INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY 3E

Chapter 10 GLOBAL INEQUALITY

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COLLEGE PHYSICS

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Chapter # Chapter Title

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FIGURE 10.1

Contemporary economic development often follows a similar pattern around the world, best described as a growing gap between the have and have-nots. (Photo courtesy of Alicia Nijdam/Wikimedia Commons)

GLOBAL INEQUALITY

Global Inequality refers to the concentration of resources in core nations and in the hands of a wealthy minority

Global Stratification refers to the unequal distribution of resources between countries

GINI coefficient measures income inequality between countries using a 100-point scale on which 1 represents complete equality and 100 represents the highest possible inequality

Gross National Income: A calculation of national wealth representing all the income earned by a nation and its people. The number includes the nation's gross domestic product plus the income it receives from overseas sources.

The Human Development Index expresses the capabilities of people's potential achievement. The index is calculated using data regarding people's lifespan, education, and income.

FIGURE 10.2

The Human Development Index and its derivative, and extensions like the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI), were developed to center people—not just finances—as the core determinants of a nation's or region's discussions about economic opportunities, support, and policies.

The index considers three main dimensions: health, knowledge, and standard of living. It calculates an individual value for each dimension, which is then averaged to produce the final value.

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(Credit: United Nations Development Programme)

GLOBAL INEQUALITY

GLOBAL CLASSIFICATION: COLD WAR TERMS

These terms are generally outdated, but you will see them in older texts, hear them in popular culture and discussions.

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• First World is a term from the Cold War era that is used to describe industrialized capitalist democracies
• Third World is a term from the Cold War era that refers to poor, unindustrialized countries
• (This is the term most commonly used in casual conversation.)
• Second World is a term from the Cold War era that describes nations with moderate economies and standards of living
• Fourth World is a term that describes stigmatized minority groups who have no voice or representation on the world stage

GLOBAL CLASSIFICATION: IMMANUEL WALLTERSTEIN: WORLD SYSTEM APPROACH

• Core Nations are dominant capitalist countries
• Peripheral Nations are nations on the fringes of the global economy, dominated by core nations, with very little industrialization
• Semi-Peripheral Nations are in-between nations, not powerful enough to dictate policy but acting as a major source of raw materials and an expanding middle class marketplace

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FIGURE 10.3

This world map shows advanced, transitioning, less, and least developed countries. Note that the data in this map is one year older than the data presented in the text below. (Credit: Sbw01f, data obtained from the CIA World Factbook/Wikimedia Commons)

HIGH INCOME NATIONS

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The World Bank defines high-income nations as having a gross national income of at least $12,536 per capita in 2019.

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Capital Flight refers to the movement (flight) of capital from one nation to another, via jobs and resources

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Deindustrialization refers to the loss of industrial production, usually to peripheral and semi-peripheral nations where the costs are lower

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FIGURE 10.4

Factories and stores in places like the Detroit metro area have been closed and abandoned as companies go out of business. (Credit: Joe Nuxoll/flickr)

FIGURE 10.5

 Outsourcing was initially a practice for manufacturing and related work. But as more technically skilled people become more available in other countries, customer service and other services are being moved out of the United States as well? (Credit: Carlos Ebert/flickr)

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MIDDLE INCOME NATIONS

The World Bank separated middle-income nations into two subcategories to better represent different types of nations.

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• Lower middle income areas are those with a GNI per capita of more than $1,036 but less than $4,045.
• Upper middle income areas are those with A GNI per capita between $4,046 and $12,535. 

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Debt Accumulation is the buildup of external debt, wherein countries borrow money from other nations to fund their expansion or growth goals

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LOW INCOME NATIONS

The World Bank defines low-income countries as nations whose per capita GNI was $1,035 per capita or less in 2019.

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They are mostly located in the regions with the highest levels of population.

• women are disproportionately affected by poverty (in a trend toward a global feminization of poverty)
• and much of the population lives in extreme poverty

MOBILITY WITHIN THE CLASSIFICATIONS

Nations' classifications often change as their economies evolve and due to social or political situations.

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• Nepal, Indonesia, and Romania recently moved up to a higher status based on improved economies.
• Sudan, Algeria, and Sri Lanka moved down a level.

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Myanmar recently moved into the middle-income classification.

But with Myanmar's 2021 coup, the massive citizen response, and the military's killing of protesters, its economy may go through a downturn again, returning it to the low-income nation status.

FIGURE 10.6

The photographer met this young girl as the girl was begging for food in the street in Vietnam, holding a younger child as she was doing so.

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(Credit: Augapfel/flickr)

CLASSIFICATIONS OF POVERTY

Relative Poverty is the state of poverty where one is unable to live the lifestyle of the average person in the country

Extreme Poverty (a newer term for “absolute poverty”) is the state where one is barely able, or unable, to afford basic necessities

• Someone who begins to earn enough to live on more than $1.90 is still in severe poverty and should be considered as such (Schoch 2020). So the World Bank considers two additional categories:
• people living on less than $3.20
• people living on less than $5.50.

Subjective Poverty is a state of poverty composed of many dimensions, subjectively present when one’s actual income does not meet one’s expectations

Q: IF YOU HAVE LIVED ON OR HAD TO LIVE ON LESS THAN $3.20 PER DAY, WHAT DID YOU OR WHAT WOULD YOU SPEND MONEY ON?

1. Food
2. Hygiene
3. Clothing
4. A place to live/sleep

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Q: IF YOU HAVE LIVED ON OR HAD TO LIVE ON LESS THAN $3.20 PER DAY, HOW DID YOU OR HOW WOULD YOU MAKE UP THE GAP BETWEEN WHAT YOU HAD AND WHAT YOU NEEDED?

1. Seek assistance from people I know
2. Seek assistance from strangers
3. Seek assistance from government, charities, or related organizations
4. Leave my current location and relocate to a better place to live
5. By whatever means necessary

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WHO ARE THE IMPOVERISHED?

Global Feminization of Poverty is a pattern that occurs when women bear a disproportionate percentage of the burden of poverty

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Potential causes:

• The expansion in the number of woman-headed households
• The persistence and consequences of intra-household inequalities and biases against women
• The implementation of neoliberal economic policies around the world

(Mogadham 2005)

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Many women are denied basic rights, particularly in the workplace. In peripheral nations, they accumulate fewer assets, farm less land, make less money, and face restricted civil rights and liberties.

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FIGURE 10.7

Slums in many countries illustrate absolute poverty all too well. (Credit: Ninara/flickr)

SWEATSHOP AND FAIR LABOR PRACTICES.

These protesters seek to bring attention to the issue of sweatshop labor in producing clothing. (Credit: Jo Guldi/flickr)

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• Apparel companies outsource their garment manufacturing to large factories that pay very little and have terrible working conditions.
• Factories compete for the work through low prices and faster schedules, putting further pressure on workers.
• The purchasing company often doesn’t work with the factory directly.
• COVID-19 added more risk of worker exploitation as jobs were cut.
• United Students Against Sweatshops and other orgs pressure companies to evaluate and enforce better working conditions.
• They also take on on-campus issues such as worker pay.

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HUNGER AND MALNUTRITION

For this child, who is being assessed for malnutrition at a clinic in Kenya, risks associated with poverty and lack of food were exacerbated by a massive drought that hit the region. (Credit: DFID - UK Department for International Development/flickr)

SLAVERY

Chattel Slavery is a form of slavery in which one person owns another

Debt Bondage is the act of people pledging themselves as servants in exchange for money for passage, and are subsequently paid too little to regain their freedom

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The global watchdog group Anti-Slavery International recognizes other forms of slavery:

• human trafficking (in which people are moved away from their communities and forced to work against their will),
• child domestic work and child labor,
• servile marriage

(Anti-Slavery International 2012).

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MODERNIZATION THEORY

Modernization Theory is a theory that low-income countries can improve their global economic standing by industrialization of infrastructure and a shift in cultural attitudes towards work

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DEPENDENCY THEORY

Dependency Theory is a theory which states that global inequity is due to the exploitation of peripheral and semi- peripheral nations by core nations

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