Classifying the World

Uneven Global Development

In this course, Dr Paul Gilbert (University of Sussex) introduces to us uneven global development. To begin, we: (i) introduce different classifications of global development, including the Global North and Global South and low-, middle-, and high-income countries; and (ii) talk about gross domestic product (GDP) and gross national income (GNI), as well as the importance of measuring these ‘per capita’; (iii) learn about the Human Development Index (HDI); and then (iv) thinking about the drivers of uneven global development around the world; before (v) looking at consequences of international global policy on Global South countries like Jamaica; and (vi) Sri Lanka, before finally understanding how global economic powers are shifting to the BRICS countries.

Classifying the World

In this lecture introducing the concept of uneven global development, we discuss various ways of classifying and measuring countries based on their degree of development. We begin by looking at the definitions of the Global North, Global South and the Brandt line, and how these tend to reflect historical and power differentials rather than geographical locations. We then move onto the terms First World and Third World, initially coined in the context of the Cold War, before later evolving into a more derogatory classification of the world. To finish off, we touch on the classifications of low-income, middle-income and high-income countries, emphasising that the transition between these categories is not always straightforward and may impact eligibility for development aid.