Poverty and Global InequalityPgs 51-69 in Heiner Text

The Extent of Poverty in America

• United States vs. Other industrialized nations

• Relative poverty- not being able to afford what is considered normal in a given society

• Absolute poverty- inability to afford the basic necessities of living• 1990’s: U.S. vs. other industrialized nations-Absolute poverty

The Extent of Poverty in America

• Poverty Threshold

• Why are many social scientists critical of the official poverty threshold/poverty line?

• Why have government officials long resisted efforts to change this threshold?

The Extent of Poverty in America

• Deep Poverty

• The Homeless• The “new homeless”

Poverty

• Age-• Sex-

• Feminization of poverty

• Family Structure-• Why do other industrialized nations have lower rates of poverty for female

headed families?

• Education• Race

Poverty and Critical Constructionism

• Popular constructions of poverty and explaining poverty • Too generous with welfare• The American dream and opportunity

• Fosters contempt for the poor

• What other myths and stereotypes exist about the poor in America?• Is poverty mentioned by politicians and the media?

Causes of Poverty

• Deficiency vs. Structural theories• Deficiency Theories

1. Innate Inferiority2. Cultural Inferiority

• Structural Theories1. Institutional Discrimination2. Political Economy of Society

Global InequalityPart 2 of lecture/discussion

Heiner pgs 59-69

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• Is there a difference in the poverty seen in the U.S. and that of developing countries?

• Why are some countries considered rich while others very poor?• Would you ever consider eating dirt?

Extent of Global Poverty

• Half of developing world live on less than $2 a day (2 billion people) and ¼ live in extreme poverty (less than $1.25 per day)

• Sub-Saharan Africa• Tremendous inequality between nations and within nations-The richest 1

percent in the world own 40% of global household wealth; the richest 2% own more than half of global wealth; and the richest 10% own 85% of total global wealth.

The Global Divide

• Disparities in life chances throughout world are extreme- The Soc Imagination

• Divides in global wealth distribution are relatively new• When did vast divisions in wealth of nations really begin?

• Why do just a handful of wealthy nations dominate the world economy? How did it come to be this way?

The Legacy of Colonialism

A major force responsible for domination of economy by rich nations• Colonialism: when foreign power

maintains political, social, economic, and cultural domination over people for an extended period

• Wealth extraction• Natural resources• Labor extraction through enslavement

Neo-colonialism- Informal dominance of poor nations by rich nations-Continues to exist

Do labor and resources in third world countries continue to be extracted and exploited by world economic powers?

Multinational Corporations

• Multinational corporations: commercial organizations headquartered in one country but who do business throughout the world

Table 10-1: Multinational Corporations Compared to Nations

Notes: Total is an oil, petroleum, and chemical company. UAE refers to United Arab Emirates. Where two nations are listed, the country with the larger GDP is listed first. Revenues as tabulated by Fortune are for 2004. GDP as collected by the World Bank are for 2003.

Sources: For corporate data, Fortune 2005:119; for GDP data, World Bank 2005a:202–204.

• Are companies like Nike, Starbucks, Apple and others changing workers lives for better or for worse?

• Who benefits? The people of these countries? American consumers?• Functionalism vs. conflict theory

Outsourcing of Jobs

Functionalist Perspective

• American businesses compete in global economy

• American consumers pay less and but products

• Provides industry and jobs to developing countries and workers

Conflict Perspective

• Exploitation of poor workers to maximize profit

• Take jobs away from Americans• Repressive labor laws in third

world countries• Conglomerates destroy local

businesses

Conflict Perspective

• How are developing countries around the world “racing to the bottom” in regards to dealing with multinational corporations?

Global Inequality and The New Slavery

• Estimated 27 million slaves in the world today• Extreme poverty sometimes forces people into

slavery.• Individuals who are desperate, vulnerable, and easily

manipulated• Promised a better life, tricked, and kept in slavery through

use of violence, drugs, threat of death or death of family

• Prostitution and pornography (sex industry is most common), domestic workers, plantation workers, maids, and restaurant workers are examples

• International traffic in slavery is multi-billion dollar business

The New Slavery

• Many forms of modern slavery exist• Debt bondage- Individuals and entire families who place themselves in

slavery to pay off debt or loan but are never able to

• Some parents in poor countries may be tricked into selling their children to brokers who promise their child a better life and then sell them into slavery

• Forms vary, but are slavery indeed, characterized by a loss of freedom, exploitation of people for profit, and control of slaves through threats of violence