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North South Relations. The Human Face of Poverty Born on the same day:. Nthabiseng Poor, black, African girl Rural area, 700 miles from Cape Town, South Africa To an illiterate mother Pieter African, while, well-off family Born in Cape Town To a college-educated mother Sven
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The Human Face of PovertyBorn on the same day: • Nthabiseng • Poor, black, African girl • Rural area, 700 miles from Cape Town, South Africa • To an illiterate mother • Pieter • African, while, well-off family • Born in Cape Town • To a college-educated mother • Sven • Born to an average Swedish family
Poverty • Over 1bn. People live on less than a dollar/day • Poor access to water, sanitation, food, health care • Situation has improve in some areas, but not in others
Marxism • Structure of capitalism: • Means of production • Relations of production: • capital owns means of production • Exploitation of labor ->class struggle • Superstructure of capitalism • Ideology, legal, political system
Lenin on Imperialism • Capitalism leads to imperialism • Drive for capital accumulation and access to natural resources • States serve the interests of capital • Imperialist powers divide the world • Use colonies for resource extraction • Perpetuate class inequality across the globe
Dependency Theory • Capitalism perpetuates dependency relations between • The Core/North and • The Periphery/South • Result: underdevelopment
Sources of Poverty • Historical core-periphery relations? • Contemporary core-periphery relations? • Weak domestic institutions and policies? • Climate? • Disease? • All of the above->vicious circle?
Structural Solutions? • Import substitution: Brazil 1970s, 1980s • State-facilitated industrialization and trade: • The Asian Tigers • Liberalization: “the Golden Straightjacket”?