How the “Third World”

became the Global South:

The Origins of the Third
World
How the “Third World” became the
“Global South”?
The use of the term “Third World” initially arose during the
Cold War and was used to define countries that did not align
themselves with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) or the Warsaw. There's been a lot of controversy
regarding the use of the term “third world” to describe
certain countries, as it may indicate a lower level of
geopolitical significance compared to countries in the or
“First World” or “Second World.”
The Global South is generally understood to refer to less
economically developed countries. It is a broad term that
comprises a variety of states with diverse levels of
economic, cultural, and political influence in the
international order. There have been many debates in the
last few decades regarding its usefulness, both analytical
and historical, but especially its connection to another
equally debated term, ‘Third World.’ In the midst of these
debates, however, there has appeared a loose consensus
around their meaning and their linkages.
The Third World, as a phrase, also achieved acceptance
because it usefully contrasted the poor countries to the First
World (the non-Communist, high-income, “developed”
countries) and the Second World (Communist countries,
which though not as wealthy as those of the First World,
were then characterized by greater order, higher incomes,
and longer life expectancies.)Most people in the Third World,
though ruled by European colonies, lived far from the global
sources of economic, political, and military power. Until very
recently, most were subjugated, most illiterate, and few
would have been aware that, even then, they formed a
majority of the world population.
What is an example of a Third World
country?
 Under the Cold War definition of a third world country,
Venezuela, the Philippines, and Egypt were third world
countries. Modern developing countries include Somalia,
Honduras, and Nepal.
What is an example of countries that is
under the Global South?

 The countries of Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, and

Mexico have the largest populations and economies among
Southern states.
 The origins of the Third World
In the 19th century the world was largely divided into
several empires, each of which possessed a “civilized”
center and peripheries that were more or less considered
primitive or even “barbaric.” It is unlikely that the citizens
of what is now often called the “Global North” (“developed”
or high-income countries) would have given much thought to
the inhabitants of what was to become known as the Third
World, and now, the Global South, also called “developing”
or low-income countries.
The term "the Third World" was coined in 1952 by the French
demographer, anthropologist, and economic historian Alfred
Sauvy, who compared it with the Third Estate, a concept
that emerged in the context of the French Revolution. (First
Estate refers to the clergy and the monarch, Second Estate
to the nobility, and Third Estate to the balance of the
eighteenth-century French population—as much as 98
percent.)
 The concept of the Global South as a synonym for the
Third World began to gain traction in the 1970s, with the
call for a New International Economic Order. But it really
rose to prominence with the 1980 Brandt report.
 The Global South is a term that broadly comprises
countries in the regions of Africa, Latin America and the
Caribbean, Asia (without Israel, Japan, and South Korea),
and Oceania (without Australia and New Zealand),
according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD).
 1. What term cannot be considered separately
from that of the Third World?
 2. Why the third world achieve acceptance?