Technological Development and the Third World

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TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT & THE THIRD WORLD I wonder if people in Third World countries know that they are considered the 'Third World?' Do they use that term in reference to themselves? Do they have any perception of the comparison, judgment and bias that goes into that statement? I'd like to think that they don't. In the film about the Ladack people that we watched in class, it was mentioned that they didn't have a word for poverty. No such word even existed in their language. But that was before. It was before the invasion of other cultures, and it was before they had anything to compare themselves to. And in comparison, they saw that, materially, they had less. And in that knowledge, they believed that they, as a people, were less.

In this essay, I will examine third world communities and the relationship between technological development and environmental degradation.

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English: The United Nations Human Development Inde...

English: Map of Central America by the CIA World F...

I will look first at the way in which development occurred in the South, and the reason it happened the way that it did. From there, I will show how these methods of development proceeded to eventually cause widespread environmental damage and it's effect on the local people. .

DEVELOPMENT: 'WESTERN' STYLE

When I refer to 'the environment', I mean not only the habitat that humans, plants and animals inhabit, but also the physical, emotional and psychological attitudes that are encompassed by these in their daily existence. Development, by my definition, will consequently refer to the technological advancement of a community as well as the improved status of humans and other species. This is my definition, and one that others employ frequently now. However, the model I will be examining first is the development theory based on the economic - political system. 'A

typical western...