Please write a paper analyzing the film using the concepts from Chapter 8 and 9 This is the film: https://www.gapminder.org/videos/dont-panic-end-po... I've attached the question and I would like to solve it using text book as one and only resource Tex

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Home >Biology homework help >Physiology homework help >Please write a paper analyzing the film using the concepts from Chapter 8 and 9 This is the film: https://www.gapminder.org/videos/dont-panic-end-po... I've attached the question and I would like to solve it using text book as one and only resource Tex

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201

!"It takes a village to raise a child,” the saying goes, but it also seems to take a world to make a shirt—or so it seems from looking at the global dimensions of the production and distribution of goods. Try this simple experiment: Look at the labels on your clothing. (If you do this in class, try to do so without embarrassing yourself and others!) What do you see? “Made in Indonesia,” “Made in Vietnam,” “Made in Malawi”—all indicating the linkage of the United States to clothing manu- facturers around the world. The popular brand Nike, as just one example, contracts with factories all over the world. Most of Nike’s products are made in hundreds of factories throughout Asia.

Taking your experiment further, ask yourself: Who made your clothing? A young person trying to lift his or her family out of poverty? Might it have been a child? The International Labour Organization (ILO) distinguishes child labor (those under age 17) from employed children (such as a teenager holding a part-time job or babysitting). Child labor specifically refers to “work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and their dignity and that is also harmful to mental and physical development” (International Labour Organiza- tion 2014). The ILO estimates that about 168 million children around the world are trapped in child labor, almost half of whom are involved in dangerous work and many of whom are separated from their families and possibly held in slavery (International Labour Organization 2014). This does not mean that a child necessarily made your clothing. In fact, most child labor occurs in agricultural work, although a significant com- ponent (25 percent) is in service and manufacturing work.

Data on child labor indicate that our global systems of work are deeply connected to inequality. Especially in the poorest countries, trying to survive forces people into forms of work— or lack of work—that produce some of the world’s greatest injustices—both for children and for adult women and men. As we will see in this chapter, nations are interlocked in a system of global inequality, in which the status of the people in one country is intricately linked to the status of the people in others.

Recall from Chapter 1 that C. Wright Mills identified the task of sociology as seeing the social forces that exist beyond individuals. This is particularly important when studying global inequality. A person in the United States (or western Europe

Global Stratification

● Define global stratification and describe its components

● Compare and contrast different explanations of global stratification

● Describe the various consequences of global stratification

● Explain the causes and consequences of global poverty

● Summarize the impact of globalization for social change

in this chapter, you will learn to:

Global Stratification 202

Theories of Global Stratification 208

Consequences of Global Stratification 212

World Poverty 216

Globalization and Social Change 223

Chapter Summary 224

“

2 02 CH APTER 9

or Japan) who thinks he or she is expressing individualism by wearing the latest style is actually part of a global system of inequality. The adornments available to that person result from a whole network of forces that produce affluence in some nations and poverty in others.

The United States and other wealthy nations are dominant in the system of global stratification. Those at the top of the global stratification system have enormous power over the fate of other nations. Although world conflict stems from many sources, including religious differences, cultural conflicts, and struggles over political philosophy, the inequality between rich and poor nations causes much hatred and resentment. One cannot help but wonder what would happen if the differences between the wealth of some nations and the poverty of others were smaller. In this chapter, we examine the dynamics and effects of global stratification.

Global Stratification In the world today, there are not only rich and poor peo- ple but also rich and poor countries. Some countries are well off, some countries are doing so-so, and a growing number of countries are poor and getting poorer. There is, in other words, a system of global stratification in which the units are countries, much like a system of stratification within countries in which the units are individuals or families.

Just as we can talk about the upper-class or lower- class individuals within a country, we can also talk of the equivalent upper-class or lower-class countries in this world system. One manifestation of global stratification is the great inequality in life chances that differentiates nations around the world. Simple measures of well- being (such as life expectancy, infant mortality, access to education and health, and measures of environmen- tal quality) reveal the consequences of global inequality. The gap between rich and poor people is also sometimes greatest in nations where poverty rates are highest. No longer can nations be understood without considering the global system of stratification of which they are a part.

The effects of the global economy on inequal- ity have become increasingly evident, as witnessed by public concerns about jobs being sent overseas. Unions, environmentalists, and other groups have coa- lesced to protest global trade policies that they think threaten U.S. jobs, erode workers’ rights, and contrib- ute to environmental degradation. The global economy has also further spread McDonaldization, bringing this form of production and consumption throughout the world (see Chapter 6). Popular stores such as Gap and Niketown often have been targets of political protests because they symbolize the expansion of global capital- ism. Protestors see the growth of such stores as eroding local cultural values and spreading the values of unfet- tered consumerism around the globe. A student-based movement has also emerged to protest the sweatshop labor that is often used by companies that manufacture college logo apparel.

The relative affluence of the United States means that U.S. consumers have access to goods produced around the world. A simple thing, such as a child’s toy, can represent this global system. For many young girls in the United States, Barbie is the ideal of fashion and romance. Young girls may have not just one Barbie, but several, each with a specific role and costume. Cheaply bought in the United States, but produced overseas, Barbie is manufactured by those probably not much older than the young girls who play with her and who would need all of their monthly pay to buy just one of the dolls that many U.S. girls collect by the dozens (Press 1996: 12).

The manufacturing of toys and clothing is an example of the global stratification that links the United States and other parts of the world. Global outsourcing locates jobs overseas even while support- ing U.S.-based businesses. Many of the jobs that have been outsourced in this way are semiskilled jobs, such as data entry, medical transcription, and so forth. Increasingly, outsourced jobs are also found in high- tech industries, software design, market research, and product research activities. Although it is difficult to measure the extent of global outsourcing, it has become a common phenomenon—something you experience when, for example, you engage in a tel- ephone or Internet transaction, such as getting help for your computer or arranging a trip. India, China, and Russia have been major players in the economy of global outsourcing, but other nations, such as Ireland, South Africa, Poland, and Hungary, among others, are increasingly playing an important role. The conse- quences can be very positive for the economies of the host nations. The practice of outsourcing also lowers personnel costs for U.S.-based companies, given the lower wages in nations where jobs flow. Outsourc- ing can be at the expense of jobs for workers in the United States, however (Rajan and Srivastava 2007). The practice of global outsourcing increasingly links the economies and social systems of nations around the world.

GLOBAL STRATI F ICAT I O N 2 03

Rich and Poor One dimension of stratification between countries is wealth. Enormous differences exist between the wealth of the countries at the top of the global stratification sys- tem and the wealth of the countries at the bottom. As you can see in ▲ Figures 9.1 and 9.2, a very small pro- portion of the world’s population receives a vast share of all income—a visual reminder of the inequality that characterizes our world.

You will recall that we looked at the “champagne glass” of inequality within the United States in Chapter 8. A similar image can show you the inequality of income worldwide (see Figure 9.2). As you can see, a small

Distribution of income World population arranged by income

Richest

Poorest

The poorest fifth receives 1.0% of total world income

Each horizontal band represents an equal fifth of the world’s people

The richest fifth receives 82.8% of total world

income

9.9% of income

4.2% of income

2.1% of income

1.0% of income

▲ Figure 9.1 World Income Distribution Data from: Ortiz, Isabel, and Matthew Cummins. 2011. “Global Inequality: Beyond the Bottom Billion.” Social and Economic Policy Working Paper. UNICEF, April. www.worldbank.org

percentage of the world’s population has a very disproportionate share of world income.

There are different ways to meas- ure the wealth of nations, but the most common is to use the per capita gross national income (GNI). The GNI measures the total output of goods and services produced by resi- dents of a country each year plus the income from nonresident sources, divided by the size of the popula- tion. The GNI does not truly reflect what individuals or families receive in wages or pay; it is simply each person’s annual share of their coun- try’s income if income were shared equally. You can use this measure to get a picture of global stratification (see ■ Map 9.1).

Per capita GNI is reliable only in countries that are based on a cash economy. It does not measure infor- mal exchanges or bartering in which resources are exchanged without money changing hands. These non- cash transactions are not included in the GNI calcula- tion, but they are common in developing countries. As a result, measures of wealth based on the GNI, or other statistics that count cash transactions, are less reliable among the poorer countries and may underestimate the wealth of the countries at the lower end of the economic scale.

The per capita GNI of the United States, one of the wealthier nations in the world (though not the wealthiest on a per capita basis), was $53,860

Some nations have so much wealth that they actually serve gold as food, such as these real gold leaves on a dessert in Dubai!

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in 2013. The per capita GNI in Burundi, one of the poorest countries in the world, was $280. Even com- pared to other well-to-do, industrialized nations, the United States’ per capita GNI shows us to be one of the most affluent nations in the world; GNI per capita is $46,140 in Japan, $46,100 in Germany, $39,140 in the United Kingdom, and only $6520 in China (World Bank 2014b).

Which are the wealthiest nations? ▲ Figure 9.3 shows the ten richest and the ten poorest countries in the world (measured by the annual per capita GNI). Monaco is the richest nation in the world on a per capita basis. Of course, Monaco has a tiny population compared with the United States. The poorest coun- try in the world is Malawi, closely tied with Burundi, but note how many of the poorest nations are in sub-Saharan Africa, one of the poorest regions of the world. We will return to this fact in the discussion of world poverty later in this chapter.

The poorest nations are largely rural, have high fer- tility rates, large populations, and still depend heavily on subsistence agriculture. In very poor countries, the life of an average citizen is meager. Often poor nations are rich with natural resources but are exploited for such resources by more powerful nations. Still, they rank at the bottom of the global stratification system.

GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$)

no data

$12,476 or more

$1,025 or less

$1,026–$4,035

$4,036–$12,475

Viewing Society in Global Perspective: Rich and Poor Most nations are linked in a world system that produces wealth for some and poverty for others. The GNI (gross national income),

depicted here on a per capita basis for most nations in the world, is an indicator of the wealth and poverty of nations.

Source: The World Bank. 2011. Reprinted by permission. www.worldbank.org

map 9.1

32.6%

18.3%5.7% 4.5%

5.9%

4.1%

19.4%1.2% 1.1% 2.6% 1.4% 1.0% 1.3% 1.7% 2.2%

United States Japan Germany Italy United Kingdom France Spain Canada

All others Brazil

Taiwan Australia Netherlands China Mexico

▲ Figure 9.2 Who Owns the World’s Wealth? Data from: Davies, James B., Susanna Sandstrom, Anthony Shorrocks, and Edward N. Wolff. 2008. “The World Distribution of Household Wealth.” UNU-WIDER, World Institute for Development Economics Research. Helsinki, Finland.

GLOBAL STRATI F ICAT I O N 2 05

Because the poorest nations suffer from extreme poverty, there is terrible human suffering in these places. This also produces instability and the potential for violence, as well as risks to human health. We wit- nessed this in the Ebola virus outbreak that devastated some of the countries of western Africa. The nations most affected are among some of the poorest in the world—the Central African Republic with a GNI of only $320; Burundi, $280; and Malawi, $270. Each of these nations suffers from very high poverty rates, short life expectancy, and poor water facilities. We will look more closely at the nature and causes of such world poverty later in this chapter.

The wealthiest countries, you will see, are largely industrialized nations or those that are oil-rich. These countries represent the equivalent of the upper class. Simply being one of the wealthiest nations in the world does not mean that all of the nation’s population is well off. Some, especially the Scandinavian countries, have low degrees of inequality within. Others, including the United States, have great inequality within, as we have seen in the previous chapter on class inequality.

Moreover, inequality between nations has to be seen in relative terms. For example, a very wealthy person in India may have the income of someone in the bottom 5 percent of income earners in the United States, but within India, this can afford the person an expensive mansion and a highly lavish lifestyle relative to other Indian people (Milanovic 2010).

Inequality within nations is measured by some- thing called the Gini coefficient. The Gini coefficient is a measure of income distribution within a given population or nation. The figure ranges from zero to one, with zero representing a population where there is perfect equality and one indicating a population where just one person has all the money—in other words, the greatest inequality. South Africa has the highest Gini coefficient in the world; the Scandinavian countries, among the lowest. But the United States ranks very high in the degree of internal inequality among other industrialized nations, as you can see from ▲ Figure 9.4. ■ Map 9.2 also gives you a visual image, based on the Gini coefficient, of inequality within nations through- out the world.

Monaco

Lichtenstein

Norway

Switzerland

Qatar

Australia

Sweden

Luxembourg

Singapore

United States

$50,000$0 $100,000

The richest nations

$150,000 $200,000

$100$0 $200 $400$300 $500 $600

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Guinea

Madagascar

Niger

Liberia

Congo, Dem.Republic of

Central African Republic

Burundi

Malawi

The poorest nations

▲ Figure 9.3 The Rich and the Poor: A World View* Data from: The World Bank. 2014b. *Measured by GNI per capita, in U.S. dollars, for 2011. www.worldbank.org

2 0 6 CHAPTER 9

Global Networks of Power and Influence Global stratification involves nations in a large and integrated network of economic and political relation- ships. Power—that is, the ability of a country to exercise

control over other countries or groups of countries—is a significant dimension of global stratification. Countries can exercise several kinds of power over other coun- tries, including military, economic, and political power. The core countries have the most power in the world economic system. These countries control and profit

Gini Coefficient

.30–.34

.35–.39

.40–.44

<.25

.45–.49

.50–.54

.55–.59 >.60 No Data

.25–.29

Viewing Society in Global Perspective: The Gini Coefficient Source: Central Intelligence Agency. 2009. World Factbook. www.cia.org

map 9.2

NOTE: The larger the Gini coefficient, the greater inequality in family incomes.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 South Africa

Brazil

Costa Rica

Mexico

China

United States

Japan

Ireland

United Kingdom

France

Australia

Germany

Norway

Denmark

Sweden

Canada

▲ Figure 9.4 Gini Coefficient in Selected Countries How does the United States compare to western European nations? Why do you think this has happened? Data from: Central Intelligence Agency. 2014. The World Fact Book. www.cia.gov

GLOBAL STRATI F ICATI O N 2 07

Research Question: International migra- tion is becoming an increasingly common phenomenon. Women are one of the largest groups to experience migration, often leaving poor nations to become domestic workers in wealthier nations. What are these women’s experiences in the context of global stratification? This is what Rhacel Salazar Parreñas wanted to know.

Research Method: Parreñas studied two communities of Filipina women, one in Los Angeles and one in Rome, Italy, conducting her research through extensive interviewing with Filipina domestic workers in these two locations. She supplemented the interviews with participant observation in church set- tings, after-work social gatherings, and in

Servants of Globalization: Who Does the Domestic Work?

employers’ homes. The interviews were conducted in a mixture of both cities.

Research Results: Parreñas found that Filipina domestics experienced many sta- tus inconsistencies. They were upwardly mobile in terms of their home country but were excluded from the middle-class Filipino communities in the host nation. Thus they experienced feelings of social exclusion in addition to being separated from their own families.

Conclusions and Implications: The women Parreñas studied are part of a new social pattern for transnational families—that is, families whose mem- bers live across the borders of nations. These Filipinas provide the labor for more affluent households while their own lives are disrupted by these new global

forces. As global economic restructuring evolves, it may be that more families will experience this form of family living.

Questions to Consider 1. Are there domestic workers in

your community who provide child care and other household work for middle- and upper-class house- holds? What are the race, ethnicity, nationality, and gender of these workers? What does this tell you about the division of labor in domes- tic work and its relationship to global stratification?

2. Why do you think domestic labor is so underpaid and undervalued? Are there social changes that might result in a reevaluation of the value of this work?

Sources: Parreñas, Rhacel Salazar. 2001. Servants of Globalization: Women, Migration and Domestic Work. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

doing sociological research

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The gap between the rich and poor worldwide can be staggering. At the same time that many struggle for mere survival, others enjoy the pleasantries of a gentrified lifestyle.

the most from the world system, and thus they are the “core” of the world system. These include the power- ful nations of Europe, the United States, Australia, and, increasingly, East Asia.

Surrounding the core countries, both structurally and geographically, are the semiperipheral countries that are semi-industrialized and, to some degree, represent a

kind of middle class (such as Spain, Turkey, and Mexico). They play a middleman role, extracting profits from the poor countries and passing those profits on to the core countries.

At the bottom of the world stratification system are the peripheral countries. These are the poor, largely agricultural countries of the world. Even though they

2 08 CHAPT ER 9

are poor, they often have important natural resources that are exploited by the core countries. Exploitation, in turn, keeps them from developing and perpetuates their poverty. Often these nations are politically unsta- ble. Political instability within poor nations can create a crisis for core nations that depend on their resources. Military intervention by the United States or European nations is often the result.

→ SEE for YOURSELF ← The Global Economy of Clothing Look at the labels in your clothes and note where your clothing was made. Where are the products bearing your college logos manufactured and sold? Who profits from the distribution of these goods? What does this tell you about the relationship of core, semiperipheral, and peripheral countries within world systems theory? What further information would reveal the connections between the country where you live and the countries where your clothing is made and distributed?

To explore this further, you can read the account by Kelsey Timmerman who wanted to know where his clothes came from. Timmerman traveled to Honduras, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and China, talking to factory workers and their families about the experiences in making the clothes that others wear. His journey can teach you a lot about global production and consumption (Timmerman 2012). Further resources: www.whereamiwearing.com

Race and Global Inequality Along with class inequality, there is a racial component to world inequality. In the richest nations, the popu- lation is largely White; in the poorest countries of the world, mostly in Africa, the populations are people of color. Exploitation of the human and natural resources of regions populated by people of color has character- ized the history of Western capitalism, with people of color being dominated by Western imperialism and colonialism. The inequities that have resulted are enor- mous, including malnutrition and hunger.

How did this racial inequality come about? On the surface, global capitalism is not explicitly racist, as were earlier forms of industrial capitalism. Yet, the rapid expansion of the global capital system has led to an increase in racial inequality between nations. A new international division of labor has emerged that is not tied to particular places but seeks cheap labor, usually in non-Western countries. The exploitation of cheap labor has created a poor and dependent workforce comprised mostly of people of color. Profits accrue to wealthy owners, who are mostly White, resulting in a racially divided world. Some argue that the exploitation of the poor peripheral nations by multinational capitalists

has forced an exodus of unskilled workers from the impoverished nations to the rich nations. The flood of third-world refugees into the industrialized nations is thereby increasing racial tensions, fostering violence, and destroying worker solidarity (Sirvananadan 1995).

The meaning of race, however, varies in different national settings. South Africa, the United States, and Brazil each developed different sets of racial catego- ries. Although all three countries have many people of mixed descent, race is defined differently in each place. In South Africa, the particular history of Dutch and English colonialism led to strongly drawn racial cat- egories that defined people in four separate categories: “White,” “Coloured” (including indigenous Khoi and San people, as well as people of mixed descent), “Black,” and “Indian.” Black South Africans had no political representation under apartheid. There were three sepa- rate parliaments—one for each of the other groups.

Brazil is yet a different case. The Brazilian elite declared Brazil a racial democracy at the early stages of national development. Racial differences were thought not to matter. Yet, instead of creating an egalitarian soci- ety free of racism, Afro-Brazilians were still of lower social status and Euro-Brazilians remain at the highest social status, suggesting that color itself stratifies people—a sociological phenomenon sometimes referred to as “col- orism” (Telles 2004; Fredrickson 2003; Marx 1997).

Theories of Global Stratification How did world inequality occur? Sociological expla- nations of world stratification generally fall into three camps: modernization theory, dependency theory, and world systems theory (see ◆ Table 9.1).

Modernization Theory Modernization theory views the economic de velop- ment of countries as stemming from technological change. According to this theory, a country becomes more “modernized” by increased technological development.

Modernization theory sees economic development as a process by which traditional societies become more complex. For economic development to occur, mod- ernization theory predicts, countries must change their traditional attitudes, values, and institutions. Economic achievement is thought to derive from attitudes and values that emphasize hard work, saving, efficiency, and enterprise. Modernization theory suggests that nations remain underdeveloped when traditional cus- toms and culture discourage individual achievement and kin relations dominate.

As an outgrowth of functionalist theory, moderni- zation theory derives some of its thinking from the work

GLOBAL STRATI F ICATI O N 2 0 9

◆ Table 9.1 Theories of Global Stratification

Modernization Theory Dependency Theory World Systems Theory

Economic Development Arises from relinquishing traditional cultural values and embracing new technologies and market-driven attitudes and values

Exploits the least powerful nations to the benefit of wealthier nations that then control the political and economic systems of the exploited countries

Has resulted in a single economic system stemming from the development of a world market that links core, semiperipheral, and peripheral nations

Poverty Results from adherence to traditional values and customs that prevent societies from competing in a modern global economy

Results from the dependence of low-income countries on wealthy nations

Is the result of core nations extracting labor and natural resources from peripheral nations

Social Change Involves increasing complexity, differentiation, and efficiency

Is the result of neocolonialism and the expansion of international capitalism

Leads to an international division of labor that increasingly puts profit in the hands of a few while exploiting those in the poorest and least powerful nations

of Max Weber. In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1958/1904), Weber saw the economic development that occurred in Europe during the Indus- trial Revolution as a result of the values and attitudes of Protestantism. The Industrial Revolution took place in England and northern Europe, Weber argued, because the people of this area were hardworking Protestants who valued achievement and believed that God helped those who helped themselves.

Modernization theory can partially explain why some countries have become successful. Japan and China are examples of countries that have made huge strides in economic development, in part because of a national work ethic. Work ethic alone, however, does not explain Japan’s success. Modernization theory may partially explain the cultural context in which some countries become successful and others do not, but it is not a substitute for explanations that also look at the economic and political context of national development. Cultural attitudes may impede economic development in some cases, but you have to be careful not to assume that developed nations have superior values compared to others. Blaming the cultural values of a poor nation over- looks the fact that a nation’s status in the world may be outside their control. Whether a country develops or remains poor is often the result of other countries exploiting the less powerful. Modernization theory does not sufficiently take into account the interplay and relationships between countries that can affect a country’s economic or social condition.

Developing countries, modernization theory says, are better off if they let the natural forces of competition

guide world development. Free markets, according to this perspective, will result in the best economic order. As critics argue, markets do not develop independently of government’s influence. Governments can spur or hinder economic development, especially as they work with private companies to enact export strategies, restrict imports, or place embargoes on the products of nonfa- vored nations.

Dependency Theory Although market-oriented theories may explain why some countries are successful, they do not explain why some countries remain in poverty or why some coun- tries have not developed. It is necessary to look at issues outside the individual countries and to examine the connections between them. Keep in mind that many of the poorest nations are former colonies of European powers. This focuses your attention on colonization and imperialism as causes of global stratification.

Dependency theory holds that the poverty of the low-income countries is a direct result of their political and economic dependence on the wealthy countries. Specifically, dependency theory argues that the poverty of many countries is a result of exploitation by power- ful countries. This theory is derived from the work of Karl Marx, who foresaw that a capitalist world economy would create an exploited class of dependent coun- tries, just as capitalism within countries had created an exploited class of workers.

Dependency theory begins with understanding the historical development of this system of inequality. As the European countries began to industrialize in

2 10 CH APTER 9

the 1600s, they needed raw materials for their factories and places to sell their products. To accomplish this, the European nations colonized much of the world, includ- ing most of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Colonialism is a system by which Western nations became wealthy by taking raw materials from colonized societies and reaping profits from products finished in the homeland. Colonial- ism worked best for the industrial countries when the col- onies were kept undeveloped to avoid competition with the home country. For example, India was a British col- ony from 1757 to 1947. During that time, Britain bought cheap cotton from India, made it into cloth in British mills, and then sold the cloth back to India, making large profits. Although India was able to make cotton into cloth at a much cheaper cost than Britain, and very fine cloth at that, Britain nonetheless did not allow India to develop its cotton industry. As long as India was dependent on Brit- ain, Britain became wealthy and India remained poor.

Under colonialism, dependency was created by the direct political and military control of the poor countries by powerful developed countries. Most colonial powers were European countries, but other countries, particu- larly Japan and China, had colonies as well. Colonization came to an end soon after the Second World War, largely because of protests by colonized people and the result- ing movement for independence. As a result, according to dependency theory, the powerful countries turned to other ways to control the poor countries and keep them dependent. The powerful countries still intervene directly in the affairs of the dependent nations by sending troops or, more often, by imposing economic or political restric- tions and sanctions. But other methods, largely economic, have been developed to control the dependent poor countries, such as price controls, tariffs, and, especially, the control of credit. Indeed, the level of debt that some nations accrue is a major source of global inequality.

The rich industrialized nations, according to dependency theory, are able to set prices for raw materials produced by the poor countries at very low levels so that the poor countries are unable to accu- mulate enough profit to industrialize. As a result, the poor, dependent countries must borrow from the rich countries. However, debt creates only more depend- ence. Many poor countries are so deeply indebted to the major industrial countries that they must follow the economic edicts of the rich countries that loaned them the money, thus increasing their dependency. This form of international control has sometimes been called neocolonialism, a form of control of the poor countries by the rich countries but without direct politi- cal or military involvement.

Multinational corporations are companies that draw a large share of their profits from overseas invest- ments and that conduct business across national borders. They play a role in keeping the dependent nations poor, dependency theory suggests. Although their executives

and stockholders are from the industrialized countries, multinational corporations recognize no national bound- aries and pursue business where they can best make a profit. Multinationals buy resources where they can get them cheapest, manufacture their products where pro- duction and labor costs are lowest, and sell their products where they can make the largest profits.

Many critics fault companies for perpetuating global inequality by taking advantage of cheap overseas labor to make large profits for U.S. stockholders. Com- panies are, in fact, doing what they should be doing in a market system: trying to make a profit. Nonetheless, dependency theory views the practices of multination- als as responsible for maintaining poverty in the poor parts of the world.

One criticism of dependency theory is that many poor countries (for example, Ethiopia) were never colo- nies. Some former colonies have also done well. Two of the greatest postwar success stories of economic devel- opment are Singapore and Hong Kong. Both of these places were British colonies—Hong Kong until 1997— and were clearly dependent on Britain, yet they have had successful economic development precisely because of their dependence on Britain. Other former colonies are also improving economically, such as India.

World Systems Theory Modernization theory examines the factors internal to an individual country, and dependency theory looks to the relationship between countries or groups of coun- tries. Another approach to global stratification is called world systems theory. Like dependency theory, this theory begins with the premise that no nation in the world can be considered in isolation. Each country, no matter how remote, is tied in many ways to the other countries in the world. However, unlike dependency theory, world systems theory argues that there is a world economic system that must be understood as a single unit, not in terms of individual countries or groups of countries. This theoretical approach derives to some degree from the work of dependency theorists and is most closely associated with the work of Immanuel Wallerstein in The Modern World System (1974) and The Modern World System II (1980). According to this theory, the level of economic development is explained by understanding each country’s place and role in the world economic system.

This world system has been developing since the sixteenth century. The countries of the world are tied together in many ways, but of primary importance are the economic connections in the world markets of goods, capital, and labor. All countries sell their products and services on the world market and buy products and ser- vices from other countries. However, this is not a mar- ket of equal partners. Because of historical and strategic

GLOBAL STRATI F ICAT I O N 2 11

imbalances in this economic system, some countries are able to use their advantage to create and maintain wealth, whereas other countries that are at a disadvantage remain poor. This process has led to a global system of stratifica- tion in which the units are not people but countries.

World systems theory sees the world divided into three groups of interrelated nations: core or first-world countries, semiperipheral or second-world countries, and peripheral or third-world countries. This world economic system has resulted in a modern world in which some countries have obtained great wealth and other countries have remained poor. The core countries control and limit the economic development in the peripheral countries so as to keep the peripheral coun- tries from developing and competing with them on the world market; thus the core countries can continue to purchase raw materials at a low price.

Although world systems theory was originally devel- oped to explain the historical evolution of the world sys- tem, modern scholars now focus on the international division of labor and its consequences. This approach is an attempt to overcome some of the shortcomings in world systems theory by focusing on the specific mecha- nism by which differential profits are attached to the production of goods and services in the world market. A tennis shoe made by Nike is designed in the United States; uses synthetic rubber made from petroleum from Saudi Arabia; is sewn in Indonesia; is transported on a ship registered in Singapore, which is run by a Korean management firm using Filipino sailors; and is finally marketed in Japan and the United States. At each of these stages, profits are taken, but at very different rates.

→THINKING Sociologically What are the major industries in your community? In what parts of the world do they do business, including where their product is produced? How does the international division of labor affect jobs in your region?

World systems theorists call this global production process a commodity chain, the network of production and labor processes by which a product becomes a fin- ished commodity. By following a commodity through its production cycle and seeing where the profits go at each link of the chain, one can identify which country is getting rich and which country is being exploited. As an example, the Gap hoodie that you buy in the United States for about $30 was likely produced from cotton grown in Uzbekistan where workers are paid 2 cents a pound, cut and sewn by workers in Russia who are paid between 39 and 69 dollars a month, and then distributed and sold in the United States (Gordon and Designs 2001).

World systems theory also helps explain the growing phenomenon of international migration. An

international division of labor means that the need for cheap labor in some of the industrial and developing nations draws workers from poorer parts of the globe. International migration is also the result of refugees seeking asylum from war-torn parts of the world or from countries where political oppression, often against par- ticular ethnic groups, forces some to leave.

The development of a world economy is also result- ing in large changes in the composition of popula- tions around the globe. World cities, that is, cities that are closely linked through the system of international commerce, have emerged. Within these cities, families and their surrounding communities often form trans- national communities, communities that may be geo- graphically distant but socially and politically close. Linked through various communication and trans- portation networks, transnational communities share information, resources, and strategies for coping with the problems of international migration.

International migration, sometimes legal, some- times not, has radically changed the racial and ethnic composition of populations not only in the United States but also in many European and Asian nations. Over 200 million people now live outside the country of their birth, some of whom moved because of war and persecution, but many of whom move as work moves around the globe (Eitzen 2009). Many such migrants work in the lowest segments of the labor force. The work of these low-wage laborers is critical to the world economy, but they are often treated with hostility and suspicion, discriminated against, and stereotyped as undeserving and threatening. The United States receives the most international migrants of any nation, but they are common in western Europe, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and other parts of the world (Koser 2007). In many nations, the presence of migrants can lead to political tensions over immigration, even though international faces in world cities are now a major feature of the urban landscape.

It is useful to see the world as an interconnected set of economic ties between countries, and to under- stand that these ties often result in the exploita- tion of poor countries. This process of globalization means that countries that were once at the center of this world system—England, for example—no longer occupy such a lofty position. Peripheral countries can also improve their standard of living with investment by core countries, although the benefits do not accrue equally to groups within such nations and investment by outsiders can also put receiving nations in debt, thus harming them in the long run. Low-wage factories may benefit managers, but not the working class. Even core countries can be hurt by the world system, such as when jobs move overseas. Who benefits from this world system is differentiated—in all countries—by one’s placement, not just in the global class system but

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also in the class system internal to each country within this global system. World systems theory has provided a powerful tool for understanding global inequality.

Consequences of Global Stratification It is clear that some nations are wealthy and powerful and some are poor and powerless. What are the con- sequences of this world stratification system? Basic indicators of national well-being include such things as infant mortality, literacy levels, access to safe water, and the status of women. There are, as we will see, consid- erable differences in the quality of life based on these indicators in different places in the world.

Population One of the biggest differences in rich and poor nations is population. The poorest countries have the highest birthrates and the highest death rates. The total fertility rate—how many live births a woman will have over her lifetime at current fertility rates—shows that women in the poorest countries have on average almost five chil- dren. Because of this high fertility rate, the populations of poor countries are growing faster than the popula- tions of wealthy countries. Poor countries therefore also have a high proportion of young children.

In contrast, the richest countries have a total popu- lation of approximately one billion people—only 15 per- cent of the world’s population. The populations of the richest countries are not growing nearly as fast as the

populations of the poorest countries. In the richest coun- tries, women have about two children over their lifetime, and the populations of these countries are growing by only 1.2 percent. Many of the richest countries, includ- ing most of the countries of Europe, are actually experi- encing population declines. With a low fertility rate, the rich countries have proportionately fewer children, but they also have proportionately more elderly, which can also be a burden on societal resources. Different from the poorest nations, the richest ones are largely urban.

Rapid population growth as a result of high fertility rates can make a large difference in the quality of life of the country. Countries with high birthrates are faced with the challenge of having too many children and not enough adults to provide for the younger generation. Public ser- vices, such as schools and hospitals, are strained in high- birthrate countries, especially because these countries are poor to begin with. Very low birthrates, as many rich countries are now experiencing, can also lead to other problems. In countries with low birthrates, there often are not enough young people to meet labor force needs, and workers must be imported from other countries.

Scholars disagree about the relationship between the rate of population growth and economic develop- ment. Some theorize that rapid population growth and high birthrates lead to economic stagnation and that too many people keep a country from developing, thus miring the country in poverty (Ehrlich 1968). Yet, some countries with very large populations have become developed: China and India come to mind; both are showing significant economic development. The United States has the third largest population in the world at 318 million people, yet it is one of the richest and most

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Global stratification often means that consumption in the more affluent nations is dependent on cheap labor in other less affluent nations.

GLOBAL STRATI F ICAT I O N 2 1 3

developed nations in the world. Scholars now believe that even though large population and high birthrates can impede economic development in some situations, in general, fertility levels are affected by levels of industri- alization, not the other way around. That is, as countries develop, their fertility levels decrease and their popula- tion growth levels off (Hirschman 1994; Watkins 1987).

Health and the Environment Significant differences are also evident in the basic health standards of countries, depending on where they are in the global stratification system. The high-income countries have lower childhood death rates, higher life expectancies, and fewer children born underweight. People born today in wealthy countries can expect to live about seventy-seven years, and women outlive men by several years. Except for some isolated or poor areas of the rich countries, almost all people have access to clean water and acceptable sewer systems.

In the poorest countries, the situation is completely different. Many children die within the first five years of life, people live considerably shorter lives, and fewer people have access to clean water and adequate sani-

tation. In the low-income countries, the problems of sanitation, clean water, childhood death rates, and life expectancies are all closely related. In many of the poor countries, drinking water is contaminated from poor or nonexistent sewage treatment. This contaminated water is then used to drink, to clean eating utensils, and to make baby formula. For adults, waterborne illnesses such as cholera and dysentery sometimes cause severe sickness but seldom result in death. Children under age 5 and, especially, those under the age of 1 are highly susceptible to the illnesses carried in contaminated water. A common cause of childhood death in coun- tries with low incomes is dehydration brought on by the diarrhea contracted from drinking contaminated water.

Degradation of the environment is a problem that affects all nations, which are linked in one vast environ- mental system, but global stratification also means that some nations suffer at the hands of others. Overdevel- opment is resulting in deforestation, and high popula- tion and the dependency on agriculture in the poorest nations contribute to the depletion of natural resources. In the most industrial nations where the most energy is used, the overproduction of “greenhouse gas”— emission of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels— is resulting in numerous threats to our environment, including climate change (see also Chapter 16).

Although high-income countries have only 15 percent of the world population, together they use more than half of the world’s energy. The United States alone uses 20 percent of the world’s energy, although it holds only 4 percent of the world’s popula- tion (see ▲ Figure 9.5). Safe water is also crucial; more than 700 million people in 43 different countries are

19.6%

4.5% 2.8% 2.2%

2.1%

Global energy use

5.6%

Germany France Brazil

India United States Everyone else

Russia China

44.6%18.7%

▲ Figure 9.5 Who Uses the World’s Energy? Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration. 2012. www.eia.gov

There can be innovative solutions to reduce world poverty, such as this solar panel delivering energy in southern Mozambique.

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experiencing what the World Bank calls “water stress”— that is, inadequate access to water. The dwindling of water supplies will only be exacerbated by population growth and economic development. The World Bank has, in fact, warned that we are facing a “global water crisis” (World Bank 2010). Clearly, global stratification has some irreversible environmental effects that are felt around the globe.

Education and Illiteracy In the high-income nations of the world, education is almost universal, and the vast majority of people have attended school, at least at some level. Literacy and school enrollment are now taken for granted in the high-income nations, although people in these wealthy nations who do not have a good education stand little chance of success. In the middle- and lower-income nations, the picture is quite different. Elementary school enrollment, virtually universal in wealthy nations, is less common in the middle-income nations and even less common in the poorest nations.

How do people survive who are not literate or edu- cated? In much of the world, education takes place outside formal schooling. Just because many people in the poorer countries never go to school does not mean that they are ignorant or that they are uneducated. Most of the education in the world takes place in family set- tings, in religious congregations, or in other settings where elders teach the next generation the skills and knowledge they need to survive. This type of informal education often includes basic literacy and math skills that people in these poorer countries need for their daily lives.

The disadvantage of this informal and traditional education is that, although it prepares people for their traditional lives, it often does not give them the skills and knowledge needed to operate in the modern world. In an increasingly technological world, this can perpet- uate the underdeveloped status of some nations.

Gender Inequality The position of a country in the world stratification sys- tem also affects gender relations within different coun- tries. Poverty is usually felt more by women than by men. Although gender equality has not been achieved in the industrialized countries, compared with women in other parts of the world, women in the wealthier countries are much better off.

The United Nations (UN) is one of the organiza- tions that carefully monitors the status of women globally. The UN has developed an index to assess the progress of women in nations around the world. Called the gender inequality index, the measure is a composite of three key components of women’s lives: reproductive health, empowerment, and labor market status. Each of these three major components is then measured by particular facts about women’s status, such as maternal mortality, educational attain- ment, and labor force participation (see ▲ Figure 9.6). Given how this index is computed, nations with the lowest gender inequality index have the greatest equality between women and men (see ◆ Table 9.2). Based on this index, the United Nations has con- cluded that, around the world, reproductive health— or lack thereof—is the greatest contributor to gender inequality (United Nations 2010).

M aternal m

ortality

Adolescent fertillity

Parliam entary representation

Educational attainm ent

(secondary level and above)

Labor force participation

Labor m arket

Em powerm

ent

Reproductive

health

Five indicators

Three dimensions

Gender Inequality

Index

▲ Figure 9.6 The Gender Inequality Index Source: United Nations Development Programme. 2010. “Components of the Gender Inequality Index.” http://hdr.undp.org. Reprinted with permission.

GLOBAL STRAT I F ICATI O N 2 1 5

Reports indicate mixed news with regard to wom- en’s status around the world. On the one hand, women’s poverty has declined in some of the nations where it has been extreme, particularly in India, China, and some parts of Latin America. In sub-Saharan Africa, women’s poverty has increased. Around the world, women have achieved near equality in levels of primary education, but large gaps remain in the secondary and higher education of women and men. This fact has huge

implications for women’s work, especially because the global economy increasingly demands educational skills (Inter-parliamentary Union 2012).

Perhaps most distressing is the global extent of violence against women. Violence takes many forms, including violence within the family, rape, sexual har- assment, sex trafficking and prostitution, and state- based violence. The United Nations has concluded that “violence against women persists in every country in the world as a pervasive violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality” (United Nations 2006: 9).

Several factors put women at risk of violence, rang- ing from individual-level risk factors (such as a history of abuse as a child and substance abuse) to societal- level factors, such as gender roles that entrench male dominance and societal norms that tolerate violence as a means of conflict resolution (see ◆ Table 9.3). Clearly, the inequalities that mark global stratification have par- ticularly harmful effects for the world’s women.

War and Terrorism The consequences of global stratification are also found in the international conflicts that bring war and an increased risk of terrorism. Although global inequality is certainly not the only cause of such problems, it contrib- utes to the instability of world peace and the threat of ter- rorism. Global stratification generates inequities in the distribution of power between nations. Moreover, glo- balization has created a world-based capitalist class with unprecedented wealth and power. This is a class that now crosses national borders; some have defined it as a “transnational capitalist class” (Langman and Morris 2002). Coupled with the enormous poverty that exists, the

◆ Table 9.2 Gender Inequality Index in Selected Countries (2011)

Gender Inequality Index

Rank (most equal being first out of 187 countries)

Sweden 0.049 1

Netherlands 0.052 2

Denmark 0.060 3

Switzerland 0.067 4

Korea 0.099 18

Israel 0.145 22

China 0.209 38

United States 0.299 47

Libya 0.314 51

Haiti 0.599 123

India 0.617 129

Saudi Arabia 0.646 135

United Nations Development Programme. 2010. “Components of the Gender Inequality Index.” http://hdr.undp.org. Reprinted with permission.

◆ Table 9.3 Risk Factors for Violence against Women: A Global Analysis

The United Nations has studied the frequent use of violence against women in the world and identified the factors that put women at risk. These factors are found at various levels.

Individual Level: Community Level:

● Frequent use of alcohol and drugs ● Women’s isolation and lack of social support

● Membership in marginalized communities ● Community attitudes that tolerate and legitimate male violence

● History of abuse as a child ● High levels of social and economic inequality, including poverty

● Witnessing marital violence in the home

Family/Relationship Level: Societal Level:

● Male control of wealth ● Gender roles that entrench male dominance and women’s subordination

● Male control of decision making ● Tolerance of violence as a means of conflict resolution

● History of marital violence ● Inadequate laws and policies to prevent and punish violence

● Significant disparities in economic, educational, or employment status

● Limited awareness and sensitivity on the part of officials and social service providers

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visibility of this class and its association with Western values leads to resentment and conflict. Furthermore, attempts by wealthier nations to control access to the world’s natural resources, such as oil, generate much political conflict. The same power and affluence that makes the United States a leader throughout the world makes it a target by those who resent its dominance.

In the Middle East, for example, oil production has created prosperity for some and exposed people in these nations to the values of Western culture. When people from different nations, such as those in the Middle East, study at U.S. universities and travel on business or vaca- tions, they are exposed to Western values and patterns of consumption. As one commentator has noted, “Even those who have remained at home have not escaped exposure to Western culture. In most of the countries of the modern Middle East, Western cultural influences are pervasive. They see Western television programs, they watch Western movies, they listen to Western music, fre- quently wear Western clothes, and visit Western websites. Even Western foods are locally available. McDonald’s are now found in many of the major cities” (Bailey 2003: 341). The sexual liberalism of Western nations and the relative equality of women also add to the volatile mix of nations clashing (Norris and Inglehart 2002).

As a result, some traditional leaders, including religious clerics, define Western culture as a source of degeneracy. Countries such as the United States, where consumerism is rampant, then become the target of those who see this as a threat to their traditional way of life (Ehrlich and Liu 2002). In this sense, global stratifica- tion and the dominance of Western culture are insepa- rable (Bailey 2003). Clashing religious values and the growth of extremist views certainly are a major cause of terrorism, but the global dominance of some nations over others is also a factor.

Terrorism can be defined as premeditated, politi- cally motivated violence perpetrated against noncomba- tant targets by people or groups who use their action to try to achieve their political ends (White 2002). Terrorism can be executed through violence or threats of violence and can be executed through various means—suicide bombs, biochemical terror, cyberterror, or other means. Because terrorists operate outside the bounds of normative behav- ior, it is very difficult to prevent. Although rigid safeguards can be put in place, such safeguards also threaten the freedoms that are characteristic of open, democratic soci- eties. The fact that terrorism is so difficult to stop contrib- utes to the fear that it is intended to generate.

Inequality is also connected to the context in which terrorism emerges. For example, research on al Qaeda terrorists finds that the leaders tend to come from mid- dle-class backgrounds, although they often recruit those who are young, poorly educated, and economically

disadvantaged to carry out suicide missions. Families of suicide bombers often receive large cash payments; at the same time, they can feel they have served a sacred cause (Stern 2003). Improving the lives of those who feel collectively humiliated could provide some protec- tion against terrorism.

World Poverty One fact of global inequality is the growing presence and persistence of poverty in many parts of the world (see ■ Map 9.3). There is poverty in the United States, but very few people in the United States live in the extreme levels of deprivation found in some of the poor countries of the world, as seen in ■ Map 9.4. We have seen in Chapter 8 how the poverty line in the United States is calculated. The definition of poverty in the United States identifies relative poverty, that is, a measure of poverty relative to the rest of society. Households living in poverty in the United States are poor compared with other Americans, but this would be an inaccurate measure in a worldwide context because of such huge differences in the standard of living.

The World Bank and United Nations measure world poverty in two ways: Absolute poverty is defined by the amount of money needed in a particular country to meet basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing. Extreme poverty is defined as living on less than the equivalent of $1.25 per day. Any way you measure it, it is difficult for most Americans to imagine this standard of living. Extreme poverty has been declining in the world, but 18 percent of the world’s population—1.2 billion people— still live at this level of destitution (World Bank 2014 b).

However, money does not tell the whole story because many people in poor countries do not always deal in cash. In many countries, people survive by rais- ing crops for personal consumption and by bartering or trading services for food or shelter. These activities do not show up in calculations of poverty levels that use amounts of money as the measure. Accordingly, the United Nations also defines what it calls the multidi- mensional poverty index (see ▲ Figure 9.7).

The multidimensional poverty index measures the degree of deprivation in three basic dimensions of human life: health, education, and standard of living. These different components are then used to create a measure of poverty, including such indicators as nutri- tion, child mortality, educational attainment, and the availability of water, electricity, plumbing, cooking fuel— and even whether one has a floor in one’s living quarters.

Measured by the multidimensional poverty index, the United Nations concludes that poverty is higher than when measured by income alone, as is the case with measuring absolute and extreme poverty. The multi- dimensional poverty index also points more directly to

GLOBAL STRAT I F ICATI O N 2 1 7

Nutrition

Child m ortality

Years of schooling

Children enrolled

Assets

Floor Electricity

W ater

Toilet Cooking fuel

Living standards

Education

Health

Ten indicators

Three dimensions

Multidimensional Poverty Index

▲ Figure 9.7 The Multidimensional Poverty Index* Source: United Nations Development Programme. 2010. “Components of the Multidimensional Poverty Index.” http://hdr.undp.org. Reprinted with permission. *Based on 1995 data.

0–15 16–30 31–61 61–76 76–91

Population below poverty line

Viewing Society in Global Perspective: World Poverty Source: Central Intelligence Agency. 2009. World Factbook. www.cia.org

map 9.3

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interventions to reduce poverty, such as making health clinics and running water available—projects that can significantly improve the lives of millions.

Who Are the World’s Poor? As we have seen, about one-fifth of the world’s popula- tion lives in poverty, forming what the United Nations calls a global underclass. Although world poverty has been decreasing, it still afflicts a huge proportion of the world’s people. In a world with a population over seven billion, about one billion live in extreme pov- erty. The decline in world poverty is largely accounted for by the economic growth in East Asia, which histori- cally has been one of the poorest areas of the world. Now East Asia leads the world in poverty reduction. China alone has seen a decline of 400 million people moving out of poverty since the 1980s. As you can see in ▲ Figure 9.8, two-thirds of the world’s poor live in one of five countries.

The causes of poverty differ around the globe. In Asia, the pressures of large population growth leave many without sustainable employment. As manufacturing has become less labor intensive with more mechanized

NOTE: Two-thirds of the world’s poor live in one of five countries.

China India

The Democratic Republic of Congo

Rest of the world

Bangladesh

Nigeria

36% 33%

13% 7%

6% 5%

▲ Figure 9.8 Where Do the World’s Poor Live? As you are learning, poverty is unevenly distributed throughout the world. Why do you think so many of the world’s poor live in these five countries? Source: World Bank. 2014 b. Prosperity for All/Ending Extreme Poverty. New York: World Bank. www.worldbank.org

Viewing Society in Global Perspective: The World As Seen through the Distribution of Wealth This map shows what the world would look like were geographical boundaries formed by the wealth held by different nations. What

(University of Michigan), www.worldmapper .org/posters/worldmapper_map169_ver5 .pdf

map 9.4

GLOBAL STRATI F ICATI O N 2 1 9

production, the need for labor in certain industries has declined. Even though new technologies provide new job opportunities, they also create new forms of illit- eracy because many people have neither the access nor the skills to use information technology. In sub-Saharan Africa, the poor live in marginal areas where poor soil, erosion, and continuous warfare have created extremely harsh conditions. Political instability and low levels of economic productivity also contribute to the high rates of poverty in some nations. Solutions to world poverty in these different regions require sustainable economic development, as well as an understanding of the diverse regional factors that contribute to high levels of poverty.

Women and Children in Poverty There is no country in the world in which women are treated as well as men. As with poverty in the United States, women bear a larger share of the burden of world

poverty. Some have called this double deprivation—in many of the poor countries, women suffer because of their gender and because they disproportionately carry the burden of poverty. For instance, in situations of extreme poverty, women have the burden of taking on much of the manual labor because the men in many cases have left to find work or food. The United Nations concludes that strengthening women’s economic security through better work is essential for reducing world poverty.

Because of their poverty, women tend to suffer greater health risks than men. Although women outlive men in most countries, the life expectancy gap between women and men is less in the poorest countries. This is explained by several factors that put women at special risks. For one, fertility rates are higher in poor countries. Giving birth is a time of high risk for women, and women in poor countries with poor nutrition, poor maternal care, and the lack of trained birth attendants are at higher risk of dying during and after the birth.

The U.S. State Department estimates that 12.3 million people worldwide are enslaved in human trafficking. This includes sexual servitude, forced labor, forced child labor, and other forms of coercive treatment. Human trafficking is a modern form of slavery in which people are used for commercial gain through the use of force, coercion, or fraud (U.S. State Department 2012).

There are many ways to think about human trafficking— including as a moral wrong, as a criminal act by corrupt individuals, and as a human rights issue. As a sociological issue, human trafficking is a complex social structure that is inte- grally connected to international trade, the social structure of tourism, and the racial, class, and gender inequality that crosses national borders.

Sexual trafficking is a particular form of human trafficking in which women and, often, young girls are bought and sold in an international system of prostitution. Sociologists argue that the male-dominated character of state institutions plays a part in the tolerance of sexual trafficking. Sexual trafficking and sexual tourism are part of a culture in which women’s bodies are treated as a commodity. Racial and ethnic inequality also play a part as women of color are sexually exploited based on the racial/gender stereotypes that define them as exotic but also available for the pleasure of men.

An antitrafficking movement has developed that involves a coalition of feminists, various voluntary organizations, the United Nations, some politicians, and others who have organized to stop this practice (Limoncelli 2010).

Human Trafficking

what would a sociologist say?

Sex trafficking, particularly of young girls, is a common part of the system of global stratification.

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High fertility rates are also related to the degree of women’s empowerment in society—an often neglected aspect of the discussion between fertility and poverty. Societies where women’s voices do not count for much tend to have high fertility rates as well as other social and economic hardships for women, including lack of education, job opportunities, and information about birth control. Empowering women through providing them with employment, education, property, and vot- ing rights can have a strong impact on reducing the fer- tility rate (Sen 2000).

Women also suffer in some poor countries because of traditions and cultural norms. Most (though not all) of the poor countries are patriarchal, meaning that men control the household. As a result, in some situations of poverty, the women eat after the men, and boys are fed before girls. In conditions of extreme poverty, baby boys may also be fed before baby girls because boys have higher status than girls. As a result, female infants have a lower rate of survival than male infants.

A distressing number of children in the world are also poor, including in the most industrialized and affluent nations. As you can see in ▲ Figure 9.9,

Mexico United States New Zealand

Ireland Portugal

United Kingdom Canada

Australia Japan Spain

Poland Greece Austria

Germany Netherlands Luxembourg

Hungary Belgium France

Czech Republic Switzerland

Sweden Finland Norway

Denmark

Italy

Percent living below national poverty line

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

▲ Figure 9.9 Child Poverty in the Wealthier Nations Source: UNICEF. 2000. Child Poverty in Rich Countries 2005. Florence, Italy: United Nations Children’s Fund. www.unicef.org.

When children are poor, they may turn to child labor to help support their families. Such is the case with this child collecting trash for potential sale or use in a municipal dump in Phnom Penh.

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poverty among children in the United States exceeds that of other industrialized nations and is second only to Mexico. Children in poverty seldom have the lux- ury of an education. Schools are usually few or non- existent in poor areas of the world, and families are so poor that they cannot afford to send their children to school. Children from a very early age are required to help the family survive by working or performing domestic tasks such as fetching water. In extreme situ- ations, even very young children may work as beggars (Boo 2012). Young boys and girls may end up working in sweatshops. Families may have to sell young girls into prostitution. This may seem unusually cruel and harsh by Western standards, but it is difficult to imag- ine the horror of starvation and the desperation that many families in the world must feel that would force them to take such measures to survive. In poor coun- tries, families feel they must have more children for their survival, yet having more children perpetuates the poverty.

Estimates are that 168 million children under age 17 are in the labor force throughout the world. Most of the children are in Asia, though some are also in sub-Saharan Africa (International Labour Organization 2014). Many of these children work long hours in dif- ficult conditions and enjoy few freedoms, making prod- ucts (soccer balls, clothing, and toys, for example) for those who are much better off.

Another problem in the very poor areas of the world is homeless children (Mickelson 2000). In many situations, families are so poor that they can no longer care for their children, and the children must go with- out education or be out on their own, even at young ages. Many of these homeless children end up in the streets of the major cities of Asia and Latin America. In Latin America, it is estimated that there are thirteen million street children, some as young as six years old. Alone, they survive through a combination of begging, prostitution, drugs, and stealing. They sleep in alleys or in makeshift shelters. Their lives are harsh, brutal, and short.

DEBUNKING Society’s Myths← Myth: There are too many people in the world, and there is simply not enough food to go around. Sociological Perspective: Growing more food will not end hunger. If systems of distributing the world’s food were more just, hunger could be reduced.

Poverty and Hunger Poverty is also directly linked to malnutrition and hun- ger because people in poverty cannot find or afford food. It is estimated that about 805 million people

(12 percent of the world population) are malnourished. Experts attribute the increase to a number of factors, including poverty, lack of agricultural development, displacement and war, instability of economic markets, climate and weather, and wasting food (United Nations World Food Programme 2014).

Hunger stifles the mental and physical devel- opment of children and leads to disease and death. Although the food supply is plentiful in the world and is actually increasing faster than the population, the rate of malnutrition remains dangerously high.

Is there not enough food to feed all the people in the world? In fact, plenty of food is grown in the world. The world’s production of wheat, rice, corn, and other grains is sufficient to adequately feed all the people in the world. Much grain grown in the United States is stored and not used. The problem is that the surplus food does not get to the truly needy. The people who are starving lack what they need for obtaining adequate food, such as arable land or a job that would pay a living wage. In the past, people in most cases grew food crops and were able to feed themselves, but much of the best land today has been taken over by agribusinesses that grow cash crops, such as tobacco or cotton, and sub- sistence farmers have been forced onto marginal lands on the flanks of the desert where conditions are difficult and crops often do not grow.

Clearly, poverty is a cause of malnutrition, but there are other causes as well. Violence and war within a nation can displace people, leading to large numbers of refugees crowding places where food may not be available to all. Disasters can leave people without food and water—a situation complicated when a nation is already poor. Even climate change can threaten to create hunger, especially if farming practices can- not adjust to drought, floods, and extreme changes in weather patterns.

Causes of World Poverty What causes world poverty, and why are so many people so desperately poor and starving? More to the point, why is poverty decreasing in some areas but increasing in others? We do know what does not cause poverty. Poverty is not necessarily caused by rapid population growth, although high fertility rates and poverty are related. In fact, many of the world’s most populous countries—India and China, for instance— have large segments of their population that are poor, but even with very large populations, these countries have begun to reduce poverty levels. Poverty is also not caused by people being lazy or disinterested in work- ing. People in extreme poverty work tremendously hard just to survive, and they would work hard at a job if they had one. It is not that they are lazy; it is that there are no jobs for them.

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Poverty is a result of a mix of causes. For one, the areas where poverty is increasing have a history of unstable governments or, in some cases, virtually no effective government to coordinate national develop- ment or plans that might alleviate extreme poverty and starvation. World relief agencies are reluctant to work in or send food to countries where the national govern- ments cannot guarantee the safety of relief workers or the delivery of food and aid to where it should go. Food convoys may be hijacked or roads blocked by bandits or warlords.

In many countries with high proportions of poverty, the economies have collapsed and the governments have borrowed heavily to remain afloat. As a condi- tion of these international loans, lenders, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, have demanded harsh economic restructuring to increase capital markets and industrial efficiency. These eco- nomic reforms may make good sense for some and can improve the standard of living in these countries, but imposed reforms have also harmed people, especially the poor, when reforms also call for drastically reduced government spending on human services.

Poverty is also caused by changes in the world economic system. Although poverty has been a long- term problem and has many causes, increases in

poverty and starvation in Africa can be attributed in part to the changes in world markets that have favored Asia economically but put sub-Saharan Africa at a disadvantage. As the price of products declined with more industrialization in places such as India, China, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand, com- modity-producing nations in Africa and Latin America suffered. In Latin America, the poor have flooded to the cities, hoping to find work, whereas they did the opposite in Africa, fleeing to the countryside hoping to be able to grow subsistence crops. Governments often had to borrow to provide help to their citizens. Some governments collapsed or find themselves in such great debt that they are unable to help their own people. This has created massive amounts of poverty and starvation.

An often unrecognized cause of poverty is war. War disrupts the infrastructure of a society—its roads, utility systems, water, sanitation, even schools. For countries already struggling economically, this can be devastating. Food production may be dis- rupted and commerce can be threatened as it may be difficult, even impossible, to move goods in and out of a country. The loss of life and major injury can mean that there are fewer productive citizens who can work, thus threatening family and community

“In 2003, surgeons were forced to amputate both of Ali Ismaeel Abbas’s arms after an errant U.S. bomb slammed into his Baghdad home during the opening phase of the Iraq war. Pictures of the twelve-year-old, who lost his parents in the attack, soon appeared on TV screens and in newspapers around the world. Since then, Abbas, who was treated in Kuwait, has come to represent a grim real- ity: All too often the victims of war are innocent children” (McClelland 2003: 20).

UNICEF estimates that over two million children have died in war, with even more injured, disabled, orphaned, or forced into refugee camps (Machel 1996). One estimate is that of all the victims of war, 90 percent are civilian—half of those, children (McClelland 2003).

Because children are seen as innocent, the trauma of war for children seems especially tragic to people. When children witness the violence of war or are forced to leave their homes, they experience a range of difficulties: loss, depression, injury, and other troubling results. In the aftermath of war, children are also highly vulnerable to outbreaks of disease (Cook and Wall 2011).

War, Childhood, and Poverty The United Nations has passed resolutions prohibiting the use of children under age 18 in combat. It has linked the threats to children from violence with high rates of poverty around the world. Although reducing poverty would not eliminate the threat of war, it would go a long way toward improving chil- dren’s lives in war-torn regions.

understanding diversity

War, though it may seem remote to some, affects millions in both the United States and in war-torn countries. Many of those most affected are children.

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well-being (Pathways to Peace 2009). Moreover, the billions of dollars spent each year on military strug- gle rob societies of the resources that could be used to address humanitarian needs. Add to this the fact that wars are more likely to occur in nations that are already poor, and you see the impact that war has on world poverty.

In sum, poverty has many causes. It is a major global problem that affects the billions who are liv- ing in poverty, but also affects all people in one way or another. In some areas, poverty rates are declining as some countries begin to improve their economic situ- ation. In other areas of the world, however, poverty is increasing, and countries are sinking into financial, political, and social chaos.

Globalization and Social Change Globalization is, in some ways, not a new thing. Nations have long been engaged through a global sys- tem of trade, travel, and tourism. What is new about globalization is the extent to which it permeates daily life for people all over the world and the pace with which globalization is developing. New technologies now allow for extraordinarily fast transactions across tremendous distances, both linking people together in new ways and transferring goods, cultural sym- bols, and communication systems in ways that were unimaginable not that long ago (Eitzen and Baca Zinn 2012).

Globalization is thus ushering in social changes— some good, some not—that will continue to evolve in the years ahead. As we have seen, globalization has

meant that many countries in the world are becoming better off, but many countries remain persistently poor, some very poor. Is the world getting better or worse? What will happen in the future?

There is some good news. In some areas of the world, particularly East Asia, but also in Latin America, many countries have shown rapid growth and are emerging as stronger nations. Examples include South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, and Singapore. In these countries, the governments have invested in social and economic development, sometimes with help from other nations and corporations. Because some of these countries have large populations, their success demonstrates that economic development can occur in heavily populated countries. China, for example, has embarked on an aggressive policy of industrial growth, and India is also improving economically.

Yet, for all the success stories that globalization has generated, many nations are suffering, including nations on all continents. In many cases, governments have collapsed or are corrupt, the economy is bankrupt, the standard of living is poor, and people are starving. In many areas of the world, ethnic hatred has led to mass genocide and forced millions from their homes, creat- ing huge numbers of refugees.

Globalization has also brought the expansion of the system of capitalism, including to nations once hostile to capitalist economics, such as China. This has opened new markets, increased global trade, but also expanded the reach of multinational corporations. The development of such world financial markets may bring prosperity and wealth to many nations and indi- viduals, and it can allow some formerly poor countries to share in the world’s wealth. Economic prosperity does not usually filter down to the people at the lower levels of society, and it can force nations into huge amounts of debt, thus allowing poverty and hunger to continue—or even worsen. Although market econo- mies create opportunities for some to become wealthy, many nations and individuals do not benefit from this global transformation.

Globalization is a strong force that will continue to shape the future of most nations. Some see glo- balization simply as the expansion of Western mar- kets and culture into all parts of the world. Western civilization brings positive new values (including democracy and more equality for women), but it can also bring values that may not be seen as posi- tive changes—such as increased consumerism or a change in the nation’s sexual mores. Globalization certainly brings new products to remote parts of the world (movies, clothing styles, and other commercial goods), but some see this as a form of imperialism— that is, the domination of Western nations. Resistance to Western globalization and imperialism produces

Population overcrowding strains various natural resources.

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some of the international problems now dominating U.S. and world history, as evidenced in the hostility felt by militant fundamentalist Islamic groups toward the United States.

Globalization has created great progress in the world—including trade, migration, the spread of diverse cultures, the dissemination and sharing of new knowl- edge, greater freedom for women, travel, and so forth. Globalization has not simply extended the values and

knowledge of Western culture. Many of the things we now take for granted in our culture originated in non- Western cultures. For example, the decimal system— fundamental to modern math and science—originated in India between the second and sixth centuries and was soon further developed by Arab mathematicians. Western societies certainly get credit for the develop- ment of science and technology, but the credit is not theirs alone (Sen 2002).

What is global stratification? Global stratification is a system of unequal distribu- tion of resources and opportunities between coun- tries. A particular country’s position is determined by its relationship to other countries in the world. The countries in the global stratification system can be cat- egorized according to their per capita gross national income or wealth. The global stratification system can also be described according to the economic power countries have.

How do systems of power affect different countries in the world? The countries of the world can be divided into three levels based on their power in the world economic sys- tem. The core countries are the countries that control and profit the most from the world system. Semiperiph- eral countries are semi-industrialized and play a mid- dleman role, extracting profits from the poor countries and passing those profits on to the core countries. At the bottom of the world stratification system are the peripheral countries, which are poor and largely agri- cultural, but with important resources that the core countries exploit. Most of these nations are populated by people of color, perpetuating racism as part of the world system.

What are the theories of global stratification? Modernization theory interprets the economic devel- opment of a country as the result of cultural attitudes and values that promote economic development. Dependency theory draws on the fact that many of the poorest nations are former colonies of Euro- pean colonial powers that keep colonies poor and do not allow their industries to develop, thus creat- ing dependency. World systems theory argues that no nation can be seen in isolation and that there is a world economic system that must be understood as a single unit.

What are some of the consequences of global stratification? The poorest countries have more than half the world’s population and have high birthrates, high mortality rates, poor health and sanitation, low rates of literacy and school attendance, and are largely rural. The rich- est countries have low birthrates, low mortality rates, largely urban populations, better health and sanita- tion, high literacy rates, and high school attendance. Although women in the wealthy countries are not com- pletely equal to men, they suffer less inequality than do women in poor countries.

How do we measure and understand world poverty? Relative poverty means being poor in comparison to others. Absolute poverty is the amount of money needed in a particular country to meet basic needs of food, shel- ter, and clothing. Extreme poverty is defined as the situ- ation in which people live on less than $1.25 a day. The United Nations has developed a multidimensional pov- erty index—a measure that accounts for health, educa- tion, and standard of living. Poverty particularly affects women and children. Children in the very poor coun- tries are forced to work at very early ages and do not have the opportunity for schooling. Street children are a growing problem in many cities of the world. Starvation is also a consequence of the global stratification system.

What is the future of global stratification? The future of global stratification is varied and depends on the country’s position within the world economic system. Some countries, particularly those in East Asia—commonly referred to as newly industrializing countries—have shown rapid growth and emerged as developed countries. Many nations, though, are not making it. Governments collapse, countries suffer eco- nomic bankruptcy, the standard of living plummets, and people starve.

Chapter Summary

GLOBAL STRATI F ICAT I O N 2 25

absolute poverty 216 colonialism 210 commodity chain 211 core countries 206 dependency theory 209 extreme poverty 216 gender inequality

index 214

Gini coefficient 205 global stratification 202 gross national income

(GNI) 203 international division

of labor 208 modernization

theory 208

multidimensional poverty index 216

multinational corporations 210

neocolonialism 210 peripheral countries 207 relative poverty 216

semiperipheral countries 207

terrorism 216 world cities 211 world systems theory 210

Key Terms

Ch 9: Global Stratification

Global Stratification
Theories of Global Stratification
Consequences of Global Stratification
World Poverty
Globalization and Social Change
Chapter Summary