2.2 Development Dynamics - Global inequalities

Question 1

What causes global inequalities?

Answer 1

Social factors - education rates and healthcare
Historical factors - colonialism, neo-colonialism
environmental factors - climate, topography (prisoner of geography)
economic and political factors - systems of governance and international relations

Question 2

What are the implications of social factors (education rates and healthcare) on a country’s development?

Answer 2

• Educated people produce a more skilled work force, bringing more money in through trade and investment with the services offered
  -Educated people earn more, and so tax money increases, money that can be spent on development
• Ill people cannot work, and need healthcare that is not offered - less working people

Question 3

What are the implications of colonialism and neo-colonialism on a country’s development?

Answer 3

Colonialism caused:

• economic exploitation (taking valuable resources from colonies, leaving the countries economically disadvantaged)
• infrastructure imbalance (colonisers built infrastructure primarily for resource extraction, neglecting other sectors
• political instability (borders drawn by colonisers led to ethnic and political tensions, overthrowing of the monarchy leads to instability)
• dependency (neo-colonialism encourages economic dependency through unequal trade relationships and debt, hindering independent development, conditional loans)

Question 4

What are the implications of climate and topography on a country’s development?

Answer 4

• Harsher climates hinder development and food production (e.g. desert, tundra)
• Flatter not mountainous topography is easier to build settlements on and connections; development is easier
• Rivers and proximity to the sea are trade routes
  (“prisoners of geography”)
• Certain lands are richer with natural resources; helps economic development

Question 5

What are the implications of systems of governance and international relations on a country’s development?

Answer 5

• Systems of governance (dictatorship, communism) etc. affect the rate of development (defined by capitalism)
• corruption means development is hindered
• international relations make it hard to trade and develop for certain countries (e.g. Taiwan cannot trade freely due to China), or easier for some countries (good relations, easier trade)

Question 6

What are the implications of inequalities for a developing country?

Answer 6

• Cannot afford to invest in education and healthcare (stuck in a cycle)
• Crime and political instability
• dependency on richer countries

Question 7

What are the 5 Stages in Rostow’s modernisation theory?

Answer 7

Stage 1 - traditional society: subsistence farming; fishing; forestry (little trade)
Stage 2 - preconditions for take-off: manufacturing on small scale; infrastructure built; trading internationally begins
Stage 3 - take-off: rapid intensive growth; large scale industrialisation
Stage 4 - drive to maturity: economic growth, standard of living rises; technology
Stage 5 - age of mass consumption: lots of trade; mass produced goods; high levels of consumption - ppl are wealthy

Question 8

What does Rostow’s theory do?

Answer 8

Rostow’s modernisation theory predicts how a country’s level of economic development changes over time.

Question 9

What the criticisms of Rostow’s model?

Answer 9

• suggests there is only 1 path to development (capitalistic)
• implies mass consumption is the goal; unsustainable and not good for environment

Question 10

What is Frank’s dependency theory?

Answer 10

The theory that core countries (developed) exploit the periphery countries;
- as they import low value raw materials from the periphery
- export high value manufactured goods to the periphery
- ultimately gaining the most and developing, leaving the periphery behind.

Question 11

What the criticisms of Frank’s model?

Answer 11

• Not all colonise countries remain poor (e.g. singapore)
• trade can equally benefit two countries and lead to development (e.g. S Korea)