was taken up by the United Nations and the World Bank in 1992, both argu-
ing for the liberalization of global markets and a reduction in the level of
protectionism in the OECD countries. The costs of protectionism in the rich
countries of the world extend beyond blocking imports from the Third
World to include negative capital transfers, higher real interest rates,
unequal competition in international services and closed markets for tech-
nology. A more rapid transfer of technologies to give Third World countries
access to the advanced technologies required by the industrialization
process, and which were proving so successful in some developing coun-
tries, also forms part of this aspect of Third Worldism.
Related proposals have included a World Development Fund to which all
countries would contribute on a sliding scale related to their national income;
the development of the sea bed to provide new sources of food; and the inter-
national development of alternative energy sources. Through UNESCO Third
World countries are also trying to act collectively to resist the pressures from
the Westernized mass media, and the cultural, educational and scientific impe-
rialism which introduces inappropriate technology and educational values into
their societies. Solidarity was also shown at the World Trade Organization
meeting in Doha in 2001 when developing countries formed effective alliances
on intellectual property rights, drug patents and the agenda of future negotia-
tions, shifting the balance of power away from the rich industrialized nations.
Finally there the problem of poverty. Although some of the countries that
would conventionally be thought of as part of the Third World are relatively
rich, particularly in the Middle East, nevertheless poverty continues to be a
real and significant feature of Third World countries. This aspect of Third
Worldism increased between 1975 and 1990. Some progress was made in
the reduction of Third World poverty in the 1960s and 1970s, but the 1980s
were the ‘lost decade’ for the poor.
Of the 4.6 billion people living in developing countries, 1.2 billion live on
less than US$1 a day and 2.8 billion on less than $2 (see Table 1.4). This is
despite a doubling in real terms of average incomes between 1975 and 1998.
An overall decline in poverty was recorded during the 1990s, with the pro-
portion of people in developing countries living on less than $1 a day falling
from 29 to 24 per cent. This was achieved by high rates of economic growth
in countries with large numbers of poor people, notably China and India.
However, population growth meant that the number of people in poverty
slightly increased between 1987 and 1998. Only in East Asia and the Middle
East/North Africa region have the numbers in poverty fallen. In Sub-Saharan
Africa almost half the continent’s population is now poor as average per
capita income fell by 1 per cent every year for the last quarter of a century.
14 Understanding Third World Politics