SOC308H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Jared Diamond, World Economy, Modernization Theory
Global Inequality Lecture 3
• Kuznet Curve → a trajectory that most nations will follow, rational for this based on
primarily agricultural societies. As industry begins to develop there is a separation
between upper class and lower class as the result of sectors of high and low
productivity. Apex is where industry will grow so much hits this point, where those in
low productivity start to have high productivity leads to a shrink in inequality gap lots of
growth and little inequality. Overall actual data has shown the curve to go back up,
things have not become more equal.
• Jared Diamond:
- First big undertakings to disprove notions of intelligence, race as factors contributing
to nations being behind.
- Conditions of opportunity and necessity, making a geographical based argument,
where they were allowed for a greater use of tools, nations that were in geographic
nations where there was surplus of tools had greater chances of development.
- Tools such has conditions such as surplus to store, access to animals.
- Problem with geography based argument? Almost any land can be used, Mexcio and
US only a line separates them, North Korea and South Korea very close but very
different therefore making geography not enough.
• Nations develop as either extractive→ take it from you or inclusive→ invest,
distributive, people are apart of this. (Robinson) once imbedded difficult to change.
Connects extractive and inclusive on the basis of colonialism and development.
Colonialism as based on extraction of resources, people extracted for a nation at the
cost of another.
• The type of institutions that are in a nation affect how they develop, and those
institutions are the result of colonization.
• Wallerstein:
- World systems developed as a critique to modernization theory, Wallerstein argues
that elite nations are benefiting in underdeveloped nations some of the wealthiest
people live in the poorest nations i.e. Africa.
- Wallerstein rejects the notion of a second or third world, there is one world
connected by complex economic framework. Just as individual behaviour cannot be
understood without socio cultural understanding, the modern nation is apart of the
world system of capitalism.
- 3 social systems→ 1) mini systems, 2) world empires, 3) world economy.
- Mini systems→ little tribes, self sufficient producing all goods and services for them
by themmm,
Document Summary
Global inequality lecture 3: kuznet curve a trajectory that most nations will follow, rational for this based on primarily agricultural societies. As industry begins to develop there is a separation between upper class and lower class as the result of sectors of high and low productivity. Apex is where industry will grow so much hits this point, where those in low productivity start to have high productivity leads to a shrink in inequality gap lots of growth and little inequality. Overall actual data has shown the curve to go back up, things have not become more equal. First big undertakings to disprove notions of intelligence, race as factors contributing to nations being behind. Conditions of opportunity and necessity, making a geographical based argument, where they were allowed for a greater use of tools, nations that were in geographic nations where there was surplus of tools had greater chances of development.
