Third World

• Engels
• HBO
• Studiejaar 2

Remember to ...

• come to class prepared
• answer all the questions in the LessonUp
• ask questions if anything remains unclear!

        (ask this week's peer teachers: Laura, Gabriëlle, Britt,                         Yvonne or Marloes)

This week's lesson

• Third-World countries
• First-World countries
• Third-World literature
• exercises throughout the LessonUp

Learning Aims

After this lesson, you will be able to

- explain the term Third-World

- name a few differences between Third-World       and First-World countries

- imagine what it is like to write                                   about Third-World aspects in literature

What does the term “Third World”
bring to mind?

History of the term 'Third World'

The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the "First World", while the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, and their allies represented the "Second World". This terminology provided a way of broadly categorizing the nations of the Earth into three groups based on political and economic divisions. 

Since the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the term Third World has decreased in use. It is being replaced with terms such as developing countries, least developed countries or the Global South. The concept itself has become outdated as it no longer represents the current political or economic state of the world and historically poor countries have transited different income stages.

Worldmap of the First, Second, and Third World. The map shows the countries of the US aligned countries of the First World (in green), the Communist states (in red), the Third World (in yellow). European neutral states (in white), and countries which have been communist nations for a short period in light red.

Now again: What does the term “Third World” bring to mind? (Mention at least three aspects)

What defines a Third World country?

Nowadays, the term Third World is more often replaced by the 

terms Least Developed Countries (UN) or Low-Income 

Countries (World Bank.)

Whatever term is used, it serves to designate countries that suffer from high poverty, high child mortality, low economic and educational development, and low self-consumption of their natural resources. Countries that are vulnerable to exploitation by large corporations and industrialized nations.

These are the developing and technologically less advanced nations of Asia, Africa, Oceania, and Latin America. Third-world nations tend to have economies dependent on the developed countries and are generally characterized as poor with unstable governments and having high fertility rates, high gender-related illiteracy and are prone to diseases. One of the critical factors is the lack of a middle class; there is a huge impoverished population and a small elite upper class that controls the country's wealth and resources. Most Third World nations also have very high foreign debt levels.

What defines a First-World country?

First World is a term that consists of countries that may have the following characteristics: stable democracies, high standards of living, capitalist economies, and economic stability. Other measures that may be used to indicate first-world countries include a gross domestic product or literacy rates. Broadly speaking, countries that may be considered first-world include the United States, Japan, Canada, and Australia, among others.

While there is no universal way to define a first-world country, often they are characterized as industrialized and democratic countries. This is typically accompanied by stable currencies, sound financial markets, and modern infrastructure. Due to these factors, first world countries often attract foreign direct investment and capital inflows

Mix and match activity

On the next slide you are expected to match each country to the right 'world', so first-world or third-world.

Good luck!

First World

Third World

Iceland

Norway

Somalia

USA

North Korea

Ireland

Malaysia

The Netherlands

Ecuador

India

Enter your own five examples:

Stereotypes

There still are a lot of prejudices/stereotypes about third-world countries to this day. People may say that we only speak about Africa when we are mentioning third-world countries. There unfortunately are way more countries in this category.  

Beasts of No Nation

You are about to watch the official trailer of the movie “Beasts of No Nation”. This is an American movie made by Cary Fukunaga and is filmed in Ghana.  

Keep these two questions in mind:

1. Which stereotypes do you recognize in this trailer? Write them down.
   
2. Do you believe that the image of the story is portraited in a right way. 

             If yes, why? If no, why? 

Q: Which stereotypes do you recognise in this trailer? Write them down.

Do you believe that the image of the story is portraited in the right way?
If so, why? If not, why?

Time for feedback!

• On the next slides you will find certain statements. We would appreciate it if you could tell us the extent to which you agree with these statements.
• Thank you in advance!

''This lesson was nicely structured.''

😒🙁😐🙂😃

''This lesson was well prepared.''

😒🙁😐🙂😃

''I learned a lot of new things by going through the slides and answering the questions.''

😒🙁😐🙂😃

Any other tips or tops you would like to give us?

Thank you for participating!