Chapter 8: Global Stratification

Objectives (slide 1 of 2)

8.1 Global Stratification Overview• Identify world regions that account for the largest

share of world GDP.• Identify a region that is undergoing a dramatic

decrease in its share of world GDP as well as one that is experiencing a rapid increase.

8.2 Wealth and Poverty: A Global View• Identify key differences between countries in

different income categories and how this is reflected in migration.

Objectives (slide 2 of 2)

8.3 Global Stratification: Theoretical Perspectives

• Identify four theories of global stratification and what distinguishes them.

8.4 Global Stratification Effects and the Future

• Identify some of the important trends likely to affect global stratification in the future.

Regional Inequalities and Trends

The distribution of world GDP among different regions both is very uneven and is undergoing dramatic change.

Income Distribution

• Gross domestic product (GDP) is the monetary value of all finished goods and services produced within a country in a year.

• Gross national income (GDI) = GDP – taxes on production + net income payable from abroad.

Poverty

• Absolute poverty: A condition of deprivation in which people have too little money or other resources to obtain all they need for basic survival

Income Inequality

• The Gini coefficient is used to measure the extent to which the distribution of income differs from an equal distribution.

Increasing Inequality Over Time within Nations

The OECD (the Organization for Economic and Cooperative Development), in a 2011 report, provides data showing the gap between rich and poor in OECD countries. The OECD countries are 34 mostly high-income countries widely regarded as developed countries with “very high” Human Development Index (HDI) scores.

Life Expectancy at Birth• Life expectancies at birth for high-income

countries include: the United States (78), United Kingdom (80), Japan (83), and Australia (82). For middle-income countries, life expectancies are generally in the high 60s or low 70s, such as for the Ukraine (69), China (73), the Russian Federation (69), Brazil (73), and Mexico (76). Low-income countries have life expectancies ranging from highs like Bangladesh (68), India (65), and Pakistan (65) to lows for Guinea (53) and Sierra Leone (47).

Infant Mortality Rates

• Infant mortality is measured as the number of deaths per 1,000 infants born live in a year.

Adult Literacy Rate

• Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people age 15 and older who can read and write.

Gender Differences in Education

• Countries in which 50% of secondary education pupils are female are more likely to treat women fairly in other areas.

Water Quality

An infrastructure statistic that has implications for health and public welfare is access to improved water supplies.

Consumption and Pollution: CO2 Emissions

Consumption and the resulting pollution in different countries are also highly related to income categories (Figure 8-16).

Technology: Internet Users, Telephone Lines, and Cell Phones

People living in countries with greater access to technologies such as the Internet, telephone lines, or cell phones have a better standard of living and greater opportunity afforded by those technologies for improving both their economic and social well-being.

“Voting with Their Feet:” Migration Rates (slide 1 of 2)

• Net migration rate: The number of people moving into a country (immigration) minus the number of people moving out of the country (emigration)– Immigration: The number of people moving

into a country– Emigration: The number of people moving

out of a country

Voting with Their Feet:” Migration Rates (slide 2 of 2)

In 2010, only high-income countries showed a net in-migration, or net gain, of about 14 people per 1,000. Middle-income countries lost about 3 people per 1,000, and low-income countries lost almost 9 people per 1,000 that year.

Forced Migration: Refugees and Human Trafficking

• Refugee: Someone who was forced to leave his or her country of origin to avoid violence and bloodshed in civil wars, regional conflicts, and other disputes

• Human trafficking: The smuggling of humans, in which a victim relies on a smuggler to help him or her enter a country illegally

• Forced labor: People who are physically coerced to work• Bonded labor: An exploitive arrangement in which the

victim becomes indebted to underdefined, undefined, or exploitative terms, making it impossible to pay off the debt

• Sex trafficking: Victims are forced to work against their will in the sex industry

Emigration of Highly Skilled People

• Brain drain/bright flight: The emigration of highly skilled people from a country

Modernization Theory (slide 1 of 2)

• Modernization theory: A theory that argues that progress can be made in poor countries through the greater economic and social development that comes from adopting modern technologies, cultural values, and economic institutions

Modernization Theory (slide 2 of 2)

• Modernization occurs in four stages:1. Traditional stage: Characterized by fatalism, an emphasis on

traditional values, little or no investment or saving for the future, little work ethic, and little or no change

2. Take-off stage: A period of accelerating economic growth, a decline in the influence of tradition, the beginnings of a modern market economy, the growth of trade, increased individualism, risk taking, materialism, and saving for the future

3. Drive to technological maturity: The country adopts the cultural values that support a modern complex society, reinvests in industry, and begins to mature.

4. High mass consumption: People in the country enjoy a high standard of living based on the mass consumption of goods and services.

Dependency Theory

• Colonialism: A world stratification system in which powerful nations forced weaker nations to become colonies, thereby securing them as sources of raw materials and markets for goods produced by the stronger nations

• Neocolonialism: Former colonies often continue to be dominated by more powerful nations in the world economy

World Systems Theory• World systems theory: A theory that argues that

globalization unites countries into a single worldwide political and economic system of interrelationships.

• Peripheral countries: The most dependent countries in world systems theory, having low levels of industrialization

• Core countries: The high-income countries that dominate the world economic system

• Semiperipheral countries: The middle-income countries, between the core countries and peripheral countries, having intermediate levels of industrialization, some manufacturing and services, and greater autonomy than peripheral countries

The International Division of Labor Theory

• International division of labor theory: A theory that argues that multinational corporations split production into tasks that are then performed in whatever part of the world can provide the most profitable combination of labor and technology

• Global commodity chains: Worldwide networks of production activities are required to produce the finished product for sale

The Consequences of Global Inequality

• Increasing global competition and reshuffling at the top

• Increasing inequality within countries• Political instability

Global Inequality: Theoretical Insights

• Increased worldwide dependence• The rise of the corporation and the

decline of the nation state• Changes driven by technology