The document discusses the state of poverty in the global South and efforts to address it. About 1 billion people live in abject poverty without basic needs. The UN set Millennium Development Goals to eradicate poverty and hunger, provide education and healthcare, and combat diseases by 2015, with some progress made but many targets likely to be missed. Poverty is concentrated in Africa and was previously widespread in South Asia. Revolutionary movements have sought to address the inequality between the global North and South through changes in government and society, but most post-revolutionary governments encounter similar challenges to pre-revolution states in their relations with other countries.

1. The North-South Gap CHAPTER TWELVE International Relations 9/e Goldstein and Pevehouse Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman © 2010

2. State of the South World’s poor region states called: Third world countries, less developed countries (LDCs), underdeveloped countries (UDCs), or developing countries Scholars do not agree on the causes or implications of poverty in the global South (or solutions).

3. State of the South About a billion people live in abject poverty – no access to basic nutrition and health care Concentrated in Africa Two decades ago, similar situation in South Asia, but average income per person there has increased Every 6 seconds, somewhere in the world, a child dies as a result of malnutrition. 5 million children die a year due to malnutrition.

4. State of the South Millennium Development Goals Sets targets for basic needs measures to be achieved by 2015 Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women Goal 4: Reduce child mortality rate Goal 5: Improve maternal health Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development The five regions of the global South differ on poverty reduction, income level, and growth. Experts disagree about the decreases in poverty and inequality.

5. UN Millennium Goals Achievements Reducing poverty by half within reach Primary school enrollment is at least 90% Except in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia Malaria prevention is expanding 1.6 billion people have gained access to safe drinking water since 1990. Future Targets (likely to be missed) ¼ of all children underweight 500,000 mothers to die annually in childbirth Proportion of those living just over $1/day will unlikely be cut in half

6. Basic Human Needs Food, shelter, and other necessities Help people feel secure Extreme poverty fuels revolution, terrorism, and anti-Western sentiments.

7. Basic Human Needs Education allows a new generation to meet over basic needs and move through the demographic transition. Literacy – reading and writing a simple sentence – is key. A person who can read and write can obtain a wealth of info about farming, health care, birth control, etc. Children suffer from hunger in the global South. 2008 UNICEF data: One in four children suffered severe hunger, one in seven lacked access to health care, and one in five had no safe drinking water. Health care Medicines that are critical in the global South are often not available because they are not profitable for that market. War, Natural Disasters, Shelter, and Drinking Water are all areas of concern in the global South

8. World Hunger Of all the basic needs of people in the global South, the most central is food. Malnutrition: refers to the lack of needed foods, including protein and vitamins. Hunger: refers broadly to malnutrition or outright undernourishment – a lack of calories. 920 million people (1 in 8 worldwide) are chronically undernourished. Rural communities and farming Colonialism disrupted pattern of subsistence farming. Shift to commercial farming; displacement of subsistence farmers from the land. Cash crops – high food prices good for farmers, but many unable to afford food

10. Rural and Urban Populations The displacement of subsistence farmers leads to massive population shift. Urbanization: movement from rural areas to the city Search for economic opportunity Capital accumulation is concentrated in cities. Influx of people can cause difficulties. What is land reform?

11. Women in Developing Countries Economic accumulation in poor countries is closely tied to the status of women in those societies. Women in much of the world just as hard as men with just compensation (i.e. head of the family) Hold inferior social status to men in the countries of the South (more so than in the North) Discrimination against girls is widespread in education and literacy. Across the global South, only in Latin America do women’s literacy rates approach those of men Taliban regime Banned all girls from school and all women from paid work Work of international agencies to help women (UN; UNICEF)

12. Migration and Refugees Millions of people from the global South have crossed international borders, often illegally, to reach the North. Migration from poorer to richer states. The home state – no obligation to let people leave, and no state is obligated to receive migrants. Displacement Theory?

13. Migration and Refugees Migration produces complex patterns of winners and losers. Most industrialized states try to limit immigration from the global South. Illegal immigration Migrants are distinguished from refugees Refugees are people fleeing to find refuge from war, natural disaster, or political persecution. Economic impact Nationalism

14. Quiz 11-19-10 Answer the following questions. Groups of four or less. 1. What are the two contrasting theories of wealth accumulation in the international system and how do they differ in the spread of wealth in the international system? 2. What is the World-System Theory? What is the difference between core and periphery states? How can states make the jump from periphery states to core states? 3. Who benefits more via the World-Systems Theory: Global North or Global South? 4. What is the importance of imperialism in explaining the North-South Gap?

15. Theories of Accumulation Approaches Two primary contrasting theories of wealth accumulation Based on more liberal and more revolutionary perspectives How do we explain the enormous gap between income levels in the world’s industrialized regions and those in the global South?

16. Economic Accumulation Capitalism - view based on liberal economics stressing overall efficiency in maximizing economic growth Views the global South as merely lagging behind the industrialized North. Wealth creation in both areas is a good thing.

17. Economic Accumulation Socialism – concerned with the distribution of wealth as much as the absolute creation of wealth. Sees the North-South divide as more of a zero-sum game in which the creation of wealth in the North most often comes at the expense of the South. Also gives the state more of a role in redistributing wealth and managing the economy than does capitalism. Believes capitalists exploit cheap labor and cheap resources

18. Economic Accumulation In reality, no state is purely capitalistic. Some redistribution of wealth; welfare state Under capitalism economic development is based on capital accumulation Creation of standing capital Production of economic surplus; more resources available for investment above the minimum level of consumption needed to sustain human life Industrial Revolution – world accumulation Information technologies Route to economic development for global South uncertain

19. The World-System The global system of regional class divisions has been seen by some IR scholars as a world-system, or a capitalist world economy. View is Marxist in orientation Class divisions regionalized Third world regions extract raw materials (the periphery) Industrialized regions mostly manufacture goods (the core) Class struggle between the two Semiperiphery: area with some manufacturing and some capital concentrates Eastern Europe and Russia China and South Asia Actual patterns of world trade support the world-system theory to some extent But the shift of export-oriented manufacturing from the industrialized countries to Asia reflects globalization

20. Imperialism Imperialism structured world order starkly around the dominance principle. At the same time, imperialism depends on the identity principle to unite the global North around a common racial identity that defines nonwhite people as an out-group.

21. History of Imperialism 1500-2000 European imperialism 15th century, with the development of oceangoing sailing ships in which a small crew could transport a sizable cargo over a long distance Portugal, Spain, France, and Britain Empires in Central America and Brazil Colonies in North America and the Caribbean Decimated indigenous populations Decolonization 20th century Almost no European colonies remained.

23. Effects of Colonialism Being colonized had a devastating effect on a people and culture. New government, language, cultural practices, education, and being told they were racially inferior to the foreigners White domination seen as normal after generations under colonialism Negative economic implications Positives of colonization Fostered local economic accumulation Infrastructure Cohesive political unit Anti-colonial movements; Importance of WWII

24. Figure 12.7

25. Postcolonial Dependency Accumulation in the global South did not take off once colonialism was overthrown. Left few people with the experience to manage an economy. Economies had been narrowly developed. Difficult to abandon the export commodities Workers trained in these areas Infrastructure supported them Inherited borders that were drawn in European capitals. Government corruption of postcolonial states

26. Postcolonial Dependency Neocolonialism The continuation of colonial exploitation without formal political control Dependency theory Dependency as a situation in which accumulation of capital cannot sustain itself internally. A dependent country must borrow capital to produce goods; its debt payments then reduce the accumulation of surplus.

27. Postcolonial Dependency: Forms of Dependency Enclave economy Foreign capital is invested in a third world country to extract a particular raw material in a particular place. Angola’s Cabinda provinceand Chevron Nationally controlled production by local capitalist class Penetration of national economies by MNCs Class struggle and dependency theory

28. Revolutionary Movements Political revolutions seek to change the form of government. Social revolutions seek changes in the structure of society, such as class relations. Cold War years: communist insurgeny By early 1990s, communist third world revolutions seemed to have played themselves out.

29. Post-revolutionary Governments Poverty and lack of access to basic human needs are the prime causes of revolutions Most revolutionary movements espouse egalitarian ideals: more equal distribution of wealth and power… Communist revolutions Movement against U.S. imperialism Often more local power struggle than a fight against imperialism

30. Revolutionary Movements In foreign policy, revolutionary governments often start out planning different relationships with neighbors and great powers. However, after new government comes in they realize: It has the same interest as other states in promoting national sovereignty and territorial integrity Become similar to old government Short term shifts in foreign policy, over the long run, very much the same

31. Revolutionary Movements Overall, North-South relations show how difficult it has become to separate political economy from international security. Marxist strategies – from armed revolutions to state ownership – have not been successful at changing those realities.