North South Relations

The Human Face of Poverty Born on the same day:  Nthabiseng –Poor, black, African girl –Rural area, 700 miles from Cape Town, South Africa –To an illiterate mother  Pieter –African, while, well-off family –Born in Cape Town –To a college-educated mother  Sven –Born to an average Swedish family

Prospects in life

Poverty  Over 1bn. People live on less than a dollar/day  Poor access to water, sanitation, food, health care  Situation has improve in some areas, but not in others

Growing Income Disparities

Marxism  Structure of capitalism: –Means of production –Relations of production: »capital owns means of production »Exploitation of labor ->class struggle  Superstructure of capitalism –Ideology, legal, political system

Lenin on Imperialism  Capitalism leads to imperialism –Drive for capital accumulation and access to natural resources –States serve the interests of capital  Imperialist powers divide the world  Use colonies for resource extraction  Perpetuate class inequality across the globe

Dependency Theory  Capitalism perpetuates dependency relations between –The Core/North and –The Periphery/South  Result: underdevelopment

Poverty Mapping: Distribution of Income Groups

Poverty Mapping Doctors per population

Infant Mortality

Women, Education, and Infrant Mortality

Sources of Poverty  Historical core-periphery relations?  Contemporary core-periphery relations?  Weak domestic institutions and policies?  Climate?  Disease?  All of the above->vicious circle?

Structural Solutions?  Import substitution: Brazil 1970s, 1980s  State-facilitated industrialization and trade: –The Asian Tigers  Liberalization: “the Golden Straightjacket”?