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I’ve never heard someone call their own country a “third world country”. Out of curiosity, which country are you referring to?
by loudthing 4y ago
I’ve never heard someone call their own country a “third world country”. Out of curiosity, which country are you referring to?
- vishnugupta 4y agoIt’s colloquially used to mean economically underdeveloped/developing countries. However recently economists have begun using the term “emerging markets”.
- wara23arish 4y agoGrew up in a third world country (middle east) That is the official terminology used in school books required by the official curriculum.
- ggpsv 4y agoThis is term is commonly misused as it originally referred to countries beyond the Cold War's NATO/USSR denominations. Today the parent likely refers to a country in the global south or a "developing" nation. I'm from what used to be a third-world country in the strict sense of term, I'd now refer to my country as a country in the global south.
- thfuran 4y ago>I'd now refer to my country as a country in the global south Meaning what, in the southern hemisphere and not Australia or new Zealand?
- ggpsv 4y agoIt isn't a geographical denomination, but rather socioeconomic and political. Most of the countries in the global south denomination are actually in the northern hemisphere.
- MajorBee 4y agoWell, most of earth’s landmass lies in the northern hemisphere.
- thfuran 4y agoThat seems like bad jargon.
- bin_bash 4y agoidk, the "West" seems pretty bad too
- semi-extrinsic 4y agoMost people's mental map has basically all of Africa in the southern hemisphere, but geographically that is far from the case. We have 195 countries in the world and only 33 of those are entirely on the southern hemisphere. Here is one example of an illustrative map: https://i.redd.it/w2tv9dda1xzy.png https://i.redd.it/w2tv9dda1xzy.png
- redisman 4y agoWhoever came up with the term must think that the “south” starts at the tip of Italy
- semi-extrinsic 4y agoYeah, basically. That puts almost all countries in Africa, and the Middle East, Mexico, India etc., in the "south". Or not necessarily that the inventor of the phrase thinks like that themselves, but rather that they think most people think that way.
- rayiner 4y agoWhat’s the “global south?”
- redisman 4y agoPoor countries
- tptacek 4y agoLatin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. HTH.
- rayiner 4y agoIs it south of some reference point (here in Maryland it looks like I’m south of Turkey and around the same as Beijing). Is Australia excluded? Or is it just a euphemism for developing nation.
- tptacek 4y agoI don't know, I just Googled it. I've definitely heard the term before, though.
- ggpsv 4y agoThere is not as it does not refer to a geographical designation. I wouldn't say it is a euphemism, but closer to what people actually refer to when they misuse the term "third-world". The closest geographical designation was the Brandt line drawn in the 80s showing a north and south divide in terms of global wealth distribution [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_North_and_Global_South#/media/File:The_Brandt_Line.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_North_and_Global_South#...
- rayiner 4y agoThird world is inaccurate, but what’s wrong with “developing world.” Also: did I call it about China and Australia or did I call it?
- thomastjeffery 4y agoI think you have successfully illustrated the failure of "global south" as a replacement term. I'm not against replacing "third world", but something with the word "south" is ambiguous and counterintuitive.
- OJFord 4y agoFunnily enough until they said their country was such, I assumed they were American saying 'global' South to distinguish from meaning a South American country. 'Southern hemisphere' is fine though I think? And I assume that's what was meant.
- thomastjeffery 4y agoIf they meant it as a replacement for "third world" (in the contemporary sense, not explicitly about the cold war), then they didn't mean anything to do with south as a direction. Your conclusion is my point.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- ggpsv 4y agoIt isn't as much as a replacement term, but you make a fair point that is doesn't translate well. It is both jargon and a loaded concept, which can be confusing when taken literally and without understanding what it aims to represent.
- indigomm 4y agoIt's an outdated term. I recommend reading Hans Rosling's book Factfulness where he addresses a lot of common misconceptions. If anything, it's fun to take the tests and compare where you are against the rest of the world.
- AdrianB1 4y agoNot the person you are asking, but in Eastern Europe we also call our countries "third world"; I learned in the middle school about economic development and classification by that, it was nothing to be ashamed of. Even today being in EU we are considered second class citizens, not a problem with me.
- arcade79 4y agoUhm, whut? Doesn't make sense. The second world countries wouldn't drop the third world when realigning to first world. First world: NATO aligned. Second world: Warsawa pact aligned. Third world: Non-aligned. Sweden and Swtizerland are traditional third world countries.