Human Interactions Textbook - Copy

How Do People Shape Cities? 325

Figure 9.40
St. Louis, Missouri. This photo taken in 1971
captured a view of the massive Pruitt-Igoe housing
project, before it was demolished in 1972. Pruitt-
Igoe was designed in 1951, and by 1972 the rampant
crime in the project’s 33 apartment buildings solidified
the image of this public housing project as a failure.

© Corbis-Bettmann.

In Europe and North America, gated communities example, Algeria was a colony of France, and now Paris
are not only for the wealthy and privileged. Especially since and other French cities have distinct Algerian neighbor-
September 11, people have a growing desire to feel safe at hoods. Similarly, London (the United Kingdom) has a
home, and this is just as true of middle and lower classes as it Jamaican neighborhood, and Madrid (Spain) has a dis-
is of the rich. Some urban planners have encouraged govern- tinct Moroccan neighborhood, reflecting their colonial
ments to recast low-income housing as small communities, ties with these now sovereign countries. Other European
gated from each other, in order to reduce the flowthrough countries cultivated relationships with countries outside
traffic and crime associated with it. Cities have torn down of Europe after the colonial era. For example, after World
the enormous high rises, typically ridden with crime and War II, Germany invited young men from Turkey to
referred to as “the projects” such as Cabrini Green in migrate to Germany as guest workers (see Chapter 3). Cities
Chicago and Pruitt-Igoe in St. Louis, in an effort to remake in Germany, such as Frankfurt, have distinct Turkish
the spaces of the poor into “defensible” spaces (Fig. 9.40). neighborhoods. Current immigration to countries in
Europe typically focuses on the cities. And most of the
Urban planners want to gate middle-income and migrants to European cities come from the global periph-
low-income neighborhoods in order to create a sense of ery or from eastern Europe, not from other countries in
community and to make the spaces “defensible” from western Europe.
undesired activities such as drug dealing and prostitution.
One of the best-documented cases of gating a middle- Migration to Europe is constrained by government
income community is the Five Oaks district of Dayton, policies and laws. Many western European cities have
Ohio, a neighborhood that is about 50 percent African public housing zones that were built after World War II
American and 50 percent white and has a high rate of rent- following the devastation of the war years. Governments
als. Urban planner Oscar Newman encouraged planners in Europe are typically much more involved in the social
in Dayton to divide the 2000 households in the Five Oaks rights of people, such as health care and housing than the
district into ten smaller, gated communities with restricted United States government. European cities are also much
access. The city turned most of the residential streets in older than American cities, and when the cities were laid
each of these mini-neighborhoods into cul-de-sacs. They out they were designed for foot and horse traffic, not auto-
have experienced a serious reduction in crime, along with mobiles. Thus, European cities are typically more com-
an increase in housing sales and housing values. pact, densely populated, and walkable than American cit-
ies. European cities also have historic city centers where
Ethnic Neighborhoods in the European City much of the city’s history took place and is preserved and
to which tourists are attracted today. Rather than the sky-
Ethnic neighborhoods in European cities are typi- scrapers that are typically the focal point of downtown in
cally affiliated with migrants from former colonies. For American cities, a historic city center is the focal point of
downtown in European cities and skyscrapers are reserved

326 Chapter 9 Urban Geography

for developments on the outskirts of town. Housing in the of housing, if you walk through the public housing zone
European city is often combined with places of work, with of Amsterdam, you will find a family from Suriname liv-
work spaces on the bottom floors of buildings and hous- ing next to an Indonesian family and a Moroccan family,
ing above. Large zones of housing in Europe typically not just other Surinamese. The housing and neighbor-
begin in a ring around the outside of the city center, in hoods are multicultural. The ethnic groups maintain
what Ernest Burgess called the zone of transition. After their local cultures through religious and cultural orga-
the war, many European governments built public hous- nizations rather than through residential segregation. In
ing structures in the spaces leveled by bombing around the Amsterdam, the call to Friday prayer for Muslims rings
city center. out all over the immigrant areas, as Muslims from various
countries are spread throughout the city.

Government Policy and Immigrant Ethnic Neighborhoods in the Global Periphery
Accommodation and Semiperiphery City

Immigration is changing the spatial-cultural geography In cities of the periphery and semiperiphery, a sea of
of European cities. As immigrants have settled in large slum development typically begins where the perma-
numbers in the zone of transition, locals have moved out. nent buildings end, in some cases engulfing and dwarfing
Walking from the city center of Paris out through immi- the central city. If you stand on a hill outside Lima (Peru)
grant neighborhoods, one can see the cultural landscape or overlooking the Cape Flats near Cape Town (South
change to reflect the significant number of immigrants Africa), you see an unchanging panorama of makeshift
from the “Maghreb” of Africa, the region of North Africa shacks built of every conceivable material, vying for
around Algeria and Morocco. Maghrebis are by far the every foot of space, extending to the horizon. You will
most numerous inhabitants in the tough, hardscrabble notice few, if any, trees, and you will see narrow foot-
immigrant neighborhoods around Paris, where unemploy- paths leading to a few unpaved streets that go into the
ment is high, crime is widespread, and resentment festers. central city.

Whether a public housing zone is divided into eth- Millions of migrants travel to such ominous envi-
nic neighborhoods in a European city depends in large ronments every year. The total number of people living
part on government policy. Urban geographers Christian in these types of slum developments is uncertain because
Kesteloot and Cees Cortie studied housing policies government control is impossible and enumeration
and zones in Brussels, Belgium, and Amsterdam, the impractical. In Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), the migrants build
Netherlands. They found that Brussels has very little pub- their dwellings on dangerous, landslide-prone slopes; in
lic housing and that immigrants live in privately owned Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea), the migrants sink
rentals throughout the city. Kesteloot and Cortie also stilts in the mud and build out over the water, risking wind
found that immigrant groups in Brussels who came from and waves. In Calcutta (India), thousands of migrants do
a distinct region of their home country (especially rural not even try to erect shelters: there and in many other cit-
regions), such as the Turks in Brussels, tend to cluster ies they live in the streets, under bridges, even in storm
in ethnic neighborhoods. In contrast, the researchers drains. City governments do not have the resources to
reported that immigrant groups who came from cities, adequately educate, medicate, or police the burgeoning
such as the Moroccans in Brussels, chose rental units scat- populations, let alone to provide even minimal housing
tered throughout the city and therefore did not establish for most.
ethnic neighborhoods in Brussels.
Even the people living in the squalid conditions of
Amsterdam is quite different from Brussels: shanty settlements are not really squatters—they pay rent.
Amsterdam has a great deal of public housing and few When the settlements expand outward from the central
ethnic neighborhoods within the public housing units. city, they occupy land owned by previous residents, fami-
When immigration to Amsterdam from former colonies lies who farmed what were once the rural areas beyond
(Indonesia, Surinam) and noncolonies (Morocco and the city’s edge. Some of the farming families were favored
Turkey) increased in the 1960s, Amsterdammers moved by the former colonial administration; they moved into
from the transition zone of public housing to neighbor- the cities but continued to own the lands their farms were
ing towns such as Almere. The Dutch government then on. As shanty developments encroached on their lands,
implemented a policy in the public housing zone that the landowners began to charge people rent for living on
slowed the creation of ethnic neighborhoods. The Dutch the dilapidated housing the new residents built on the land.
government allots public housing to legal immigrants by After establishing an owner-tenant relationship, the land-
assigning homes on a sequential basis in the city’s zone of owners steadily raise rents, threatening to destroy the
transition, where some 80 percent of the housing stock flimsy shacks if residents fail to pay. In this way, powerful
is public housing. As a result of government assignment

How Do People Shape Cities? 327

long-term inhabitants of the city exploit the weaker, more migrated from off-island villages to work in Mombasa and
recent arrivals. lived farther from the commercial center.

The vast slums of cities in poorer parts of the world In recent times, as the city’s population has grown
are typically ethnically delineated, with new arrivals pre- seven times larger than it was in the 1960s, the spatial pat-
cariously accommodated. For example, Nairobi, Kenya, tern of Mombasa still reflects the power of ethnic groups.
has a large slum area, one of the worst in Subsaharan The most recent immigrants, desperate for jobs, crowd
Africa in terms of amenities, called Kibera. Much of the the outer zone of the city, off of the island, and in the
land where Kibera is located is owned by Nubians, who shanty settlements.
are of Sudanese descent. The Sudanese Nubians settled
in the area of Kibera during the colonial era. Many of How do the many millions of urban immigrants
the Nubians have become businesspeople in the city of living in the slum-ridden rings and pockets of the cit-
Nairobi. The modern tenants of the shanty settlements ies of the global periphery and semiperiphery survive?
in Kibera are largely Luo from western Kenya and Luhya Extended families share and stretch every dollar they
from northwestern Kenya. During the fall of 2001, some manage to earn; when one member of the family has a
of the Kiberian tenants were unable to pay the latest salaried job, his or her income saves the day for a dozen or
increase in rents. The Nubian landowners came to evict more relatives. When a member of the family (or several
them, and in the fighting that followed, a number of members of a larger community) manages to emigrate to a
people were killed. Groups of Luo, Luhya, and others core country or an island of development and makes good
even took to fighting among themselves. The government money there, part of that income is sent back home and
intervened to stabilize the situation. The latest rent becomes the mainstay for those left behind. Hundreds
increases were withdrawn, but the fundamental problems— of millions of dollars are transferred this way every year;
crowding, unemployment, unsanitary conditions, hunger, remittances make a critical difference in the poorer coun-
and lack of education—remain, and the ethnic groups tries of the world (see Chapter 3).
living in the neighborhoods of Kibera will likely experi-
ence fighting again. The Informal Economy

Power and Ethnicity In the vast slums, barrios, and favelas, those who are job-
less or unsalaried are not idle. Everywhere you look peo-
Geography plays a major role in the relationships among ple are at work, inside or in front of their modest habi-
ethnic components of a former colonial city. The settle- tats, fixing things, repairing broken items for sale, sorting
ment patterns of cities developed during the colonial through small piles of waste for salvageable items, trading
period often persist long after. In a study of the city of and selling goods from makeshift stands. What prevails
Mombasa, Kenya, during the 1960s, H. J. de Blij found here is referred to as the informal economy—the econ-
that the central city, in effect the island on which Mombasa omy that is not taxed and is not counted toward a country’s
was built, was informally partitioned among major ethnic gross national income. What is generated in the informal
groups. Apart from the Swahili who occupied the Old economy can add up to a huge total in unrecorded mon-
Town and adjacent historic portions of the built-up area, etary value. The informal economy worries governments
the spatial pattern of occupance by ethnic groups in the because it is essentially a recordless economy and no taxes
city of Mombasa mirrored the status of the ethnic groups are paid. Remittances are usually delivered in cash, not via
in the country of Kenya as a whole. The port of Mombasa, Western Union or a bank. Typically, a trusted community
the country’s largest, was the city’s major employer. The member (who might pay a comparatively small bribe at
Kikuyu, whose historic homeland lies far away from the airport when passing through immigration) carries
Mombasa to the north of Nairobi, were privileged by the remittances to family members.
British during colonial times. Because of their important
position during colonialism, Kikuyu workers and their From Colonial to Global CBD
families living in Mombasa resided closest to the port and
to the center of economic power. Although the most pow- Even as the informal economy thrives among the millions
erful workers lived closest to the central commercial dis- in the shantytowns, the new era of globalization is making
trict, the Asians (often from India and thus referred to as a major impact in the major cities founded or fostered by
Indians in Mombasa) who controlled the city’s commerce the colonial powers. In 2002, geographers Richard Grant
were concentrated on the opposite side of the island, and Jan Nijman documented this transformation in for-
away from the port. Another powerful ethnic group, the mer colonial port cities, including Mumbai, India. In this
Kamba, occupied a zone farther outward from the port. city, formerly called Bombay, colonial rule produced an
The Mijikenda, a less powerful African ethnic group, urban landscape marked by strong segregation of for-
eign and local activities, commercial as well as residential

328 Chapter 9 Urban Geography

Figure 9.41
The Changing Character of Mumbai, India. Adapted with permission from: Richard Grant and Jan Nijman,

“Globalization and the Corporate Geography of Cities in the Less-Developed World,” Annals of the Association of American
Geographers, 92, 2 (2002).

(Fig. 9.41), and high levels of functional specialization domestic companies and a pronounced orientation to
and concentration. Adjacent to the port area was a well- the national (Indian) economy. And the Native Town
demarcated European business district containing for- now has a high concentration of small domestic company
eign (mostly British) companies. Most economic activities headquarters and the strongest orientation to the imme-
in this European commercial area involved trade, trans- diate urban area.
port, banking, distribution, and insurance. Zoning and
building codes were strictly enforced. Physically sepa- Using the city you sketched in the last “Thinking
rated from this European district were the traditional Geographically” question, consider the concepts and pro-
markets and bazaars of the so-called Native Town, a cesses introduced in this section of the chapter and explain
densely populated mix of commercial and residential how people and institutions created this city and the model
land uses. you sketched.

In this era of globalization, a new spatially demar-
cated foreign presence has arisen. The city now has
a global CBD at the heart of the original colonial city,
housing mostly foreign corporations and multinational
companies and linked mainly to the global economy.
The former European Town has a large presence of big

What Role Do Cities Play in Globalization? 329

WHAT ROLE DO CITIES PLAY tain cities and the rest of the world. Even though London
IN GLOBALIZATION? and Paris are a short distance apart, both function as world
cities in part because of the role they play within their
Globalization, as we defined the term in the first respective states: each became a magnet for economic and
chapter, is a set of processes and outcomes that occur political activity within its state, and then the globe.
on the global scale, circumventing and leaping over
state boundaries to affect the world. In the processes of Some countries such as the United States and
globalization, cities are taking over in ways we barely Germany have two or more world cities within their state
understand. Most statistics about economic activity at borders. They thus do not have a single, distinct pri-
the global scale are gathered and disseminated by states. mate city. To understand the role of cities in globalization,
Nonetheless, many of the most important processes occur the services cities provide to places and peoples around the
among and between cities, not states as a whole, masking world and the interconnectedness among cities must also
the integral role world cities play in globalization. World be considered. Geographers are now working to uncover
cities function at the global scale, beyond the reach of the globalized flows and processes occurring across world
the state borders, functioning as the service centers of the cities, bringing them closer together.
world economy.
Cities as Spaces of Consumption
Contending that models of cities and hierarchies
of cities within states (such as Christaller) no longer rep- In addition to being nodes in globalization, cities are
resent what is happening with the city, Taylor and Lang also products of globalization. Major changes in cities,
maintain that the city has become “something else” than a such as the redevelopment of New York’s Times Square
simple CBD tied into a hierarchy of other cities within the and the remaking of Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz, are the
state. The world city is a node in globalization, reflecting result of global processes. Frank Roost has found that
processes that have “redrawn the limits on spatial inter- “the global media industry is becoming the driving force
action,” according to Felsenstein, Schamp, and Shachar. in the reshaping of cities” such as New York and Berlin,
A node is a place through which action and interaction turning city centers into spaces of consumption. Global
occur. As a node, a world city is connected to other cit- media giants such as Time Warner, Viacom, and Walt
ies, and the forces shaping globalization pulse across these Disney use cross promotion to encourage the consump-
connections and through the cities. tion of their products. It is no accident that characters
on television sit-coms produced and aired on ABC (a
Most lists of world cities provide a hierarchy of the television channel owned by Walt Disney) visit Disney
most important nodes, the most important world cities, theme parks or host Disney Princess-themed birthday
then the next most important, and so forth. Virtually all parties on a given episode. These same media companies
agree that New York, London, and Tokyo are the most are investing heavily in urban centers in order to create
important world cities, but beyond that point, the defi- entertainment spaces, places where tourists can go to
nition of what makes a world city and the list of world consume their products. Media corporations are help-
cities changes depending on the perspective of the ing transform urban centers into major entertainment
researcher. Geographers Jon Beaverstock and Peter J. districts (“variations on a theme park”) where items are
Taylor and their Globalization and World Cities Study consumed.
Group and Network have produced nearly 200 research
papers, chapters, and books on the geography of world For example, in New York City, government entities
cities over the past few years. By studying which cities began to try to redevelop Times Square in the early 1980s.
provide producer services (integral to the processes of At that time, this area of the city was known for its neon
globalization) in the areas of banking, law, advertising, lights, pornography movie houses, prostitution, and other
and accounting, these geographers have produced an illicit economic activities. The city sought to push these
inventory of world cities mapped in Figure 9.42. They businesses out of Times Square and return the business
delineate 10 Alpha, 10 Beta, and 35 Gamma world cit- district to a conglomeration of restaurants, hotels, bars,
ies. The Alpha cities (London, Paris, New York, Tokyo, and entertainment spaces (as it had been before World
Chicago, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Milan, War II). Over the decade of the 1980s, the city closed
and Singapore) have a global capacity to provide services hundreds of small businesses in Times Square. In 1995,
in the world-economy. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani reached a deal with Michael
Eisner, CEO of Walt Disney. The mayor promised to
World cities do not exist merely to service players in remove the remaining sex shops, and Eisner committed to
the global economy. Major world cities such as London renovating the New Amsterdam Theater, a focal point in
and Paris are also capital cities. States concentrate devel- Times Square (Fig. 9.43, left and right). Secured with a
opment and encourage interconnectedness between cer- $26 million low-interest loan from the State of New York,

330 Chapter 9 Urban Geography

60°

Toronto Montréal

Minneapolis

Chicago Boston

40° San Francisco New York 40°

Los Angeles Dallas Atlanta Washington
Houston
Miami A T L A N T I C

Tropic of Cancer O C E A N 20°

20° Mexico City 20°
0°
PACIFIC Caracas
OCEAN

Equator

20° 20° 20°
Tropic of Capricorn
São Paulo

Santiago Buenos Aires

WORLD CITIES 40° 40° 40° 40°

Alpha

Beta 60° 160° 140° 120° 60° 60° 80° 60° 40° 60°
Gamma
SOUTHERN

0 1000 2000 3000 Kilometers OCEAN

0 1000 2000 Miles

Figure 9.42 Data from: J. V. Beaverstock, R. G. Smith, and P. J. Taylor, “A
World Cities: Alpha, Beta, and Gamma.

Roster of World Cities,” Cities, 16, 6 (1999): 445–458.

Disney set the new course for a family-friendly entertain- seating to advance his goal of making the city more liv-
ment district in New York. The restored New Amsterdam able. New Yorkers and tourists took to the new seating
Theater hosts Disney musicals such as The Lion King and and moved in with laptops in hand. Times Square and the
Beauty and the Beast (both based on Disney movies). The Hi-Line Walkway in New York now have bleacher-style
Times Square area is assuredly a space of consumption and a seating as well as chairs to encourage New Yorkers to sit a
variation on a theme park: themed restaurants (Hard Rock spell and enjoy the city.
Café, ESPN Zone), cross-promoting themed stores (Warner
Brothers Store, Disney Store), and retail stores that cater to Potsdamer Platz in Berlin is also becoming a new
families (an enormous Toys R Us with a ferris wheel inside). space of consumption in the city center. Prior to the
bombing of Berlin during World War II, Potsdamer
In 2009, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Platz was a center of entertainment for Berlin’s middle
closed portions of Broadway in Times Square to traf- class. After the war, little was left of the area. Soon, a
fic and created an urban esplanade with lawn chairs and 500-yard border zone and the Berlin Wall occupied the

What Role Do Cities Play in Globalization? 331

Düsseldorf

Hamburg

Copenhagen

60° Amsterdam Stockholm Moscow 60°
Brussels
London Warsaw Berlin
Prague
Paris
Geneva Munich Beijing 40°
Budapest
Barcelona Frankfurt PACIFIC
40°
Seoul Tropic of Cancer
Madrid Milan Istanbul Tokyo
Rome Zurich Osaka OCEAN
ATLANTIC
Shanghai
OCEAN

Hong Kong Taipei

Bangkok Manila 20°
0°
INDIAN Kuala Lumpur Equator
OCEAN Singapore 20°
Jakarta
20°
ATLANTIC Johannesburg 20°
40° Tropic of Capricorn
20° 20° Sydney
40° Melbourne
OCEAN

40°

60° 0° 20° 40° 60° 60° 60° 100° 120° 140° 160° 60°

SOUTHERN OCEAN

Antarctic Circle

formerly vibrant area of the city. After reunification, European headquarters in Berlin, Warner Brothers moved
the city divided Potsdamer Platz and sold the land. The its offices to Times Square, and new office towers around
two largest owners are the German company Daimler- Times Square house many other media companies.
Benz and the Japanese company Sony. Sony built a
huge entertainment structure called the Sony Center Thinking through the challenges to the state presented in
for cross promotion. According to Roost, much of Chapter 8, predict whether and under what circumstances
the Daimler-Benz structure, Daimler City, is a space of world cities could replace states as the basic and most pow-
consumption, with entertainment venues, restaurants, erful form of political organization in the world.
bars, and hotels.

Although the tourist will be focused on the theme park
atmosphere of these spaces of consumption, the renova-
tions of the districts in both of these cities have also brought
spaces of media production to the cities. Sony has placed its

332 Chapter 9 Urban Geography

Figure 9.43
New York, New York. (top) The New Amsterdam Theater in Times Square as it stood in
1947. Note the signs around the building, advertising arcade games and a flea circus. (bottom)
During the 1980s and 1990s, Times Square was “cleaned up” and reinvigorated. The Walt Disney
Company renovated the New Amsterdam Theater and now shows productions of musicals such
as Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. (left): ©Richard Levine/Alamy Images, (right): © Corbis-Bettmann.

Learn More Online 333

Summary

The city is an ever changing cultural landscape, its layers reflecting grand plans by gov-
ernments, impassioned pursuits by individuals, economic decisions by corporations, and
processes of globalization. Geographers who study cities have a multitude of topics to
examine. From gentrification to teardowns, from favelas to McMansions, from spaces of
production to spaces of consumption, from ancient walls to gated communities, cities have
so much in common, and yet each has its own pulse, its own feel, its own spatial structure,
its own set of realities. The pulse of the city is undoubtedly created by the peoples and
cultures who live there. For it is the people, whether working independently or as part of
global institutions, who continuously create and re-create the city and its geography.

Geographic Concepts agora Griffin-Ford model
site shantytowns
central business district situation disamenity sector
(CBD) urban morphology McGee model
functional zonation zoning laws
synekism Forum redlining
urban trade area blockbusting
city rank-size rule commercialization
agricultural village primate city gentrification
agricultural surplus central place theory teardowns
social stratification Sun Belt phenomenon McMansions
leadership class functional zonation urban sprawl
first urban revolution zone new urbanism
Mesopotamia central city gated communities
Nile River Valley suburb informal economy
Indus River Valley suburbanization world city
Huang He and Wei concentric zone model spaces of consumption
edge cities
River Valleys megacities
Mesoamerica
Peru
secondary hearth
acropolis

Learn More Online

About Celebration, Florida
http://www.celebration.fl.us

About the Congress for the New Urbanism
http://www.cnu.org

About Globalization and World Cities
http://www.lut.ac.uk/gawc/index.html

About Opposition to Urban Sprawl
http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl

About Seaside, Florida
http://www.seasidefl.com

334 Chapter 9 Urban Geography

Watch It Online

About Berlin
http://www.learner.org/resources/series180.html#program_descriptions
Click on Video On Demand for “Berlin: United We Stand”
http://www.learner.org/resources/series85.html#program_descriptions
Click on Video On Demand for “Berlin: Changing Center of a Changing Europe”
About Sprawl in Chicago
http://www.learner.org/resources/series180.html
Click on Video On Demand for “Chicago: Farming on the Edge” Source: Smart
Growth.org, http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/sprawlindex/measuringsprawl.pdf
last ac-cessed July 2005.

Development 1 0CHAPTER

Field Note Geography, Trade, and Development

ALGERIA

20°N

MAURITANIA
MALI

Timbuktu

Bamako Niger NIGER

GUINEA BURKINA
FAS0

10°E GHANA10°N
0°
IVORY
COAST

Figure 10.1
Central Square, Timbuktu, Mali. Sited along the Niger River on the edge of the Sahara
Desert, Timbuktu was once a major trade center. Goods from the north carried on camels were
traded with goods from the south brought in on boats. The development of sea trade routes in
the sixteenth century allowed traders to circumvent Timbuktu. In turn, the city’s central trade
role declined. © Alexander B. Murphy.

Walking down one of the major streets of Timbuktu, Mali (Fig. 10.1), I could hardly
believe I was in the renowned intellectual, spiritual, and economic center of the
thirteenth to sixteenth centuries. At that time, the place had a great reputation
for wealth, which spurred the first European explorations along the African coast.
What survives is a relatively impoverished town of some 35,000 people providing
central place functions for the surrounding area and seeking to attract some tour-
ist business based on its legendary name.

What happened to Timbuktu? The city’s wealth many centuries ago derived
from its ability to control the trans-Sahara trade in gold, salt, ivory, kola nuts, and
slaves. But when trade patterns shifted with the development of sea trade routes

335

336 Chapter 10 Development

along the west coast of Africa, Timbuktu lost its strategic position and a long
period of decline set in.

Timbuktu’s story serves as a reminder that where a place is located in rela-
tion to patterns of economic development and exchange can be as important
as, or even more important than, the commodities found in that place. Indeed,
there are many examples of places where the presence of a valuable commod-
ity does not translate into improved economic lives for those living nearby. The
people working on the oil booms in Gabon or Nigeria or workers chopping down
rare hardwood trees in Thailand or Malaysia, for example, are not the ones who
benefit from most of the wealth associated with demand for the goods they help
produce. Instead, international corporations or the wealthiest families in a place,
those who own the industry, are the principal beneficiaries.

To understand how the production of a good creates wealth for some and
not for others, we must understand the concept of a commodity chain and
the role of places in the chain of production. A commodity chain is a series of
links connecting the many places of production and distribution and result-
ing in a commodity that is then exchanged on the market. The generation of
wealth differs along the commodity chain. Each link along the chain adds a
certain value to the commodity, producing differing levels of wealth for the
place and the people where production occurs.

What Timbuktu had to offer was the ability to coordinate and facilitate trade
based on its geographic site where the Niger River turned north at the edge of the
Sahara Desert. The river was the last major water source for those crossing the
Sahara from south to north across what is now Mali and Algeria. Timbuktu was
a break-of-bulk location, where goods traded on one mode of transport, camel,
were transported to another mode of transport, boat. The commodity chain the
production of a good follows and the points along the chain where materials and
goods are traded changes over time, directly impacting the economic situation of
places.

Places along a commodity chain do not all benefit equally from the production
of a good. The generation of wealth depends on how production occurs at each step.
In Chapter 8 we introduced the concepts of core and periphery. Sophisticated
technology, high skill levels, extensive research and development, and high sala-
ries tend to be associated with the segment of global commodity chains located
in the core. The segments located in the periphery, by contrast, tend to be associ-
ated with low technology, less education, little research and development, and
lower wages.

The concept of development is both about being nodes along commod-
ity chains and also about transforming peripheral processes into core ones, or
redirecting the profit generated through core processes to improve the periph-
ery. As the twenty-first century unfolds, countless governments, academics,
nongovernmental organizations, and international financial institutions offer
ideas about how to lift up the poorer parts of the world. The theories, meth-
ods, and recommendations vary, but they all focus on the illusive concept of
development.

In this chapter, we review how development is defined and measured and
some of the theories of development. We also examine how geography affects
development, considering the structures of the world economy. We look at the
geographical barriers to and costs of development within countries, and we ask
why uneven development occurs not just across the globe, but within states.

How Is Development Defined and Measured? 337

Key Questions For Chapter 10

1. How is development defined and measured?
2. How does geographical situation affect development?
3. What are the barriers to and the costs of development?
4. How do political and economic institutions influence uneven development

within states?

HOW IS DEVELOPMENT DEFINED Gross National Income
AND MEASURED?
Ways of measuring development fit into three major
The economic and social geography of the con- areas of concern: development in economic welfare,
temporary world is a patchwork of almost inconceivable development in technology and production, and devel-
contrasts. On the simple fields of shifting cultivators in opment in social welfare. Beginning with the 1960s, the
equatorial American and African forests, farmers grow most common way of comparing development in eco-
root crops using ancient methods and rudimentary tools. nomic welfare was to use the index economists created
On the Great Plains of North America, in Ukraine, to compare countries, the gross national product. Gross
and in eastern Australia, farmers use expensive, mod- national product (GNP) is a measure of the total value
ern machines to plow the land, plant seeds, and harvest of the officially recorded goods and services produced
grains. Toolmakers in the villages of Papua New Guinea by the citizens and corporations of a country in a given
still fashion their implements by hand, as they did many year. It includes things produced both inside and out-
centuries ago; whereas, factory workers in Japan or South side the country’s territory, and it is therefore broader
Korea produce automobiles by the shipload for distribu- than gross domestic product (GDP), which encom-
tion to markets thousands of miles away. Between these passes only goods and services produced within a coun-
extremes, the range and variety of productive activities are try during a given year.
virtually endless.
In recent years, economists have increasingly turned
These contrasts point to a major issue in understand- to gross national income (GNI), which calculates the
ing development: wealth does not depend solely on what monetary worth of what is produced within a country plus
is produced; it depends in large part on how and where it is income received from investments outside the country
produced. People can grow agricultural commodities with minus income payments to other countries around the
rudimentary tools or with expensive combines. Is one or world. GNI is seen as a more accurate way of measuring
the other necessary for development to occur? The idea of a country’s wealth in the context of a global economy. In
development is everywhere, but rarely do we pause to ask order to compare GNI across countries, economists must
exactly what development means or how we can measure standardize the data. The most common way to standard-
it (Fig. 10.2). ize GNI data is to divide it by the population of the coun-
try, yielding the per capita GNI. In Japan the per capita
Development implies progress, and in the modern gross national income in U.S. dollars in 2008 was $34,600.
world progress usually means improvements in technol- In the United States it was $45,850. In Luxembourg it
ogy and production, as well as improvements in the social was $64,400. But in India it was $2740, in Nigeria it was
and economic welfare of people. To say a country is devel- $1770, and in Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous
oping, then, is to say progress is being made in technol- country, it was $3580. This enormous range across the
ogy, production, and socioeconomic well- being. Our globe in per capita GNI reflects the often-searing con-
modern notion of development is related to the Industrial trasts between rich and poor.
Revolution and the idea that technology can improve the
lot of humans. Through advances in technology, people Although the map of per capita GNI clearly shows
can produce more food, create new products, and accrue the startling contrasts between rich and poor in the world,
material wealth. But these things do not necessarily bring the statistic has several shortcomings. GNI is a limited
happiness (see chapter 14), social stability, or environmen- measure because it only includes transactions in the formal
tal sustainability, which makes development a narrow, and economy, the legal economy that governments tax and
sometimes controversial, indicator of the human condition. monitor. Quite a few countries have per capita GNI of less
than $1000 per year—a figure so low it seems impossible

Guest
Field Note

Sukabumi, West Java

My own research is based on fieldwork in
Indonesia as well as ongoing engagement with

students in the United States. The women

pictured here collaborated with me on a
research/activism project for migrant women

workers in Indonesia. The woman on the left

(“Rina”) had returned from working in Saudi
Arabia as a domestic worker for two years. She

wanted to return to Saudi Arabia for another

contract to earn more money for herself and
her family, but she was concerned about her

rights and her safety. She had been employed

by a person she considered fair and reasonable, Figure 10.2
but she had heard from friends and neighbors
that many migrants had experienced serious

abuses while abroad. The woman pictured on
the right (“Sorani”) is an Indonesian activist who works in support of migrant rights. She discussed with Rina and me her

strategies for mobilizing political change, and she helped us to see possibilities for building transnational alliances among

American and Indonesian workers, students, and activists. Based on these interviews, as well as many years of working with
migrant women working in factories in Indonesia, my own research has increasingly sought to understand the ways in which

we in the United States, as scholars, students, workers, and consumers, can better serve global justice.

Credit: Rachel Silvey, University of Toronto

that people could survive. A key component of survival in Another limitation of GNI per capita is that it mea-
these countries is the informal economy, the uncounted sures only outputs (i.e., production). It does not take into
or illegal economy that governments do not tax and keep account the nonmonetary costs of production, which take
track of, including everything from a garden plot in a yard a toll on the environment through resource depletion and
to the black market to the illegal drug trade. The infor- pollution of air and water. Per capita GNI may even treat
mal economy is a significant element in the economies such externalities as a plus. For example, the sale of ciga-
of many countries, but GNI statistics omit the informal rettes augments GNI. If cigarette use causes sickness and
economy entirely. hospitalization is required, the GNI figure is boosted fur-
ther. Conversely, the use of energy-efficient devices can
GNI per capita also masks extremes in the distribu- actually lower GNI.
tion of wealth within a country. The Middle Eastern oil
countries of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) The limitations of GNI have prompted some
have per capita GNIs over $24,000, a level higher than analysts to look for alternative measures of economic
that of several European countries. These figures give us development, ways of measuring the roles technology,
no hint of the degree of overall participation in the coun- production, transportation, and communications play
try’s economy, the average citizen’s material standard of in an economy.
living, or gaps between genders or among regions. Eco-
nomic production and the wealth it generates are not dis- To gain a sense of the role of technology in the
tributed evenly across the seven emirates that make up the economy, the occupational structure of the labor force
United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi, the emirate that domi- can be measured using the percentage of workers
nates the petroleum industry, generated over half of the employed in various sectors of the economy. A high per-
country’s GDP in 2010. Dubai, the next largest emirate, centage of laborers engaged in the production of food
generated about a quarter of the GDP, and the Qaywayn staples signals a low overall level of development, as
emirate generated less than 1 percent of the country’s conventionally defined, and a high percentage of work-
gross GDP. ers involved in high-tech industries and services signals
a high level of development. Productivity per worker is

338

How Is Development Defined and Measured? 339

1,000 have high dependency ratios and also very high per cap-
ita GNIs. We can employ countless other statistics to
Telephone Mainlines 500 466 measure social welfare, including literacy rates, infant
per 1000 people mortality, life expectancy, caloric intake per person,
182 195 percentage of family income spent on food, and amount
of savings per capita.
0 8
1,000 Looking through all of the maps that measure devel-
972 opment, we gain a sense that many countries come out in
approximately the same position no matter which of these
Cellular Subscribers measures is used. Each map and each statistic shares one
per 1000 people limit with per capita GNI: they do not capture differences
in development within countries, a question we consider
at the end of this chapter.

500 441

341 Development Models

33 This discussion of ways of measuring development takes
us back to another problem with terminology. The word
0 developing suggests that all countries are improving their
1,000 place in each of these indicators, increasing literacy,
improving communications, or increasing productiv-
Internet Users 740 ity per worker. Beyond the problem of terminology, the
per 1000 people very effort to classify countries in terms of levels of devel-
500 opment has come under increasing attack. The central
concern is that development suggests a single trajectory
169 4 150 through which all countries move. The development
Malawi model, then, does not take geographical differences very
0 World seriously. Just because Japan moved from a rural, agrarian
The Mexico Average state to an urbanized, industrial one does not mean that
Mali will, or that it will do so in the same way. Another
Netherlands criticism of the development model is that the conceptu-
alization of development has a Western bias. Critics argue
Country that some of the measures taken in poorer countries that
the West views as progress, such as attracting industry
Figure 10.3 and mechanizing agriculture, can lead to worsened social
Differences in Communications Connectivity, 2005. Data and environmental conditions for many people in the
poorer countries. Still others criticize the development
from: Earthtrends, World Resources Institute. model because it does not consider the ability of some
countries to influence what happens in other countries,
examined by summing production over the course of a or the different positions countries occupy in the world
year and dividing it by the total number of persons in economy. Instead, the development model treats coun-
the labor force. A more productive workforce points to tries as autonomous units moving through a process of
a higher level of mechanization in production. To mea- development at different speeds.
sure access to technology, some analysts use transpor-
tation and communications facilities per person, which The classic development model, one that is subject
reduces railway, road, airline connections, telephone, to each of these criticisms, is economist Walt Rostow’s
radio, television, and so forth to a per capita index and modernization model. Many theories of development
reflects the amount of infrastructure that exists to facili- grew out of the major decolonization movements of the
tate economic activity. Figure 10.3 highlights some of 1960s. Concerned with how the dozens of newly indepen-
the extraordinary disparities in communications access dent countries in Africa and Asia would survive economi-
around the world. cally, Rostow looked to how the economically powerful
countries had gotten where they were.
Other analysts focus on social welfare to measure
development. One way to measure social welfare is the Rostow’s model assumes that all countries fol-
dependency ratio, a measure of the number of depen- low a similar path to development or modernization,
dents, young and old, that each 100 employed people advancing through five stages of development. In the
must support (Fig. 10.4). A high dependency ratio can
result in significant economic and social strain. Yet, as
we saw in Chapter 2, the aging countries of Europe

340 Chapter 10 Development

GREENLAND

U.S.
(Alaska)

60°

CANADA

40° UNITED STATES 40°

ATLANTIC

BERMUDA

Tropic of Cancer MEXICO BAHAMAS O C E A N

U.S. CUBA DOMINICAN
(Hawaii)
20° JAMAICA REPUBLIC 20° 20°
0° PACIFIC
BELIZE HAITI PUERTO
OCEAN HONDURAS RICO

Equator GUATEMALA NICARAGUA BARBADOS
EL SALVADOR

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

COSTA RICA VENEZUELA SURINAME
PANAMA

COLOMBIA FRENCH GUIANA

GUYANA

ECUADOR

PERU BRAZIL

DEPENDENCY RATIO 20° 20° 20° BOLIVIA
BY COUNTRY, 2007 PARAGUAY
Tropic of Capricorn

Over 0.85 CHILE URUGUAY
0.65–0.85 ARGENTINA
0.55–0.65
40° 40° 40° 40°

0.45–0.55 60° 160° 140° 120° 60° 60° 80° 60° 40° 60°
Under 0.45
No data SOUTHERN
OCEAN

0 1000 2000 3000 Kilometers

0 1000 2000 Miles

Figure 10.4
Dependency Ratio. The dependency ratio is a measure of the number of people under the age
of 15 and over the age of 65 that depends on each working-age adult. The working-age adults in
the formal economy contribute to a country’s tax base, thereby supporting the young and old in
the country. The higher the number, the more “dependents” (under 15 or over 65) each working
age adult supports through taxes. Data from: World Health Organization, 2006.

first stage, the society is traditional, and the dominant breakthroughs occur. Next, the economy enters the
activity is subsistence farming. The social structure fourth stage, the drive to maturity. Technologies dif-
is rigid, and technology is slow to change. The second fuse, industrial specialization occurs, and international
stage brings the preconditions of takeoff. New leadership trade expands. Modernization is evident in key areas of
moves the country toward greater flexibility, openness, the country, and population growth slows. In Rostow’s
and diversification. These changes, in turn, will lead to model, some countries reach the final stage, high mass
the third stage, takeoff. Now the country experiences consumption, which is marked by high incomes and wide-
something akin to an industrial revolution, and sustained spread production of many goods and services. During
growth takes hold. Urbanization increases, industrializa- this stage, a majority of workers enter the service sector
tion proceeds, and technological and mass-production of the economy.

How Is Development Defined and Measured? 341

GREENLAND

Arctic Circle

FINLAND

60° ICELAND NORWAY ESTONIA RUSSIA 60°
UNITED KINGDOM SWEDEN LATVIA

DENMARK LITHUANIA

IRELAND NETH. BELARUS

BELG. GER. POLAND
CZ. REP.
ATLANTIC LUX. SLVK. UKRAINE KAZAKHSTAN
OCEAN
SWITZ. AUST.HUNG. ROM. MONGOLIA
PORTUGAL
FRANCE SLOV. MOLDOVA CHINA
CROATIA
SERB.

40° SPAIN BOSNIA BULG. GEORGIA UZBEKISTAN KYRGYZSTAN N. JAPAN 40°
MONT. MACE. ARMENIA TURKMENISTAN TAJIKISTAN KOREA
KOSOVO PACIFIC
S.
ITALY GREECE TURKEY AZERBAIJAN KOREA Tropic of Cancer
ALB.
OCEAN
TUNISIA CYPRUS SYRIA AFGHANISTAN
IRAN Equator
MOROCCO LEBANON IRAQ
PAPUA
ISRAEL JORDAN KUWAIT BHUTAN NEW
EGYPT NEPAL GUINEA
ALGERIA LIBYA PAKISTAN

WESTERN BAHRAIN
SAHARA
QATAR BANGLADESH TAIWAN
INDIA
SAUDI U.A.E. MYANMAR
(BURMA) LAOS
CAPE MAURITANIA ARABIA OMAN 20°
VERDE MALI
NIGER SOLOMON
SENEGAL NIGERIA CHAD SUDAN ERITREA YEMEN VIETNAM ISLANDS
GAMBIA THAILAND
GUINEA-BISSAU GUINEA BURKINA PHILIPPINES
FASO CAMBODIA
DJIBOUTI
IVORY CENTRAL SOUTH ETHIOPIA SRI LANKA
COAST AFRICAN REP. SUDAN
SIERRA LEONE BRUNEI

LIBERIA TOGO CAMEROON SOMALIA INDIAN
GHANA BENIN GABON CONGO OCEAN
UGANDA MALAYSIA 0°
EQUATORIAL KENYA SINGAPORE
GUINEA FIJI
RWANDA INDONESIA
20°
THE BURUNDI
CONGO

TANZANIA

ATLANTIC ANGOLA COMOROS EAST TIMOR
MALAWI
ZAMBIA AUSTRALIA

20° 20° ZIMBABWE MOZAMBIQUE MADAGASCAR MAURITIUS 20° 20° VANUATU
Tropic of Capricorn NEW
NAMIBIA CALEDONIA

BOTSWANA

OCEAN SOUTH SWAZILAND
AFRICA LESOTHO

NEW
ZEALAND
40° 40° 40°

60° 0° 20° 40° 60° 60° 60° 100° 120° 140° 160° 60°

SOUTHERN OCEAN

Antarctic Circle

Another name for Rostow’s model (and other models an individual country, leaving us to wonder where cultural
derived from it) is the ladder of development. Visually, we and political differences fit into the picture.
can see his five stages of development as rungs on a lad-
der (Fig. 10.5), with each country climbing the ladder Because it is descriptive of the experiences of some
one rung at a time. In addition to the general criticisms countries, Rostow’s model is still influential, despite all of
of development models, the major problem with Rostow’s these criticisms. Even the notion of calling wealthy coun-
model is that it provides no larger context to development. tries “industrialized” and saying poor countries need to
Is a climb up the ladder truly dependent on what happens “industrialize” implies that economic development can
within one country? Or do we need to take into account all be achieved only by climbing the same ladder of develop-
of the other countries, their places on the ladder, and how ment wealthier countries have already climbed. Yet if a
their actions as well as global forces affect an individual poor country quickly industrialized today through foreign
country’s movement on the ladder? The theory also misses investment, it might not reap much economic benefit, but
the forces that can influence development decisions within it could experience severe environmental consequences.
It is also interesting to note that the “industrial” countries

342 Chapter 10 Development

Stages of CORE COUNTRY MODERN At the global scale, European ideas of the state and
Progress economic exchange diffused throughout the world via
colonialism, bringing much of the world into the capi-
(Highest) 5 talist world-economy. The Industrial Revolution and
colonialism made colonies dependent on the colonizers
4 Futuristic and brought wealth to the colonizers. Even after the
Historical Speculation end of colonization, the economic, political, and social
interlinkages of the world economy persist. In the
Interpretation capitalist world economy, the flow of capital changed
little after decolonization. Many development schol-
3 ars argue that today the poor are experiencing neo-
colonialism, whereby the major world powers continue
2 PERIPHERAL COUNTRY to control the economies of the poorer countries, even
(Lowest) 1 though the poorer countries are now politically inde-
TRADITIONAL pendent states.

PAST NOW FUTURE Time Development scholars have produced a number of the-
ories that take into account the context of neo-colonialism;
Figure 10.5 these theories are called structuralist theories. A struc-
Rostow’s Ladder of Development. This ladder assumes that turalist theory holds that difficult-to-change, large-scale
all countries can reach the same level of development and that economic arrangements shape what can happen in fun-
all will follow a similar path. Adapted with permission from: P. J. damental ways. The development of the global economy
Taylor. “Understanding Global Inequalities: A World-Systems brought into being a set of structural circumstances,
Approach,” Geography, 77 (1992): 10–21. such as the concentration of wealth in certain areas and
unequal relations among places, that make it very difficult
of today are really “postindustrial,” in that industrial pro- for poorer regions to improve their economic situation.
duction has now shifted away from some of the wealthiest Structuralists argue that these countries face a very differ-
parts of the planet (Chapter 12). ent set of development circumstances than those faced by
the countries of western Europe that Rostow looked at in
constructing his modernization model.

Is the idea of economic development inherently Western? If Dependency Theory
the West (North America and Europe) were not encouraging
the “developing world” to “develop,” how would people in Structuralists have developed a major body of develop-
the regions of the “developing world” think about their own ment theory called dependency theory, which holds
economies? that the political and economic relationships between
countries and regions of the world control and limit the
HOW DOES GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION economic development possibilities of poorer areas.
AFFECT DEVELOPMENT? Dependency theorists note, for example, that colo-
nialism created political and economic structures that
Development happens in context: it reflects what is caused the colonies to become dependent on the colo-
happening in a place as a result of forces operating con- nial powers. They further argue that such dependency
currently at multiple scales. To understand why some helps sustain the prosperity of dominant regions and
countries are poor and others are wealthy, we need to con- the poverty of other regions, even after decolonization
sider the context not only at the state scale, but also at the occurs.
local, regional, and global scales.
Many poorer countries tie their currency to a
wealthy country’s currency, either by tying the value of
their currency to the wealthy country’s currency or by
completely adopting the wealthy country’s currency
as their own, creating a significant link between the
poor and wealthy countries’ economies. For example,
El Salvador went through a process of dollarization,
whereby the country’s currency, the colon, was aban-
doned in favor of the dollar (Fig. 10.6). For the peo-
ple of El Salvador, dollarization made sense because the

How Does Geographical Situation Affect Development? 343

made economic gains. Like modernization theory, depen-
dency theory is based on generalizations about economic
change that pay relatively little attention to geographi-
cal differences in culture, politics, and society. Although
both models provide some insights into the development
process, neither is greatly concerned with the spatial and
cultural situation of particular places—central elements of
geographical analysis.

Figure 10.6 Geography and Context
San Salvador, El Salvador. A woman and young boy use dol-
lars to pay for groceries in El Salvador, a country that underwent As geographers, economists, and other social scientists
dollarization in 2001. © AFP/News Com. came to realize that studying economic development
divorced from political and social context did not reflect
economies of the two countries were tied long before reality, geographers began to search for a development the-
dollarization occurred. Over 2 million Salvadorians live ory that encompassed geography, scale, place, and culture.
in the United States, and in 2010, they sent $3.5 billion Immanuel Wallerstein’s world-systems theory provided
in remittances to El Salvador. With this flow of American a useful framework for many. We discussed world-systems
dollars to El Salvador, many transactions occurred theory in Chapter 8, focusing on how the theory provides
in dollars long before the official switch. The United insights into the political organization of space. In this chap-
Nations Development Program estimates that 22.3 per- ter, we focus on how world-systems theory helps us under-
cent of families in El Salvador receive remittances. In stand the geography of development.
addition, over two-thirds of El Salvador’s exports go to
the United States. When the Federal Reserve Board in Many geographers are drawn to world-systems
the United States controls the supply of dollars by alter- theory because it is sensitive to the relationships among
ing the interest rates, the ramifications are felt directly in development processes that occur in different places.
El Salvador. Specifically, Wallerstein’s division of the world into a three-
tier structure—the core, periphery, and semiperiphery—
Dependency theory contends that economic pros- helps explain the interconnections between places in the
perity is extremely difficult to achieve in regions and coun- global economy. As discussed in more detail in Chapter
tries that have traditionally been dominated by external 8, core processes generate wealth in a place because they
powers. Yet some traditionally “dependent” regions have require higher levels of education, more sophisticated
technologies, and higher wages and benefits. When core
processes are embedded in a place (such as the Telecom
corridor in Richardson-Plano, Texas), wealth is gener-
ated for the people in that place. Peripheral processes,
on the other hand, require little education, lower tech-
nologies, and lower wages and benefits. Core regions are
those that have achieved high levels of socioeconomic
prosperity and are dominant players in the global eco-
nomic game. When peripheral processes are embed-
ded in a place (such as banana growers in Ecuador), the
processes often generate little wealth for the people in
that place. Periphery regions are poor regions that are
dependent in significant ways on the core and do not
have as much control over their own affairs, economi-
cally or politically. The semiperiphery exhibits both
core and peripheral processes, and semiperipheral places
serve as a buffer between the core and periphery in the
world-economy. Countries of the semiperiphery exert
more power than peripheral regions but remain heavily
influenced by core regions.

Dividing the world into cores, semiperipheries, and
peripheries might seem to do little more than replace
developed, developing, and underdeveloped with a new

344 Chapter 10 Development

set of terms. But the core–periphery model is fundamentally governments hope to discern how to break down barri-
different from the modernization model because it holds ers to development and improve the human condition
that not all places can be equally wealthy in the capital- globally.
ist world-economy. World-systems theory also makes
the power relations among places explicit and does not One of the most widely referenced measurements
assume that socioeconomic change will occur in the same of development today is the United Nations Human
way in all places. It is thus sensitive to geographical con- Development Index (Fig. 10.7). According to the
text, at least in economic terms. United Nations, the Human Development Index goes
beyond economics and incorporates the “three basic
Geographer Peter J. Taylor uses the analogy of a dimensions of human development: a long and healthy
school of tadpoles to demonstrate these ideas. He envi- life, knowledge and a decent standard of living.” Several
sions different places in the world as tadpoles and explains statistics, including per capita GDP, literacy rates,
that not all tadpoles can survive to develop into toads. school enrollment rates, and life expectancy at birth,
Rather, those who dominate survive, and the others per- factor into the calculation of the Human Development
ish. World-systems theorists see domination (exploita- Index.
tion) as a function of the capitalist drive for profit in the
global economy. Thus, capitalists can move production In 2000, the United Nations held a high-profile
quickly from one place to another around the globe to summit, during which 189 world leaders adopted the
enhance profits, but places that lose a production facility United Nations Millennium Declaration, with the goal
can suffer. Moreover, their coping capacity can be small of improving the condition of the people in the coun-
if, as is often the case, they earlier abandoned traditional tries with the lowest standards of human development.
ways and shifted to an export economy when external At the summit, world leaders recognized the principal
investment first arrived. barriers to economic development and identified eight
key development goals to be achieved by the year 2015.
World-systems theory is applicable at scales beyond They were:
the state. A core–periphery relationship can exist within
a region, a state (country), or a local area. For example, 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
Los Angeles can be described as the core of the Southern
California region; the Johannesburg area can be described 2. Achieve universal primary education.
as the core of the South African state; or the Central
Business District can be described as the core of São 3. Promote gender equality and empower women.
Paulo, Brazil.
4. Reduce child mortality.

5. Improve maternal health.

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.

7. Ensure environmental sustainability.

8. Develop a global partnership for development.

Compare and contrast Rostow’s ladder of development These Millennium Development Goals rep-
with Wallerstein’s three-tier structure of the world resent a fairly high degree of consensus about the key
economy as models for understanding a significant eco- conditions that need to be changed if economic devel-
nomic shift that has occurred in a place with which you opment is to be achieved. As 2015 approaches, however,
are familiar. it is becoming increasingly clear that many of the goals
will not be met. For example, HIV infection rates remain
high, and extreme poverty is still the plight of countless
millions.

WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS TO AND THE Barriers to Economic Development
COSTS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT?
As described in the last section of this chapter, the struc-
International organizations and governments tures and geography of the world-economy inhibit eco-
measure development and then create programs to nomic development in the periphery. Numerous factors
help improve the condition of humans around the serve as barriers to the economic development of the
world, especially in the poorest countries of the world. periphery. In Chapter 1, we discussed the causes of mal-
By measuring human development, organizations and nutrition, and in Chapter 2, we examined how AIDS has
ravaged Subsaharan Africa. In Chapter 13, we discuss the
vulnerability to natural hazards that exist in many peripheral

What Are the Barriers to and the Costs of Economic Development? 345

countries, including the lack of infrastructure to cope with common. Mike Dottridge, a modern antislavery activ-
those hazards. It is clear that the world economic system ist, explains that trafficking happens when “adults and
often works to the disadvantage of the periphery but that children fleeing poverty or seeking better prospects are
the system is not the only obstacle that peripheral coun- manipulated, deceived, and bullied into working in con-
tries face. ditions that they would not choose.” This phenomenon
is not considered slavery because the family does not sell
Conditions within the periphery, such as high a child; instead the child is sent away with a recruiter
population growth rates, lack of education, foreign debt, in the hopes that the recruiter will send money and the
autocratic (and often corrupt) leadership, political insta- child will earn money to send home. The trafficked chil-
bility, and widespread disease hamper development. It is dren are often taken to neighboring or nearby countries
possible to get into the chicken-or-the-egg debate here: that are wealthier and in demand of domestic servants.
did the structures of the world-economy create these Others are trafficked across the world, again typically
conditions, or do these conditions help to create the to work as domestic servants. Dottridge explains that
structures of the world-economy? Many think that nei- the majority of trafficked children are girls and that the
ther argument can stand alone, but understanding both majority of girls are “employed as domestic servants or
structures and conditions is important if you are to form street vendors,” although some girls are “trafficked into
your own opinion. prostitution.”

Regardless of which came first, numerous people Some countries are working to change access to
throughout the periphery are burdened with familial, primary education in order to make education univer-
economic, cultural, and political hardships. In this sec- sally available. In 2000, the Millennium Development
tion of the chapter, we discuss several of the conditions Report prompted the government of Rwanda to improve
that affect the economic development prospects of peo- access to education. In 2003, fees for primary educa-
ple in the poorest countries of the world, including many tion were eliminated, and two years later schools started
factors outlined in the United Nations Millennium receiving revenues based on the number of students
Development Goals. they were educating. Rwanda’s goal was to make pri-
mary education available to all by 2010. Progress has
Social Conditions been made, but it is difficult to assess whether the goal
was achieved. Moreover, access and completion are two
Countries in the periphery face numerous demographic, different things; of the almost two million children cur-
economic, and social problems. Most of the less well- rently in primary schools, only half reach the sixth year
off countries have relatively high birth rates and low life of school. Moreover, without adequate funding to sup-
expectancies at birth (see Chapter 2). Across the global port the growing student population, some of Rwanda’s
periphery, as much as half the population is 15 years old students meet under trees and many convene in swelling
or younger, making the supply of adult, taxpaying laborers classrooms. Aid is flowing in from outside, but sustaining
low relative to the number of dependents. Low life expec- support for the country’s educational sector remains an
tancies and high infant and child mortality rates stem ongoing challenge.
from inadequate nutrition (protein deficiency is a com-
mon problem). Many in the global economic periphery Foreign Debt
also lack public sewage systems, clean drinking water, and
access to health care, making economic development all Complicating the picture further is the foreign debt
the more difficult. crisis that many periphery and semiperiphery coun-
tries face. Shortly after the decolonization wave of the
Lack of access to education is also a major problem 1960s, banks and other international financial institu-
in the periphery. In some places, even the poorest families tions began lending large sums of money to the newly
pay for their children to attend school. As a result, large independent states, money earmarked for development
numbers of school-age children do not go to school, and projects. By the 1980s and 1990s, the World Bank and
illiteracy rates are high. Moreover, access to education the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were lending
in the periphery is often gendered, with boys attending significant amounts of money to peripheral and semi-
school longer than girls. Girls often stop attending school peripheral countries, but with strings attached. To
and instead work in the city to pay for their brothers’ secure the loans, countries had to agree to implement
school fees. economic or governmental reforms, such as privatiz-
ing government entities, opening the country to for-
Lack of education for girls is founded on and com- eign trade, reducing tariffs, and encouraging foreign
pounded by the widespread assumption (not just in the direct investment. These loans are known as structural
periphery but in most of the world) that girls will leave adjustment loans.
their homes (and communities) when they marry, no
longer bringing income to the family. In parts of the
periphery, trafficking in children, especially girls, is

346 Chapter 10 Development

GREENLAND

U.S.
(Alaska)

60°

CANADA

40° UNITED STATES 40°

ATLANTIC

BERMUDA

Tropic of Cancer MEXICO BAHAMAS O C E A N

U.S. CUBA DOMINICAN
(Hawaii)
20° JAMAICA REPUBLIC 20° 20°
0° PACIFIC
BELIZE HAITI PUERTO
OCEAN HONDURAS RICO

Equator GUATEMALA NICARAGUA BARBADOS
EL SALVADOR

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

COSTA RICA VENEZUELA SURINAME
PANAMA

COLOMBIA FRENCH GUIANA

GUYANA

ECUADOR

PERU BRAZIL

20° 20° 20° BOLIVIA
PARAGUAY
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Tropic of Capricorn
INDEX, 2010
URUGUAY
CHILE ARGENTINA

Very high human development 40° 40° 40° 40°
High human development 60°

Medium human development

Low human development 60° 160° 140° 120° 60° 60° 80° 60° 40°
No data
SOUTHERN

OCEAN

0 1000 2000 3000 Kilometers

0 1000 2000 Miles

Figure 10.7 Data from: http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2010_
Human Development Index, 2010.
EN_Table1_reprint.pdf

Once peripheral countries owe money to the IMF, projects. For many countries the cost of servicing their
the World Bank, and private banks and lending institu- debts (that is, the cost of repayments plus interest)
tions, they need to repay their debts. Spending a large exceeds revenues from the export of goods and services
part of the country’s budget on debt repayment makes (Fig. 10.8). Meanwhile, in many countries, the returns
it difficult for a country to invest in more development on development projects have been much lower than

What Are the Barriers to and the Costs of Economic Development? 347

GREENLAND

Arctic Circle

ICELAND NORWAY FINLAND RUSSIA
UNITED KINGDOM
60° SWEDEN ESTONIA 60°
DENMARK LATVIA

LITHUANIA

IRELAND NETH. GER. POLAND BELARUS
BELG.
CZ. REP.
ATLANTIC LUX. SLVK. UKRAINE KAZAKHSTAN
OCEAN
FRSAWNITCZE. CRSOLAOTVIA.AUST.HUNSGE.RRBO. M. MOLDOVA MONGOLIA
PORTUGAL
BOSNIA BULG. GEORGIA UZBEKISTAN KYRGYZSTAN CHINA
TURKMENISTAN TAJIKISTAN
40° SPAIN MONT. MACE. ARMENIA N. JAPAN 40°
KOSOVO KOREA
ITALY GREECE TURKEY
ALB. AZERBAIJAN S.
KOREA
TUNISIA CYPRUS SYRIA AFGHANISTAN

MOROCCO LEBANON IRAQ IRAN

ISRAEL JORDAN KUWAIT BHUTAN PACIFIC
EGYPT NEPAL
ALGERIA LIBYA PAKISTAN

WESTERN BAHRAIN
SAHARA
QATAR BANGLADESH TAIWAN Tropic of Cancer
SAUDI U.A.E. INDIA
MYANMAR
CAPE MAURITANIA ARABIA OMAN (BURMA) LAOS 20°
VERDE MALI
NIGER SOLOMON
SENEGAL NIGERIA CHAD SUDAN ERITREA YEMEN VIETNAM OCEAN ISLANDS
GAMBIA THAILAND VANUATU
GUINEA-BISSAU GUINEA BURKINA PHILIPPINES NEW
FASO CAMBODIA CALEDONIA
DJIBOUTI
IVORY CENTRAL SOUTH ETHIOPIA SRI LANKA
COAST AFRICAN REP. SUDAN
SIERRA LEONE BRUNEI

LIBERIA TOGO CAMEROON SOMALIA INDIAN
GHANA BENIN GABON CONGO OCEAN
UGANDA MALAYSIA
SÃO TOMÉ & PRINCIPE KENYA SINGAPORE Equator 0°

EQUATORIAL RWANDA INDONESIA PAPUA FIJI
GUINEA NEW
THE BURUNDI GUINEA 20°
CONGO

TANZANIA

ATLANTIC ANGOLA COMOROS E. TIMOR
MALAWI
ZAMBIA

20° 20° ZIMBABWE MOZAMBIQUE MADAGASCAR MAURITIUS 20° 20°
Tropic of Capricorn
OCEAN NAMIBIA

BOTSWANA AUSTRALIA

SOUTH SWAZILAND
AFRICA LESOTHO

NEW
ZEALAND
40° 40° 40°

60° 0° 20° 40° 60° 60° 60° 100° 120° 140° 160° 60°

SOUTHERN OCEAN

Antarctic Circle

anticipated. These factors have created a global debt cri- idea that government intervention into markets is inef-
sis for the poorest countries in the world. ficient and undesirable, and should be resisted wherever
possible. These ideas were at the heart of the conditions
Structural adjustment loans were part of a larger that were attached to loans and refinancing programs, but
trend toward neoliberalism in the late twentieth century. neoliberal ideas spurred a general turn toward the transfer
Neoliberalism derives from the neo-classical economic

348 Chapter 10 Development

GREENLAND

U.S.
(Alaska)

60°

CANADA

40° UNITED STATES 40°

ATLANTIC

MEXICO BAHAMAS O C E A N

20° Tropic of Cancer CUBA DOMINICAN 20° 20°
0° JAMAICA REPUBLIC
PACIFIC
U.S. OCEAN BELIZE HAITI PUERTO
(Hawai’i) HONDURAS RICO
BARBADOS
Equator GUATEMALA
EL SALVADOR NICARAGUA

COSTA RICA TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
PANAMA VENEZUELA GUYANA

SURINAME

COLOMBIA FRENCH GUIANA

ECUADOR

PERU BRAZIL

20° 20° 20° BOLIVIA
Tropic of Capricorn 40° 40° PARAGUAY

25.0 – 86.9%

16.0 – 24.9% ARGENTINA

CHILE URUGUAY

10.0 –15.9% 40° 40°
5.0 – 9.9%

1.0 – 4.9%

No data 160° 140° 120° 80° 60° 40°
60° 60° 60° 60°

0 1000 2000 3000 Kilometers SOUTHERN

0 1000 2000 Miles OCEAN

Figure 10.8
External debt service as a percentage of exports of goods and services for low-and middle-
income economies, 2006. Data from: The World Bank. Millennium Development Goals Atlas. Washington, DC:

The World Bank, 2008. Online at http://devdata.worldbank.org/atlas-mdg.

of economic control from states to the private sector. This and state governments to control their economic destinies.
development, in turn, fostered economic globalization Hence, the neoliberal turn has been highly contentious.
while shrinking the size of the public sector in a number
of countries. The trade-off, however, was the expansion of High debt obligations and related neoliberal reforms
corporate control and the erosion of the ability of regional arguably contributed to the economic and political crisis
in Argentina at the end of 2001—leading to overreliance

What Are the Barriers to and the Costs of Economic Development? 349

GREENLAND

Arctic Circle

ICELAND NORWAY FINLAND
UNITED KINGDOM
60° SWEDEN ESTONIA RUSSIA 60°
DENMARK LATVIA
LITHUANIA

IRELAND NETH. GER. POLAND BELARUS
BELG. CZ. REP. SLVK. UKRAINE
ATLANTIC
FRANCSEWITZSL.OVCERNOIAAATUIAST.HUSNEGRB.R.OM. MOLDOVA KAZAKHSTAN

OCEAN SPAIN BOSNIA BULGARIA GEORGIA UZBEKISTAN KYRGYZSTAN MONGOLIA N.
MONTENEGRO TURKMENISTAN TAJIKISTAN KOREA
40° PORTUGAL MACE. ARMENIA CHINA 40°
KOSOVO S.
KOREA
ITALY ALBG. REECE TURKEY JAPAN

TUNISIA CYPRUS SYRIA AZERBAIJAN
LEBANON
IRAQ IRAN AFGHANISTAN

MOROCCO ISRAEL JORDAN PAKISTAN NEPAL BHUTAN PACIFIC

ALGERIA LIBYA KUWAIT Tropic of Cancer
BAHRAIN
WESTERN EGYPT QATAR OCEAN
SAHARA U.A.E.
SAUDI BANGLADESH TAIWAN
ARABIA MYANMAR PHILIPPINES 20°
MAURITANIA OMAN INDIA (BURMA)

MALI NIGER SUDAN ERITREA YEMEN LAOS
THAILAND VIETNAM
SENEGAL CHAD
CAMBODIA
GAMBIA BURKINA

GUINEA-BISSAU GUINEA FASO DJIBOUTI
ETHIOPIA
IVORY NIGERIA CENTRAL SOUTH SRI LANKA
AFRICAN REP. SUDAN
SIERRA LEONE COAST SOMALIA BRUNEI
MALAYSIA
LIBERIA TOGO CAMEROON INDIAN
BENIN
GHANA UGANDA

EQUATORIAL GABON CONGO KENYA SINGAPORE Equator 0°

RWANDA INDONESIA PAPUA
NEW
GUINEA THE BURUNDI OCEAN GUINEA
CONGO
SOLOMON ISLANDS
TANZANIA

ATLANTIC ANGOLA COMOROS EAST
MALAWI TIMOR
20° ZAMBIA VANUATU FIJI
AUSTRALIA NEW
20° NAMIBIA ZIMBABWE MOÇAMBIQUE MADAGASCAR 20° 20° CALEDONIA 20°
MAURITIUS Tropic of Capricorn
BOTSWANA
RÉUNION

OCEAN SOUTH SWAZILAND
AFRICA LESOTHO

NEW

40° 40° 40° ZEALAND

0° 20° 40° 60° 100° 120° 140° 160°
60° 60° 60° 60°
OCEAN
SOUTHERN
Antarctic Circle

on a privatized export sector that left the country vulner- By 2005, internal economic growth and aid from
able when shifts in the global economy weakened the Venezuela put Argentina in a position to work out a com-
competitiveness of Argentinian exports. But government plex debt restructuring plan that has pulled the country
spending also was also unsustainably high, and corruption back from the brink. Argentina’s agricultural economy
was rampant (Fig. 10.9). bounced back in 2010 with the rise of corn and soy prices.

350 Chapter 10 Development

Field Note

“Arriving in Argentina during the political and economic
upheavals that had begun in 2001, I saw signs of dislocation
and trouble everywhere. Beggars pursued pedestrians on the
once-fashionable Avenida Florida. Banks had installed protec-
tive shutters against angry crowds demanding return of their
frozen and devalued deposits. A bus trip on the Patagonian
Highway turned into an adventure when masked protesters
carrying rocks and burning rags stopped vehicles and threat-
ened their occupants. Newspapers carried reports of starva-
tion in Tucumán Province—in a country capable of producing
seven times the food its population needs.”

Figure 10.9
Buenos Aires, Argentina. © H. J. de Blij.

Argentina’s economy is stabilizing, but in cases where the global periphery each month. Malaria is an infectious
countries are facing imminent economic, political, and disease spread by mosquitoes that carry the parasite in
social meltdown, the only alternative may be to default their saliva. Scientists did not determine the role of mos-
on loans. Defaulting countries then find themselves in a quitoes in the diffusion of the disease until the late eigh-
severely disadvantaged position when it comes to attract- teenth century. Today, the sequence of the disease is well
ing future external investment. And if a substantial num- known. The mosquito stings an infected host and sucks up
ber of countries were to default at the same time, a global some of the disease agents. In the mosquito’s stomach, the
economic crisis could ensue that would work to the disad- parasites reproduce and multiply, eventually reaching its
vantage of almost everyone. saliva. When the mosquito stings the next person, some of
the parasites are injected into that person’s bloodstream.
Disease The person who has been stung develops malaria and
becomes a host.
Those living in the global economic periphery experience
comparatively high rates of disease and a corresponding lack The disease manifests itself through recurrent fever
of adequate health care. These circumstances directly affect and chills, with associated symptoms such as anemia and
economic development, making survival difficult for many an enlarged spleen. Nearly one million people in the
people, orphaning children, and weakening the labor force. world die of the disease each year. Malaria is a major fac-
tor in infant and child mortality, as most of the victims
As highlighted in Chapters 1 and 2, the high concen- are children age 5 or younger. If a person survives the dis-
tration of HIV/AIDS cases in parts of the periphery pres- ease, he or she will develop a certain degree of immunity.
ents a significant obstacle to development—particularly in However, many infected by malaria are weak, lack energy,
parts of Subsaharan Africa. Moreover, vectored diseases— and face an increased risk of other diseases taking hold in
those spread by one host (person) to another by an interme- their weakened body.
diate host or vector—are a scourge in warm, humid parts
of the periphery and semiperiphery. The warm, moist cli- Malaria occurs throughout the world, except in
mates of tropical environments enhance biological activity. higher latitudes and altitudes, and drier environments.
Vectors abound in such environments, and infectious dis- Although people in the tropical portions of Africa suffer
eases spread rapidly through host populations. most from this disease, malaria is also prevalent in India,
Southeast Asia, parts of southern China, and the tropical
Development experts look at malaria as a “silent tsu- Americas.
nami” in the periphery, comparing its death toll to the tsu-
nami that ravaged South and Southeast Asia in late 2004. Several types of malaria spread throughout these
That tsunami killed some 300,000 people (including regions, with some being more severe than others. In
children) at once. Malaria kills about 150,000 children in addition to humans, various species of monkeys, rats,
birds, and even snakes can be affected by the disease. In

What Are the Barriers to and the Costs of Economic Development? 351

Subsaharan Africa, malaria’s virulence results from the and lead a low-income country can be a daunting task. In
effectiveness of its vectors—three African mosquitoes peripheral countries, a wide divide often exists between
(Anopheles gambiae, A. arabiensis, and A. funestus). Whole the very wealthy and the poorest of the poor. In Kenya,
populations are afflicted, and entire regions have been for example, the wealthiest 10 percent of the population
abandoned because of the prevalence of the disease. controls nearly 50 percent of the country’s wealth, and the
poorest 10 percent control less than 1 percent of Kenya’s
Antimalarial drugs exist, but to defeat malaria, wealth. The disenfranchisement of the poor and the com-
afflicted regions must eliminate the vector: the mosquito. petition among the rich for control of the government
During the 1940s, the government of Sri Lanka (then (and the potential spoils that go along with that) can lead
Ceylon) launched a massive attack on the mosquito with to extreme political instability within a state—as Kenya
the aid of a pesticide called dichloro diphenyl trichloroeth- experienced in 2007–2008. Add to these factors involve-
ane (DDT). The results were dramatic. The mosquito was ment from outside the country, especially by powerful
practically wiped out, and the rate of deaths attributable countries, and the political instability can easily escalate,
to malaria fell markedly. In 1945, Sri Lanka’s death rate yielding horrid conditions in which military dictators,
overall had been 22 per 1000; in 1972, it reported a death selfish megalomaniacs, and corrupt governments can
rate of only 8 per 1000. The figure was further reduced come to power.
to 5 per 1000 by 2004 and then rose again to 7 in 2009, as
reflected in Figure 10.10. Countries of the core have established democracies
for themselves; since World War II, they have held reg-
The conquest of malaria produced a new set of ularly scheduled democratic elections. But countries in
the periphery and semiperiphery have had a much harder
problems, however. DDT proved to be highly carcino- time establishing and maintaining democracies. In the
process of decolonization, the colonizing countries typi-
genic and to have negative health and environmental cally left governments that reflected political and social
hierarchies during the colonial period. Some failed, some
consequences of its own. Also, the lowered death rate were overthrown by military coups, and some saw the
consolidation of power around a dictatorial strongman.
through malaria eradication led to a substantial rise in Many countries in the periphery and semiperiphery have
alternated repeatedly between quasi-democratic and
the population growth rate, creating new problems for military governments. Some argue that without consid-
erable wealth, maintaining a liberal democracy is all but
Sri Lanka. By the time the birth rate dropped (it is 19 impossible.

per 1000 today), the island had experienced a popula- Opening the homepage of any major newspaper on
any given day will reveal a story somewhere in the world
tion explosion. that demonstrates the link between economic stability
Success in combating major vectored diseases often and political stability. In post-Taliban Afghanistan, eco-
nomic woes represent one of the greatest threats to the
is only temporary. Following the Sri Lankan experiment, stability of the United States-supported government
India initiated a massive assault against the malaria mos- in Kabul. More than half of the population is impover-
quito, and the number of new cases of malaria declined ished, and the government lacks the funds to invest in
dramatically. But ten years after the program was intro- development. Foreign aid—much of it from the United
duced, India reported that 60 million people were States—has provided some help, but the flow of aid has
infected with malaria, more than half the number who been variable and its amount insufficient to address the
had the disease before the antimalaria campaign began. country’s searing economic problems. Many analysts
This example proved the mosquito population’s ability see this as a key impediment to achieving stability in
to rebound quickly after even the most intensive applica- Afghanistan. As the Economist put it in 2006, “poverty
tion of pesticides. helps the Taliban.”

Today the war against malaria is taking a new tack: In places where poverty is rampant, politicians often
genetic interference with the mosquito so that its capacity become corrupt, misusing aid and exacerbating the plight
to transmit the malaria parasite, Plasmodium, is destroyed. of the poor. In Zimbabwe, the year 2002 left many people
By introducing “engineered” mosquitoes into the gen- starving, as poor weather conditions created a meager
eral population, health experts hope that the number of harvest. The country’s ruling party, ZANU-PF, headed
nonvirulent mosquitoes will rise significantly. A number by Robert Mugabe, demanded cards from Zimbabweans
of programs also focus on distributed insecticide-laden who registered for the “food for work” program—cards
mosquito nets to surround sleeping quarters and protect demonstrating membership in the ZANU-PF politi-
people from the mosquitoes that are most active at night cal party. As conditions worsened in subsequent years,
(Fig. 10.11).

Political Corruption and Instability

Although not addressed in the Millennium Development
goals, political corruption and instability can greatly
impede economic development as well. Establishing a sta-
ble, legitimate government that can maintain control over

352 Chapter 10 Development

GREENLAND

U.S.
(Alaska)

60°

CANADA

40° UNITED STATES 40°

ATLANTIC

BERMUDA

Tropic of Cancer MEXICO BAHAMAS O C E A N

U.S. CUBA DOMINICAN
(Hawaii)
20° JAMAICA REPUBLIC 20° 20°
0° PACIFIC
BELIZE HAITI PUERTO
OCEAN
HONDURAS RICO
Equator
GUATEMALA NICARAGUA BARBADOS
EL SALVADOR

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

COSTA RICA VENEZUELA SURINAME
PANAMA

COLOMBIA FRENCH GUIANA

GUYANA

ECUADOR

PERU BRAZIL

20° 20° 20° BOLIVIA
PARAGUAY
MALARIA ENDEMICITY, 2003 Tropic of Capricorn

Very high CHILE URUGUAY
ARGENTINA

High 40° 40° 40° 40°
60°
Moderate

Low 60° 160° 140° 120° 60° 80° 60° 40° 60°
No malaria

SOUTHERN
OCEAN

0 1000 2000 3000 Kilometers

0 1000 2000 Miles

Figure 10.10
Global Distribution of Malaria Transmission Risk, 2003. Adapted with permission from: World

Health Organization, Roll Back Malaria Department and United Nations Children’s Fund. World Malaria Report, 2005.

http://rbm.who.int/wmr2005/html/map1.htm

the Mugabe government faced increasing resistance. dent and made Tsvangirai the prime minister. Some sta-
A potential challenger, Morgan Tsvangirai, emerged in bility returned to the country, but continuing tensions
2008. Members of his opposition party were killed and make it difficult to address Zimbabwe’s enormous eco-
the challenger was harassed, but after a contested elec- nomic problems.
tion that many believe Tsvangirai won, a power-sharing
agreement came into effect that kept Mugabe as presi- The Zimbabwe case shows that in low-income
countries, corrupt leaders can stay in power for decades

What Are the Barriers to and the Costs of Economic Development? 353

GREENLAND

Arctic Circle

FINLAND

60° ICELAND NORWAY ESTONIA RUSSIA 60°
UNITED KINGDOM SWEDEN LATVIA

DENMARK LITHUANIA

IRELAND NETH. BELARUS

BELG. GER. POLAND
CZ. REP.
ATLANTIC LUX. SLVK. UKRAINE KAZAKHSTAN
OCEAN
SWITZ. AUST.HUNG. ROM. MONGOLIA
PORTUGAL
FRANCE SLOV. MOLDOVA CHINA
CROATIA
SERB. UZBEKISTAN
TURKMENISTAN
BOSNIA BULG. GEORGIA KYRGYZSTAN
MONT. TAJIKISTAN
40° SPAIN KOSOVO MACE. N. 40°
ARMENIA KOREA JAPAN
ITALY GREECE TURKEY PACIFIC
ALB. AZERBAIJAN S.
KOREA Tropic of Cancer
TUNISIA CYPRUS SYRIA AFGHANISTAN
IRAN OCEAN
MOROCCO LEBANON IRAQ
Equator
ISRAEL JORDAN KUWAIT BHUTAN
EGYPT NEPAL PAPUA
ALGERIA LIBYA PAKISTAN NEW
CHAD GUINEA
WESTERN BAHRAIN
SAHARA
QATAR BANGLADESH TAIWAN
SAUDI U.A.E. INDIA
MYANMAR
CAPE MAURITANIA ARABIA OMAN (BURMA) LAOS 20°
VERDE
MALI NIGER VIETNAM SOLOMON
THAILAND ISLANDS
SENEGAL SUDAN ERITREA YEMEN

GAMBIA BURKINA CAMBODIA PHILIPPINES
GUINEA-BISSAU GUINEA FASO BRUNEI
DJIBOUTI
IVORY NIGERIA ETHIOPIA SRI LANKA
COAST
SIERRA LEONE CENTRAL SOUTH
AFRICAN REP. SUDAN

LIBERIA TOGO CAMEROON SOMALIA INDIAN
GHANA BENIN GABON CONGO OCEAN
UGANDA MALAYSIA 0°
EQUATORIAL KENYA SINGAPORE
GUINEA FIJI
RWANDA INDONESIA
20°
THE BURUNDI
CONGO

TANZANIA

ATLANTIC ANGOLA COMOROS E. TIMOR
MALAWI
ZAMBIA AUSTRALIA

20° 20° ZIMBABWE MOZAMBIQUE MADAGASCAR 20° 20° VANUATU
Tropic of Capricorn NEW
NAMIBIA MAURITIUS CALEDONIA

BOTSWANA

OCEAN SOUTH SWAZILAND
AFRICA LESOTHO

NEW
ZEALAND
40° 40° 40°

60° 0° 20° 40° 60° 60° 60° 100° 120° 140° 160° 60°

SOUTHERN OCEAN

Antarctic Circle

because the people are afraid to rise up against the lead- governmental organizations sometimes cut off develop-
er’s extreme power or because those who have risen up ment aid to the country. Yet when this happens, everyday
have been killed or harmed by the leader’s followers. people often bear the brunt of hardship. Even when the
Circumstances and timing need to work together to allow global community cuts off the corrupt government’s aid,
a new government to come to power. When governments core countries and nongovernmental organizations often
become excessively corrupt, other countries and non- try to provide food aid to the people. All too frequently,

354 Chapter 10 Development

Figure 10.11
Tamolo, India. Tamolo is on the Car Nicobar
islands off the coast of India. After the 2004 tsunami,
the wetlands became breeding grounds for the mos-
quitoes that carry malaria. This baby sleeps under
a mosquito net distributed to villagers by United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) workers. These
efforts are having some dramatic impacts in parts of
Africa, but malaria remains a scourge of the poorer
peoples living in low latitudes, which is an impediment
to economic development. © Pallava Bagla/Corbis.

when this type of aid reaches its intended beneficiaries, it in Chapter 9). Governments locate such zones in places
is rarely sufficient to meet basic needs or reverse the tra- with easy access to export markets. Thus, the maquila-
jectory of hardship in the country. dora zone in Mexico is situated directly across the border
from the United States, and the special economic zones
Costs of Economic Development of China are located near major ports. These zones typi-
cally attract a mix of manufacturing operations, depend-
Economic development changes a place. To increase ing on the skill levels of the labor force and the available
productivity, whether industrial or agricultural, peo- infrastructure.
ple transform the environment. When a country goes
through intensification of industrial production, air The maquiladora program started in 1965 when the
and surface water are often polluted. Pollution is not Mexican government designated the region of northern
confined to industry. With intensification of agricul- Mexico as a maquiladora district, making it a place where
tural production, the introduction of pesticides and raw materials could be shipped into Mexico, manufactured
herbicides can have deleterious impacts on the soil and into goods, and then sent back to the United States free of
groundwater. Tourism can be just as difficult on the import tariffs. U.S. corporations relocated manufacturing
environment—taxing the existing infrastructure beyond plants to Mexico to take advantage of the program.
its capacities. The costs of tourism often stretch far
beyond the environment, affecting ways of life and fun- Although the maquiladora phenomenon started in
damentally altering the cultural landscape. 1965, it did not really take off until the 1980s. During the
1980s, American companies recognized the expanding
Industrialization wage and benefit differences between the United States
and Mexican worker and began relocating to the maqui-
In their efforts to attract new industries, the governments ladora district in northern Mexico. Although competition
of many countries in the global periphery and semipe- from other parts of the world has led to the closing of some
riphery have set up special manufacturing export zones plants, today some 3000 maquiladoras continue to func-
called export processing zones (EPZs), which offer tion, employing 1 million workers and accounting for 50
favorable tax, regulatory, and trade arrangements to for- percent of Mexico’s exports. The maquiladora plants pro-
eign firms. By the early 2000s, more than 60 countries had duce goods such as electronic equipment, electrical appli-
established such zones, and many of these had become ances, automobiles, textiles, plastics, and furniture. The
major manufacturing centers (Fig. 10.12). Two of the plants are controversial both in Mexico and the United
best known of these zones are the Mexican maquilado- States, as corporations that have relocated there avoid the
ras and the special economic zones of China (discussed employment and environmental regulations that are in
force just a few miles to the north. Many maquiladora fac-
tories hire young women and men for low pay and few if

What Are the Barriers to and the Costs of Economic Development? 355

Arctic Circle
60° 60° 60°

40° 40° ATLANTIC 40°
OCEAN
ATLANTIC PACIFIC
40°
Tropic of Cancer OCEAN Tropic of Cancer
20°
20° PACIFIC 20° OCEAN 20°
0° OCEAN
INDIAN Equator 0°
Equator OCEAN

160° 140° 120° ATLANTIC 20° 20°
Tropic of Capricorn
20° 20° 20° 20°

NUMBER OF EXPORT PROCESSING OCEAN
ZONES BY COUNTRY, 2007

Over 20 1–5 40° 40° 40° 40° 40°
11–20 None

6–10 60° 80° 60° 40° 60° 60° 0° 20° 40° 60° 60° 60° 100° 120° 140° 160° 60°

0 2000 4000 6000 Kilometers SOUTHERN OCEAN
Antarctic Circle

0 2000 4000 Miles

Figure 10.12
Export Processing Zones. Number of export processing zones by country, 2006. Data from:

International Labor Organization.

any benefits, putting them to work in repetitive jobs, often agricultural conglomerate. Where zones of larger-scale,
in environmentally questionable conditions. modernized agriculture have developed in the periph-
ery, foodstuffs are produced for the foreign market and
In 1992, the United States, Mexico, and Canada often have minimal impact on the impoverished condi-
established the North American Free Trade tions of the surrounding lands. Little is produced for the
Agreement (NAFTA), which prompted further indus- local marketplace because distribution systems are poorly
trialization of the border region. NAFTA took effect organized and because the local population is typically
January 1, 1994. In addition to manufacturing plants, unable to pay for foodstuffs. If the local population owns
NAFTA has facilitated the movement of service indus- land, their landholdings are usually fragmented, creating
tries from the United States to Mexico, including data small plots of land that are difficult to farm in a manner
processing operations. Most of the new plants are located that produces much income. Even on larger plots of land,
in two districts: Tijuana on the Pacific Coast—linked to most farmers are equipped with outdated, inefficient
San Diego across the border—and Ciudad Juarez on the tools and equipment. The main crops tend to be grains
Rio Grande across from El Paso, Texas. In recent years and roots; farmers produce little protein because high-
the socioeconomic and environmental contrasts between protein crops typically have lower yields than grain crops.
cities on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border have On the farms in the periphery, yields per unit area are
become increasingly stark. Violent crime has become a low, subsistence modes of life prevail, and many families
particularly serious problem in Juarez, even as El Paso are constantly in debt.
remains comparatively safe, and the slums of Tijuana
are a world apart from much of San Diego. Although Impoverished farmers can ill afford such luxuries
NAFTA was designed to foster increased interaction in as fertilizers, and educational levels are typically too low
North America, cross-border disparities have worked to achieve widespread soil conservation. As a result, soil
together with growing U.S. concerns over illegal immi- erosion is commonplace in most peripheral areas. Severe
gration and the infiltration of foreign terrorists to make soil erosion in areas with dry or semiarid climates around
the U.S.-Mexico border more tightly controlled and deserts results in extreme degradation of the land and the
more difficult to cross than in prior decades. spread of the desert into these lands. Although the expan-
sion and contraction of deserts can occur naturally and
Agriculture cyclically, the process of desertification is more often
exacerbated by humans destroying vegetation and erod-
In peripheral countries, agriculture typically focuses ing soils through the overuse of lands for livestock grazing
on personal consumption or on production for a large or crop production.

356 Chapter 10 Development

60° NORTH AMERICA
Total: 18.4%
40° Tropic of Cancer
20° 20 20

0° Equator SOUTH AMERICA
Total: 20.1%
20°
AREAS THREATENED Tropic of Capricorn
BY DESERTIFICATION
40° 40° 40° 40°
Extreme desert 60° 80° 60° 40° 60°
already 60° 160° 140° 120° 60°
Very high risk
of desertification
High risk
of desertification
Moderate risk
of desertification

0 1000 2000 3000 Kilometers

0 1000 2000 Miles

Figure 10.13
Areas Threatened by Desertification. Deserts expand and contract cyclically, but nature’s
cycles can be distorted by human intervention. This map shows areas threatened or affected by
desertification. Data from several sources, including J. Turk et al., Environmental Science, Philadelphia: Saunders,

1984, p. 305.

Desertification has hit Africa harder than any of the sively in order to increase agricultural production (see
other continents (Fig. 10.13). More than half of Africa is Chapter 13). In semiarid regions, the decision to farm
arid or semiarid, and many people farm the marginal, dry more intensively and increase agricultural production has
lands of the continent. Land ownership patterns, the need the unintended consequence of eroding the land, encour-
for crops and protein sources (both for local consumption aging out-migration, and creating conflict.
and for export), and power differences among groups of
people lead some farmers and ranchers to turn marginal, In Subsaharan Africa over the last 50 years, more
semiarid lands into farm and ranch lands. Lands that are than 270,000 square miles (700,000 square kilometers)
available for farming or ranching may be used more inten- of farming and grazing land have become desert, extend-
ing the Sahara Desert to the south. Some of the African

What Are the Barriers to and the Costs of Economic Development? 357

Arctic Circle 60

40 ASIA
Total: 37.0%
EUROPE
Total: 9.1%

Tropic of Cancer

20°

Equator 0°

20° 20° 20° 20° 20°
Tropic of Capricorn

AFRICA 40° AUSTRALIA
Total: 56.9% Total: 82.5%

0° 20° 40° 60° 100° 120° 140° 160°
60° 60° 60° 60°

Antarctic Circle

desertification may be caused by climatic fluctuations, but other parts of the world have become leading destina-
overgrazing, woodcutting, soil exhaustion, and misuse tions for millions of tourists from richer states. Tourism is
have undoubtedly accelerated the process. now one of the major industries in the world and has sur-
passed oil in its overall economic value, and it sometimes
Tourism brings some wealth and employment to these countries
(see Chapter 12). Tourism may also have serious negative
All development strategies have pros and cons, as is well effects on cultures and environments.
illustrated by the case of tourism. Peripheral island coun-
tries in the Caribbean region of Middle America and in In economic terms, to develop tourism the “host”
country must make a substantial investment. Sometimes

358 Chapter 10 Development

imports of building materials and equipment strain the down the street, children suffer from malnutrition. If the
country’s supply system, and funds are diverted to hotel tourist industry offered real prospects for economic prog-
construction that could have been spent on other needs ress in low-income countries, such circumstances might be
such as housing for citizens. Moreover, many hotels and viewed as temporary, unfortunate by-products. However,
other tourist facilities are owned not by the host country the evidence too often points in the other direction.
but by large multinational corporations. These corpora-
tions earn enormous profits, most of which are sent back Think of a trip you have made to a poorer area of the coun-
to owners, shareholders, and executives. try or a poorer region of the world. Describe how your expe-
rience in the place as a tourist was fundamentally different
Countries that do earn substantial income from tour- from the everyday lives of the people who live in the place.
ism include Thailand, Kenya, Barbados, and Fiji. Much of
the income a country receives from tourism revenues are HOW DO POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
reinvested in the construction of airports, cruise-ports, and INSTITUTIONS INFLUENCE UNEVEN
other infrastructure that supports more tourism. Tourism DEVELOPMENT WITHIN STATES?
can create local jobs, but they are often low-paying and
have little job security. In tourist zones, many employees In our globalized world, poverty is not confined to
work two or three jobs in order to break even. Tourism can the periphery. Core countries have regions and peoples
bring wealth to owners, shareholders, and executives out- that are markedly poorer than others. On the Pine Ridge
side of tourist destinations. Indian Reservation in the northern Great Plains of the
United States, unemployment hovers at 80 percent, and
Tourism frequently strains the fabric of local com- more than 60 percent of the people live in poverty with
munities as well. The invasion of poor communities by a per capita income of just over $6000. Other countries
wealthier visitors can foster antipathy and resentment. of the core have similar regions where peoples’ economic
Tourism can also have the effect of altering, and even lives do not improve when the country’s economy grows.
debasing, local culture, which is adapted to suit the visi- In Europe, areas of isolation and stagnation persist—
tors’ taste. In many instances tourism fosters a “demon- particularly in the east. At the same time, some places
stration effect” among locals that encourages them to in peripheral countries are experiencing rapid economic
behave in ways that may please or interest the visitors but growth. The local conditions in these places differ sharply
that is disdained by the larger local community. Some from those prevailing in surrounding areas. Recent eco-
tourism workers consider employment in the tourist nomic growth on the Pacific Rim of East Asia has created
industry dehumanizing because it demands displays of huge regional disparities in economic conditions between
friendliness and servitude that locals find insulting. some coastal provinces of China and distant interior prov-
inces. Such regional economic contrasts have significant
A flood of affluent tourists may be appealing to political as well as social consequences.
the government of a poor country whose elite may have
a financial stake in the hotels where they can share the As noted at the beginning of this chapter, regional
pleasures of the wealthy, but local entrepreneurs often contrasts in wealth are a reminder that per capita GNI
take a different view. Indeed, powerful multinational cor- does not accurately represent the economic development
porations and national governments may intervene to of individual places. Any statistic that is derived for an
limit the opportunities of local, small-scale operators in entire country or State hides the variety of economic situ-
favor of mass, prearranged tourist destinations (“exclu- ations within. Peripheral countries are notoriously marked
sive” resorts) that isolate the tourist from local society. by severe regional disparities. In Chapter 9 we discussed
Overreliance on tourism can also leave an economy vul- the stark contrasts between wealthy and poor within Latin
nerable if shifting economic circumstances cause a sharp American and African cities. When viewed at the scale
decline in the number of tourists or if natural disasters hit. of the State, major cities (particularly capitals) and their
Because many tourist destinations in poorer countries are surroundings often look like islands of prosperity, with
beach attractions, natural hazards such as the 2004 tsu-
nami in Southeast Asia can destroy the lynchpin of a coun-
try’s economy (we discuss the tsunami and other natural
hazards in greater detail in Chapter 13). Suffering the loss
of thousands of people; dealing with the after-effects of
sewage, homelessness, orphans, and the destitute; and
coping with rebuilding the tourist destinations must occur
while the flow of tourist-related income has stopped.

The cultural landscape of tourism is frequently a
study in harsh contrasts: gleaming hotels tower over mod-
est, often poor housing; luxury liners glide past poverty-
stricken villages; opulent meals are served in hotels while,

How Do Political and Economic Institutions Influence Uneven Development Within States? 359

modern buildings, factories on the outskirts, and modern authority. Government policies play an important role at
farms nearby. In some cases roads and rails lead to a bustling the interstate level, but they also shape patterns of devel-
port, where luxury automobiles are unloaded for use by the opment within States—not just between urban and rural
privileged elite and raw materials or agricultural products areas, but within each of these sectors.
from the country are exported to points around the world.
In these core areas of countries, the rush of “progress” may Of course, governments alone do not determine pat-
be evident. If you travel a few miles into the countryside or terns of wealth and poverty, but they are almost always
into a different neighborhood in the city, however, you will part of the picture. Consider the case of the Ninth Ward in
likely see a very different picture. The contrasts between New Orleans, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina
rich and poor areas are not simply the result of differences in 2005. On its surface, what happened to the Ninth Ward
in the economic endowments of places. Government policy was the result of a natural disaster. But the flooding of that
frequently affects development patterns as well. Hence, part of New Orleans was also the result of government
in this section of the chapter we turn to how governments decisions decades ago to build levies and settle flood-prone
collaborate with corporations to create islands of develop- areas. The concentration of people living there was also
ment, and consider how people try to generate growth in the product of innumerable policies affecting housing, the
the periphery of the periphery. construction of businesses, and the like. Once the hurricane
hit, many looked to government to rebuild the devastated
The Role of Governments section of the city. The limited nature of the governmental
response is evident in the landscape today (Fig. 10.14).
The actions of governments influence whether, how, and
where wealth is produced. This is because the distribution At a somewhat larger scale, consider the contrasts
of wealth is affected by tariffs, trade agreements, taxation between parts of rural Wisconsin and rural Appalachia in
structures, land ownership rules, environmental regula- the United States. In rural Wisconsin, many of the sur-
tions, and many other manifestations of governmental viving family farmers are educated at land-grant universi-
ties in plant and animal sciences and in agribusiness. They
may well be running a highly mechanized dairy farm. On
such farms, the farmer equips each cow with a barcode

Field Note

“Walking through New Orleans’ Lower Figure 10.14
Ninth Ward more than two years after Destroyed House in the Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans. © Alexander B. Murphy.
Hurricane Katrina, it seemed as if the
natural disaster had just happened.
Street after street of devastated,
vacant buildings was all the eye could
behold—many still bearing the mark-
ings of the emergency crews that had
moved through the neighborhood in
the wake of the hurricane, showing
whether anyone had died inside. It
struck me that reconstruction would
require a public commitment on the
order of what occurred in Europe after
World War II, when cities reduced to
rubble by bombing were rebuilt almost
from scratch. No such commitment
ever materialized, but some prog-
ress has been made in recent years.
Recent census data shows a city that is
slightly smaller and slightly richer than
the pre-Katrina city, with a somewhat
reduced black population, and a mod-
estly expanding number of Hispanics.”

360 Chapter 10 Development

and keeps a range of data about that particular cow. The cheap labor at the global scale, earning about $100 per
data include any medical attention the cow has needed, month. Rivoli reports that over 40,000 garment factories
how much milk the cow is producing, and when the cow operate in China alone.
last calved. The farmer then feeds the cow a diet geared
toward improving or maintaining milk production. When The T-shirts are then shipped to the United States
the cow ambles over to the trough to feed, a sensor reads for sale. In an attempt to protect T-shirts produced in
the cow’s barcode and automatically mixes the correct bal- America with higher labor costs from those produced
ance of proteins, carbohydrates, and nutrients for the cow, in China, the U.S. government has established quotas
dispensing them into the trough for the cow to eat. If the on how many items from various clothing categories
cow has already eaten that day, the computer dispenses can be imported into the United States from China
nothing into the trough, and the cow is left to amble away. and other countries. An unintended consequence of
the quota system has been a “quota market” that allows
In parts of rural Appalachia, by contrast, hardscrab- countries to buy and sell their U.S. quota numbers to
ble farming is the norm. Farmers have limited education, producers in other countries (an illegal but rampant
and there is little mechanization. In short, life in some of practice). Instead of trading in quotas, some production
the poorest parts of rural Appalachia is a world apart from facilities have moved to places where quotas and cheap
life on a modern Wisconsin dairy farm. Some of those dif- labor are available—places such as Sri Lanka, Poland,
ferences can be attributed to geographic situation and eco- and Lesotho. Rivoli describes how one producer of cot-
nomic swings. But others are the product of government ton shirts has moved around the world:
policies that influence educational opportunities, provide
subsidies for particular agricultural pursuits, and promote The Esquel Corporation, today the world’s largest pro-
the development of particular technologies. Every policy ducer of cotton shirts, started in Hong Kong in the late
has a geographical expression, meaning that some regions 1970s, but, unable to obtain quota to sell to the United
are favored whereas others are disadvantaged as a result States, shifted production to mainland China. When the
of the implementation of that policy. When policies come United States tightened Chinese shirt quotas in the early
together to favor some regions over others, uneven devel- 1980s, Esquel moved production to Malaysia. When
opment is the result. And uneven development can easily Malaysian quota also became difficult to obtain, Esquel
be exacerbated over time as the wealthy grow wealthier. moved yet again, this time to Sri Lanka. The globe hop-
ping continued, with the Chinese shirt producer setting
Government policy can also help alleviate uneven up operations in Mauritius and Maldives.
development. In the case of Appalachia, the U.S. Congress
created an Appalachian Regional Commission in 1965 The point is that quota laws, like other policies
to address poverty in the region. The Commission has made by governments, regional trade organizations, and
orchestrated a program of government investment in international political regimes (such as the World Trade
roads, schools, health-care facilities, and water and sewer Organization and the International Labor Organization),
systems that has fostered development in parts of the affect whether and how regions can produce and exchange
region. Significant parts of Appalachia have benefited from goods on the world market.
these policies, although pockets of deep poverty remain.
Islands of Development
Looking at commodity chains can also help us
understand the role of governments in uneven develop- In both periphery and core, governments often priori-
ment both within and between states. In her 2005 book tize the creation of wealth in the seat of governmental
The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, economist authority: the capital city. In most states, the capital city
Pietra Rivoli described the significant influences gov- is the political nerve center of the country, its national
ernments have on the distribution of wealth between headquarters and seat of government. Capital cities
and within states. Rivoli grabs a T-shirt out of a bin at a are home to government buildings and jobs; they often
Walgreens in Florida, buys it, and then traces its produc- house universities, museums, heritage centers, conven-
tion back through the commodity chain to see how it ends tion centers, and the headquarters of large corpora-
up in her hands. The cotton for her T-shirt was grown tions. After gaining independence, many former colonial
in West Texas, where the cotton lobby (the political arm states spent lavishly on their capitals, not because such
of America’s cotton producers) has effectively politicked spending was essential to political or economic success
for governmental labor programs and price supports that but because the states wanted to showcase their inde-
help the lobby grow cotton and sell it at predictable prices. pendence, their futures, and create a national treasure.
The European colonizers who focused their wealth
From West Texas, the cotton bale reaches China by and treasures on their capital cities, such as Great
ship. There it is spun into thread and woven into fabric. Britain’s London, France’s Paris, and the Netherlands’
Women from rural China work in state-owned factories
set up in regions that are slated for economic develop-
ment—cutting and sewing T-shirts and keeping the tex-
tile machines in good repair. The women are considered

How Do Political and Economic Institutions Influence Uneven Development Within States? 361

Figure 10.15
Putrajaya, Malaysia. Putrajaya is the newly built capital of Malaysia, replacing Kuala Lumpur.

© Bazuki Muhammad/Reuters/Corbis.

Amsterdam, served as models for the newly independent ultramodern seat of government to symbolize the coun-
states (just as the state system itself did). try’s rapid economic growth (Fig. 10.15).

In many countries of the global economic periphery Corporations can also make cities focal points of
and semiperiphery, the capital cities are by far the largest development by concentrating corporate activities in a
and most economically influential cities in the state (i.e., particular place. Often, corporations build up the cities
primate cities, discussed in Chapter 9). Some newly inde- near the resources they are extracting or near manufactur-
pendent states have built new capital cities, away from the ing centers they have built. Multinational oil companies
colonial headquarters. Their goals in doing so are to sepa- create subsidiaries in countries of the periphery and semi-
rate themselves from their colonizers, to bring together periphery, creating or expanding cities near oil reserves.
diverse groups into one state with a city built to reflect For example in Gabon, Elf and Shell, two oil companies
their common culture, to extend economic development based in Europe, run ElfGabon and ShellGabon in the
into the interior of the state, or to help establish control Central African country. The oil companies took the
over a region with a population whose loyalties might not small colonial town of Port Gentile in Gabon and turned
be to the state. it into a city that the locals call “oil city.” The oil compa-
nies built housing, roads, and stores, and provide much of
Nigeria, for example, moved its capital from Yoruba- the employment in the town (Fig. 10.16).
dominated Lagos along the coast to an ethnically neutral
territory in the center of the state: Abuja. Malawi moved When a government or corporation builds up and
its capital from Zomba, deep in the south, to more central concentrates economic development in a certain city or
Lilongwe. Pakistan moved the capital from the colonial small region, geographers call that place an island of devel-
headquarters of Karachi to Islamabad in the far north to opment. In Chapter 3, we identified islands of development
symbolize the country’s reorientation toward its his- in the periphery and semiperiphery and discussed why peo-
torically important interior and north. Brazil moved its ple migrate to these cities from rural areas and other poorer
capital from coastal Rio de Janeiro to centrally located cities. The hope for a job drives many migrants to move to
Brasilia in order to direct attention to the huge, sparsely these islands of comparative prosperity.
populated, yet poorly integrated interior. More recently,
Kazakhstan moved its capital from Almaty in the south Creating Growth in the Periphery of the Periphery
to Astana in the north, partly to be closer to Russia and
the center of the possibly restless Russian population. One of the greatest challenges to development is creating
Malaysia has also recently moved its capital from the colo- development opportunities outside of islands of develop-
nial capital of Kuala Lumpur to a completely new center ment. In the most rural, impoverished regions of less pros-
called Putrajaya, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the perous countries, some nongovernmental organizations
south. The Malaysian government decided to build a new,

362 Chapter 10 Development

Field Note

“Before the 1970s, Gabon’s principal exports were Figure 10.16
manganese, hardwoods, and uranium ores. The Port Gentile, Gabon. © Alexander B. Murphy.
discovery of oil off the Gabonese coast changed
all that. This oil storage tank at the edge of Port
Gentil is but one reminder of a development
that has transformed Gabon’s major port city—
and the economy of the country as a whole. Oil
now accounts for 80 percent of Gabon’s export
earnings, and that figure is climbing as oil prices
rise and new discoveries are made. But how much
the average citizen of Gabon is benefiting from
the oil economy remains an open question. Even
as health care and infrastructure needs remain
unmet, the French publication L’Autre Afrique
listed Gabon’s recently deceased ruler as the
African leader with the largest real estate hold-
ings in Paris.”

try to improve the plight of people. Nongovernmental By providing microcredit to women, NGOs can alter
organizations (NGOs) are not run by state or local gov- the gender balance in a region, giving more fiscal power
ernments. Rather, NGOs operate independently, and the to women. Some microcredit programs are credited with
term is usually reserved for entities that operate as non- lowering birth rates in parts of developing countries and
profits. Thousands of NGOs operate in the world today, altering the social fabric of cultures by diminishing men’s
from churches to charities such as Heifer International. positions of power. Successful microcredit programs also
Each NGO has its own set of goals, depending on the pri- help alleviate malnourishment, as women with incomes
mary concerns outlined by its founders and financiers. can feed themselves and their children.

Some countries have so many NGOs operating Microcredit programs have been less successful in
within them that they serve as what the Economist calls “a places with high mortality rates from diseases such as AIDS.
parallel state, financed by foreigners and accountable to If the borrower is unable to work or if the family has medical
nobody.” For example, more than 20,000 NGOs operate and funeral bills, the borrower is much more likely to default
within the country of Bangladesh at any time, focusing on the microcredit loan. When people in the periphery of
mainly on the rural areas and villages of the state. But the the periphery (the poorest regions of peripheral countries)
NGO phenomenon can be a bit of a mirage, masking the experience a multitude of challenges, such as disease, cor-
depth of problems some places face. In the wake of the 2010 rupt governments, high mortality rates, high fertility rates,
earthquake in Haiti, one respected British newspaper, the and disruptions from natural hazards, the goal of economic
Guardian, reported that there was approximately 1 NGO development takes a backseat to daily survival.
per 1000 people in Haiti, but that much of the money fun-
neled through these NGOs was misappropriated. Find something in your house (an item of clothing, an elec-
tronic device, etc.) and, using the Internet, try to trace the
One particular kind of program by NGOs that has commodity chain of production. What steps did the item
found success in South Asia and South America is the and its components go through before reaching you?
microcredit program. The idea behind a microcredit Consider the types of economic processes that were oper-
program is simple: give loans to poor people, particularly ating at each step and consider the roles governments and
women, to encourage development of small businesses. international political regimes played along the way.
Programs either have women in the village guarantee
each other’s credit, or they make future lending to oth-
ers contingent on repayment by the first borrowers. With
repayment rates hovering at 98 percent, microcredit pro-
grams can finance themselves, and many NGOs offer the
programs (Fig. 10.17).

Geographic Concepts 363

Figure 10.17
Bwindi, Uganda. Women walk by a micro-
credit agency that works to facilitate economic
development in the town. © Alexander B. Murphy.

Summary

The idea of economic development is relatively new; it implies a sense of progres-
sively improving a country’s economic situation. The idea took hold in the wake of
the Industrial Revolution. Geographers focus on the spatial structure of the economy,
assessing how that structure influences the ability of states and regions to reach greater
levels of economic development. Geographers also recognize that economic develop-
ment in a single place is based on a multitude of factors, including the situation within
the global economy, the link the place plays in commodity chains, the efficacy of gov-
ernment, the presence of disease, the health and well-being of the population, the pres-
ence and amount of foreign debt, the success or failure of government policies, and
the influence of nongovernmental programs. Geographers also realize that all of these
processes are operating concurrently across scales, making a country’s journey toward
economic development much more complicated than climbing a ladder.

Geographic Concepts

commodity chain neo-colonialism malaria
developing structuralist theory export processing zones
gross national product dependency theory maquiladoras
dollarization special economic zones
(GNP) world-systems theory North American Free
gross domestic product three-tier structure
Millennium Trade Agreement
(GDP) (NAFTA)
gross national income Development Goals desertification
trafficking island of development
(GNI) structural adjustment nongovernmental
per capita GNI organizations (NGOs)
formal economy loans microcredit program
informal economy neoliberalism
modernization model vectored diseases
context

364 Chapter 10 Development

Learn More Online

About Global Poverty
http://www.worldbank.org/poverty

Watch It Online

About Gabon
http://www.learner.org/resources/series180.html#program_descriptions
Click on Video On Demand for Gabon: Sustainable Resources?

Agriculture 1 1CHAPTER

Field Notes Changing Greens

Figure 11.1
Presho, South Dakota. Soybeans growing in the semiarid ranchlands of western South
Dakota. © Erin H. Fouberg.

Driving across the semiarid ranchlands of western South Dakota, I noticed the
presence of a crop in the landscape that was recently found only in the eastern,
moister region of the state: soybeans (Fig. 11.1).

I called a colleague who works in agriculture at South Dakota State University
to ask, “When did the cattle ranchers of western South Dakota start growing soy-
beans?” He replied, “When the soy biodiesel plants started popping up in Nebraska
and Kansas and when genetically modified soybeans made it possible to grow the
crop here.” He explained the development of Roundup Ready soybeans, a particu-
lar genetically modified soybean that can grow in more arid regions of the country.

365

366 Chapter 11 Agriculture

First, you plant the soybean; then you use an airplane to spray Roundup, a com-
mon weed killer that is manufactured by the company that produces the Roundup
Ready soybeans, over the field. The application of Roundup over the entire field
saves a lot of time and energy for the farmers because the genetically modified
soybeans are resistant to the Roundup, but the weeds are killed. Monsanto, the
company that produces Roundup, has developed soybeans, corn, cotton, and
other crops that are resistant to Roundup.

Counter to the genetically modified Roundup Ready crops, organic
agriculture—the production of crops without the use of synthetic or industrially
produced pesticides and fertilizers—is also on the rise in North America. In
wealthier parts of the world, the demand for organic products has risen exponen-
tially in recent years. Sales of organic food in the United States, for example, went
from under $200 million in 1980 to $1.5 billion by the early 1990s to over $10 billion
by 2003 and $24.8 billion in 2009. Organic foods are now just under 4 percent of all
food sales in the country. The growth rate is so strong that some predict organic
sales will approach 10 percent of total U.S. food sales within a decade. Parts of
western Europe are already approaching that figure—notably Denmark, Sweden,
Finland, and parts of Germany.

Agricultural fields are devoted to organic agriculture in the core, semi-periphery,
and periphery. Fields devoted to organic agriculture produce all kinds of foodstuffs,
including fruits, vegetables, coffee, tea, grains, nuts, and spices. Compared to all agri-
cultural land, the organic segment is still quite small and relatively scattered, but a
farmer who can gain organic certification from a government or an internationally
recognized third party is increasingly at a competitive advantage (Fig. 11.2).

Although organic crops are grown everywhere, most organic foods are sold in
the global economic core: in the United States, Canada, Japan, Europe, and
Australia. The best-selling organic crops in the United States are fruits and vegeta-
bles, accounting for 39 percent of organic food sales, followed by nondairy bever-
ages at 15 percent and dairy at 13 percent. Organic products typically cost more
than conventional products in the grocery store. Nonetheless, a 2002 report
issued by the United States Department of Agriculture explains that in 2000
organic foods crossed a threshold, moving out of health food stores and into
supermarkets: “for the first time, more organic food was purchased in conven-
tional supermarkets than in any other venue.” Organic foods are sold in 54 percent
of conventional grocery stores in the United States, with increasing demands for
organic animal products such as meats and dairy.

Organic agriculture is an increasingly important part of agricultural produc-
tion and consumption in wealthier countries. In the core, organic farming has
helped some farmers extract themselves to a degree from the control of large,
external corporate interests by tapping a niche market. The role of organic agricul-
ture in the periphery and semi-periphery is similar to that of other major cash
crops: production is almost entirely for export to the global economic core. Yet, in
the periphery and semi-periphery, when organic agriculture bears a fair trade certi-
fication, more wealth typically goes directly to the producers (see the discussion
of fair trade coffee in the last section of this chapter).

The organic movement has some clear environmental benefits, particularly
in reducing levels of synthetic chemicals in soil and water. The putative health and
taste advantages of organic produce help ensure the continued growth of the
organic movement. The continually increasing demand for organic products has
led the United States Department of Agriculture to certify organic products in the
country, giving some degree of standardization to organic agriculture.

Changing Greens 367

ACRES USED FOR ORGANIC AGRICULTURE
IN THE UNITED STATES, 2007

One dot represents 250 acres
The United States total is 2,577,418

0 200 400 600 800 1000 Kilometers
0 200 400 600 Miles
Modified after publication 07-M097 U.S. Department of Agriculture,
National Agricultural Statistics Service.

ALASKA

HAWAI’I

Figure 11.2
Acres of land certified for organic agricultural production in the United States, 2007.

Courtesy of: United States Census of Agriculture, 2007.

In this chapter, we examine the origins of agriculture and trace the geography of
changes in the production of food and the raising of livestock from the earliest domes-
tication of plants to such contemporary developments as genetic modification and
the turn toward large-scale agribusiness. In the process, we describe the early hearths
of agriculture, the geography of technological changes in agriculture, the global
pattern of agricultural production, and the imprint of agriculture on the cultural
landscape.

Key Questions For Chapter 11

1. What is agriculture, and where did agriculture begin?
2. How did agriculture change with industrialization?
3. What imprint does agriculture make on the cultural landscape?
4. How is agriculture currently organized geographically, and how has

agribusiness influenced the contemporary geography of agriculture?

368 Chapter 11 Agriculture

WHAT IS AGRICULTURE, AND WHERE DID for 2.3 percent of GDP and only 2 percent of the labor
AGRICULTURE BEGIN? force is employed in agriculture. The tertiary sector in
Canada accounts for 75 percent of the labor force and
Agriculture is the deliberate tending of crops and over 71 percent of GDP, and the tertiary sector in
livestock to produce food, feed, fiber, and fuel. When we Guatemala accounts for 35 percent of the labor force and
think about agriculture, we tend to think about the pro- 62 percent of the country’s GDP.
duction of foodstuffs for humans. Grain is also used for
feed, grains fed directly to livestock. Raising livestock for These data do not tell us exactly how goods are pro-
their milk, eggs, or meat makes up a large segment of U.S. duced, but they are revealing. The high proportion of the
agriculture. Feed also comes from the remnants of biofuel labor force involved in agriculture in Guatemala (relative to
production, and in 2009, 25 percent of all grain produced the role of agriculture in the GDP) tells us that agriculture
in the United States was used to produce fuel for cars, not is still quite labor dependent in Guatemala, implying a lack
for human or animal consumption. of mechanization. In Canada, the United States, and the
rest of the global economic core, agriculture is produced on
A common way of classifying economic activities is to a large scale for commercial consumption. When agricul-
focus on what is being produced. Economic activities that tural goods are produced in these ways, the number of peo-
involve the extraction of economically valuable products ple working directly in the field is quite small. In the United
from the earth, including agriculture, ranching, hunting and States, less than 2 percent of the workforce is involved in
gathering, fishing, forestry, mining, and quarrying, are called agricultural production. Thousands of others participate in
primary economic activities. Both the growing of food or supporting agricultural production by working in the ter-
feed and the raising of livestock are considered primary eco- tiary sector as research scientists for universities, seed com-
nomic activities. Activities that take a primary product and panies, or chemical (antibiotics, pesticides, and herbicides)
change it into something else such as toys, ships, processed producers; as lobbyists for industry groups such as wheat
foods, chemicals, and buildings are secondary economic producers or cattle ranchers; as engineers who design farm
activities. Manufacturing is the principal secondary eco- implements; as the people who sell and repair the imple-
nomic activity. Tertiary economic activities are those ser- ments; and as owners and clerks at retail establishments
vice industries that connect producers to consumers and where farmers buy other farm and nonfarm goods.
facilitate commerce and trade or help people meet their
needs. People who work as bankers, lawyers, doctors, teach- In the United States, total agricultural production is at
ers, nurses, salespeople, clerks, and secretaries belong to the an all-time high, but the proportion of the labor force in agri-
tertiary sector. Some analysts separate specialized services culture is at an all-time low. Mechanization and efficiencies
into quaternary and quinary economic activities, distin- created by new technologies have led to a significant decrease
guishing between those services concerned with information in the number of workers needed in agricultural production.
or the exchange of money or goods (quaternary) and those In 1950, one farmer in the United States produced enough
tied to research or higher education (quinary). In this chap- to feed 27 people; today, one farmer in the United States pro-
ter, however, for simplicity’s sake we limit ourselves to three duces enough to feed 135 people. The mechanization of
categories: primary, secondary, and a broadly conceived ter- agriculture goes beyond machinery such as combines and
tiary or service sector. harvesters. New technologies include hybrid seeds and
genetically engineered crops, pesticides, and herbicides, all
By classifying economic activities into sectors and of which are designed to increase yields. The drive toward
analyzing the percentage of the population employed in economic efficiency has meant that the average size of farms
each sector, we can gain insight into how the production (acres in production) in the United States has been growing,
of goods is organized, as well as the employment struc- regardless of the kind of agricultural good produced. The
tures of different societies. As we explained in our discus- U.S. Department of Agriculture keeps data showing the dol-
sions of world-systems theory in Chapters 8 and 10, the lar value of agricultural production. The farms with the
story of any product (such as wheat or rice) can be better highest total production have at least $500,000 in annual
illuminated by focusing on how the good is produced (the production in 2007 dollars. These high-producing farms
kinds of technology, research, wages, and education that accounted for 53.7 percent of agricultural goods produced in
go into its production), rather than focusing simply on 2007 (compared with 28.9 percent in 1989).
what is produced. Examining the proportion of people
employed in a given economic sector gives us a basic idea Agriculture in the United States has changed enor-
of how the good is produced. For example, in Guatemala mously in the last decade. A recent study by the National
the agriculture sector accounts for 13.5 percent of the Research Council of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
country’s gross domestic product (GDP), yet 50 percent identifies four major issues that affect food security world-
of the labor force is employed in agriculture. Contrast wide: “1) varying abilities to balance production and con-
that with Canada, where the agriculture sector accounts sumption across regions and countries, 2) accelerating
conversions of agricultural land to urban uses, 3) increas-
ingly energy-intensive food production methods in a world

What Is Agriculture, and Where Did Agriculture Begin? 369

of shrinking fossil fuel resources, and 4) expanding use of Archaeological digs of ancient settlement sites suggest that
food crops for biofuel production.” Agricultural production people would capture a fire caused accidentally and would
changes rapidly as farmers worldwide react to price fluctua- work to keep the fire burning continuously. Later, people
tions in fossil fuels, seeds, fertilizers, crops, and land. learned that fire could be generated by rapid hand rotation
of a wooden stick in a small hole surrounded by dry tinder.
To set the stage for understanding the contemporary Fire became the focal point of settlements, and the camp-
agriculture picture, in the next section of the chapter, we fire took on symbolic and functional importance. It was a
discuss how people lived before the origins of agriculture means of making foods digestible, and it was used to drive
and the circumstances that gave rise to the domestication animals into traps or over cliffs.
of plants and animals many millennia ago.
In addition to hunting game on land, humans har-
Hunting, Gathering, and Fishing vested shellfish, trapped fish by cutting small patches of
standing water off from the open sea, and invented tools
Before the advent of agriculture, hunting, gathering, and to catch fish, including harpoons, hooks, and baskets.
fishing were the most common means of subsistence
throughout the world. Of course, what people hunted or Using tools and fire, human communities altered their
gathered depended on where they lived. North America environments, which helped to establish more reliable food
provides a good example of the diversity of regional special- supplies. Along with hunting and gathering, early humans
izations among hunter-gatherers. The oak forests of parts were adept at keeping track of the migration cycles of fish
of North America provided an abundant harvest of nuts, and other animals. American Indians along the Pacific Coast
sometimes enough to last more than a full year; American and on Arctic shores, the Ainu of Japan and coastal East
Indian communities living in and around these forests Asia, and communities in coastal western Europe caught
therefore collected and stored this food source. Other salmon as they swam up rivers and negotiated rapids and
American Indians living near the Pacific Ocean became falls. Archaeologists have found huge accumulations of fish
adept at salmon fishing. The bison herds of the Great Plains bones at prehistoric sites near salmon runs.
provided sustenance, and so bison served as a focal point for
many plains cultures. In the colder climates of North Hunter-gatherers migrated to take advantage of cycli-
America, people followed the migrations of the caribou cal movements of animals and to avoid exhausting the supply
herds. In the north, in the coastal zone stretching from of edible plants in any one area. After the summer salmon
present-day Alaska to Russia, the Aleut developed special- runs, people hunted deer during the fall and again in the
ized techniques for fishing and for sea mammal hunting. spring, taking advantage of seasonal movements to trap deer
where they crossed rivers or in narrow valleys. During the
The size of hunting and gathering clans varied winter, people lived off dried meat and other stored foods.
according to climate and resource availability. Hunting
and gathering communities in areas of abundance could The First Agricultural Revolution
support larger populations. People living on the margins
of forests could gather food in the forest when hunting Out of areas of plenty came agriculture, the deliberate tend-
yielded poor results and then return to hunting when cir- ing of crops and livestock to produce food, feed, fiber, and
cumstances improved. fuel. Geographer Carl Sauer believed the experiments nec-
essary to establish agriculture and settle in one place would
Terrain and Tools occur in lands of plenty. Only in such places could people
afford to experiment with raising plants or take the time to
Before developing agriculture, hunter-gatherers worked capture animals and breed them for domestication. Sauer
on perfecting tools, controlling fires, and adapting environ- studied the geography of the First Agricultural Revolution,
ments to their needs. The first tools used in hunting were focusing on the location of agriculture hearths and what
simple clubs—tree limbs that were thin at one end and kinds of agricultural innovations took place in those hearths.
thick and heavy at the other. The use of bone and stone and
the development of spears made hunting far more effective. Where did plant domestication begin? Sauer, who
The fashioning of stone into hand axes and, later, handle spent a lifetime studying cultural origins and diffusion,
axes was a crucial innovation that enabled hunters to skin suggested that Southeast and South Asia may have been
their prey and cut the meat; it also made it possible to cut the scene, more than 14,000 years ago, of the first domesti-
down trees and build better shelters and tools. cation of tropical plants. There, he believed, the combina-
tion of human settlements, forest margins, and fresh water
The controlled use of fire was another important early streams may have given rise to the earliest planned cultiva-
achievement of human communities. The first opportuni- tion of root crops—crops that are reproduced by cultivat-
ties to control fire were offered by natural conditions (light- ing either the roots or cuttings from the plants (such as
ning, spontaneous combustion of surface-heated coal). tubers, including manioc or cassava, yams, and sweet pota-
toes in the tropics). A similar but later development may
have taken place in northwestern South America.

370 Chapter 11 Agriculture

The planned cultivation of seed crops, plants that tion. First, the plants themselves changed because peo-
are reproduced by cultivating seeds, is a more complex ple would choose seeds from the largest, heartiest plants
process, involving seed selection, sowing, watering, and to save for planting, yielding domesticated plants that
well-timed harvesting. Again, the practice seems to have grew larger over time than their counterparts in the
developed in more than one area and at different times. wild. Archaeologists in Southwest Asia have found pre-
Some scholars believe that the first domestication of seed served seeds, which tell them which plants were being
plants occurred in the Nile River Valley in North Africa, domesticated and when. The grain crops wheat and bar-
but the majority view is that this crucial development took ley grew well in the warm Southwest Asian climate.
place in a region of Southwest Asia (also called the Fertile Soon, people found that the river-inundated plains of
Crescent), through which flow the two major rivers of Mesopotamia provided irrigable fields for farming.
present-day Iraq: the Tigris and the Euphrates (Fig. 11.3). Agriculture provided a reliable food source, and grain
The cultivation of seed crops marked the beginning of surpluses enabled people to store grain for long-term
what has been called the First Agricultural Revolution. distribution and use and to settle permanently in one
place. In the process, the population of settlements
Archaeologists note that a number of changes began to increase.
occurred in Southwest Asia along with plant domestica-

Figure 11.3
The Fertile Crescent and Nile River Valley. The Fertile Crescent and Nile River Valley
were two hearths of the first agricultural revolution. Modern political boundaries are shown for
reference. © E. H. Fouberg, A. B. Murphy, H. J. de Blij, and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

30° Black Sea 40° 50°

40° Hattusas Caspian Sea 40°

HITTITES IAURARTU

ASIA 1600–1200 B.C.E. ris R. ate

MINOR cent Tig

ASSYRIA

ertile Cres 2000–600 B.C.E. Zagros
M
SYRIAF MES Assur MEDIA

Mediterranean Sea Sidon Euphr OPO T oun
Tyre URUK
s R. A t a i
PALESTINE
Babylon M 3500 B.C.E. n s
Jerusalem
Syrian BABYLON Susa

Desert 1900–539 ELAM

B.C.E. SUMER 3000–640

3200–1950 B.C.E. B.C.E.

30° ARABIA Ur 30°

UPPER Persepolis

EGYPT THE FERTILE CRESCENT
AND THE NILE VALLEY
Memphis Sinai

EGYPT Mesopotamia Uruk Persian Gulf
Egypt Elam
3000–343 B.C.E. Hittites

Libyan Nile
Desert
R. Red Sea
Ni

l

e Dates represent range of each
kingdom’s existence
Valley Thebes
0 250 500 750 Kilometers
LOWER
EGYPT

0 250 500 Miles

30° 40° 50°

What Is Agriculture, and Where Did Agriculture Begin? 371

Figure 11.4 depicts the global distribution of plant In many cases, what we now think of as centers of
domestication hearths. In Southeast Asia (Region 1), taro, production of particular crops are not the places where
yams, and bananas were the leading food plants. In those crops were originally domesticated. The corn
Southwest Asia (Region 4), plant domestication centered (maize) we associate with the American Corn Belt diffused
on wheat, barley, and other grains. In the Mesoamerican from Mesoamerica (Region 6) into North America. Later,
region (Region 6), the basic plants were maize (corn), the Portuguese brought it across the Atlantic, and corn
squashes, and several kinds of beans. became a staple in much of Africa. The white potato we
associate with Ireland and Idaho came originally from the
Archaeologists continually find new sites to excavate, Andean highlands but was brought to Europe in the 1600s
and as places are analyzed further, academics revise their where it became a staple from Ireland to the eastern
assumptions about the timing of the emergence of agricul- expanses of the North European Plain. The banana we
tural hearths. The Central China hearth (Region 7) has associate with Mesoamerica came from Southeast Asia, as
recently attracted greater attention because new evidence did a variety of yams. Diffusion of crops and seeds was
supports a much earlier development of agriculture in this greatly accelerated by worldwide trade and communica-
region—so early, in fact, that Chinese farmers may have tions networks established with the development of mer-
been among the world’s first. Another agricultural source cantilism and European colonialism.
region lies in West Africa (Region 9). Archaeological
research on agriculture in this area is relatively recent, and Domestication of Animals
analysts are not certain whether agriculture developed
independently there. Some scholars believe that animal domestication began
earlier than plant cultivation, but others argue that animal
Table 11.1 may be overwhelming at first glance, but domestication began as recently as 8000 years ago—well
it is worth careful attention. It reveals the enormous range after crop agriculture. Whichever is the case, goats, pigs,
of crops that were cultivated around the world, as well as and sheep became part of a rapidly growing array of domes-
how, at various times and in different locales, particular ticated animals, and in captivity they changed considerably
groups of crops became the mainstays of life. Soon the from their wild state. As with the growing of root crops, the
knowledge needed to farm such crops diffused outward notion of animal domestication must have emerged over
from these agricultural hearths. For example, both millet time, in stages.
and sorghum diffused from the West African region—
millet to India and sorghum to China.

Figure 11.4
World Areas of Agricultural Innovations. Cultural geographer Carl Sauer identified 11
areas where agricultural innovations occurred. Adapted with permission from: C. O. Sauer, Agricultural Origins

and Dispersals. New York: American Geographical Society, 1952, p. 24.

Arctic
Circle
60° 60°

PACIFIC 40° ATLANTIC 8 4 7 40°
1
40° ATLANTIC 40° 3 PACIFIC
OCEAN
OCEAN OCEAN INDIAN Tropic of Cancer
20° OCEAN 20°
Tropic of Cancer 20°
20° 20° OCEAN
9
6 40° 2
5 60° Equator 0°
0° EWquOatoRr LD AREAS OF
AGRICULTURAL INNOVATIONS 10 60°

1. Upper Southeast Asian Mainland ATLANTIC

2. Lower Southeast Asian Mainland and Malaysia 11 20° 20°
203°. EaTsrtoeprnicInodf iCaaapnrdicWorenstern Myanmar20° 20° 20° Tropic of 20°
OCEAN Capricorn
4. Southwestern Asia
40° 40°
(Northwest India-Caucasus)

5. Abyssinian and East African Highlands

64.0°Mesoamerican Region 40° 40°

(Southern Mexico to Northern Venezuela)

7. North Central China

(including the Central Asian Corridor) 80° 60° 40° 0° 20° 40° 100° 120° 140° 160°
8. 6M0e°1di6te0r°ran1e4an0°Bas1i2n-0C°6la0s°sical Near Eastern Fringe 60° 60° 60° 60° 60°
9. Western Sudan Hill Lands and their Margins
Antarctic Circle
10. Andean Highlands and their Margins

11. Eastern South America

(centered on Eastern Brazil)

372 Chapter 11 Agriculture

TABLE 11.1
Chief Source Regions of Important Crop Plant Domestications. Adapted with permission

from: J. E. Spencer and W. L. Thomas, Introducing Cultural Geography, 1978, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

What Is Agriculture, and Where Did Agriculture Begin? 373

The process of animal domestication began as peo- have been the first animals to be domesticated) and in
ple became more sedentary. People kept animals for cer- widely separated regions. Single, specific hearths can be
emonial purposes as well as for pets or for other reasons. pinpointed for only a few animals, including the llama and
Quite possibly, animals attached themselves to human the alpaca, the yak, the turkey, and the reindeer.
settlements as scavengers (foraging through garbage
near human settlements) and even for protection against Efforts to domesticate animals continue today. In East
predators, thus reinforcing the idea that they might be Africa, people are attempting to domesticate the eland, to
tamed and kept. Orphaned young probably were adopted serve as a source of meat in a region where a stable protein
as pets; some wild animals were docile and easily penned source is greatly needed. Several experimental stations in
up. Goats were domesticated in the Zagros Mountains the savanna are trying to find ways to domesticate Africa’s
(in the Fertile Crescent) as long as 10,000 years ago; wildlife. They have had some success with a species of
sheep some 9500 years ago in Anatolia (Turkey); and eland, but less so with various species of gazelles; they have
pigs and cattle shortly thereafter. The advantages of ani- been unable to domesticate the buffalo (Fig. 11.5). In fact,
mal domestication—their use as beasts of burden, as a throughout the world only some 40 species of higher ani-
source of meat, and as providers of milk—stimulated the mals have ever been domesticated—and most of these were
rapid diffusion of this idea among interlinked places and domesticated long ago. Jared Diamond, author of Guns,
gave the sedentary farmers of Southwest Asia and else- Germs, and Steel, explains that only five domesticated mam-
where a new measure of security. mals are important throughout the world: the cow, sheep,
goat, pig, and horse. According to Diamond, if we select
Archaeological research indicates that when animals only the big (over 100 pounds), herbivorous, terrestrial ani-
such as wild cattle are penned in a corral, they undergo mals, we have 148 species that meet these criteria in the
physical changes over time. In a pen, animals are pro- “wild.” Only 14 of those 148 have been domesticated suc-
tected from predators, allowing the survival of animals cessfully, and each of these 14 was domesticated at least
that would have been killed in the wild. Our domestic ver- 4500 years ago. Modern attempts at animal domestication,
sions of the goat, the pig, the cow, and the horse differ even those driven by knowledgeable geneticists, have failed
considerably from those first kept by our ancestors. In because of problems with the animal’s diet, growth rate,
early animal domestication, people chose the more docile, breeding, disposition, or social structure.
often smaller animals to breed. Archaeologists discern the
beginnings of animal domestication in a region by inspect- Thus, the process of animal domestication, set in
ing the bones of excavated animals. They look for places motion more than 8000 (and perhaps as long as 14,000)
where bones get smaller over time, as this usually indi- years ago, continues. The integrated use of domesticated
cates early domestication. plants and domesticated animals eased the work burden
for early farmers. Animal waste fertilized crops, animals
As with plant domestication, archaeologists can pulled plows, and crops fed animals. The first place where
use the combination of bone fragments and tools to domesticated plants and animals were successfully inte-
identify general areas where the domestication of par- grated was Southwest Asia (the Fertile Crescent).
ticular animals occurred. In Southwest Asia and adja-
cent parts of the Mediterranean basin, people domesti- Subsistence Agriculture
cated the goat, sheep, and camel. Southeast Asians
domesticated several kinds of pigs, the water buffalo, Subsistence agriculture—growing only enough food to
chickens, and some water fowl (ducks, geese). In East survive—was the norm throughout most of human his-
India and West Burma (South Asia), people domesti- tory. Subsistence farmers often hold land in common; sur-
cated cattle, and cattle came to occupy an important pluses are shared by all the members of the community;
place in the regional culture. In Central Asia, people accumulation of personal wealth is restricted; and indi-
domesticated the yak, horse, some species of goats, and vidual advancement at the cost of the group as a whole is
sheep. In the Mesoamerica and the Andean Highlands, limited. Subsistence agriculture declined during the 1900s
early Americans domesticated the llama and alpaca, with the diffusion of industrialized agriculture and the
along with a species of pig and the turkey. goal of constantly increasing production both to feed
growing populations and to sell more agricultural goods.
Some species of animals may have been domesti- The United States and other industrialized countries
cated almost simultaneously in different places. The water sought to move farmers “beyond” subsistence into indus-
buffalo, for example, was probably domesticated in both trialized production as part of development programs
Southeast and South Asia during the same period. Camels begun in the 1960s (see Chapter 10).
were domesticated in both western and eastern ends of
Southwest Asia. The pig was domesticated in numerous A return to subsistence agriculture has taken hold in
areas. Different species of cattle were domesticated in parts of the world where farmers feel production for the
regions other than South Asia. Dogs and cats attached global market has not benefited them either financially or
themselves to human settlements very early (they may culturally. For example, indigenous people in the southern

374 Chapter 11 Agriculture

Field Note domestic animals (goats) were combined with wild gazelles,
all penned together in a large enclosure. This was not work-
“Attempts to tame wildlife started in ancient times, and ing well; all day the gazelles seek to escape. By comparison,
still continue. At Hunter’s Lodge on the Nairobi-Mombasa these eland were docile, manageable, and in good health.
road, we met an agricultural officer who reported that an Importantly, they also were reproducing in captivity. Here,
animal domestication experiment station was located not our host describes the program.”
far into the bush, about 10 miles south. On his invitation,
we spent the next day observing this work. In some herds,

Figure 11.5
Nairobi, Kenya. © H. J. de Blij.

Mexican states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Guerrero have turn the soil, and try again. Shifting cultivation gave ancient
largely returned to subsistence agriculture. The Nation farmers opportunities to experiment with various plants, to
reported in 2010 that Zapatista farmers have “in effect learn the effects of weeding and crop care, to cope with envi-
chosen to withdraw from the national economy, some ronmental vagaries, and to discern the decreased fertility of
weaning themselves off expensive chemical fertilizers and soil after sustained farming.
subsisting on corn they can grow, harvest, and barter.”
With shifting cultivation, parcels of land are worked
Some subsistence farmers are sedentary, living in one successively. The farmers first clear vegetation from a par-
place throughout the year, but many others move from place cel of land. Next they plant crops that are native to the
to place in search of better land. The latter engage in a form region: tubers in the humid, warm tropical areas, grains in
of agriculture known as shifting cultivation. This type of the more humid subtropics, and vegetables and fruits in
agriculture is found primarily in tropical and subtropical cooler zones. When the village grows too large and the
zones, where traditional farmers had to abandon plots of land distance to usable land becomes too great, part of the vil-
after the soil became infertile. Once stripped of their natural lage’s population may establish a new settlement some
vegetative cover and deprived of the constant input of nutri- distance away. Population densities in areas of shifting agri-
ents from decaying vegetative matter on the forest floor, soils culture cannot be very high; therefore, shifting cultivation
in these regions can quickly lose their nutrients as rain water continues only in areas where population densities are low.
leaches out organic matter. Faced with these circumstances,
farmers move to another parcel of land, clear the vegetation, One specific kind of shifting cultivation is slash-and-
burn agriculture (also called swidden, milpa, or patch