Since the 1960s, most African countries have regained the power to govern themselves; However, many countries continue to struggle to overcome past interference. (World Poverty, 2012a). The anti-globalization movement is a global counter-movement based on the principles of environmental sustainability, food sovereignty, labor rights, and democratic accountability, challenging the business model of globalization Economic and social inequalities are often linked (Myrdal, 1970). For example, as the table below shows, people`s life expectancy depends heavily on where they were born by chance. Capital flight describes the jobs and infrastructure that move from one country to another. Look at the American auto industry. At the beginning of the twentieth century, cars driven in the United States were manufactured here and thousands of workers were employed in Detroit and in the companies that produced everything that made it possible to build cars. However, as the fuel crisis of the 1970s hit and people in the United States increasingly sought imported cars with better gasoline consumption, U.S. auto production began to decline. During the recession from 2007 to 2009, the U.S. government bailed out the three major automakers, highlighting their vulnerability. At the same time, Japanese companies Toyota and Honda as well as the South Korean Kia maintained a stable level of sales. We examined functionalist and theoretical perspectives of conflicts over global inequalities as well as theories of modernization and dependency.
How could a symbolic interactionist approach this question? Poverty rates in some Latin American countries, such as Mexico, have improved recently, thanks in part to investments in education. But other countries like Paraguay and Peru continue to fight. Although there is a large amount of foreign investment in this part of the world, it is usually high-risk speculative investments (rather than the more stable long-term investments that Europe often makes in Africa and Asia). The volatility of these investments means that the region has not been able to take advantage of them, especially if they are associated with high interest rates on relief loans. In addition, national political struggles, illicit drug trafficking and corrupt governments have increased the pressure (World Poverty 2012c). Pretend to be a sociologist who studies global inequality by looking at the child labor that makes Barbie dolls in China. What are you focusing on? How do you find this information? What theoretical perspective could you use? Read more about the anti-globalization movement on Naomi Klein`s website: www.naomiklein.org/main What do the drivers of an unlicensed high-speed taxi do in St. Have Katharinen, a seamstress working at her home in Mumbai and a street tortilla seller in Mexico City in common? They are all members of the underground economy, a vaguely defined, unregulated market that is free of taxes, government permits, or human protection. Official statistics before the 2008 global recession suggest that the underground economy accounted for more than 50 per cent of the non-agricultural labour force in Latin America; in parts of Asia and Africa, it was even 80% (Chen, 2001). A recent Wall Street Journal article discusses the challenges, parameters, and surprising benefits of this informal market.
Wages earned in most jobs in the informal economy, especially in peripheral countries, are paltry – a few rupees for a handmade bracelet in a market, or perhaps 250 rupees (about 4.50 CAD) to sell fruit and vegetables for a day (Barta 2009). But these tiny sums mark the difference between the survival and extinction of the world`s poor. To learn more about the existence and impact of global poverty, read the data here: openstaxcollege.org/l/poverty_data stratification leads to inequality when resources, opportunities, and privileges are distributed according to position in the social hierarchy. In short, this means that women in poor households are more likely to starve to death than men; in agricultural assistance programs, women are less likely to receive assistance than men; and often women take care of families without male counterpart. While the majority of the world`s poorest countries are in Africa, the majority of the world`s poorest people are in Asia. As in Africa, Asia is with inequalities in the distribution of poverty, with Japan and South Korea possessing much more wealth than India and Cambodia. In fact, most of the poverty is concentrated in South Asia. One of the most pressing causes of poverty in Asia is simply the pressure that the size of the population puts on its resources. In fact, many believe that China`s recent success has a lot to do with its draconian rules of population control. According to the U.S. State Department, China`s market-oriented reforms have contributed to a significant reduction in poverty and the speed at which it has experienced an increase in income levels (U.S. Department of State 2011b).
However, all regions of Asia have experienced the global recession, from the poorest countries whose aid programmes have been affected to the more industrialized countries whose own industries have slowed down. These factors make it unlikely that local poverty will improve in the foreseeable future (World Poverty 2012b). This was the time when we thought that “developed countries” should provide foreign aid to the least developed countries to raise their standard of living (i.e. to be more like them). Unlike developed and developed countries, the world`s least industrialized countries have extremely low economic growth and have the lowest Human Development Index (HDI) scores in the world. The HDI is the measure of development used by the United Nations. The HDI takes into account per capita gross domestic product (GDP), per capita income, literacy rate, life expectancy, basic infrastructure and other factors that influence living standards to determine a country`s level of development. To be considered a least industrialized country or a least developed country (LDC), as they are commonly called, a country must have a small economy and a low standard of living. The World Bank defines high-income countries as having a GNI of at least $12,276 per capita. It separates countries from the OECD (Organisation for Economic and Cooperative Development), a group of 34 countries whose governments work together to promote economic growth and sustainability.
According to the Labour Bank (2011), the average GNI of a high-income OECD country was $40,136 per capita in 2010; on average, 77% of the population of these countries was urban. Some of these countries are Canada, the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom (World Bank, 2011). In 2010, the average GNI of a non-OECD high-income country was $23,839 per capita and 83% was urban. Examples of these countries are Saudi Arabia and Qatar (World Bank 2011). The majority of the world`s poorest countries are located in Africa. This is not to say that there is no diversity within the countries of this continent; Countries like South Africa and Egypt have much lower poverty rates than, for example, Angola and Ethiopia. Overall, African income levels have declined relative to the rest of the world, meaning that Africa as a whole is becoming relatively poorer. To exacerbate the problem, there was a drought in Northeast Africa in 2011 that caused hunger among many people in the region. While most of the world`s poorest countries are located in Africa, most of the world`s poorest people are in Asia. (Why?) Like Africa, Asia is in an unequal distribution of wealth.
Japan, South Korea, Indonesia have much more wealth than Laos and Cambodia, for example. In fact, most of the poverty is concentrated in South Asia. Centuries of colonialism also influenced the economic development of many Asian countries. Another cause of poverty in Asia is the pressure that the size of the population puts on its resources. In fact, many believe that China`s recent success has a lot to do with its strict rules of population control. 7. Maya is a 12-year-old girl who lives in Thailand. She is homeless and often does not know where she will sleep or when she will eat.
One could say that Maya lives in _____ .