ABSTRACT
The foregoing chapters have sought to demonstrate the nature of the Third World. Their premise is that there is some distinctiveness to the idea of ‘the Third World’ which is capable of geographical recognition and analysis. The edges may be fuzzy and flexible, but there are common qualities and experiences which allow us to distinguish this macro-region from other parts of the world. Previous chapters have suggested that historical experience, demographic characteristics, economic activities, urban life and internal structures all contribute to a distinctiveness for this region and its component countries. Some commentators, such as Corbridge (1986), Friedmann (1992) and Drakakis-Smith (1993) have questioned the utility of the term, and whether a ‘Third World’ still exists. Yet the term remains in common currency, not least by such sceptics, and in our view a geographically distinct tract of the world continues to be recognizable, defined by characteristics of poverty, colonial experience, and contemporary social and economic structures and patterns (see also Chapter 1). If, as in the view of Norwine and Gonsalez, the Third World is not ‘real’ (in the sense of being concrete or tangible), it is an abstraction, but a tremendously profound and vital one. In their bald view – ‘The Third World exists’ (Norwine and Gonsalez, 1988, 2)!
