> I wonder what LBO-sters -- especially those living in non-Western
> countries, but everyone should feel free to weigh in -- think of the
> expression "the global South." I really try hard to stay away from
> expressions that convey speakers are members of some special,
> exclusive, righteous club, so I don't like it. I have used it on a
> few occasions, out of a sense that "developing world" was too
> optimistic and imperialist -- though it's very accepted in policy
> wonk circles, probably for exactly this reason -- and "Third World"
> vaguely problematic. But I'm resistant. Thoughts?
Well, the complicated reality is that the zone-formerly-called-the-Third-World has huge cities, lots of industry, mass literacy, sophisticated media cultures -- everything the zone-formerly-called-the-First-World has. So instead of the 3-2-1 terminology, I prefer to use the terms "global periphery", "semi-periphery" and "metropole".
-- DRR