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The Global South, as defined as “developing” rather than “developed” countries, shown in red.
(Foto: Kingj123, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
The concept of a Global South and Global North has changed considerably in the last
decades, as the world’s economies and conditions have developed and changed. The
geographical line is not so simple anymore. It’s also important to note that the terms
‘Global South’ and ‘Global North’ can be defined in different ways. For these reasons,
the terms have been criticized. By some definitions, for instance, Malaysia, Argentina
and Botswana no longer fit into the ‘Global South’ label. Official organizations therefore
prefer to classify states using more measurable, easily defined terms. The World Bank,
for example, classifies countries by the gross national income: a country can be low,
medium or high income. National development of a state can also be measured by GDP
or Human Development Index.
What Are the Global South and Global North? 3
Definitions
There are currently three general definitions used to measure the Global North and
South.
The first is based on economic development of states. More recently, this
definition changed to reflect which nations are negatively impacted by modern
capitalist globalization.
The second definition refers to the Global South as a body of nations with
the shared experience of domination and exploitation under global capitalism.
The third definition breaks down the geography of the Global North and South,
and argues that there also is great wealth inequality within the borders of nations
themselves. Antonio Gramsci, a famous Italian Marxist, argues, for example, that
northern Italian capitalists have colonized the south of the same country. This
definition has contributed to the concern that these terms are dated.
As inequality grows, there are countries which are difficult to pinpoint as belonging to
the Global North or South under any of these definitions. India, for example, has seen
economic growth leading to the rise of the middle class and a rich elite. However, the
nation still has some of the highest rates of slums and extreme poverty in the world.
Foreign intervention has contributed to civil war and unrest in the Global South.
(Foto: CC0 / Pixabay / alex_madred)
The Global North and South are most often defined based on a variety of
measurements including their resources, education, health, living conditions, economy,
industry, trade, markets, government, international relations and conflicts. The
inequalities between the Global North and South have manifested at the hands of the
Global North.