CHAPTER 4:

Global Divides
The North and South
Global Divides
 We WERE ALL HUMANS
until race disconnect us,
religion separated us, politics
divided us, and wealth - Anonymous

classified us.”
GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 2
I n t e n d e d

Learning

I n t e n d e d
Outcomes

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 3

At the end of this chapter, learners must be able to have a fuller understanding of the
concept of the North-South Global Divide and are expected to:

Recognize how the division

Undermine the rationale behind
affects the path of globalization
such divisions/classification
AND THE CURRENT
WORLD IN GENERAL

Articulate the definitions as Understand the current

well as differences of the configurations and
Global North and Global manifestations of the divide
South;

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 4

At the end of this chapter, learners must be able to have a fuller understanding of the
concept of the North-South Global Divide and are expected to:

EQUIP STUDENYS WITH 21ST CENTURY

LEARNING AND DEVELOP HIGHER ORDER
THINKING SKILLS THAT WILL LEAD
TOWARDS A DEEPR UNDERSTANDING OF
GLOBAL ECONOMIC STRUCTURES AS
WELL AS ARTICULATE A STANCE ON THE
GLOBAL NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE AND HOW
IT IMPACTS THE PHILIPPINES, THE
FILIPINO SOCIETY AND THE INIDVIDUAL
SELF.
GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 5
First,
First, Second,
Second, and
and Third
Third Worlds
Worlds

The Cold-War-era
generalization places countries
in two distinct groups; The
North and the South.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 6

 The NORTH, wealthy and developed
countries
The SOUTH poorer and developing
countries

The policy makers and practitioners use

phrases like "The North-South divide"
or “The Gap between North and South"
to summarize complex political economic
tensions on a range of issues.
Source: https://hs2divide.wordpress.com/northsouth-divide/

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 7

 Source: http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/10/150.html

During the Cold War of the mid 20th century. During this time, countries were
primarily categorized according to their alignment the First, Second, and Third
World.
GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 8
 First World
refers to so called
developed, capitalist, industrial
countries. third World
Western European
Nations
corresponds to the non-aligned states, the
underdeveloped nations and states that have
unstable political and economic conditions.
second World
refers to the former communist-
socialist.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 9

 RIGGS (2007) pointed out some
interchangeable terms that
characterized the Third World- The
Less-developed World, the Majority
World, the Non-Western World, the
Poor World and the Undeveloped
World all beaming with hues of
economic dilemma and lack of
development.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 10

ECONOM
TIGERS
IC
GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 11
 ECONOMIC TIGERS

Source: http://itrader-forex.dk/asian-tigers/

The Four Asian Tigers are the high-growth economies of Hong Kong,
Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Fueled by exports and rapid
industrialization, they maintained high levels of economic growth since the
1960s, and have collectively joined the ranks of the world's wealthiest nations.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 12

 • RICHER countries are
almost all located in the Northern
Hemisphere, with the exception of
Australia and New Zealand.

• POOR countries are mostly

located in tropical regions and in
the Southern Hemisphere
Source: https://denzil2016.wordpress.com/2016/02/03/brandt-line/

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 13

In 1983 the Brandt report was published
by a commission chaired by the former
German Chancellor Willy Brandt.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 14

 the
The Global North and
and
South Divide
global
south
north GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 15
 The North-South Divide is a
socio-economic and political
categorization of countries.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 16

 The Global North
The Global North

Northern countries are the More Economically Developed Countries

(MEDCs) in the world. Some countries which lay in the North part of the divide
are CANADA, UNITED STATES, GREENLAND, and RUSSIA.

They are considered the “richer” and more stable countries.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 17

Why are the countries in the North considered MEDC?
Why are the countries in the North considered MEDC?

The countries are considered MEDC because of the stability that

their economy has and the change that is happening within it.
Countries that are considered MEDC generally have a better
standard of living and quality of life.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 18

Aspects which may show this is how long the country’s
life expectancy is, education levels, if there are doctors
available (medicine) and how developed their
technology is.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 19

 Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/270861/life-expectancy-by-continent/

Life Expectancy By Continent 2019

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 20
 The distribution of education and healthcare is also a
factor.

For example, Canada has free universal healthcare and free

secondary education, which leads to a better quality life for
Canadians. Where as in many parts of Africa-- a continent filled
with LEDC-- has little education and hardly no health care.
(Guttal, 2016)

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 21

 Shalmali Guttal
Executive Director, Focus on the Global South

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 22

 The Global south
The Global south

The area below the North-South Divide is what is known as the South/Developing, or “Poor side”.
These countries are known as developing countries, meaning the Gross Domestic Product (GDP),
Human Development index (HDI) and general standard of living within these countries are
considered inferior to that of countries in the “North”.

Some examples of these countries include Somalia, Vietnam, Haiti and India.

Term: Human Development index (HDI)

The HDI is a measurement system used by the United Nations to
evaluate the level of individual human development in each country.
The HDI uses components such as average annual income and
educational expectations to rank and compare countries. GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 23
Why are countries in the South considered LEDCs?
Why are countries in the South considered LEDCs?

The countries in the south may be considered Less Economically

Developed Countries (LEDCs) due to unstable government and poor
economy.

Countries that are considered to be an LEDC contain citizens who have

a poor standard of living and quality of life.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 24

 Some characteristics of countries in region may
include low Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and low
Human Development Index (HDI). Some LEDCs
skewed HDIs due to a relatively high GDP and
exceptionally low standard of living. An example of
these types of countries is Indonesia.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 25

 MEDC VERSUS LEDC

Source: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/618794304671842306

MEDC VERSUS LEDC

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 26

 Source: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-the-global-south.html

Why is the South at such a disadvantage?

Of the many possible reasons for the South’s woes, the one factor that out is COLONIZATION.
When the countries that are considered MEDCs are listed down, it becomes apparent that most of these
countries were, at some point in history imperialists.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 27

From the 13th century on, most countries that were powerful have stayed
powerful such as France and the United Kingdom. And therefore, most
countries that were inferior have stayed inferior.
The North-South Divide is criticized for being a way of segregating
people along economic lines and is seen as a factor of the widening gap
between developed and developing economies. 

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 28

Source: https//
publicanthropologist.cmi.no/2019/05/09/no-one-wants-to-be-the-global-north-on-being-a-researcher-across-the-north-and-so
uth/

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 29

 flashpoi
Flashpoints and Perspectives of the
perspectiDivide

nts and
ves of the
GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 30
 Many scholars and writers of Globalization
consider “Global South” ambiguous because
it uses a simple geographical criteria to
describe a complex social situation which
distinguishes poor countries to wealthiest.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 31

 It should be clear here
that the implied North-
South dichotomy has
never been as
geographically fixed as
the labels imply.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 32

For example: Australia and New Zealand have always been regarded
as southern outliers of the North. Some of the richest countries in the
world (with a high GDP per capita are classified as part of the Global
South.)
GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 33
A few decades ago, the South was associated with starvation, malnutrition, poverty, epidemics,
low educational levels, political authoritarianism and dictatorship.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 34

 Today, the numbers of
wealthy and extremely
wealthy people are rising
rapidly. South Countries in
Latin America and Asia
contribute large numbers of
well-educated, competent
professionals to the global
workforce.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 35

Despite improvements in socio-economic indicators, and
increase in wealth accumulation and capital and
investment flows among many countries in South,
systems and institution of global economic and financial
governance continue to be dominated by the North
(Guttal, 2016)

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 36

The term Global South is normally used to mean countries that are
faced with Social, political and economic challenges.

For instance:

Environmental Human and Civil

Degradation Poverty Rights Abuses

Mass Hunger
Ethnic and
Displacement of Regional Conflicts
Refugees Diseases
GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 37
 But it is important to look at the
historical, political and even cultural
context of these countries why they are
considered poor.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 38

 Anyhow, the output of the developing world's three leading
economies (Brazil, China and India) is close to equaling the
combined output of the long-standing industrial powers of the
North- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and
the United States.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 39

 South-South Cooperation
ongoing global transformation phenomenon.

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 40

Three Factors that direct the economic development of states within the Global
South according to Jean Grugel (1990):

1
Elite behavior within and
between nation states

2
Integration and cooperation
within the geographic areas

3
Resulting position of states and regions
within the global world market and related
political economic hierarchy

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 41

BRICS is the acronym for an association of the major
emerging national team economies: Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 42

Closing or mitigating the divide has been a goal for many developmental
initiatives. The United Nations has developed a program dedicated to
narrowing the divide though Millennium Development Goals

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 43

The International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other
progressive Northern Countries have embarked on
developmental initiatives such as providing loans and
grants to the Global South in order for these nation states
may also attain development in the long run.
 

GLOBAL DIVIDES: The North and South 44