Colonialism's Children
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Most of the countries which constitute the so-called "Third World" were previously colonized by European countries. The colonial countries were developed primarily as one-crop raw material suppliers of exports to the 'mother' metropolitan country, or 'metropole'. In some of them, for example, the Caribbean countries, slaves were imported from Africa to produce and harvest the crops. They were allowed to grow small plots of food for their own consumption, but in large part the local planters imported food from their home countries. Thus the stage was set for import dependency, low production of necessaries, and lack of industrialization. Some countries are paradoxes in this entire scenario. For example, the United States was colonized by Britain, the main colonizing power at the time, but it is still a very industrialized country today. It is definitely not a part of the "Third World," This is because the Colonialists were able to effectively put a stop to the flow of their wealth to the metropole, while maintaining the system of slavery until it was no longer viable. By that time, however, the country was in the pre-industrialization stage, and it later launched into full industrialization. Of course, it may be contended that there have been for a long time and still are, two worlds within the United States -- a "Third" and a "First." The "First" being the industrialized country composed primarily of upper class whites and the "Third" largely unindustrialised sector comprised mainly of the black minority that were kept down by slavery, racism, prejudice, inequality of opportunity and the like. This "Third World" in the U.S. is also composed of other minority groups such as the native Indian population, Hispanic groups, and newly arriving immigrant groups from the Caribbean, Asia and Africa.
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About the Book
Should previously colonized countries continue to use traditional paths to development, or should they be assisting in finding their own way by former colonial masters? In this treatise, the author expounds on the difficulties faced by previously colonized countries as they attempt to make their economies economically viable. She gives concrete examples of countries that have tried free trade, imposing levies on their natural resource extraction, privatism, and the path of the newly industrialized countries (NICs) such as Brazil and Taiwan. She points out that while these attempts may have brought about some growth, the growth has been uneven in the case of free trade; at the expense of the impoverishment of large sectors of the population in the case of privatization and the NICs, or as in the case of levies, occasioned retaliatory measures by the particular foreign companies involved. Using Cuba, she demonstrates the constraints that economic backwardness can impose on foreign policy attempts. She does a detailed exegesis in South Africa emphasizing the unevenness of the development there and the disenfranchisement of the majority black population. The author stresses the need for needs-based diversification and she calls on former colonial powers to issue compensatory packages.
About the Author
Gemma Thomas has studied political and economics for upwards of ten years, earning a BA in political science and economics from Hunter College, an MA in political science, an MBA in international economics from New York University, and an MPhil degree in political economy at Columbia University. She has served as a UN intern, is widely read in the field of international relations, and has studied international law at New York Law School where she earned a Juris Doctor degree. Ms. Thomas presently practices law in Brooklyn, New York.