Poverty

Question 1

What is the definition of absolute poverty?

Answer 1

The original, absolute standard means to be deprived of the necessities of life, food, fuel, shelter and clothing. This concept is founded on the idea of ‘basic needs’ which correspond to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs

Question 2

World Bank definition of absolute poverty

Answer 2

2004
World Bank uses an income level of $1.25 a day and estimates that 1.4 billion people live at or below the international poverty line

Question 3

Problems with definition of absolute poverty

Answer 3

It is exclusively economic and not social. It measures poverty in terms of that person’s ability to meet their basic needs
It does not take into account social factors

Question 4

Example of a country in absolute poverty

Answer 4

India has the largest population of those in the world living in absolute poverty

Question 5

What is the definition of relative poverty?

Answer 5

This puts the poverty that people are experiencing into context by comparing it with other people who live in the same society or state. It compares people’s incomes against the average income in that country. It judges whether people have the minimum income needed to maintain the average standard of living that people in the country enjoy.
Frequently based around those who live in households that earn 60% below the middle or median income in the state

Question 6

Relative Poverty in UK

Answer 6

UK House of Commons estimated that 10 million people are living in relative poverty

Question 7

Amartya Sen and Human Development

Answer 7

Believes that famines arise not from a lack of food but from a complex web of social, economic and political factors. Poverty is therefore about restricted opportunities and the absence of freedom

Question 8

What are the Human Development Indicators as per the UN?

Answer 8

Life expectancy

Education

Access to resources needed for a decent standard of living

Preserving resources for future generations

Ensuring human capacity

Achieving equality for all

Question 9

What is development?

Answer 9

The combination of activities by which a variety of actors in global politics attempt to reduce poverty and improve the economic and social development of a defined group of people

Question 10

How would a realist measure poverty?

Answer 10

States should focus on their own economic development first

States only help other states to develop if this helps to protect or advance their own interests

Aid is likely to make the recipient nations dependent upon funds and skills from other states

Question 11

How would a liberal measure poverty?

Answer 11

Developed states have a responsibility to help less-developed states

It is in the global interest of all

Question 12

Economic Growth

Why is it used? What is it?

Answer 12

Most quantitive measure of development

Question 13

What is GDP?

Answer 13

A measure of the economic activity that takes place within a state

Question 14

What is GNP?

Answer 14

A measure of all economic activity wherever it takes place in the world

Question 15

Venezuela

Answer 15

2017
Suffering one of the worst recessions
Economy decreasing output by 13%

Question 16

China and India

Answer 16

Economies looked successful in 2017

Decreasing massively

Question 17

Critics of the measures of GDP and GNP

Answer 17

Poor measure of poverty and does not take into account the fact that a state may have high economic growth but the economic benefits of this growth are not shared fairly among the population

Serious problems with poverty may be hidden in seemingly positive GDP figures

Does not take into account any human rights or democracy factors

Economic growth can be misleading

Question 18

Example of economic growth being misleading

Answer 18

2008 Pakistan
7% GDP growth
Required an IMF bailout

Question 19

What is the Human Development Index?

Answer 19

Key focus of both MDGs and has become of major assistance to the World Bank

It is a measure of poverty along with the Multi-dimensional poverty index which focuses on human development priorities of human wellbeing and empowerment

Question 20

What are some indicators for the HDI?

Answer 20

Life expectancy at birth
Amount of years spent in education
Income based on GNP

Question 21

How many countries agree to the HDI?

Answer 21

188

Question 22

Examples of country on the HDI

Answer 22

2015 Norway was the highest with a life expectancy of 81, 17.5 years of schooling and $64,992 GNI per capita

Niger is the lowest with a life expectancy of 61 years, 5.4 years of school and an average of $908 GNI per capita

Question 23

What are the four theories of what causes poverty?

Answer 23

North-South Divide

Richer, more developed states exploit the poor and less developed

Globalisation bringing large inequality

Colonialism

Question 24

What is the North-South Divide?

Answer 24

Brandt line divides the Global North and South in which the North is more developed and industrialised than the South.

1944 Bretton Woods Conference was designed to benefit the North

Question 25

What are the key differences between the North and South?

Answer 25

Industrialisation brought wealth for the North and there has been a lack of this.

The North lead free trade agreements and the South are not involved in these and the WTO

MNCs have exploited the South for their cheap labour and natural resources

Question 26

What evidence is there to suggest the South is slowly catching up?

Answer 26

China is technically in the Global South and has the worlds largest economy

WB estimated that the GN is responsible for 2/3 of carbon dioxide emissions and yet China produces the most greenhouse gases

G20 shows global south incorporation

Question 27

What is Dependency Theory?

Answer 27

Immanuel Wallerstein

Global capitalism maintains the developing world in a. state of neo-colonial dependency

Question 28

What are the three types of states and what are they actually?

Answer 28

Core - wealthy states mirroring the Global North and dominate

Periphery - states are poor and under developed and may mirror the global south and are yet to industrialise

Semi-periphery - a state which is slowly developing

Question 29

Democratic Republic of Congo Example

Answer 29

DRC is one of the poorest countries in which it ranks 176th out of 188 in the HDI

Coltan is extracted using cheap Labour ($3 a day) from mines and exported to core countries to be use d in smartphones

DRC remains stuck in low wage, low technology economy that is reliant on the poorly paid investment of foreign MNCS

Question 30

China and Africa Example

Answer 30

China (SP) needs natural resources (oil) in order to keep its rapidly expanding industries operating

Africa (P) has this oil.

Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa rose from $74 million in 2005 to $5.5 billion in 2009

Chinese economy slowed in 2008 - china’s investment fell rapidly by as much as 84%

Africa is increasingly dependent upon Chinese investment in Africa for infrastructure projects

Question 31

What is the theory surrounding globalisation?

positives

Answer 31

Seen increased foreign direct investment in developing states which can create tax revenue that can be spent on development

MNCs bring experience, skills and better wages to poor countries

Economic freedom promotes other freedoms which leads to human development

Question 32

What is the theory surrounding globalisation?

negatives

Answer 32

Developing countries are exploited for natural resources and minerals

Skills that will enable industrialisation are not developed in developing countries. MNCs use too much of their own skilled employees and do little to help develop the skills and capacity within under developed countries

Wealthy states pay low wages

Question 33

What is Colonialism theory?

How does it contribute to global poverty

Answer 33

Has contributed to modern global poverty in numerous ways:

Capacity of local population was sometimes not fully developed. When gaining independence, they had little experience of self-government and found it difficult to develop

Border drawn without regard to ethnic unity but rather political expediency leading to conflicts

Dependency theory is highly relevant to colonialism as it represents the most deliberate attempt by core countries to maximise their own economic growth and keep poorer states in a state of dependency

Question 34

What arguments are made against the theory of colonialism contributing to global poverty?

Answer 34

Infrastructure was built in countries

Rule of law was introduced to some colonial states