1. The History Of Global Stratification
How did we get so stratified?
Old textbook pages
The History Of Global Stratification

2. How did Global Stratification Start?
The common answer = resources
Lots of resources = rich country
Few resources = poor country
The problem is, many poor countries have a lot of natural resources, and many rich countries have few resources, so… what happened???

3. Theory #1: Colonialism
Countries that industrialized first got the jump on the rest of the world
Industrialized countries turned profits into weapons and ships
Industrialized countries then colonized weaker nations and exploited their labor and natural resources

4. Theory #2: World System Theory
Industrialization led to 4 groups of nations:
Core:
Countries that industrialized first
Britain, France, Netherlands
Semiperiphery:
Economies stagnated because they grew dependent on the core nations
Mediterranean
Periphery:
Fringe nations that developed even less
Eastern Europe
External area:
left out of development of capitalism entirely
Africa, Asia
Globalization of capitalism:
Capitalism spread around the world
Countries become interdependent on each other for goods and trade
All of today’s societies are connected, part of a world system

5. Theory #3: Culture of Poverty
Cultures of poor countries holds them back
Poverty perpetuates each generation
Living on brink of survival leaves little room for risk, so they stick to traditional ways without experimentation
Religion encourages them to accept their position as their position in life is as a god’s will