Global stratification refers to the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and resources among nations. There are several theories that attempt to explain this stratification, including modernization theory and dependency theory. Modernization theory views stratification as due to differences in technological development and industrialization, while dependency theory argues that underdeveloped nations are held back by the exploitation and dominance of wealthy core nations. Both theories have been criticized for being overly simplistic explanations of a complex global system.

1. Azur, Brondo, Cruzata, De Jesus,
Fuerte, Medina
The
Contemporary
World

8. GLOBAL
STRATIFICATION

9. At the end of this lesson, learners will be able to:
1. understand global stratification
2. compare and contrast different theories of
global stratification

10. PRELIMINARY
ACTIVITY!
You are to explain some
editorial cartoons involving
welfare and general services.

14. Global stratification refers to the
unequal distribution of wealth,
power, prestige, resources, and
influence among the world’s
nations. Put more simply, there is an
extreme difference between the
richest and poorest nations. (United
Nations Development Programme,
2005).

15. TYPOLOGIES
•First World, Second World, Third World
and Fourth World.
•Global South and Global North.
•The Core and The Periphery.

17. FIRST WORLD
•These are generally the Western
capitalist democracies of North
America and of Europe and
certain other nations (e.g.,
Australia, New Zealand, and
Japan)

18. SECOND WORLD
• The Second World was the
communist nations belonging to
the Soviet Union.

19. THIRD WORLD
•It was all the remaining nations,
almost all of them from Central
and South America, Africa, and
Asia.

20. FOURTH WORLD
•The Fourth World is an outdated term used to
describe the most underdeveloped, poverty-
stricken, and marginalized regions of the
world. Many inhabitants of these nations do
not have any political ties and are often
hunter-gatherers that live in nomadic
communities, or are part of tribes. Countries
like Haiti, Lesotho, and Ethiopia once
belonged to this (Liberto, 2023).

21. GLOBAL AND NORTH SOUTH
•The Global North implies the developed
economies, the Global South implies the
underdeveloped economies. Four broad
indicators distinguish global north
economies from global south
economies. These include politics,
technology, wealth and demography
(Odeh, 2010).

22. CORE AND PERIPHERAL NATIONS
• Core countries are dominant
capitalist countries that exploit
peripheral countries for labor and
raw materials. Peripheral countries
are dependent on core countries for
capital and have underdeveloped
industry (Libretexts, 2021).

24. •Liberal Trade. The diminution in industrial
protection enforced by strong tariff barriers and
import controls or simply the removal or reduction
of restrictions or barriers (Wall Street Mojo, 2022 &
Banton, 2021).
•Exploitation. The act of using resources or labor
unjustly for one's own advantage (Study Smarter,
n.d.)

25. •Trade protectionism. The attempt by the domestic
government to limit imports from foreign competitors or
promote domestic exports to other nations. Policymakers
achieve these goals by creating protectionist policies that
create barriers to international trade (Economics Online,
2022).
•Import substitution. A strategy under trade policy that
abolishes the import of foreign products and encourages
production in the domestic market (Byjus, 2020).

26. •Neocolonialism. It can be described as the subtle
propagation of socio-economic and political
activity by former colonial rulers aimed at
reinforcing capitalism, neo-liberal globalization,
and cultural subjugation of their former colonies
(International Encyclopedia of Philosophy, n.d.)

29. Can
modernization
transcend the
lives of the
underdeveloped
countries just as
how it have its
transition?

30. Modernization theory is
used to explain the
process of modernization
within societies. This
theory frames global
stratification as a
function of
technological and
cultural differences
between nations.

31. It pinpoints two
historical events that
contributed to Western
Europe developing at
a faster rate than
much of the rest of the
world
1. Columbian
Exchange
2. Industrial Revolution

32. Columbian Exchange
refers to the spread of
goods, technology,
education and
diseases between the
Americas and Europe
after Christopher
Columbus’ so-called
“discovery of the
Americas”

33. This exchange
worked out well
for the European
countries but
worked out much
less well, for
Native
Americans.

34. Industrial Revolution
(18th and 19th
centuries)
This is when new
technologies, like
steam power and
mechanisation,
allowed countries to
replace human labor
with machines and
increase productivity.

35. Countries that
industrialised saw
massive
improvements in
their standards of
living and
countries that did
not industrialise lag
behind

36. Modernization theory
rests on the idea that
affluence could be
attained by anyone.
Modernization theory
argues that the tension
between tradition and
technological change is
the biggest barrier to
growth.

39. TRADITIONAL SOCIETY
This stage is characterized by a
predominantly agrarian
economy with limited
technology and infrastructure.
The majority of the population is
engaged in subsistence farming,
and there is little industrialization
or urbanization.

40. PRECONDITIONS FOR TAKE-OFF
In this stage, the country starts to
experience economic growth and
development. There is an increase in
investment in infrastructure, such as
transportation and communication
networks, and the emergence of a
few industrial sectors. The economy
begins to diversify, and there is a shift
from agriculture to manufacturing.

41. TAKE-OFF
At this stage, the country experiences rapid
industrialization and sustained economic growth.
There is a significant increase in investment,
particularly in industries such as textiles, steel, and
machinery. Urbanization accelerates, and there is
a shift from traditional agriculture to modern
farming methods. The economy becomes more
self-sustaining, and there is a rise in per capita
income.

42. DRIVE TO TECHNOLOGICAL
MATURITY
In this final stage, the country achieves a
high level of industrialization and economic
diversification. There is a focus on
technological advancements and
innovation, and the economy becomes
more service-oriented. The standard of living
improves, and the population experiences a
higher level of education and healthcare.
The country becomes a developed nation.

43. HIGH MASS CONSUMPTION
In the high mass stage, the economy
reaches a sustained level of growth
and development, with a focus on
mass production, consumer goods,
and a rise in living standards. This
stage also saw the emergence of
multinational corporations and the
expansion of international trade.

44. CRITICISMS OF
MODERNIZATION
THEORY

45. It is just a
new name
for the idea
that
capitalism is
the only way
for a country
to develop

46. It sweeps a
lot of
historical
factors under
the rug when
it explains
European
and North
American
progress

47. Rostow’s
markers
are
inherently
Eurocentric

48. It
blames
the
victim.

49. DEPENDENCY THEORY
AND
LATIN AMERICAN
EXPERIENCE

50. •Exploitation
-Human
-Natural Resources
•Transatlantic Slave Trade
• Effect Of Slave Trade Died

52. DEPENDENCY THEORY AND THE
LATIN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
•Starting in the 1506, European Explores
through out the America, Africa, and
Asia, claiming lands for Europe. At one
point, the British Empire covered about
one-fourth of the world
•U.S, which began as colonies, soon
sprawled out through North America

53. THE COUNTRIES THAT U.S TOOK CONTROL
•Haiti
•Puerto Rico
•Guam
•Philippines
•Hawaiian Islands and parts of Panama
and Cuba

54. -the action of
treating someone
unfairly
-taking advantage
exploitation of both
human and natural
resources
EXPLOITATION

55. TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE
(THE ATLANTIC SLAVE)
• involved the transportation
by slave trades of enslaved.
• an oceanic trade in African
men, women, and even
children
• it lasted from the mid 16th
century until the 1860’s.
• girls and factory made
goods were sent to the
Africa in exchange for
slaves, who were sent to the
colonies to produce goods
like cotton and tobacco,
which were sent back to
Europe.

56. Question after World
War II:
“Why are many
countries in the world
not developing”
emerged?
The traditional
answer was because
these countries not
pursuing the right
economic policies or
their government are
authoritarian and
corrupt.

57. DEPENDENCY
THEORY

58. Dependency
the condition in which the
development of the nation-states of
the south contributed to a decline in
their independence and to an
increase in economic development
of the countries of the north
(Cardoso and Felatto, 1979)

59. Liberal Trade
causes greater
impoverishment, not
economic improvement, to
less developed countries
(Toye, 2003)

60. Trade Protectionism
•through import substitution is
the key to a self-sustaining
path to development, not
liberal trade or export.
•it further argues that the
prospects of both wealthy
and poor countries are
inextricably linked.

61. PERIPHERAL
NATIONS
CORE
COUNTRIES
countries that are less
developed and receive an
unequal distribution of the
world’s wealth.
are more industrialized
nations who receive the
majority of the world’s
wealth.

62. DEPENDENCY THEORY
•describes a various cycle that enforces
a hierarchy of nations across the globe.
some countries were not developing
around the world because the
international system was actually
preventing them from doing so.

64. NEO-MARXIST APPROACH
Andre Gunder Frank (1969)
espoused the North
American Neo-Marxist
approach. He contended
the idea that less developed
countries would develop by
following the path taken by
the developed countries.

65. STRUCTURALIST APPROACH
• It is a less radical theory, developed mainly by Latin
American scholars.
• As a result of the influence of structuralist thought,
most Latin American countries adopted strategies
nominally conducive to autonomous, self-sustaining
development (Seers, 1981). In essence, they sought
to diversify exports and accelerate industrialization
through import substitution.

66. HISTORICAL-STRUCTURAL VARIANT
• dependency is not a general theory of underemployment,
but rather a “methodology for the analysis of concrete
situations of dependency” (Cardoso & Faletto, 1979)
• “The idea of dependence refers to the conditions under
which alone the economic and political system can exist
and function in its connections with the world's productive
structure”
• This variant saw development as historically open-ended
and allowed for the possibility that the nature of
dependent relations could change over time.

67. The Modern World
System

68. IMMANUEL WALLERSTEIN
•American sociologist
and economic
historian.
•in 1974, be is best
known for his world
systems approach

69. it is specifically a capitalist
world economy with
capitalism defined as “the
endless accumulation of
capital”
the world-sytems divide the
nations and the world into three
units: the tripartite world system,
designated core, peripheral
and semi peripheral.
it is a geographical
divison of labor. while
basic linkage is
economic, the system is
reinforced by political
and cultural factors

70. CORE
• countries that are
powerful, wealthy, and
highly independent of
outside control.
• dominate the capitalist
world-economy
• Japan, Canada, United
States, Australia, New
Zealand and
Northwestern Europe
(Uk, Sweden, Norway,
etc.)
SEMI-PERIPHERY
• countries that lies in the two extremes,
the core and periphery
• they are buffers
• they either exploiting or exploited
• Latin America (Brazil, Argentina), South
Africa, Iran, India, China, South Korea,
Malaysia, and Indonesia
periphery
• countries that lacks
strong central
government and
controlled by other
states
• exported raw
materials to the core
• relied on coersive
labor practices and
heavily exploited.
Philippines, Russia,
African countries,
Asia and Some Latin
American countries
(Columbia, Chile,
Uruguay, Peru)

71. CRITICISMS OF
DEPENDENCY
THEORY

72. The world
economy is
not a zero-
sum game—
one country
getting richer
does not
mean other
countries are
getting poorer

73. Colonialism
certainly left
scars, but it is
not enough,
on its own, to
explain
today’s
economic
disparities

74. Dependency
theory is also
very
narrowly
focused

76. References
1.The Nature and Extent of Global Stratification (2016). University
of Minnesota. https://bitly.ws/W923
2.Odeh, Lemuel K. (2010). A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF
GLOBAL NORTH AND GLOBAL SOUTH ECONOMIES.
https://bitly.ws/W927
3.Aldama, Prince Kennex Reguyal (2018). The Contemporary
World. Rex Book Store: Sta. Ana, Manila.
4.World Systems Theory (2022). Libre Texts. https://bitly.ws/W92a
5.Exploitation (2023). Study Smarter. https://bitly.ws/W92g
6.Banton, Caroline (2021). Trade Liberalization: Definition, How It
Works, and Example. https://bitly.ws/W92E
7.Trade Policy and Import Substitution (2023). Byjus.
https://bitly.ws/W92J
8.Neocolonialism (n.d.) International Encyclopedia of
Philosophy. https://bitly.ws/W95I

77. Gracias!
Merci. Dios Mabalos.