THE GLOBAL NORTH AND SOUTH ● The North is mostly correlated with

the Western world and the First

DIVIDE World, plus much of the Second
World, while the South largely

INTRODUCTION corresponds with the Third World

and Eastern world.

● North–South Divide: Refers to the

socio-economic and political division ● The two groups are often defined in

of Earth popularized in the late 20th terms of their differing levels of

century and early 21st century. wealth, economic development,

income inequality, democracy, and

● Generally, definitions of the Global political and economic freedom, as

North include the United States, defined by freedom indices.

Canada, Western Europe, and

developed parts of Asia (such as ● Nations in the North tend to be

Japan, Singapore, South Korea), as wealthier, less unequal and

well as Australia and New Zealand considered more democratic and to

(which are not actually located in the be developed countries who export

geographical North but share similar technologically advanced

economic and cultural manufactured products.

characteristics as other northern

countries). ● Southern states are generally
poorer developing countries with

● The North is home to all the younger, more fragile democracies

members of the G8 and to four of heavily dependent on primary sector

the five permanent members of the exports and frequently share a

United Nations Security Council. history of past colonialism by

Northern states.

● The Global South is made up of

Africa, Latin America, and
developing Asia including the Middle
East.

HISTORY
● The idea of categorizing countries by
their economic and developmental
status began during the Cold War
with the classifications of East and
West.
● The Soviet Union and China
represented the East, and the United
States and their allies represented
the West.
● The term “Third World” originated
in a 1952 article by French
demographer and economic
historian Alfred Sauvy entitled "Trois
Mondes, Une Planète."
- Which stressed the
disempowerment of the
newly-independent countries of Asia
and Africa, concluding that ‘the Third
World has, like the Third Estate,
been ignored and despised and it
too wants to be something’
● Early definitions of the Third World
emphasized its exclusion from the
East-West conflict of the Cold War
as well as the ex colonial status and
poverty of the nations it comprised.
● Efforts to mobilize the Third World as
an autonomous political entity were
undertaken.
● The 1955 Bandung Conference
was an early meeting of Third World
states in which an alternative to
alignment with either the Eastern or
Western Blocs was promoted.
● Following this, the first Non-Aligned
Summit was organized in 1961.
● Contemporaneously, a mode of
economic criticism which separated
the world economy into "core" and
"periphery" was developed and
given expression in a project for
political reform which "moved the
terms 'North' and 'South' into the
international political lexicon."
● Brandt Line is an imaginary division
that has provided a rough way of
dividing all of the countries in the
world in to the rich north and poor
south
● This imaginary line (visual depiction
of the north–south divide) was drawn
up by former West German
Chancellor Willy Brandt in 1980s to
show the growing income inequality
between countries above the line
(the ‘richer North’) and countries
below the line (the ‘poorer South’).
● It encircles the world at a latitude of
approximately 30°North, passing
between North and Central America,
north of Africa and the Middle East,
climbing north over China and
Mongolia, but dipping south so as to
include Australia and New Zealand
in the "Rich North".
THE NORTH-SOUTH GAP
● 95% of the North has enough food
and shelter.
● Similarly, 95% of the North has a
functioning educational system.
● In the South, on the other hand, only
5% of the population has enough
food and shelter.
- "It lacks appropriate
technology, it has no political
stability, the economies are
disarticulated, and their
foreign exchange earnings
depend on primary product
exports."
● In economic terms, the North—with
one quarter of the world
population— controls four-fifths of
the income earned anywhere in the
world.
● 90% of the manufacturing industries
are owned by and located in the
North.
● Inversely, the South—with three
quarters of the world
populations—has access to one-fifth
of the world income.
● Although the South (overall) is less
developed, there are many complex
reasons why, and one being that the
North (developed countries)
wasn’t/isn’t always entirely fair.
● Developed countries have many foreign exchange earnings depend
projects trying to help the less on primary product exports to the
developed countries, and the North, along with the fluctuation of
politicians are recognizing that they prices.
aren’t doing enough.
● The north becomes synonymous
● The developed world has used the with economic development and
developing world for its own gain industrialization while the South
and cheaper raw materials and represents the previously colonized
labour. countries which are in need of help
in the form of international aid
● Now, large brands (mostly in agendas.
developed countries) are paying
very low wages to young children in ● In order to understand how this
developing countries to produce divide occurs, a definition of
clothes and then ship them to "development" itself is needed.
developed countries where we get
super cheap deals and want to buy ● The Dictionary of Human Geography
more than we need to (fast fashion). defines development as
"[p]processes of social change or [a
● These brands need to increase the change] to class and state projects
wage and improve the working to transform national economies".
conditions in these
factories/sweatshops. ● This definition entails an
understanding of economic
● Being categorized as part of the development which is imperative
"North" implies development as when trying to understand the
opposed to belonging to the "South", north–south divide.
which implies a lack thereof.
● Economic Development is a
● According to N. Oluwafemi Mimiko, measure of progress in a specific
the South lacks the right technology, economy.
it is politically unstable, its
economies are divided, and its
 - It refers to advancements in countries, in regards to access to
technology, a transition from computing and information
an economy based largely on resources such as the Internet and
agriculture to one based on the opportunities derived from such
industry and an improvement access.
in living standards.
● As with a smaller unit of analysis,
● Other factors that are included in the this gap describes an inequality that
conceptualization of what a exists, referencing a global scale.
developed country is include life
expectancy and the levels of ● Digital divide not only compasses
education, poverty and employment opportunities to access or use of
in that country. ICTs (Information and
Communications Technology) but
● Furthermore, in Regionalism Across also include the ability and
the North-South Divide: State knowledge of using this crucial
Strategies and Globalization, [written services in the contemporary
by] Jean Grugel states that the society.
three factors that direct the
economic development of states ● The digital divide has contributed to
within the Global south is: differences in development levels
1. Elite behaviour within and between among states.
nation states.
2. Integration and cooperation within ● The access to information in the
'geographic' areas. developed world is much better as
3. The resulting position of states and compared to the case in the
regions within the global world underdeveloped world.
market and related political
economic hierarchy. ● Most people living in developed
countries have access to modern
● Also, the “Global Digital Divide” technology, high-speed connections
(also known as “digital divide”) to the internet and solid data plans
describes global disparities, primarily as well as the availability of more
between developed and developing advanced and sophisticated devices.
● Contrary, many people living in third ● So far ICT has developed and
world countries lack such privileges spread considerably in many
sometimes even access to the countries, and everyone has a clue
internet is a problem. of its impact on the daily life.

● This parity has created an economic ● An assessment of digital divide

divide globally since information is
critical in facilitating productivity.
● It is therefore of supreme importance
that governments in developing
countries bridge this gap to ensure
that they compete on level ground
with the developed countries.
situation shows that this concept
emerges decades ago and has been
useful and at the same time a
derailment to various businesses.
● Also, the North-South divide has
more recently been named the
“Development Gap”.

● The Internet is expanding very ● It places greater emphasis on

quickly, and not all closing the evident gap between rich
countries—especially developing (more economically developed
countries—are able to keep up with countries) and poor (less
the constant changes. economically developed countries).

● The term “digital divide” doesn’t ● A good measure of on which side of

necessarily mean that someone the gap a country is located is the
doesn’t have technology; it could Human Development Index.
mean that there is simply a
difference in technology. ● The nearer it is to 1.0, the greater
the country’s level of development
● These differences can refer to, for and the further the country is on its
example, high-quality computers, development pathway (closer
fast Internet, technical assistance, or towards being well developed).
telephone services. The difference
between all of these is also
considered a gap.
CHALLENGES TO THE NORTH-SOUTH
IDEA
● As many nations around the world
are continuously becoming more
economically developed, they may
become part of the North, regardless
of there geographical location.
● The accuracy of the North–South
divide has been challenged on a
number of grounds.
● The economic status of the South
has also been fractured.
● As of 2015, all but roughly the
bottom 60 nations of the Global
South were thought to be gaining on
the North in terms of income,
diversification, and participation in
the world market.
● Globalization has largely displaced
the North–South divide as
theoretical underpinning of
development efforts of international
institutions such as the IMF, World
Bank, WTO, and various United
Nations affiliated agencies, though
these groups differ in
perceptions of the relationship
between globalization and inequality.
● Yet some remain critical of the
accuracy of globalization as a model
of the world economy, emphasizing
the enduring centrality of
nation-states in world politics and
the prominence of regional trade
relations.
● Some economists have argued that
international free trade and
unhindered capital flows across
countries could lead to a contraction
in the North– South divide.
● In this case more equal trade and
flow of capital would allow the
possibility for developing countries to
further develop economically.
● As some countries in the South
experience rapid development, there
is evidence that those states are
developing high levels of
South–South aid.
the
the ● Brazil, in particular, has been noted
for its high levels of aid ($1 billion
annually—ahead of many traditional
donors) and the ability to use its own
experiences to provide high levels of
their expertise and knowledge transfer.
● This has been described as a
"global model in waiting"
● Lastly, The United Nations has also ● protest WPS - China - closed the trade
established its role in diminishing the bananas
divide between North and South ●
through the Millennium Development
Goals, all of which were to be
achieved by 2015.

● These goals seek to eradicate

extreme poverty and hunger,
achieve global universal education
and healthcare, promote gender
equality and empower women,
reduce child mortality, improve
maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS,
malaria, and other diseases, ensure
environmental sustainability, and
develop a global partnership for
development.

● lack of technologies and expertise to

create own industries
● Philippines - agricultural and marine
● technologies and science - improving
or creating our very own agricultural
and marine industries
● poor education and lack of sound
decision - major decisions are decided
politically instead scientifically by
experts
● farmers here were having trouble
selling our bananas - international
market refused to take it. specifically -
china