MODULE 3

UNIT 3 – A WORLD OF REGIONS 

Lesson 3.1 – Global Divides
I. Learning Outcomes: At the end of the lesson, the student should have:
1. defined the term Global south
2. differentiated the global south form the third world country
3. analyzed how a new conception of global relations emerged from the experiences of
Latin American Countries
II.Introduction
Globalization makes people connected and this interconnectedness is part of our daily
life. The leads to the so-called global divides, the Global North and Global South, these two
terms divides the world. The “Global North contains all the countries north of the equator in the
Northern Hemisphere, and the Global South holds all of the countries south of the Equator in the
Sothern Hemisphere (Karpillo, 2018). According to Kwarteng and Botch way (2018), “the North
and the South divide in the practice and application of international laws. On the other hand,
Global developed North advocate for a collective action to protect the environment while the
developing Global South, argued for social and economic justice in practice.

III. Discussion

A. Abstraction

The gap between the ‘North’ and ‘South’ Despite very significant development gains
globally which have raised many millions of people out of absolute poverty, there is substantial
evidence that inequality between the world’s richest and poorest countries is widening. In 1820
Western Europe's per capita income was three times bigger than Africa’s but by 2000 it was
thirteen times as big. In addition, in 2013, Oxfam reported that the richest 85 people in the world
owned the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the world’s population. Today the world
is much more complex than the Brandt Line depicts as many poorer countries have experienced
significant economic and social development. However, inequality within countries has also
been growing and some commentators now talk of a ‘Global North’ and a ‘Global South’
referring respectively to richer or poorer communities which are found both within and between
countries. For example, whilst India is still home to the largest concentration of poor people in a
single nation it also has a very sizable middle class and a very rich elite. There are many causes
for these inequalities including the availability of natural resources; different levels of health and
education; the nature of a country’s economy and its industrial sectors; international trading
policies and access to markets; how countries are governed and international relationships
between countries; conflict within and between countries; and a country’s vulnerability to natural
hazards and climate change.

Global South
 Countries have been unable to evolve an indigenous technology appropriate to their own
resources and have dependent on power
  According to Claudio(2014) stated that the global south is both a reality and a provisional
in progress.
 According toSparke (2007)in Claudio (2014) said that Global South is everywhere, but is
also somewhere , located at the intersection of entangled political geographies and
repression the resistant
 Mhaler (2017) coined three primary definition of Global South
o First, it has tradition been used with intergovernmental development organization
o Second, the Global South captures a deterritorialized geography of capitalism’s
externalities and means to account for subjugated peoples within the borders of
wealthier countries
o Third, Global south refers to the resistant imaginary
 Economy was based on cotton production which depended on slave labor.
 Southern economy was weak and vulnerable because it depended entirely on cotton but
was still very profitable. The period of cotton growing was called King Cotton.

Global South from the Third World

 The term “Third world” labelled to those countries that did not align with democratic or
communist countries as coined by Alfred Sauvy, a French demographer after World War
II and during Cold War.
 The Third World included the developing nation of Africa, Asia, and Latin America
 According to Wolves et al (n.d) the “The Third World become central political slogan for
the radial left
 Global South thus incorporates not only spaces that used to be referred to before as Third
World, but also spaces in the North that are characterized by exploitation, oppression and
neo-colonial relations, such as indigenous and black communities (and immigrant
communities) in Western societies; and vice versa,
 The phrase “Global South” refers broadly to the regions of Latin America, Asia, Africa,
and Oceania. It is one of a family of terms, including “Third World” and “Periphery,”
that denote regions outside Europe and North America, mostly (though not all) low-
income and often politically or culturally-marginalized.

Global North
 Generally, definitions of the Global North include the United States, Canada, almost all
the European countries, Israel, Cyprus, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan,
Australia, and New Zealand.
 Economy was based on industries and major businesses, commerce and finance. North
had many manufacturing factories that dealt with textiles, lumber, clothing, machinery,
leather, and wooden goods.
 The biggest business of the north was in railroad construction. Transportation was easier
because of railroads.
North-South Divide:
North-South Gap: Term used to describe the economic gap between the rich northern
countries of the world and the south poorer countries of the world.
NORTH SOUTH
DEFINITION:
During Cold War – Primary Global Division Was Between East and West, and
Predicated Upon Security and Power Balance.
After Cold War – Many See Primary Global Division as Being Between North and
South, and Predicated Upon Economic Inequality.
Developed and Developing Countries:
Issues of North-South Divide: North-South Divide Issues Distribution of income around the
world Economic competition worldwide Standard of living
Issue no. 1:
 Standard of living: Factors lead to low of standard of living
 Lack of trade and aid Single crop farming Abundance of debt Neo- Colonial ism
Issue no.2: Distribution of income around the world:
 Liberalization of market occurs, most South countries lost to the competition from
the North.
 Encourage migration of people from South to North for having a more good
income.
Issue no.3: Economic competition worldwide:
 Factors determine the competitiveness of economy
 Appropriate infrastructure
 Stable macro-economic framework
 Well-functioning public and private institutions
Reasons for development gap:
 ENVIRONMENTAL natural features e.g. soil
 HISTORICAL things which have happen in years before e.g. war
 SOCIO – ECONOMIC society, culture and money e.g. religion
Some countries are developing faster than others. Many Asian countries are quickly
developing while many African countries are slowly developing.

MAJOR DIFFERENCES IN NORTH AND SOUTH:

Some of the major differences in North and South countries are as follows:
NORTH SOUTH
o Less population
o High Wealth
o High Standard of living
o High Industrial development
o Industry
o Large population
o Low Wealth 
o Low Standard of living
o Low Industrial development Agriculture
Classifying Countries:
Countries can be classified into three different types:
Most Developed Countries (MDCs):  the richest of the industrialized and
democratic nations of the world.
 Less Developed Countries (LDCs):  countries with little industrial development,
little wealth, and high population growth.
Least Developed Countries (LLDCs):  very low per capital income, low literacy
rates, and very little in the way of manufacturing industries.

Reasons: There are 3 main reasons why our world is so unequal today:
 Colonialism:
a. Today’s North-South gap traces its roots to the colonization of the Southern world
regions by Europe over the past several centuries. This colonization occurred at
different times in different parts of the world, as did decolonization.
 b. Control by one power over a dependant area or people.
 Trade:
a. What you are spending to bring goods into your country is a greater sum that what
you are making by selling products in the global economy.
b. You are losing money. Southern countries suffered from this.
 Debt:
a. Their products were losing money in the global economy, so they needed to
increase production.
b. The only way they could do this was to borrow money from the rich northern
countries.
c. This put them in debt.
Division of north and south:
 The North-South Divide (or Rich-Poor Divide) is the socio-economic and political
division that exists between the wealthy developed countries, known collectively as “the
North,” and the poorer developing countries (least developed countries), or “the South.”
Although most nations comprising the “North” are in fact located in the Northern
Hemisphere, the divide is not primarily defined by geography.
 As nations become economically developed, they may become part of the “North,”
regardless of geographical location, while any other nations which do not qualify for
“developed” status are in effect deemed to be part of the “South.”
 “The North” mostly covers the West and the First World, with much of the Second
World.
Development gap:
 The North-South divide has more recently been named the development gap. This places
greater emphasis on closing the evident gap between rich (more economically developed)
countries and poor (less economically developed countries) countries.
Globalization: In Terms of Economic Development, There Exists an Enormous Gap Between
Northern and Southern Countries, Which Has Been Increased By Globalization (Rich Get
Richer).  The process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become
integrated through a global network of political ideas through communication, transportation,
and trade.

Three world model: Capitalist Communist Developing

  Why is the gap between the economic north and south widening?
 The richest 1% of the world’s population now receives as much income as the poorest
57%.
 Lack of trade.
 Lack of aid.
 Abundance of debt.
 Failure of international organizations (e.g. IMF, World Bank, WTO).
 Neo-colonialism.
 Adverse climatic conditions.
 The difficulty of transforming the established
Closing The Gap:
 The United Nations has developed a program dedicated to narrowing the divide through
its Millennium Development Goals. This includes improving education and health care,
promoting gender equality, and ensuring environmental sustainability.

B. Assessment
Let’s Do These!
GLOBAL DIVIDES
1. Compare and Contrast the Global North and South
 2. Create an image of the following aspects and describe your image

A Global South Country A Global North

_________________________ ________________________

An example of a third world country An example of third world country

__________________________ ________________________

A Latin – American Country An Asian Region

________________________ _______________________

3. Research about the following (Use long bond paper)

a. Map of the first World Countries
b. Map of the Second World Countries
c. Map of the Third World Country
IV. References
Ariola, Mariano M. (2018). The Contemporary World. Unlimited Books Library Services and
Publishing Inc.
Claudio, Lisandro E. & Abinales, Patricio N. (2018). The Contemporary World. C & E Publishing, Inc.
Mendoza, Cheryl C. et al. (2019). Worktext in The Contemporary World. Nieme Publishing House. Co. Ltd.
Aldama, P. (2018).The Contemporary World, Rex Book Store
Prepared by:
RIZA A. BELTRAN
BISU-Clarin Campus