POLI 2057 Lecture : Poli Sci Final Notes
North-South Gap
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
• Structural differences in income and wealth between the global
North & South
o Millennium Development Goals: adopted by the UN in
2000, aspirational set of goals to aid people in poverty,
focus on basic areas of life . (targets for foreign aid etc.)
o Basic Human Needs
• Food
• Shelter
• Access to Clean Water
• Etc.
o Importance of literacy
o Impact of War
• Conflict Trap: Poor countries are more likely to be
involved in war, mostly Civil War
▪ Likely to be poorer after conflict which causes a
cycle
▪ Destruction of infrastructure
• Subsistence farming vs. cash crops
o Subsistence farming: only growing enough for you to live on
• No "saving for a rainy day", no cash reserves or income
o Cash Crops: Grow a single crop to bring to market
• Market can be saturated with goods which drives down
price, limited variety and supply of food, difficult to
meet food needs (protein, fruit, vegetables etc..)
• Demographics
o Urbanization
o Women
o Migration & Refugees:
• Between countries, people moving from south to north,
Visa restrictions
• "Brain-Drain" on the Global South
• Refugees: when other countries are in civil war and
pour into other countries who cant support them,
fighting can break out as well as disease, seen as a
drain on the country, but have no where to go.
• Theories of Accumulation
o Liberal Economic Theory: puts emphasis on the Individual,
allows people to serve self interest in the hopes that they
will then in turn invest in the economy and improve the
welfare of society, focus on ABSOLUTE gains, doing better
than you did yesterday, regardless of how others are doing,
Individual Entrepreneurship
o Mercantilism: focus on serving economy, competition,
focus on "winning the deal", who do you trade with if there
always has to be a loser?, can increase regional stability
o Socialism: Advocate that the government own some key
industries and public goods
• Importance of Surplus (When Supply exceeds Demand, leads to
growth by allowing for investment and profit)
o Capitalism: Saving or re-investing, no one decides how you
deal with your surplus, example: invest in education i.e.
College
o Socialism: Redistribution, allows for the formation of
Individual markets, but use State intervention in areas in
which it can benefit the state, if you make too much you
will be taxed in order to allow for reinvestment into public
infrastructure.
o Communism: No private surplus, only society owns surplus
• World System
o Periphery vs. Core
• Singer-Prevish theory
• Core (developed countries): Have capital, have
accumulated surplus, industry, need for raw materials
and markets
• Periphery (developing countries who have not gone
through industrialization: Have raw materials, precious
metals etc.
• Periphery sends raw materials to Core who turn them
into products which are then sent back to the Periphery
• Problematic:
▪ How does the periphery ever develop if you never
need to produce your own finished products, how
would you ever compete with companies who are
decades ahead of you?,
▪ Periphery keeps having to send more raw materials
back in order for better goods, how do you grow
economically?, no room for growth in the
Periphery only in the core.
▪ Periphery remains dependent on the Core.
▪ Almost as if a class structure
o Semi-Periphery:
• Intermediate class
• Represents countries who are industrializing ex. India,
China, South Korea
▪ Ex. South Korea: Picked an industry that will give
you high rewards (technology)
▪ Return on investment will be high
o Issues with this theory: Can be seen as too pessimistic,
handful of cases does not mean that will happen in every
case, why did it work in South Korea but not in other
countries?
International Development
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
• Newly Industrializing Countries
o 4 Tigers or The Asian Tigers
Document Summary
Tuesday, march 18, 2014: structural differences in income and wealth between the global. North & south: millennium development goals: adopted by the un in. 2000, aspirational set of goals to aid people in poverty, focus on basic areas of life . (targets for foreign aid etc. : basic human needs, food, shelter, access to clean water, etc. Periphery only in the core: periphery remains dependent on the core, almost as if a class structure, semi-periphery: Intermediate class: represents countries who are industrializing ex. South korea: picked an industry that will give you high rewards (technology: return on investment will be high. Tuesday, march 18, 2014: newly industrializing countries, 4 tigers or the asian tigers, south korea, taiwan, hong kong, singapore, lessons. Isi and export-led growth: export-led growth: choose an industry that is in high demand internationally and educate the population on how to manufacture those goods, financially supported by foreign markets.
