absolute poverty
The state where one is barely able, or unable, to afford basic necessities.
Contrary to relative poverty, people who live in absolute poverty lack even the basic necessities, which typically include adequate food, clean water, safe housing, and access to health care.
anti-globalization movement
A global counter-movement based on principles of environmental sustainability, food sovereignty, labour rights, and democratic accountability that challenges the corporate model of globalization.
The anti-globalization movement has emerged as a counter-movement to define an alternative, non-corporate global project based on environmental sustainability, food sovereignty, labour rights, and democratic accountability.
capital flight
The movement (flight) of capital from one nation to another, via jobs and resources.
As mentioned above, capital flight describes jobs and infrastructure moving from one nation to another.
chattel slavery
A form of slavery in which one person owns another.
Chattel slavery, the form of slavery practised in the pre–Civil War American South, is when one person owns another as property.
core nations
Dominant capitalist countries.
A critical sociologist would likely address the systematic inequality created when core nations exploit the resources of peripheral nations.
debt accumulation
The buildup of external debt, wherein countries borrow money from other nations to fund their expansion or growth goals.
Perhaps the most pressing issue for middle-income nations is the problem of debt accumulation.
debt bondage
When people pledge themselves as servants in exchange for money for passage, and are subsequently paid too little to regain their freedom.
Debt bondage, or bonded labour, involves the poor pledging themselves as servants in exchange for the cost of basic necessities like transportation, room, and board.
deindustrialization
The loss of industrial production, usually to peripheral and semi-peripheral nations where the costs are lower.
This development was made possible by the reorientation of the city to automobile and truck use, deindustrialization and the rise of the service and knowledge economy, and a spatial decentralization of the population.
dependency theory
Theory stating that global inequity is due to the exploitation of peripheral and semi-peripheral nations by core nations.
The two most widely applied perspectives on global stratification are modernization theory and dependency theory.
first world
A term from the Cold War era that is used to describe industrialized capitalist democracies.
Familiar and still used by many, it involves classifying countries into first world, second world, and third world nations based on respective economic development and standards of living.
fourth world
A term that describes stigmatized minority groups who have no voice or representation on the world stage.
Later, sociologist Manual Castells (1998) added the term fourth world to refer to stigmatized minority groups that were denied a political voice all over the globe (indigenous minority populations, prisoners, and the homeless, for example).
global feminization
A pattern that occurs when women bear a disproportionate percentage of the burden of poverty.
In some ways, the term global feminization of poverty says it all: around the world, women are bearing a disproportionate percentage of the burden of poverty.
global inequality
The concentration of resources in core nations and in the hands of a wealthy minority.
But before we delve into the complexities of global inequality, let us consider how the three major sociological perspectives might contribute to our understanding of it.
global stratification
The unequal distribution of resources between countries.
The symbolic interaction perspective studies the day-to-day impact of global inequality, the meanings individuals attach to global stratification, and the subjective nature of poverty.
gross national income (GNI)
The income of a nation calculated based on goods and services produced, plus income earned by citizens and corporations headquartered in that country.
When using the World Bank categorization to classify economies, the measure of GNI, or gross national income, provides a picture of the overall economic health of a nation.
metropolis-hinterland relationship
The relationship between nations when resources of the hinterlands are shipped to the metropolises where they are converted into manufactured goods and shipped back to the hinterlands for consumption.
In the period of colonialism, core or metropolis nations created the conditions for the underdevelopment of peripheral or hinterland nations through a metropolis-hinterland relationship.
modernization theory
A theory that low-income countries can improve their global economic standing by industrialization of infrastructure and a shift in cultural attitudes toward work.
Like most versions of modernization theory, Rustow’s schema describes a linear process of development culminating in the formation of democratic, capitalist societies.
peripheral nations
Nations on the fringes of the global economy, dominated by core nations, with very little industrialization.
A critical sociologist would likely address the systematic inequality created when core nations exploit the resources of peripheral nations.
relative poverty
The state of poverty where one is unable to live the lifestyle of the average person in the country.
Relative poverty is a state of living where people can afford necessities but are unable to meet their society’s average standard of living.
second world
A term from the Cold War era that describes nations with moderate economies and standards of living.
Familiar and still used by many, it involves classifying countries into first world, second world, and third world nations based on respective economic development and standards of living.
semi-peripheral nations
In-between nations, not powerful enough to dictate policy but acting as a major source of raw materials and providing an expanding middle-class marketplace.
Semi-peripheral nations are in-between nations, not powerful enough to dictate policy but nevertheless acting as a major source for raw material.
subjective poverty
A state of poverty subjectively present when one’s actual income does not meet one’s expectations.
Subjective poverty describes poverty that is composed of many dimensions; it is subjectively present when your actual income does not meet your expectations and perceptions.
third world
A term from the Cold War era that refers to poor, nonindustrialized countries.
Familiar and still used by many, it involves classifying countries into first world, second world, and third world nations based on respective economic development and standards of living.
underground economy
An unregulated economy of labour and goods that operates outside of governance, regulatory systems, or human protections.
They are all members of the underground economy, a loosely defined unregulated market unhindered by taxes, government permits, or human protections.
These terms were extracted from Introduction to Sociology – 2nd Canadian Edition by William Little, eCampusOntario (originally published by BCcampus, 2016) which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Based on Introduction to Sociology by OpenStax (© 2013 Rice University), licensed under CC BY 3.0.