FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev.

0 10-July-2020

STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. ___

A World of Regions
MODULE OVERVIEW

Globalization makes people connected and this interconnectedness is part of our daily life. This leads to the so
called global divide, the Global North and Global South. The terms “Global North” and “Global South” divide the
world in half both geographically. According to Karpilo (2018), the Global North contains all countries north of
the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere and the Global South holds all of the countries south of the Equator in
the Southern Hemisphere. Kwarteng and Botch way (2018) stated that “The North and South divide in the
practice and application of international laws have been previously perceived to be evident in international
environmental law where the Global developed North countries on the one hand advocate for a collective action
to protect the environment while the Global developing Southern countries, on the other hand, argue for social
and economic justice in practice.

MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:

 define the term “Global South”.
 differentiate the Global South from the Third World.
 analyze how a new conception of global relations emerged from the experiences of Latin
American Countries.
• differentiate between regionalization and globalization.
• identify the factors leading to a greater integration of the Asian region.
• analyze how different Asian states confront the challenges of globalization and regionalization.

LEARNING CONTENTS (title of the subsection)

Global Divides
.
The world is divided in terms of development and wealth. Back in 1980s, the world was geographically
split into relatively richer and poorer nations. In order to show this phenomena, the Brandt Line was developed.
According to this model, the Northern Hemisphere is where richer countries situated, with the exception of
Australia and New Zealand, whereas, in the Southern Hemisphere is the place of poorer countries. This shows
the concept of a gap between the Global North and the Global South. This differentiation is based on the fact
that most of developed countries are in the north whereas, the most of developing or underdeveloped countries
are in the south. Nonetheless, not all countries in the Global North can be called “developed,” while some of the
countries in the Global South can be called developed because there are some countries in the Global North
that are developing countries such as Nepal, Kazakhstan, and other African countries.
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The gap between the ‘North’ and ‘South’

Despite very significant development gains globally which have raised many millions of
people out of absolute poverty, there is substantial evidence that inequality between the world’s
richest and poorest countries is widening. In 1820 Western Europe's per capita income was three times
bigger than Africa’s but by 2000 it was thirteen times as big. In addition, in 2013, Oxfam reported that
the richest 85 people in the world owned the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the world’s
population.
Today the world is much more complex than the Brandt Line depicts as many poorer
countries have experienced significant economic and social development. However, inequality within
countries has also been growing and some commentators now talk of a ‘Global North’ and a ‘Global
South’ referring respectively to richer or poorer communities which are found both within and
between countries. For example, whilst India is still home to the largest concentration of poor people
in a single nation it also has a very sizable middle class and a very rich elite.
There are many causes for these inequalities including the availability of natural
resources; different levels of health and education; the nature of a country’s economy and its
industrial sectors; international trading policies and access to markets; how countries are
governed and international relationships between countries; conflict within and between
countries; and a country’s vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change. (Royal
Geographical
What Society)
is Global South?

Global South countries have been unable to evolve an indigenous technology appropriate to their own
resources and have been dependent on powerful Global North multinational corporations (MNCs) to transfer
technical know-how. This means that research and development expenditures are directed toward solutions of
the Global North’s problems, with technological advances seldom meeting the needs of the Global South.

Mahler (2017) coined three primary definitions of Global South. First, it has traditionally been used
within intergovernmental development organizations –– primarily those that originated in the Non-Aligned
Movement –– to refer to economically disadvantaged nation-states and as a post-cold war alternative to “Third
World.” However, the term Global South is employed in a post-national sense to address spaces and peoples
negatively impacted by contemporary capitalist globalization.

Second, the Global South captures a deterritorialized geography of capitalism’s externalities and
means to account for subjugated peoples within the borders of wealthier countries, such that there are
economic Souths in the geographic North and Norths in the geographic South. While this usage relies on a
longer tradition of analysis of the North’s geographic Souths –– wherein the South represents an internal
periphery and subaltern relational position –– the epithet “global” is used to unhinge the South from a one-to-
one relation to geography.

Third, Global South refers to the resistant imaginary of a transnational political subject that results from
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a shared experience of subjugation under contemporary global capitalism. The use of the Global South to refer
to a political subjectivity draws from the rhetoric of the so called Third World Project, or the non-aligned and
radical internationalist discourses of the cold war. In this sense, the Global South may productively be
considered a direct response to the category of postcoloniality in that it captures both a political collectivity and
ideological formulation that arises from lateral solidarities among the world’s multiple Souths and moves beyond
the analysis of the operation of power through colonial difference towards networked theories of power within
contemporary global capitalism.
Global South from the Third World

The term “Third World” countries was coined by Alfred Sauvy, a French demographer, after World War
II and during the Cold War-era. It is also the tagged to those countries that did not align with democratic or
communist countries. This eventually evolved to refer levels of development. The Third World included the
developing nations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

To Wolvers, et. al. (n.d.) the “Third World” become a central political slogan for the radical left. The term
in its origins had suggested that societies of the Third World, embarking on the long path to modernity, had one
of two paths to follow, the capitalist or the socialist. Even as socialist and capitalist (formerly colonialist) states
vied for influence in the “Third World”, there was a lingering assumption in mainstream Euro/American
scholarship, ultimately to be vindicated, that the socialist path itself was something of a temporary deviation.
Modernization discourse assigned to capitalism the ultimate teleological task of bringing history to an end.
Nevertheless, given the close association of capitalism with imperialism, the socialist example exerted
significant influence on the national liberation movements that the Third World idea spawned. The
developmental failure of “Third World” alternatives was evident by the 1970s. The term Global South, seemingly
politically neutral, proposed to incorporate these societies in the developmental project of capitalism, already
named “globalization” in one of the early uses of that term, which would not acquire popularity until the 1990s.
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GLOBAL SOUTH
by Olaf Kaltmeier (Professor of Ibero-American History, Bielefeld University, Germany)

The term Global South has been of great benefit in re-introducing studies on Africa, Asia, and Latin America into
the academic field. The necessary deconstruction of development in post development approaches in the 1990s has
contributed to the – probably unintended – crisis of Development Studies and Third-World Area Study Centers. The
end of the “Third World” has been proclaimed, which has led to a significant reduction of studies on these areas.
After the end of the bipolar world, and in the context of an accelerated globalization process, Area Studies –
especially on the so called Third- World countries – have been displaced by Global Studies. With a Global South-
oriented approach, areas formerly peripheral to global studies are placed at the center of attention once more.
Nevertheless, the concept of the Global South shares some of the limitations of the concept of the Third World. It
evokes imaginations of a geographical North-South divide, which does not correspond to the complex
entanglements and uneven developments in the real world. Areas incorporated under the label Global South can also
be found in the geographical North. Ethnic ghettos and barrios in US American cities are one example; the
“Latinoization” of the US is another. And the gated communities of the cosmopolitan elite in Rio de Janeiro,
Mexico City, or Santiago de Chile have more in common with their counterparts in Miami, L.A. or Chicago than
with the surrounding barrios, marginales and favelas.

Olaf Kaltmeier is Managing Director of the Center for InterAmerican Studies (CIAS) at Bielefeld University,
(http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/%28de%29/cias/)
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LEARNING ACTIVITY 1

Name: _______________________________________ Score: _________________

Course: ______________________________________ Date: __________________

Political Cartooning

Direction: Form group with three members. Draw a political cartoon of what Global North and Global Divide
would look like.
– Make it unique and eye catching
– Creativity and humor help
– Using familiar figures also helps dramatically

Present in class and explain.

Then, the class will vote for the best cartoon

* please refer to the book entitled “Worktext in the Contemporary World”, (Mendoza, et.al.)

LEARNING CONTENTS (title of the subsection)

. Asian Regionalism

“Regionalism is an approach to study the behaviour that emphasizes the geographical region as the unit of
analysis, stressing the relationship between man and his immediate physical environment. Economic social and
cultural organisations are analyzed in terms of their interrelationships and functions within the geographic
region”
-W.P. Scott.
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Regionalization and Globalization

Regionalism and globalization are two different concepts which are interrelated. Regionalism is the
process through which geographical regions become significant political and/or economic units serving as the
basis for cooperation and possibly identity whereas, Globalization is the interconnectedness and
interdependence of states, forming a process of international integration arising from the interchange of world
views, products, ideas, and other aspects of culture.

Benefit of Regionalism
According to ADB report (2008), the following are benefits of Asia from regionalism, namely:
1. link the competitive strengths of its diverse economies in order to boost their productivity and sustain the
region’s exceptional growth;
2. connect the region’s capital markets to enhance financial stability, reduce the cost of capital, and improve
opportunities for sharing risks;
3. cooperate in setting exchange rate and macroeconomic policies in order to minimize the effects of global
and regional shocks and to facilitate the resolution of global imbalances;
4. pool the region’s foreign exchange reserves to make more resources available for investment and
development;
5. exercise leadership in global decision making to sustain the open global trade and financial systems that
have supported a half century of unparalleled economic development;
6. build connected infrastructure and collaborate on inclusive development to reduce inequalities within and
across economies and thus to strengthen support for pro-growth policies; and
7. create regional mechanisms to manage cross-border health, safety, and environmental issues better.

Conversely, ADB (2008) further stated the benefits of the world to Asian regionalism are as follows:
1. generate productivity gains, new ideas, and competition that boost economic growth and raise incomes
across the world;
2. contribute to the efficiency and stability of global financial markets by making Asian capital markets stronger
and safer, and by maximizing the productive use of Asian savings;
3. diversify sources of global demand, helping to stabilize the world economy and diminish the risks posed by
global imbalances and downturns in other major economies;
4. provide leadership to help sustain open global trade and financial systems; and
5. create regional mechanisms to manage health, safety, and environmental issues better, and thus contribute
to more effective global solutions of these problems.

Characteristics of Regionalism
1. Local Identity. Strong local identity and a loyalty to the region. Politicians and many residents feel pride in
the local culture and its people. Politicians try to exploit that identity to gain supporters for their proposals.
They often claim that the regional interest should always come before the national interest. Moreover,
emphasizes local development and well-being, at times without considering other regions. Thus, the
supporters commonly argue that their region suffers unfair or discriminatory treatments from the national
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government and that, by focusing on local issues, the region will do better, economically and socially.
Accordingly, if all regions do the same, the nation will benefit as a whole.
2. Autonomy. Greater autonomy is another characteristic and a priority of regionalism. It can be economic, in
the form of more power to administer economic resources and modify fiscal policies; it can also be political,
with stronger local institutions and the ability to pass laws and enforce local policies. A regional political
party, however, is not automatically a form of regionalism. One group that only exists in a certain region
might promote local agendas without looking for greater regional autonomy. Thus, some regionalist
governments have tried to prevent people from other regions (although still nationals of the same country)
from benefiting from local programs. The scope of some of their policies includes only local residents and
tends to restrict access to other individuals.

Features of Regionalism
1. Regionalism is a psychic phenomenon.
2. It is built around as an expression of group identity, as well as loyalty to the region.
3. It presupposes the concept of development of one’s own region without taking into consideration the
interest of other region.
4. It prohibits people from other regions to be benefitted by a particular region.

Factors leading to a greater integration of the Asian region

1. Trade. The world economy is intertwined with each other whether we like it or not. We all want or need
something from another part of the world, and global trade facilitates that.
2. Similar Culture. The cultures of Asia is diverse but they do share many things. This makes it an easier fit
during times of negotiations.
3. Common Goals. The Asian region recognizes the mutual benefit of a slow integration. The territories
involved are not far from each other and the industriousness of its population can work as a powerful
negotiating block against those from other parts of the world.
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LEARNING ACTIVITY 2

Name: _______________________________________ Score: _________________

Course: ______________________________________ Date: __________________

Regional Organization Matrix

Directions: Fill in the table below to show how regional organization was formed

Name of Asian
Organization/
Association

Important
People
(Founder)

Membership

Functions

*please refer to the book entitled “Worktext in the Contemporary World”, (Mendoza, et.al.)
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SUMMARY

The term `regionalism’ conveys the sense of intentional, top-down region-building—involving inter-
governmental collaboration. `Regionalization’, on the other hand, refers to the growing density of interaction and
co-operation between neighboring countries.
But for He and Inoguchi (2011), Regionalism is an inspirational and revolutionary involving the
reorganization of political, economic, cultural, and social lives along the lines of an imagined region rather than
according to the standard political unit of the nation-state.

Moreover, Marshall E. Dimock considers regionalism “as a clustering of environmental, economic,

social and governmental factors to such an extent that a distinct consciousness of separate identity within the
whole, a need for autonomous planning, a manifestation of cultural peculiarities and a desire for administrative
freedom, are theoretically recognized and actually put into effect. Regionalism is something which remains to be
realized and further developed, as well as a phenomenon which has already appeared and taken form. In one
sense, and perhaps the best one, regionalism is a way of life, it is a self-conscious process.”

On the other hand, Claudio (2014) stated that the global south is both a reality and a provisional in
progress. This because according to Sparke (2007) in Claudio (2014) said that Global South is everywhere, but
is also somewhere, located at the intersection of entangled political geographies of dispossession and
repossession, therefore Global South and Global North may exist in the same location such as in Manila or
anywhere else. Moreover, Grovogui (2011) in Claudio (2014) explained that: The Global South is not a
directional designation or a point due south from a fixed north. It is a symbolic designation meant to capture the
semblance of cohesion that emerged when former colonial entities engaged in political projects of
decolonization and moved toward the realization of a postcolonial international order.

On the other hand, Claudio (2014) stated that the global south is both a reality and a provisional in
progress. This because according to Sparke (2007) in Claudio (2014) said that Global South is everywhere, but
is also somewhere, located at the intersection of entangled political geographies of dispossession and
repossession, therefore Global South and Global North may exist in the same location such as in Manila or
anywhere else. Moreover, Grovogui (2011) in Claudio (2014) explained that: The Global South is not a
directional designation or a point due south from a fixed north. It is a symbolic designation meant to capture the
semblance of cohesion that emerged when former colonial entities engaged in political projects of
decolonization and moved toward the realization of a postcolonial international order.
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REFERENCES