Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Global Stratification Patterns of social inequality in the world as a whole

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Changing Terminology Old terminology –First world–Industrial rich countries –Second world–Less industrial socialist countries –Third world–Non-industrial poor countries Problems with old terminology –After the Cold War, the second world no longer existed. –Third World, with 100 countries, is too economically diverse to be meaningful.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Changing Terminology New terminology –High-income–55 nations with the highest standard of living –Middle-income–75 somewhat poorer nations with economic development typical for the world as a whole –Low-income–Remaining 62 nations with lowest productivity and extensive poverty The extent of global inequality is much greater than these comparisons suggest. Well-off people in rich countries live “worlds apart” from the poorest people in low-income countries.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. High-Income Countries First to develop during industrial revolution two centuries ago In 2000, includes some 900 million people Enjoy over half the world’s income More income means control of world’s financial markets. Control of financial markets means control of other countries. Examples: United States, Western Europe, Japan, Australia, Canada, etc.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Middle-Income Countries Limited industrialization One-third of the people are rural and engage in agricultural activities. A general lack of good education, medical care, and safe water Examples: Russia, Eastern European countries, Latin America, and some African countries

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Low-Income Countries About half the world’s people A third live in cities Mostly poor, rural economies Agrarian, with some industry Life expectancy is very short. Examples: Africa, and much of Asia

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. The Severity of Poverty The United Nations found that: –Norway had the highest “quality of life” rating (.963) –United States followed close behind (.944) –Niger had the lowest (.281) –12% of the world population earns 1% of global income –For every dollar received by individuals in a low-income country, someone in a high- income country takes home $53.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Relative poverty –People lack resources that others take for granted. –This sort of poverty exists in every society, rich or poor. Absolute poverty –A life-threatening lack of resources –One-third or more of the people in low-income countries experience poverty at this level. The Severity of Poverty

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Extent of Poverty Is poverty life threatening? –In some African countries, half of annual deaths are children under the age of 10. Every 10 minutes, 300 people around the world die of hunger. –40,000 people a day, 15 million a year, starve to death. 15% or 1 billion people suffer from chronic hunger in the world.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Poverty and Children Poverty and children –100 million children in poor countries are forced to work the streets (e.g., beg, steal, selling sex). –100 million children have deserted their families and live on the streets. –Many girls, with little or no access to medical assistance, become pregnant. –50 million street children are found in Latin American cities. –In Darfur (Sudan), impoverished children are forced to join armed rebel or militia groups, provide physical labor without pay, and work as sex slaves.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Women, Slavery, and Poverty Women –In all societies, a woman’s work is unrecognized, undervalued, and underpaid. –Sweatshop workers are mostly women. –70% of the world’s 1 billion people living near absolute poverty are women. Slavery 1.Chattel slavery–One person owns another. 2.Child slavery–A more common form of bondage 3.Debt bondage–Employers hold workers to pay debts. 4.Servile forms of marriage–Women married against their will or forced into prostitution.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Human Trafficking The movement of men, women, and children from one place to another for the purpose of performing forced labor People are lured to a new country with the promise of a job, then forced to become prostitutes or farm laborers. Or people adopt foreign children and force them to work in sweatshops.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Explanations of Global Poverty Technology –One-quarter of the people in low-income countries use human or animal power to farm land. Population growth –Population for poor countries in Africa doubles every 25 years. Cultural patterns –People resist innovations, accept slavery as a way of life. Social stratification –Low-income countries distribute wealth very unequally.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Correlates of Global Poverty Gender inequality –Raising living standards means improving women’s standing. Global power relationships –Colonialism–The process by which some nations enrich themselves through political and economic control of other nations –Neocolonialism–A “new” form of global power relationships that involves not direct political control but economic exploitation by multinational corporations –Multinational corporation–A huge business that operates in many countries

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Modernization Theory Historical perspective –Centuries ago, the entire world was poor. –Exploration, trade, and the industrial revolution transformed Western Europe then North America. Cultural perspective –Weber: Protestant Reformation reshaped traditional Catholicism. –Individualism replaced the traditional emphasis on family and community. Model of economic development that explains global inequality in terms of technological and cultural differences between societies

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Rostow’s Stages of Modernization Traditional stage –Changing traditional views Take-off stage –Use of talents and imaginations Drive to technological maturity –Diversified economy takes over High mass consumption –Mass production stimulates consumption

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. The Role of Rich Nations Controlling population –Exporting birth control and educating people on its importance Increasing food production –The use of new hybrid seeds, modern irrigation methods, the use of chemicals and pesticides Introducing industrial technology –Machinery and information must be shared if shifts in economies are to happen. Providing foreign aid –Money can be used for equipment necessary for change.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Critical Evaluation Modernization simply hasn’t happened in many nations. Fails to recognize how rich nations benefit from the status quo of poor nations Fails to see the international relations affect all nations Ethnocentric: It holds up the richest nations as the standard to judge other societies Blames global poverty on the poor societies

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Dependency Theory Historical perspective –People living in poor countries were better off in that past than they are now. Economic position of rich & poor are linked. Importance of colonialism –Europeans colonized much of the west, south & east. –African slave trade is the most brutal form of human exploitation. –Neocolonialism is the “essence” of the modern capitalistic world economy. A model of economic and social development that explains global inequality in terms of the historical exploitation of poor nations by rich ones.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Wallerstein’s Capitalist World Economy Today’s world economy is rooted in the colonization that began 500 years ago. –Rich countries form the core of the world economy being enriched by raw materials from around the world. –Low-income countries are the periphery, providing inexpensive labor and a market for industrial products. –Middle-income countries form the semiperiphery, having a closer tie to the core.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Wallerstein’s Ideas The world economy benefits rich nations by generating profits and harms the rest of the world by perpetuating poverty; thus the world economy makes poor nations dependent on rich ones. Three factors: 1.Narrow, export-oriented economies: Poor countries produce only a few crops for export to rich countries. 2.Lack of industrial capacity: Poor countries must sell raw materials to rich countries, then buy finished products at high prices. 3.Foreign debt: Poor countries owe the rich countries $1 trillion dollars, including hundreds of billions to the United States.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Critical Evaluation Wrongly treats wealth as a zero-sum game Wrong to blame rich nations for global poverty Too simplistic citing capitalism as the single factor –Repressive corrupt regimes, stifling cultural tradition More protest than policy –Thinly disguised call for world socialism