Subject:
Sociology
Material Type:
Module
Level:
Community College / Lower Division, College / Upper Division
Provider:
Ohio Open Ed Collaborative
Tags:
  • Oss0212
  • Sociology
  • License:
    Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike
    Language:
    English
    Media Formats:
    Text/HTML

    Define global inequality.

    Overview

    OER Text Material

    Global Inequality, Chapter 10

    This chapter defines global inequality as the concentration of resources in certain nations that negatively affect the opportunities of individuals in poorer and less powerful countries. It uses the functionalist, conflict, and the symbolic interactionist perspectives to explain global inequality. It is an issue of why some countries are wealthy and others are poor.

    Supplementary Material (Videos and Reading)

    Global Inequality: Social Inequality (Video)

    This video by the Khan Academy notes that the world is an unequal place. The presenter mentions some countries where people live very long compared to other countries where people do not live long. Some reasons for the disparity in life expectancy are mentioned.


    Global Inequality (Video)

    Faye Wachs starts by saying that “stratification on a global scale is staggering.” She then goes on to categorize countries of the world into three – industrialized, industrializing, and least industrialized – based on wealth, and standard of living. She notes that 16% of the world population lives in the industrialized nations, another 16% lives in the industrializing nations, and 70% lives in the least industrialized nations.


    Global Inequality – What Do We Mean and What Do We Know?

    This article is a summary of the development of inequality globally, emphasizing the difference
    between the developments within countries and between countries. In the former sense, inequality has risen in most countries in the world since the 1980s, but in the latter sense, inequality has (most probably) dropped. According to the author, to insure future progress in terms of continued decreasing global inequality, fighting increasing inequality within countries is likely to be central.