The Need for a Revival of Third Worldism and the Continued Relevance of the Concept of the Third World

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2010 in the subject Politics - Topic: Development Politics, grade: 76%, University of Cape Town, course: International Relations Honours, language: English, abstract: The end of the Cold War, some have argued,1 has dealt the three worlds classification schemea fatal blow and the break-up of the former Soviet Union and the associated disintegration ofthe Second World has to a large extent diminished the rationale which underlay the conceptof the Third World.2 Furthermore, from its heyday in the 1970s, Third Worldism has been ona path of terminal decline due to a number of factors, such as disproportionate economicdevelopment among Third Worldist states,3 political differences and the failure to establish a"common programme for international economic and political reform."4 Within the literaturerelating to Third Worldism, the concept of the Third World itself, and the three worldsscheme, there is a lively debate with some arguing that the concept has become ananachronism,5 others maintaining that the concept maintains significance in the contemporaryera. Furthermore, while there is general consensus within the literature that Third Worldismhas experienced a declining trend, some argue that there is both the need and space for arevival of Third Worldism.6 ==1 Arif Dirlik, "Spectres of the Third World" Global Modernity and the End of the Three Worlds," Third WorldQuarterly 25 (2004): 131; Vicky Randall, "Using and Abusing the Concept of the Third World: Geopolitics andthe Comparative Political Study of Development and Underdevelopment," Third World Quarterly 25 (2004):43; Marc Williams, "Re-Articulating the Third World Coalition: The Role of the Environmental Agenda," ThirdWorld Quarterly 14 (1993): 7; Mark T. Berger, "After the Third World? History, Destiny and the Fate of ThirdWorldism," Third World Quarterly 25 (2004): 10.2 Williams, 7.3 Berger, After the Third World, 11.4 Hans-Henrik Holm, "The End of the Third World," Journal of Peace Research 27 (1990): 2.5 Dirlik, 131; Randall, 43; Williams, 7; Berger; After the Third World, 10.6 Hee-Yeon Cho, "Second Death, Or Revival of The 'Third World' in the Context of Neo-LiberalGlobalization," Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 6 (2004): 501-3; Kinhide Mushakoji," Bandung Plus 50: A Call forTri-Continental Dialogue on Global Hegemony," Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 6 (2005): 514; Rajeev Patel andPhilip McMichael, "Third Worldism and the Lineages of Global Fascism: The Regrouping of the Global Southin the Neoliberal Era," Third World Quarterly 25 (2004): 241.