Principles Chapter 9

• Refers to the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and prestige on a global basis, resulting in people having vastly different lifestyles and lfie chances both within and among the nations of the world.
• High-, Middle-, Low-income countries

• First World Nations were said to consist of the rich, industrialized nations that primarily had capitalist economic systems and democratic political systems. (US, Canada, Japan, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand.
• Second World nations were said to be countries with at least a moderate level of economic development and a moderate standard of living. (China, North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba)
• Third World - the poorest countries, with little or no industrialization and the lowest standards of living, shortest life expectancies, and highest rates of mortality.

• Developed Nations
• Developing Nations
• Less-Developed Nations
• Underdeveloped Nations (Harry S Truman)in the Southern Hemisphere because of their low gross national product, which today is referred to as gross national income (GNI) - all the goods and services produced in a country in a given year, plus the net income earned outside the country by individuals or corporations. Low standard of living.

According to social scientists, defining poverty involves more than comparisons of personal or household income: It also involves social judgments made by researchers.

• Absolute poverty - People do not have the means to secure the most basic necessities of life.
• Relative poverty - Although people may afford the basic necessities, they are unable to maintain an average standard of living.
• Subjective Poverty - People who do not have as much income as they believe and expect that they should have.

• In the future, continued populations growth, urbanization, environmental degradation, and violent conflict threaten even the meager living conditions of those residing in low-income nations. The quality of life will diminish as natural resources are depleted, the environment is polluted, and high rates of immigration and global political unrest threaten the high standard of living that many people have previously enjoyed.
• With modern technology and world-wide economic growth, it might be possible to reduce absolute poverty and to increase people's opportunities.

The World Bank uses as its measure of income inequality what is known as the Gini coefficient, which ranges from zero (meaning that everyone has the same income) to 100 (one person receives all the income).

The new international division of labor theory is based on the assumption that commodity production is split into fragments that can be assigned to whichever part of the world can provide the most profitable combination of capital and labor. This division of labor has changed the pattern of geographic specialization between countries, whereby high-income countries for labor. The low-income countries provide transnational corporations with a situation in which they can pay lower wages and taxes, an face fewer regulations regarding workplace conditions and environmental protection.

• Low-Income Economies - About half the world's population. Primarily agrarian nations with little industrialization and low levels of national and personal income. Most affected are women and children.
• Middle-Income Economies - About one-third of the world's population. Nations with industrializing economies and moderate levels of national and personal income.
• High-Income Economies - Are found in fifty-six nations. Nations with highly industrialized economies and relatively high levels of national and personal income. Dominate world economy

• Development and Modernization Theory is a perspective that links global inequality to different levels of economic development and suggests that low-income economies can move to middle- and high-income economies by achieving self-sustained economic growth.
• Dependency Theory states that global poverty can at least partially be attributed to the fact that the low-income countries have been exploited by the high-income countries.
• World Systems Theory suggests that what exists under capitalism is a truly global system that is held together by economic ties. From this approach, global inequality does not emerge solely as a result of the exploitation of one country by another. Instead, economic domination involves a complex world system in which the industrialized, high-income nations benefit from other nations and exploit their citizens. The economy is a global system divided into three major types of nations = core, semiperipheral, peripheral.
• The New International Division of Labor Theory is based on the assumption that commodity production is split into fragments that can be assigned to whichever part of the world can provide the most profitable combination of capital and labor.

• Life expectancy is an estimate of the average lifetime of people born in a specific year.
• Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being; not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
• Education and literacy - Education is usually measured in terms of school enrollment and levels of achievement. Literacy is defined in terms of a "literate person": one who can, with understanding, both read and write a short, simple statement about his or her everyday life.

Organizations such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization stepped up their efforts to provide family planning services to the populations so that they could control their own fertility.

Manuel Castells's term for the process by which certain individuals and groups are systematically barred from access to positions that would enable them to have an autonomous livelihood in keeping with the social standards and values of a given social context.

A perspective that links global inequality to different levels of economic development and suggests that low-income economies can move to middle- and high-income economies by achieving self-sustained economic growth.

The belief that global poverty can at least partially be attributed to the fact that the low-income countries have been exploited by the high-income countries.

According to world systems theory, dominant capitalist centers characterized by high levels of industrialization and urbanization.

According to world systems theory, nations that are more developed than peripheral but less developed than core nations.

According to world systems theory, nations that are dependent on core nations for capital, have little or no industrialization (other than what may be brought in by core nations), and have uneven patterns of urbanization.