Lecture 10: Understanding the dynamics of unequal social
relations leading to income, gender, and
racial differentiation, and their connections
with patterns of human development both in
industrialized and less developed societies.
TOPIC FOR WORKSHOP: Describe and analyze the processes of gender
and racial differentiation in either
industrialized societies, or less developed
societies.
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You must read first:
NOTES ON UNEQUAL SOCIAL RELATIONS (Róbinson Rojas Sandford)
(see UNCTAD: The Trade and Development Report,1997 (press release 1)
UNCTAD: The Trade and Development Report,1997 (press release 2)
UNCTAD: Human Development Report 1996, Second Chapter)
BOX 1___________________________________________________________________
Economic Growth and Equitable Human Development: The Launch of the
1996 Human Development Report
Event:Statement for the USA
Release of the 1996 Human Development Report
Speaker:Mr. James Gustave Speth, Administrator, UNDP
Location:National Press Club, Washington DC
Date: 16 July 1996
(excerpts)
The first myth is that most of the developing world is doing rather
well, led by some 15 rapidly growing developing economies and
spurred by the opportunities of market globalization. As a result,
the myth has it, the poor are catching up, and we are seeing a
convergence of rich and poor. As the report amply documents, this
is simply not the case. Unfortunately, we live in a world that has
in fact become more polarized economically, both between countries
and within them. If current trends continue, if they are not
quickly corrected, economic disparities will move from inequitable
to inhuman -- from unacceptable to intolerable.
The second myth is that the early stages of economic growth is
inevitably associated with growing inequality within the country.
Again, this report marshals convincing evidence that this need not
be the case. Equitable growth is not only ideal in the abstract, it
is possible in the real world.
Today, we live on a planet which increasingly represents not `one
world', but `two worlds'. The `two worlds' result in part from the
failure of growth in more than 100 countries. As the Human
Development Report 1996 indicates, these countries' per capita
income is lower than it was 15 years ago, and, as a result, more
than a quarter of humanity -- 1.6 billion people -- are worse off
today than they were 15 years ago.
In 70 developing countries, today's levels of income are less than
those reached in the 1960s or 1970s. In 19, per capita income is
less than it was in 1960 or before. Economic decline in much of the
developing world has lasted for longer and gone deeper than the
Great Depression of the 1930s.
This economic growth came with mixed blessings. Too often it was
associated with joblessness, widening income gaps and growing
impoverishment. In recent years, the world has been witnessing a
famine of jobs. The report contains an employment analysis of 69
countries over the last decade. Of the 46 countries with positive
economic growth, only 27 saw employment also grow; 19 experienced
jobless growth, including the large countries of South Asia.
Poverty and income gaps have also grown amidst economic growth.
World poverty is increasing about as fast as world population,
which itself is growing in unprecedented number. The World Bank
recently estimated that 1.3 billion people live -- or don't live --
on less than a dollar a day. Equally depressing, the number of
people with incomes of less that $750 per year, hardly more than $2
per day, is about 3.3 billion people, or 60 per cent of humanity.We
must face the fact that we live in a world where between 1960 and
1993 total global income increased by 6-fold to $23 trillion, and
where average world per capita income tripled, but where
three-fifths of humanity still lives in a prison of poverty.
Another pattern is revealed by Thailand, many Latin American
countries, and others. During the last two decades, the ratio of
share of income of the richest 10 per cent to the poorest 10 per
cent of the Thai population has more than doubled -- from 17 times
to 38 times. And today, in the United States, the share of total
assets owned by the richest one per cent of the people has almost
doubled from 20 per cent to 36 per cent since 1975.
In countries like Brazil and Guatemala the richest 20 per cent earn
more than 30 times the poorest, and even in the United States, the
United Kingdom, Switzerland and Australia, the difference is about
10-fold. These trends cumulate into startling patterns of inequity
and injustice. Consider these indicators.
During the last three decades, the ratio of the income share of the
richest 20 per cent to that of the poorest 20 per cent has more
than doubled from 30:1 to 61:1. The poorest 20 per cent saw their
share of global income decline from 2.3 per cent to 1.4 per cent
over the last 30 years.
Today, the net worth of the 358 richest people is equal to the
combined income of the poorest 45 per cent of the world's
population -- 2.3 billion people.
Developing countries, with 80 per cent of the world's population,
account for only about 20 per cent of world output. Despite the
growth in the developing world, the share of world output from the
OECD countries actually increased from 68 per cent in 1960 to 72
per cent in 1990.
The gap in per capita income between the industrial and developing
worlds, far from narrowing, tripled between 1960 and 1993, from
$5,700 to $15,400.
The world, on many fronts, is divided -- between rich and poor,
between haves and have-nots, between wealthy and the dispossessed.
It has become more polarized, both between countries and within
countries. If present trends continue, the global economy will be
gargantuan in its excesses and grotesque in its inequalities. Vast
inequality would be the norm and instability and violence its
accompaniment.
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BOX 2___________________________________________________________________
REPORT OF THE WORLD SUMMIT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
United Nations (Copenhagen, 6-12 March 1995)
15. There has been progress in some areas of social and economic
development:
(a) The global wealth of nations has multiplied sevenfold in the
past 50 years and international trade has grown even more dramatically;
(b) Life expectancy, literacy and primary education, and access to
basic health care, including family planning, have increased in the
majority of countries and average infant mortality has been reduced,
including in developing countries;
(c) Democratic pluralism, democratic institutions and fundamental
civil liberties have expanded. Decolonization efforts have achieved much
progress, while the elimination of apartheid is a historic achievement.
16. Yet we recognize that far too many people, particularly women and
children, are vulnerable to stress and deprivation. Poverty,
unemployment and social disintegration too often result in isolation,
marginalization and violence. The insecurity that many people, in
particular vulnerable people, face about the future - their own and
their children's - is intensifying:
(a) Within many societies, both in developed and developing
countries, the gap between rich and poor has increased. Furthermore,
despite the fact that some developing countries are growing rapidly the
gap between developed and many developing countries, particularly the
least developed countries, has widened;
(b) More than one billion people in the world live in abject poverty,
most of whom go hungry every day. A large proportion, the majority of
whom are women, have very limited access to income, resources, education,
health care or nutrition, particularly in Africa and the least developed
countries;
(c) There are also serious social problems of a different nature
and magnitude in countries with economies in transition and countries
experiencing fundamental political, economic and social transformations;
(d) The major cause of the continued deterioration of the global
environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production,
particularly in industrialized countries, which is a matter of grave
concern, aggravating poverty and imbalances;
(e) Continued growth in the world's population, its structure and
distribution, and its relationship with poverty and social and gender
inequality challenge the adaptive capacities of Governments, individuals,
social institutions and the natural environment;
(f) Over 120 million people world wide are officially unemployed and
many more are underemployed. Too many young people, including those with
formal education, have little hope of finding productive work;
(g) More women than men live in absolute poverty and the imbalance
continues to grow, with serious consequences for women and their children.
Women carry a disproportionate share of the problems of coping with
poverty, social disintegration, unemployment, environmental degradation
and the effects of war;
(h) One of the world's largest minorities, more than 1 in 10, are
people with disabilities, who are too often forced into poverty,
unemployment and social isolation. In addition, in all countries older
persons may be particularly vulnerable to social exclusion, poverty and
marginalization;
(i) Millions of people world wide are refugees or internally
displaced persons. The tragic social consequences have a critical effect
on the social stability and development of their home countries, their
host countries and their respective regions.
17. While these problems are global in character and affect all
countries, we clearly acknowledge that the situation of most developing
countries, and particularly of Africa and the least developed countries,
is critical and requires special attention and action. We also
acknowledge that these countries, which are undergoing fundamental
political, economic and social transformation, including countries in
the process of consolidating peace and democracy, require the support of
the international community.
18. Countries with economies in transition, which are also undergoing
fundamental political, economic and social transformation, require the
support of the international community as well.
19. Other countries that are undergoing fundamental political, economic
and social transformation require the support of the international
community as well.
20. The goals and objectives of social development require continuous
efforts to reduce and eliminate major sources of social distress and
instability for the family and for society. We pledge to place particular
focus on and give priority attention to the fight against the world-wide
conditions that pose severe threats to the health, safety, peace, security
and well-being of our people. Among these conditions are
chronic hunger;
malnutrition;
illicit drug problems;
organized crime;
corruption;
foreign occupation;
armed conflicts;
illicit arms trafficking,
terrorism,
intolerance and incitement to racial, ethnic, religious
and other hatreds;
xenophobia;
and endemic, communicable and chronic diseases.
To this end, coordination and cooperation at the national level and
especially at the regional and international levels should be further
strengthened.
21. In this context, the negative impact on development of excessive
military expenditures, the arms trade, and investment for arms production
and acquisition must be addressed.
22. Communicable diseases constitute a serious health problem in all
countries and are a major cause of death globally; in many cases, their
incidence is increasing. These diseases are a hindrance to social
development and are often the cause of poverty and social exclusion. The
prevention, treatment and control of these diseases, covering a spectrum
from tuberculosis and malaria to the human immunodeficiency
virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), must be given the
highest priority.
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