Globalisation and Development

Abstract

Development and other terms such as ‘North—South’, ‘First World—Third World’, ‘developed world—developing world’, and so on can be endlessly unpacked and debated. In this chapter, ‘development’ refers to ‘the increasing capacity to make rational use of natural and human resources for social ends’ (Mittelman and Pasha 1997: 25). The term ‘the North’, refers to the western industrialised states, for example, the United States, Western Europe, Japan, and so on. The ‘South’, on the other hand, refers to the developing/industrialising countries, primarily located in the excolonial states of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Such states — in general — have faced immense development challenges and at the turn of the 21st century and in the current neo-liberal epoch this appears to be continuing. Indeed, under the catch-all rubric of ‘globalisation’ topics such as trade, investment, aid, capital flows and economic integration; as well as migration from the South to the North; narcotics smuggling (invariably in the same direction); and environmental issues — often the (illicit) shipping of toxic waste from the North to the South — are firmly on the developmental agenda.