Global Development: development, underdevelopment and global inequality

The idea

Development involves economic and social progress that improves a population's quality of life, measured by indicators like GDP and life expectancy. Underdevelopment describes nations lacking the resources to meet basic needs, typically experiencing high poverty. Global inequality highlights the unequal distribution of wealth and power between regions, such as the Global North and South. Sociological perspectives explain these concepts differently. Modernisation theory argues underdeveloped nations must adopt Western capitalist values to achieve development. In contrast, dependency theory asserts that underdevelopment is actively caused by wealthy nations exploiting poorer ones, thereby perpetuating global inequality.

What earns the marks

• Define development using both economic indicators, such as Gross Domestic Product, and social indicators, such as the Human Development Index.
• Explain underdevelopment as a structural lack of resources, infrastructure and capital that prevents a nation from meeting the basic needs of its population.
• Identify global inequality as the stark disparity in wealth, resources and political power between different regions, often conceptualised as the divide between the Global North and Global South.
• Contrast modernisation theory's view of development as an internal evolutionary process with dependency theory's view of underdevelopment as an externally imposed condition.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Treating development solely as an economic process.

  Put it right: Ensure development is also defined in social and political terms, such as improvements in healthcare, education and human rights.

• Using outdated terminology such as 'Third World' as a contemporary sociological concept.

  Put it right: Use current terminology such as 'Global South', 'developing nations' or 'Majority World' to describe poorer countries.

• Assuming underdevelopment is universally viewed as a delayed stage of development.

  Put it right: Recognise that dependency theorists view underdevelopment as a distinct condition created by historical and ongoing exploitation, not just a phase.

Exam tips

• When evaluating theories of development, always link them back to how they explain the persistence of global inequality.
• Use specific examples of countries or regions to illustrate the gap in resources between the Global North and Global South.
• Be prepared to contrast internal factors, such as cultural values, with external factors, such as colonialism and trade imbalances, when discussing the causes of underdevelopment.