Chapter 10: Global Inequality

1. Chapter 10: Global Inequality

2. Global Inequality • The Global Divide • Stratification in the World System • Stratification within Nations • Case Study: Stratification in Mexico • Social Policy and Global Inequality: Universal Human Rights

3. The Global Divide • Inequality significant determinant of human behavior • Industrial Revolution caused living standards to rise • Developing countries have more rural population, total births, disease, and childhood deaths • Industrial nations spend more on health and military and emit more carbon dioxide

4. Figure 10-1: Fundamental Global Inequality Note: In this comparison, industrial nations include the United States and Canada, Japan, Western Europe, and Australia. Developing nations include Africa, Asia (except for Japan), Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. Source: Adapted from Sutcliffe 2002:18.

5. Stratification in the World system • Sharp divide between industrial and developing nations • Sociologists recognize continuum of nations from riches to poorest • Per capita gross nation income in U.S., Japan, Switzerland, Belgium, and Norway more than $36,000 in 2001 • In poorer countries, value was $900 or less

6. Figure 10-2: Gross National Income per Capita Note: Size based on 2000 population estimates. Sources: Haub 2006; Weeks 2002:22–23, 2005:32–33.

7. The Legacy of Colonialism • Economic and political consequences of colonialism and neocolonialism are apparent • Colonialism: when foreign power maintains political, social, economic, and cultural domination over people for an extended period • Neocolonialism: continued dependence on more industrialized nations for managerial and technical expertise by former colonies

8. The Legacy of Colonialism • Wallerstein’s world systems analysis • Unequal economic and political relationships in which certain industrialized nations and their global corporations dominate core of the world’s economic system • Dependency theory: as developing countries make economic advances, they remain subservient to core nations and corporations • Growing share of human and natural resources of developing countries redistributed to core industrial countries

9. The Legacy of Colonialism • Globalization: worldwide integration of government policies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets through trade and the exchange of ideas • World Bank and International Monetary Fund emerged as key players in global economy • Critics note violations of workers’ rights, destruction of environment, loss of cultural identity, and discrimination against minority groups in periphery nations

10. Figure 10-3: World Systems Analysis at theBeginning of the 21st Century Note: Figure shows only a partial listing of countries.

11. Multinational Corporations • Multinational corporations: commercial organizations headquartered in one country but who do business throughout the world • Functionalist View • Through international ties, multinational corporations make nations of the world more interdependent

12. Multinational Corporations • Conflict View • Multinational corporations exploit local workers to maximize profits • Investment by multinationals initially contributes to host nation’s wealth, but eventually it increases economic inequality within developing nations

13. Worldwide Poverty • U.N. Millennium Project (2000) • Eliminate extreme poverty by 2015 • Planners want industrial nations to set aside 0.7% of gross national product – value of a nation’s goods and services – for aid to developing nations • U.S. ranks 16th of 22 most advanced industrial nations by percentage of government giving • U.S. private charities is much higher than other countries • Remittances from U.S. estimated at $199 billion

14. Table 10-1: Multinational Corporations Compared to Nations Notes: Total is an oil, petroleum, and chemical company. UAE refers to United Arab Emirates. Where two nations are listed, the country with the larger GDP is listed first. Revenues as tabulated by Fortune are for 2004. GDP as collected by the World Bank are for 2003. Sources: For corporate data, Fortune 2005:119; for GDP data, World Bank 2005a:202–204.

15. Figure 10-4: Poverty Worldwide Sources: Chronic Poverty Research Center 2005 in Sachs 2005b.

16. Modernization • Modernization: far reaching process where peripheral nations move from traditional institutions to characteristics of more developed societies • Members of societies undergoing modernization must shift allegiance from traditional sources of authority • Modernizationtheory: functionalist view that modernization and development gradually improves people’s lives in developing nations

17. Modernization • Economic change does not always effect cultural change • Some researchers emphasize that industrial and developing countries are “modern” • Conflict theorists note modernization of developing countries often perpetuates their dependence on industrialized nations

18. Sociology in the Global Community • 10-1: Cutting Poverty Worldwide • Do you think the Millennium Project’s objectives are realistic? • Why do you think the project’s founders gave themselves only 15 years to accomplish their goal? • Are the project’s eight objectives related? • Could some of the objectives be reached successfully without addressing the others? • If you were a government planner with the resources to address just one objective, which would you pick, and why?

19. Sociology in the Global Community • 10-2: The Global Disconnect • For nations on the periphery, what are some of the social and economic consequences of the global disconnect? • What factors might complicate efforts to remedy the global disconnect in developing nations?

20. Distribution of Wealth and Income • Worldwide, the richest 2% of adults own more than half the world’s household wealth • In at least 26 nations around the world, the most affluent 10% of the population receives at least 40% of all income • Women in developing countries find life especially difficult

21. Figure 10-5: Foreign Aid per Capita in Eight Countries Note: Data for 2004 released by World Bank in 2006. Source: World Bank 2007a: TBD.

22. Table 10-2: Three Approaches to Global Inequality

23. Figure 10-6: Distribution of Income in Nine Nations Note: Data are considered comparable although based on statistics covering 1993 to 2001. Source: World Bank 2007a:66–68.

24. Mobility in Industrial Nations • Patterns exist in intergenerational mobility in industrialized nations • Similarities in ways parent’s positions in stratification systems are transmitted to their children • Mobility opportunities influenced by such structural factors as labor market changes • Immigration significant factor shaping a society’s level of intergenerational mobility

25. Mobility in developing nations • Macro-level social and economic changes often overshadow micro-level movement from one occupation to another • In large developing countries, most socially significant mobility is movement out of poverty

26. Gender Differences and Mobility • As a country develops and modernizes, women’s vital role in food production deteriorates • Jeopardizes their autonomy and material well-being

27. Social Inequality • 10-3: Stratification in Japan • What factors might contribute to the relatively low level of income inequality in Japan? • Describe the types of gender discrimination found in Japan. • Why do you think Japanese women occupy such a subordinate social position?

28. Mexico’s Economy • Mexico a semiperiphery nation • In 2005, gross national income per person in U.S. was $41,950; in Mexico – $10,030 • About 87% of adults in U.S. have high school education; 13% have high school education in Mexico • About 6 of every 1,000 infants dies in the U.S. in the first year of life; 21 per 1,000 infants die in Mexico • Mexico poor country, but gap between richest and poorest citizens one of widest

29. Race Relations in Mexico: The Color Hierarchy • Mexico’s indigenous Indians approximately 14% of population • More than 90% live in homes without sewers • Social class linked to appearance of racial purity • Top is criollos, 10% of population who are typically white with Spanish familial roots • Bottom is the full-blooded Mexican Indian minority

30. The Status of Women in Mexico • Constitute 44% of labor force • More mired in lowest-paying jobs than counterparts in industrial nations • Rarely occupy top decision-making position in political arena but increased their representation in national legislature to 23% • Find it difficult to obtain credit and technical assistance • Have begun to organize to address issues

31. The Borderlands • Borderlands: area of common culture along border between Mexico and U.S. • Maquiladoras: foreign-owned factories across border in Mexico where companies that own them do not have to pay taxes or provide benefits to workers • Created 700,000 jobs in first 7 years of NAFTA, but 43% eliminated between 2000 and 2003

32. The Borderlands • From Mexican view, U.S. too often regards Mexico as a pool of cheap labor • Social impact of emigration to U.S. felt throughout Mexico • Remittances: money sent back to Mexico from Mexicans working in the U.S. – estimated to be $23 billion a year

33. Figure 10-7: The Borderlands Source: Prepared by the author based on Dickerson 2007; Ellingwood 2001; G. Thompson 2001a; U.S. Customs and Border Protection 2007.

34. Universal Human Rights • The Issue • Human rights: universal moral rights belonging to all people because they are human • Elaboration of human rights appears in Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948

35. Universal Human Rights • The Issue • What steps can the world community take to ensure the protection of these rights? • Right to a nationality and culture • Freedom of religion • Right to vote • Right to seek asylum in other countries • Prohibits arbitrary interference with one’s privacy or property • Entitles mothers and children to special care and assistance

36. Universal Human Rights • The Setting • U.S. originally feared international scrutiny of nation’s civil rights controversies • By early 1960s, U.S. used Declaration to promote democracy abroad • In 1996, U.N. tribunal indicted 8 for rape, marking first time that sexual assault treated as a war crime • Estimated 600,00 to 800,000 people transported across international borders for slavery or sexual exploitation

37. Universal Human Rights • Sociological Insights • Cultural relativism encourages understanding and respecting the distinctive norms, values, and customs of each culture • Conflicts arise between human rights standards and local social practices that rest on alternative views of human dignity in some countries

38. Universal Human Rights • Sociological Insights • Policymakers frequently look at human rights from an economic perspective • Functionalists point out how much more quickly we become embroiled in “human rights” concerns when oil is at stake

39. Universal Human Rights • Policy Initiatives • Many national policymakers hesitate to interfere in worldwide human rights issues • Most initiatives come from international bodies • Universal human rights remain an ideal and not a reality

40. Table 10-3: Human Trafficking Report Note: Tier 3 list is complete; others are incomplete. Source: Department of State 2006b:Section IV.