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Chapter 18: The Third World |
Chapter eighteen examines the Third World, which is comprised
of the relatively poor, nonindustrial nations of Latin America,
Africa, and Asia. Several characteristics are common to most
Third World countries: a legacy of colonialism, an economy based
on agriculture, and rapid population growth. Various theories
of development attempt to explain the poverty of the Third World
as a result of social action and social structures. The modernization
theory—the belief that Third World countries would eventually
experience industrial revolutions like those in England and
the U.S.—describes five stages of economic growth: the
traditional society, the emergence of the preconditions for
take-off, the take-off, the drive to maturity, and the age of
high mass consumption. The dependency theory attributes the
failure of Third World countries to "take-off" to their dependence
on already developed First World countries. The world systems
theory emphasizes the social structures of global inequality,
especially in a global division of labor that exploits Third
World countries. In spite of the many challenges and barriers
facing them, some Third World countries, like South Korea, Taiwan,
and Singapore, have achieved high levels of industrialization
and penetrated the global market.
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