment, and bad quality of life in general.

The Concept of 'Absolute Poverty'

Absolute Poverty is meant to represent a specific minimum level of income needed to
satisfy the basic needs of foods, clothing, and shelter in order to ensure continued
survival. The most common absolute poverty line is the $1-a-day line

The international poverty line for absolute poverty set by the World Bank in 1990,
and adjusted for various purchasing power parities is $1-a-day Poverty Line .

The extent of absolute poverty is the proportion of a country's population with real
income below international poverty line

In 1998: Almost 1.2 billion people or 24% of the World population was living in
absolute poverty; out of them 800 million were from Asia, 290 million from Sub-
Saharan Africa, 78 million in Latin America and 5.5 million in North Africa and Middle
East
3
rd
World Countries: Characteristics

Health:

The life expectancy in 3
rd
World is averaged at between 48 63 years, and 75 years in
developed nations

'Infant Mortality Rates' (the number of children who die before their first birthday out of every
1000 live births) averaged about 96 in 3
rd
World Countries, and 11 in Developed Countries

Medical care is extremely poor. In 1995, the number of doctors per 100,000 people averaged
only 4.4 in the 3
rd
World, compared with 217 in Developed Countries

High Rates of Population Growth and Dependency Burdens:

According to 2000 estimates, the world's total population was more than 6 billion people.
Out of this total population 75% live in 3
rd
World Countries while 25% live in Developed
Countries (DCs)

According to world population data sheet (1997) in 3
rd
World Countries, the birth rate was
around 30 to 40 per 1000, while it was 15 to 20 per 1000 in the case of DCs

The average rate of population growth in 3
rd
World is about 1.6% per year while it is 0.5% per
year in the DCs

The high birth rates in the 3
rd
World is responsible for the high ratio of dependents. In addition
to heavy low aged children the 3
rd
World, there is also a heavy proportion of old aged person
who do not work.
3
rd
World Countries: Characteristics
Dependency Burden: refers to children and the old aged people who do not contribute to work

The Dependency Burden are non-productive members of the society and they are financially
supported by the working force

In the 3
rd
World Countries such dependency burden consists of 45% of their population, while it
is about 30% in case of DCs

In the 3
rd
World Countries the birth rates are very high and also have a greater dependency
burden. The population growth is, thus, becoming major obstacle in the way of growth of 3
rd

World countries

Heavy Dependence on Agric-Production

The majority of the labor force (58%) in the 3
rd
World is engaged in the agriculture sector, while
this ratio is 5% in DCs

The contribution of agriculture sector to GNP is 20% in case of the 3
rd
World Countries, while it
is just 3% in case of DCs

In Africa 68% of labor force is employed in agriculture sector, it is 64% in South Asia, it is 51%
in East Asia, it is 32% in Latin America, and it is just 9% in Europe

The low agriculture productivity in the 3
rd
World is attributed to unreliable weather conditions,
primitive technologies, reduced use of modern inputs, lack of storage facilities, and shortage of
physical capital

In 3
rd
World countries most of agriculture is of subsistence nature, and lacks commercialization.

3
rd
World Characteristics
National Debt

National Debt is a common characteristic among 3
rd
World countries.
3
rd
World economy is based on a few commodities making it vulnerable to price
fluctuations.
To develop the economy 3
rd
World countries need to borrow capital, thereby
increasing their debt.
It becomes difficult to service the debt unless there is sustained export surplus and it
is seldom possible to achieve this surplus in a fluctuating world commodity market
When commodity prices are low, exports do not generate enough trade surplus to
service the debt.


3
rd
World Characteristics
Shortage of Capital:
In the 3
rd
World countries there is shortage of capital
The shortage of capital is attributed to Vicious Circle of Poverty (VCP)
This VCP comes into being because of low incomes. The low incomes lead to low
savings which lead to low investment and the low purchasing power
The people of the 3
rd
World are also influenced by "International Demonstration
Effects

By "International Demonstration Effects it is meant that, the people of the 3
rd
World
wish to attain the same standard of living that has been attained by the people of
DCs. This has promoted consumption in the 3
rd
World, particularly the imports of
luxury items from the developed world. In this way, the savings in the 3
rd
World are
wasted on the imported luxurious goods.

Political Instability
The political structures in In the 3
rd
World are very weak, the governments go on
changing. The democracy in these countries is infant and the governments are often
toppled by the Military.
POPULATION GROWTH 3
rd
WORLD COUNTRIES
Population in the DCs is estimated at 1.19 billion people, and is growing at a rate of
almost 0.3 per cent per year

The population of 3
rd
World regions is estimated at 4.6 billion and is growing at a rate
of 1.6 per cent annually

Africa has a high rate of population growth, the average for the continent is about 2.4
per cent annually.

POPULATION GROWTH
Population issue is defined primarily as excessive birth rates.
Consequences of excessive birth rates in the 3
rd
world:
Achieving universal primary education is daunting in the face of rising population
pressures. Governments are unable to keep pace with public service costs for
growing populations
High population hamper development planning and strategies
High population in the 3
rd
world account for environmental degradation
Population growth would lead to competition over clean water. Water will become
the dominant issue in 3
rd
world countries and its availability could threaten the
worlds social stability
Population growth in the 3
rd
world would affect food security
Population growth in the 3
rd
world would affect global security
Population growth leads to rapid urbanization and the youth bulge in many 3
rd
world
countries
Youth Bulge creates strain on public services such as education and health; lack of
jobs leads to increased poverty, frustration, alienation, and unrest
3
rd
World Characteristics: Colonialism

COLONIALISM: is defined as the rule of a less powerful area and its people by an
external powerful sovereignty. Historically, two broad types of colonialism can be
identified

1. That which involved the transplanting of immigrants from the mother (European)
countries to form a new political entity (e.g. the Americas and Australia)

2. That which involved the imposition of European rule over the indigenous peoples of
Asia and Africa

In either case, the colony was established to advance the military security, economic
advantage, and international prestige of the external power

Among the transformative consequences of colonialism is the super imposition of the
sovereignty of the colonizer, and to varying degrees its very self on the colonized.
As a result the colonized society can no longer define itself independent of the hegemon





3rd World Characteristics: Colonialism

The era of European colonialism in the 3rd world lasted from the late 15th
century to the mid 20th century

The period of colonialism falls into two distinct phases:

1. The first phase- Colonialism of the Americas between 1450 and 1800, and
it is associated with considerable settlements by European migrants

2. Second phase- Colonialism of Africa and Asia from the late 19th century to
the mid 20
th
century (1884- 1994)

Colonization of the Americas was carried out by the Spanish, Portuguese,
French, Dutch, and British

Spain secured the largest territories in South America, which included most
of middle and western South America
Colonization of Americas

3rd World Characteristics: Colonialism

Colonization of Africa was carried out by Britain,
France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, and Belgium

France and Britain secured the majority (about 68%)
of the territories in Africa

After WW1 (1919) Germany as a defeated power was
deprived of all her colonial possessions in Africa which
were given to the victorious allies as Trust Territories
under the League of Nations Mandate System

Partition of Africa

Colonization of the Indian sub-continent and South-East Asia
Colonization of the Indian sub-continent (India, Sri Lanka
a.k.a Ceylon ) was carried out by Britain












European Colonialism in Southeast Asia
Colonization of South-East Asian countries was carried out by the
Netherlands, Britain, Portugal, France, and Spain.
The Netherlands-Indonesia
Portugal - East Timor
Spain - Philippines (U.S. after 1898)
France-Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia (called French Indochina)
Great Britain-Malaya, Myanmar (Burma)
Thailand (Siam) was never colonized

IMPACTS OF COLONIALISM

POLITICAL-MILITARY IMPACTS OF COLONIALISM

Application of the European nation-State System to 3
rd
World Countries
Destruction of traditional checks and balances
Reinforcement of patriarchal forms of governance
Authoritarian Political Legacy

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS OF COLONIALISM

Creation of Closed Economic Systems
Creation of Export-Oriented Mono crop
Promotion of perverse Infrastructural Development
Strengthening of gender bias in national development
Authoritarian legacy of the state