KENDALL: CHAPTER 9: Global inequality
Kendall defines global stratifation as the unequal distribution of wealth,
power, and prestige (just as for people) on a global scale among nations
(instead of people). Look at the Box/qiz on p 281 as a way to frame
the chapter.
Basic questions:
1)What do we owe to others?
2) Can countries pull themselves up by their bootstraps like we expect some
people to do?
3) Why should we care what goes on in the world?
Tentative answers:
1) Some of us believe that, ethically, we need to watch out for
each other and have the obligation to help those in need.
2) There is overwhelming evidence that inequality is dysfunctional
for people, for societies and for nations. It's not "GOOD BUSINESS."
3) We live in an increasingly shrinking economy, and what happens in
one country, like Sudan, Iran, Japan, or England, affects us, our
economy, our security, and even our sense of justice.
Just as in the US, where the top 10 percent of the wealthiest people
own about 70 percent of the wealth, countries are also stratified.
Like in the US, the gap between rich and poor tends to widen.
FACTOID: The assets of the world's 200 richest people combined are more
than the combined income of 40 percent of the world's population of
6.6 billion!!
There are many ways to classify countries:
1) by income (high, middle, low---like people). This is misleading because
of inquality in individual countries that may make some countries
(eg, Saudi Arabia) seem better-off than they areg.
--About half the world's population live in poverty;
1/6 live on less than $1 a day; 1/3 on $1-2 a day.
2) "Three-worlds" approach: Commonly used and based on level of
economic and industrial development:
a) FIRST WORLD: Developed industrialized countries (US, Japan)
TOP FOUR IN GROSS NATIONAL INCOME:
Luxembourg 66,821
Norway Northern 41, 941
United States 41, 557
Ireland 40,003
b) SECOND WOLRD: Some development, and moderate standard of living
(Examples: Russia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Brazil)
c) THIRD WORLD: Developing countries - Most African countries; many
middle-east countries
PROBLEMS: Imperfect, because some countries don't easily fit
3) Another way to look at it is whether countries exploit the resources
of others or whether their resources are exploited (economically) to the
advantage of the dominant countries and disadvantage of theothers.
Some people call these "core countries" and "peripheral countries."
What are the issues we should think about
1. Life expectancy: In countries defined as "low-income," as many
as 75 percent of the population will not see their 50th birthday, and
in some, the average life span is as low as 43 percent. NOTE: IN THE
US IN 1900, it was 50!
2. Health: A basic human right that over half of the world's population
lack because of war (Iraq, Sudan, Eritrea) or poverty.
3. Education/literacy
4. Life chances
Some Terms:
1) COLONIALISM: (a book def) The maintenance of political, social
economic, and cultural dominatin over a people by a foreign
power for an extended period of time. Often occur
originally through military, but sometimes economic ways. Examples:
a) The US (the the 17th/18th century)
b) Africa (by europe)
c) India (by english)
Today, the countries that were colonists are among the richest,
largely because of the econ and other (eg, military)
advantages they gained --- A characteristic of colonialism is
the unequal use and distribution of the colonized nation's resources
to the advantage of the colonist.
2) Neo-colonialism -- continued dependency, usually through economic means, by the original host country even after the "master country has left
(eg, US in central america th rough the 1960s
3) Econ dependency: as countries become MODERNIZED, they often
have their economy shaped in a way that may not be "natural,"
or that may not facilitate their growth (AFTER formal
independence)
DEF: MODERNIZATION is: The transition form an undeveloped society into
one more economically developed and increasingly integrated into the
global community.
In the past, countries dominated with military might. In this century,
especially in last 50 years, this occurs through MULTINATIONAL
CORPORATIONS, which are commercial organizations which, while
headquarted in one country, control substantial resources in another.
Most of the top corps are in the US, but Japan is also influential in
electronics, finace, and motor vehicles.
Why is a nation's status important?
Some quickie issues:
1) Reduces political autonomy
2) Historically, prevents middle class from
developing (wealth channelled to home country, reducing "pie"
3) Emphasis on needs of dominant country reduces emergence of
needs of host country (ie, manufacturing, etc,
artificially focused:
EXAMPLE: Agricultural countries
(eg, central america) where resources in 50s/60s were
channeled there, and political dictatorships emerged to keep
political opposition down
EXAMPLE: Think if NIU were controlled by "outsiders" who
required a curriculum of math, french, and soci 170, and
limited other courses.....and, on graduation, most
jobs available were in those areas.
POINT: Limitations on freedom of choice and opportunity that we
take for granted.
THEORIES TO KNOW:
1) Modernization theory: Links global inequality to different levels
of economic development and lower ranked countries can move up
by self-sustained economic growth
2) Dependency theory: Low income countries are exploited by higher
ranked ones
3) World systems theory: Divides world into Core, Semiperipheral,
and peripheral nations
4) New International Division of Labor theory
So, from this chapter, what to remember:
1) We live in a global village in which we are highly integrated
with each other
2) What we see as a normal way of doing business may be seen by those
in other countries as a form of explotiation
3) Understanding the links between countries helps us better
understand the consequences of foreign policy
4) ideology -- we think what we do is "OK," (ideology), but others
may not
NOTE: Much of this will be reviewed in chapter 13 on global economic
perspectives
Page maintained by: Jim Thomas - jthomas@sun.soci.niu.edu