Different Ways at Looking at the World

Ch. 3Different Ways of Looking at the World

Grouping Countries

• Look at the way each country is an active participant in a globalized world

• Look at 3 major areas:– Economic development– Social development – Political maturity

1. Economic Development

• Level of a community’s material wealth & trade; illustrated by such measures as per capita GDP, ratio of cars to people, per capita electrical power capacity

2. Social Development

• Level of education, healthcare, life expectancy & rate of infant mortality rate in a society

3. Political Maturity

• Looks at factors such as whether a country is democratic, has a low level of corruption, rule of law & an established electoral system

Globalized Model

• Considering the aforementioned areas of development, as well as other characteristics (Gross Domestic Product, Infant Mortality Rate, tourism, Human Development Index-Fig. 3-1) a Globalization Model of grouping countries can be created.

A. The Core

• Canada can be considered a member of the world’s more globalized core (or Core for short).– More globalized core (or Core) – part of the world that contains

countries that are more involved & have benefitted to a greater extent from globalization.

• Canadians share a lifestyle that is the goal of most people who live outside the Core - relatively wealthy, live in a secure environment, have good healthcare, a high degree of freedom and governments that are generally free from serious corruption.

• Other countries classified as Core include: the United States, most of Western Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.

B. Periphery

• Countries previously fitting under the category of Developing or Fifth World are re-assigned to what is known as the Periphery.– Less Globalized Periphery (or Periphery) – parts of the world

that contain countries that are less involved in and have benefitted to a lesser extent from globalization.

• They are much poorer than countries in the Core and their people have much less personal security, political freedom, and civil liberties. Political corruption is often a serious problem.

• Countries include: Zambia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Myanmar, Cambodia

C. Countries in Between

• Countries such as Malaysia and Poland are considered to be newer members of the Core, but are not at the level of Canada or Germany in terms of social development and political maturity.

• Accordingly, it makes sense to divide the Core into two (2) sub-groups: the Old Core with members such as Canada and Germany and the New Core with members like Poland and Malaysia.– New Core – Those countries that have joined the Core (i.e.,

become more globalized) only in recent years. Includes (among many other countries) Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

…• Following a similar logic, the Periphery can be

subdivided into two (2) subgroups: The Near-Core Periphery and the Far Periphery.– Near Core Periphery (or Near Core) – Those countries in the

Periphery that are most globalized and closest to joining the Core.

• Countries such as Iran and the Philippines are clearly more advanced than countries such as Bangladesh and Zambia – they have the potential of joining the Core within the next few decades.

• In contrast, the levels of economic and social development of the countries of the Far Periphery are so limited that it will be years before these countries can become members of the globalized world.

Fig. 3-9 Grouping the World’s Nations

Using Other

• Developed/underdeveloped Worlds: countries divided based on economics

• Developed/developing Worlds: fails to mention that all worlds are changing

• North/South: developed countries tend to be in the northern hemisphere; developing are in the south