Uneven Development Flashcards
Development
a process that brings about changes in economic prosperity and quality of life; an improvement in the material conditions of life; measured by economic criteria, but increasingly in more holistic ways including health, education and so on
More developed world
A group of countries, including Canada, the US, most of Europe, Australis, New Zeland and Japan that are characterized by a high standard of living and social well being
Less developed World
Large group of countries characterized by low standards of living and social well-being
Gross Domestic product
measure of the market value of all goods and services produced within a country over a given period of time (usually 1 year)
Colonialism
The forceful appropriation of foreign territory; usually established and maintained through military and political structures; creates unequal cultural and economic relations; usually involves displacemnt of indigenous population. Less develp- those taken over by foreign colonizer
Human development index
A numerical measure of how well basic human needs are being met; a composite index incorporating health (life expectancy), education (yrs of chooling0 and income (gross national income per capita)
Modernization theory
Walter Rostow, economist
Questioned how newly independent countries in Africa and Asia would survive economically- described the process of industrialization
5 stages of modernization theory
- traditional: subsistence farming, low tech, resistance to change
- pre-condtions for take-off: new political leadership, greater acceptance of change, economic diversification
- Take off: an industrial revolution, urbanization, economic growth
- Drive to maturity: international trade and greater economic competitiveness
- High mass consumption: accumulation of wealth, a shift towards services (rather than production)
Industrialization
a process of economic and social change tha transforms a society (country) from largely agricultural, involving an extensive reorganization of the economy towards manufacturing and of society towards being urban; typically associated with an industrial revolution; often regarded as a key step in increasing a country’s level of development.
Dependence
in political context, a relationship in which one state (or people) is dependent on and therefore is dominated by, another state
Dependency theory
A theory that connects disparities in levels of development to the relationship between dependent and dominant states
-A long history of economic, political and social domination by a colonial power resulted in colonies becoming dependent
-this dependence has inhibited colonies from developing
-critics- question how some colonies have made significant economic progress- ie Canada
World systems theory
Wallerstein
a set of ideas centred around the notion that the world is an interdependent system of countries linked together by an economic and political competition that shapes relations between core (more developed), semi-peripheral (less developed) and peripheral (least developed) countries.
GNI
a monetary measure of the market value of goods and services produced within a country, plus income from investments abroad, over a given period of time.
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)
A tool that measures the relative cost of a common market basket of goods and services for comparing cost of living between countries; useful in conjunction with aggregate macroeconomic measures of economic activity such as GDP per capita and GNI per capita
narrows the gap between the rich and poor countries but does not significantly alter the fundamental social relationship.
The green revolution
the 20th century introduction of new technologies (including mechanization, fertilizers, pesticides, new crop strains, and more intensive land use) which dramatically increased agricultural production, especially as they were introduced in areas of the less developed world; sometimes referred to as the third agricultural revolution.
