--- Liza Featherstone <lfeather at panix.com> wrote:
> 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?
> Apologies in
> advance for the naivete and likely provincialism of
> the question.
[WS:] Global South sounds too US-centric and too esoteric, and outside the US the reference is at least mixed. It carries some weight in Africa, but not in Asia and probably not in Latin America, as the 'southmost" country Argentina is the most developed. I face a similar problem in my comparative work - I dislike both "developing countries" and 'third world.'
My leaning is to use 'non-OECD countries' when referencing these countries - pretty much overlaps with 'developing' country set, but it is a matter of fact (since OECD membership is clearly determined) and relatively non-judgmental.
Wojtek
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