Download Social Development The concept of the 3rd World Sought to

Social Development
The concept of the 3rd World
 Sought to understand and explain the economic, social and political conditions in the
countries of Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Caribbean
The concept of Development
 Concerned with the efforts of the newly developed countries to raise the standard of
living of their people that are enjoyed by the Western World
 The form development takes is influenced to a large extent by the international social and
economic order at that time
 Poverty is the obvious outcome of a failure to develop
Main features of contemporary social change
1) Interconnectedness
2) Interdependence
 Both to be found within the economic, political and social circles across the world,
technology is one of the tool used to achieve this.
 Theorists Lloyd Best and Norman Girvan
Globalization
 According to Anthony Giddens, can be defined as the intensification of world wide social
relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by
events occurring many miles away and vice versa
 This can be achieved through various forms of technology, such as:
1) Telephones
2) Computers
3) Fax machines
 The production and distribution of goods and services has also become more flexible and
spread across various countries. For e.g. a company that produces cars may have its
administrative arm in New York , its technological headquarters in Tokyo, factories (not
owned) that produce various parts of the car in 6 or 7 different countries and the assembly
of the car done in yet another country.
 Due to these economic activities, countries across the globe are increasingly dependent
on each other. E.g. if the financial system in Japan is in trouble, it is reflected in the
economies of countries thousands of miles away – USA, Canada etc.
 An e.g. of a universal market is Coca Cola
 Within the society there is a universalisation of standards and tastes facilitated by
international migration and entertainment
 Space has become irrelevant to communication – social and community relations can
transcend it through virtual communication and social networks
The effects of Globalization and culture can be seen through the movies
 Non-technological advancement associated with the emergence of globalization is the
triumph of Capitalism and Democracy over Socialism and Authoritarian rule
Development Theory
 Is about accounting for the differences that exists between the rich and poor countries of
the world and ways in which these differences might be overcome or at least reduced
Arthur Lewis – Industrialization by Invitation
Why his theory failed:
 Lewis believed that there would be a marriage between the unlimited supply of labour
and capital
1) The traditional sector could not absorb all of the surplus labour
2) Production tended to be capital intensive
3) Trade unions distorted the cost of labour
4) Firms shied away from labour and its problems
5) The full potential of agriculture in the larger territories were unrealized
 The Plantation and Dependency theories were a critique of Lewis’ theory on the grounds
of his failure to take important social and economic realities into consideration
Dependency Theory
 This focused on a core-periphery relationship
Core
Periphery
 Baran argued that the spread of capitalism to the 3rd world countries result in the
destruction of the developing industries as a consequence of the development of
capitalism at the center
Main Proponents / Features
1) Holism – a focus on the whole within which underdevelopment at the periphery takes
place
2) Stresses the importance of external relations with the developed world as the main
causal factor in any country’s development
3) Development is due to the flow between the metropole and the satellite
4) Dependency is seen as being incompatible with development – Why?
Andre Gunder-Frank
 In his theory, he discussed the extraction of all surplus though trade and other types of
exchange of goods and services including internal trade (within the periphery as well)
 Periphery or satellite developed only to the extent that they served the affluent capitalist
countries
 He called it the development of underdevelopment
 He suggested that all links be broken with industrialized countries in order for
development to take place
World System Theory
 Immanuel Wallerstien – stated that the development of capitalism led to the development
of a World system
 He also stated that the expansion of the capitalist world economy was the basis for
development
 There are 4 zones in his theory
core - countries that are
already industrialized, i.e.
europe, N, America,
Japan
semi-periphery dependent on core for
trade
periphery - sell cash
crops directly to core
external areas - countries
not commercially
connected in any way to
the copre
Difference between World System Theory and Dependency Theory
 Within the WST there is room for poor countries to advance within the context of the
world economy – this rarely occurred
 If they did advance it would only be to the semi-periphery stage
 Development and underdevelopment result from the competition for scarce resources –
this leads to a widening gap between the rich and poor countries
General points under social development
1) Race is related to the division of labour in world economies
2) Nationalism related to the political superstructure of the world system
Most modern states came into existence as a result of the WS. E.g. political entities such
as the Holy Roman Empire, Mongol Empire and the Netherlands covered areas which are
now divided into several distinct states
Turkey, Syria, Germany and Italy are among modern states that did not exist then
3) It was colonialism that divided Africa into sovereign states, therefore Nationalism
developed after sovereign states had been created as competitors in the WS
4) Promoting nationalist sentiment helped the government of the states to prevent
disintegration and to mobilize their population to expose external aggressors
5) All workers are exploited, some more than others. E.g. ethnic minority groups
Measures of Social Development
 Measures enable development experts to evaluate a country’s progress over time as well
as compare rates of change and progress of various countries
 This data is then used to determine which countries need help the most
 There are 2 indicators of development
1) Direct – economic or social variables; i.e. GNP
2) Non-quantifiable variables’ i.e. welfare, health, social services, quality of life
