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 LESSON 6: Global Divides

Lesson 6:
Global Divides: The North and The
South (focus on Latin America)

Lesson Overview
Now that you have learned about the roles and functions of selected
international organizations (e.g., United Nations), the structure, political
climate, and challenges of the contemporary global governance in the 21st
century as well as the role and significance of the state in the era of
globalization, you are now expected to explore the existing divides in the
world. Various scholarly works refer to the historical foundation of this
prevailing structure as the core of their examination and analysis.
In this module, you are going to learn the concept of ‘global divides’,
the definition of ‘Global South,’ the historical and contextual explanation
of this so-called divide, the difference between the ‘Global South’ and the
‘Third World’, and how a new conception of global relations emerged from
the experiences of Latin American countries.

Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
Differentiate the ‘Global South’ from the ‘Third World.’
Analyze how a new conception of global relations emerged from the
experiences of Latin American countries.
 LESSON 6: Global Divides

ONLINE/OFFLINE RECITATION:

1. What is the concept of ‘global divides’?

2. What is the difference between the ‘global South’ and
the ‘Third World?

THE CONCEPT OF
‘GLOBAL DIVIDES’
The concept of ‘global divides’ is
associated with the economic, political,
and cultural division of the world.
In the 1980s, the Brandt Line was
conceptualized as a manner of
geographically dividing or classifying
countries into relatively richer and poorer
nations. It is a visual representation of the North-South Divide between their
economies based on GDP per capita. This is proposed by Willy Brandt (former
German Chancellor) through his report as chairman of an Independent Commission.
The result of this report provided an understanding of drastic differences in the
economic development for both the East and West of the world.
Furthermore, the historical narratives of
this notion of ‘global divides’ elaborated
the different reasons or justifications
why this partition existed and is
continuously existing nowadays.
Based on these scholarly works, the
term Global South and Global North
are commonly used to refer to the two
halves of the current global system.
 LESSON 6: Global Divides

THE GLOBAL NORTH AND THE GLOBAL SOUTH

The Global North refers to developed countries such as the United States, Canada,
Europe, Japan, Singapore, Australia, South Korea, and New Zealand whereas the
Global South pertains to Africa, Latin America and developing countries of Asia
(Claudio & Abinales, 2018).
Based on the provided groupings of
the countries, the concept of ‘global
divides’ can be examined from
economic, political, and cultural
aspects or lenses. Economically, the
Global North is represented by the
rich and developed parts of the
world while the Global South covers
the poor and developing half of it.
As you can observe from the enumerated countries under the Global North, these are
the countries that have a GDP per capita that is above the world’s GDP per capita,
while most nations of the other half have a GDP per capita below the world’s GDP
per capita (Claudio & Abinales, 2018).
In terms of political aspect, the Global
North is perceived as more powerful entity
if its collective strength at the UN Security
Council will be considered because it holds
the three out of five permanent seats in the
said council (Claudio & Abinales, 2018).
Lastly, culturally speaking, diversity reigns in
both the Global North and the Global
South, though the increasing accessibility to
mainstream popular media and the rapid
spread of technology have done significant
implications to multiply or advance and
strengthen the cultural linkages within the
context of a multilingual and multicultural world. (Claudio & Abinales, 2018). While
‘cultural diversity’ is apparent in both the Global North and the Global South, it must
 LESSON 6: Global Divides

be noted that the access to technology and the rapid spread of it is unequal across the
world.

INTERPRETING THE CONCEPT OF ‘GLOBAL DIVIDES’ THROUGH

DIFFERENT LENSES
The terms Global North and the Global South, and the First World and Third World
are used interchangeably in common discourses. Though these two sets of concepts
are related, they are actually different.

The labels First World, Second World, and Third World came into popular use
during the Cold War between the capitalist camp led by the US, UK and their
allies, and the socialist side led by the Soviet Union and its allies.

The capitalist camp was dubbed as the First World whereas the socialist side as the
Second World. The other countries of the world comprising much of Asia, Africa,
and Latin America were called the Third World. The latter group of countries was the
group of former colonies of Western powers, but nevertheless reluctant to be overtly
included in either camp.
At present, many countries labeled as part of the First and Second Worlds during the
Cold World are not part of the Global North while most of the Third World countries
still belong to the Global South.

The division between the Global North and the Global South is caused by the uneven access
to political power, economic resources, and technology. Furthermore, the transition of
industrial production to cheaper labor forces, expanding international trade and
communication and international media have considerable effects in making the world
smaller, yet in other ways contributed to the increasing gap between nations by creating greater
dependency of poor nations to wealthy nations.

This reality is further explained by different perspectives or theories such as

modernization theory, world systems theory, dependency theory, realism, and
liberalism.
During the Cold War, global inequality was (actually) perceived through an economic
lens. Along with developing and developed nations, the terms “less-developed nation”
 LESSON 6: Global Divides

and “underdeveloped nation” were utilized. Modernization theory argued that

societies moved through natural stages of development as they progressed toward
becoming developed societies.
Image 1. Rostow’s Stages of Economic Development

The economist Walt Rostow (1960) provided a very influential schema of

development when he described the linear sequence of developmental stages:
traditional society (agrarian based with low productivity); pre-take off society (state
formation and shift to industrial production, expansion of markets, and generation
of surplus); take-off (rapid self-sustained economic growth and reinvestment of capital
in the economy); maturity (a modern industrialized economy, highly capitalized and
technologically advanced); the age of high mass-consumption (shift from basic goods
to “durable” goods (TVs, cars, refrigerators, etc.), and luxury goods, general prosperity,
egalitarianism). Like most versions of modernization theory, Rostow’s schema
describes a linear process of development culminating in the formation of democratic,
capitalist societies. It was clearly in line with Cold War ideology, but it also echoed
widely held beliefs about the idea of social progress as an evolutionary process.
However, this theory is criticized based on the following claims: (a) many economists
think that this model is a western concept of development that only works for western
 LESSON 6: Global Divides

countries; it discounts the reality of varying contexts of countries; (b) this model
believes that the path of development is linear and uniform however, reality varies.
Image 2. Wallerstein’s World System Theory

The second approach to note in understanding global divides is the world systems
theory. Wallerstein’s (1979) world systems approach uses an economic and political
basis to understand global inequality. Development and underdevelopment were not
‘stages’ in a natural process of gradual modernization, but the product of power
relations and colonialism. He conceived the global economy as a complex historical
system supporting an economic hierarchy that placed some nations in positions of
power with numerous resources and other nations in a state of economic
subordination. Those that were in a state of subordination faced significant obstacles
to mobilization.
The third lens is dependency theory. Theotonio Dos Santos, one of Dependency
theory’s eminent scholars, defined dependency as a “situation in which the economy of
certain countries is conditioned by the development and expansion of another economy to which
the former is subjected or categorized as colonial dependency or financial-industrial dependency.”
He further noted that aside from influencing the international affairs of the
subordinated country, dependency also covers “their internal structures: the orientation of
production, the forms of capital accumulation, the reproduction of the economy, and
 LESSON 6: Global Divides

simultaneously, their social and political

structure” (Claudio & Abinales,
2018). Simply put, dependency
theory scholars contended that
industrialized countries take
advantage of poor countries through
economic and political
neocolonialism which perpetuate
the latter’s pre-industrial or semi-
industrial status. Furthermore, in a
speech at a plenary session of
UNCTAD – Ernesto “Che” Guevara
summarized this theory’s critique of
the global status quo. According to
him, the prerequisite for the
establishment of economic
dependence is the “inflow of the
capital” from the developed countries. This inflow takes different forms – (a) loans
granted on onerous terms, (b) investment that place a given country in the power of
the investors, (c) almost total technological subordination of the dependent country
to the developed country, (d) control of
country’s foreign trade by the
international big monopolies, and (e) in
extreme cases, the use of force as an
economic weapon in support of other
forms of exploitation. With this, the
weaker countries are held hostages by
the powerful and privileged countries.
Additionally, according to Claudio &
Abinales (2018), there are scholars who
enumerated four important factors that
worsen developing countries’ dependency on the developed countries. These factors
are the following: (1) urban development, together with inadequate increase in
agricultural production of foodstuffs, which make necessary increasing imports of
basic food products, (2) increase in administrative expenditure out of proportion with
 LESSON 6: Global Divides

the possibilities of the local economy, (3) Europeanizing the way of life and consumer
habits of the privileged strata and the alteration of the structures of income

distribution, and (4) inadequate industrial development and disequilibrium in the

industrial structures which necessitate imports of production goofs and intermediate
goods.
Fourth, realism offers another approach in examining this concept. Though realist
scholars have seldom addressed the nature and origin of the North-South conflict,
they believe that the differences between developed and developing countries were
overshadowed by the superpower balance and the rise and fall of international
economic regimes focusing on the needs of advanced or developed countries (Lake,
1987). Realism highlighted the wide gap of power distribution in the international
system. The Global North is perceived as more powerful entity because of its collective
strength at the UN Security Council - it holds the three out of five permanent seats in
the said council. Also, countries that belong to this group are usually those who assert
influence, power, and dominance against weaker ones (Claudio & Abinales, 2018).
Lastly, the approach of liberalism in understanding the concept can also be done.
Despite that this theory advances the cooperation between and among countries and
that international institutions facilitate international cooperation; global divides can
also be observed. Most of the leaders or facilitators of various international
organizations are the developed countries or members of the Global North.
 LESSON 6: Global Divides

Generally, these theories or perspectives help us better understand the reality or

concept of global divides.

POINTS TO PONDER:

1. Consider that you were born in another part of the world, how
are you going to describe your life? Why?
2. What types of things do we rely and use on a daily basis? Are
these necessities or luxuries?
3. What do you think is your daily routine compare to someone
living in a “have not” country?

THE GLOBAL SOUTH AND THE THIRD WORLD

The use of labels such as the Global South and the Third World has political
significance. Drawing lines between the global south and the global north, the first
world and the third world, has a
powerful political function.
These labels allow those engaged
in social and political action
against global inequality – the
critics and activists - to make
distinctions between
beneficiaries of uneven system of
political power. For example,
contemporary critics of
neoliberal globalization utilize
the global south as a banner to
rally countries victimized by the
violent economic ‘cures” of
institutions like the IMF.
Currently, most of the third world countries still belong to the global south. Global
South is used to describe a group of countries based on income whereas the term
“Third World” historically denoted countries not politically aligned with either
capitalist camp or socialist bloc.
 LESSON 6: Global Divides

‘GLOBAL DIVIDES’ AND

GLOBALIZATION
Despite the promises of a so-
called borderless world under
globalization, authors William
R. Thompson and Rafael
Reuveny acknowledged that
the significant gaps between
the Global North and the
Global South are still
observable especially on
technological diffusion or
spread of technological innovation through research and development and debts.
They opined that “radical technological diffusion is largely restricted to the North. Each
subsequent iteration of radical economic change thereby further contributes to widening gap
between the two halves of the world” (Claudio & Abinales (2018). In other words, present
and future innovations that improve the production and promote efficiency do little
to change the status quo where the Global South is condemned to economic
dependency because the Global North still monopolizes such technological advances
which give the latter enormous advantage over the former.
Thompson and Reuveny
further argued that
“Southern states are highly
vulnerable to external market
fluctuations. If states
specialize in providing raw
materials for Northern
consumption and the
demand/prices for these
commodities fluctuate, it
stands to reason that Southern
economic prospects are held
hostage to variable extents by processes over which their own economies have little control …
Southern economies periodically and repetitively undergo debt crises that reflect a number of
 LESSON 6: Global Divides

things but certainly encompass structured relations between North and South. When Northern
economies falter, Southern economies suffer even more. Historically, they have experienced
reduced trade demand, restricted investment capital and gunboat diplomacy sometimes leading
to outright military occupation by Northern states…Southern economic growth prospects, as a
consequence, are handicapped by this vulnerability and cyclical roadblocks to further
development.”
Additionally, economist Ha-Joon Chang’s historical study of capitalist globalization
remarks that development process is a difficult path to take for the developing
countries, considering that developed countries have been “kicking away the ladder”
which they have used to climb to the top, to prevent developing countries from
adopting protectionist economic policies aimed at shielding local industries from stiff
foreign competition under foreign trade (Claudio & Abinales, 2018).

LATIN AMERICA AND THE

PHILIPPINES UNDER
GLOBALIZATION

The Philippines and most Latin

American countries, and other
regions formerly colonized by
Western powers are still relatively
poorer than the countries that
colonized them because of their
inability to catch up with the
Global North’s twin policies of
innovation and industrialization
(Claudio & Abinales, 2018). Hence, these countries are still labeled as Third World
nations wherein wealth gaps between the poorest and the richest are also observable
in these regions.

In this regard, the Philippines is comparable with Latin America because the latter is
a region that still works as a menial. Scholars supported this by stating that Latin
America continues to exist at the service of other’s needs, as a source and reserve of
oil and iron, of copper and meat, of fruit and coffee, the raw materials and goods
 LESSON 6: Global Divides

destined for rich countries

which profit more
from consuming them than
Latin America does from
producing them. Latin America
is the region of open
veins. Everything, from the
discovery until today, has always
been transmuted into
European – or later
United States – capital, and as
such has accumulated in distant
centers of power. This country’s defeat was always implicit in the victory of others; its
wealth has always generated its poverty by nourishing the prosperity of others – the
empires and their native overseers (Claudio & Abinales, 2018).

Similarly, the Philippines remains poor or underdeveloped because its imports remain
high while the government fails to strengthen the domestic market through
industrialization, especially when remittances from citizens working overseas provide
enough dollars to help keep the national economy afloat. Capital, debt, machinery
or technology, and high value products comprise the bulk of Philippine imports; while
workers/professionals, raw materials, semi-manufactures goods, and profits are among
the Philippines’ exports.

References
 Textbook: Manfred Stegger, Paul Batersby, and Joseph M. Siracusa, eds. 2014.
The SAGE Handbook of Globalization. Two vols. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
 Chapter 1 of textbook: The Contemporary World. Lisandro Claudio and
Patricio Abinales. 2018. C&E Publishing, Inc.
 Chapter 1 of textbook: Journeys Through Our Contemporary World. San
Juan, David Michael. Vibal Publishing House.
 Lake, D. Power and the Third World: Towards a Realist Political Economy of
North-South Relations. International Studies Quarterly, 31 (2), pp. 217-234.

 LESSON 6: Global Divides

 ASSESSMENT TASKS
Essay. This is an individual output.
‘You have been chosen to represent the university in a national essay writing contest
organized by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), with the theme “The Future of Latin
American and Philippine Nations, Institutions and Communications under
Globalization.” You are advised to write coherently and concisely, and to cite pertinent
reference materials.

Use the following questions to guide you in substantiating your essay:

1. How can the characteristics, nature, or experiences of Latin American nations and
the Philippines, as well as institutions and communities help them navigate through
or yield under globalization in terms of political and economic aspects?

2. Considering the nature of prevailing agreements and treaties across nations and
regions; existing literature; and data, describe the path or course of the economy,
politics, and culture of Latin American countries and the Philippines. Likewise,
characterize their institutions and communities under globalization.

3. Submit your output [document file] in the assigned submission bin.

Rubric for Assessment:

Content: 15
Presentation: 10
Organization: 10
Format/Grammar: 5
Total – 40

INFOGRAPHIC. Prepare an infographic promoting awareness on the effects of

globalization, highlighting the challenges and opportunities it poses to the Philippines as part
of the Global South. Ensure clarity, effective use of colors, and plain language to make it
appealing to common folk and the youth.

Rubric for Assessment:

Content: 20
Originality/Creativity: 15
Relevance: 15
Total – 50