International Development – Glossary of Key Concepts

Enrolment Ratio 

The percentage  of children enrolled in school in a country

Globalisation  

The increasing connectedness between societies across the globe.

Gross National Product 

The total economic value of goods and services produced BY a country, both at home and abroad in the course of a year and available for consumption in the market place.

Patriarchy 

A system of male domination and control.

Colonialism 

Where a more powerful country expands into other, less powerful territories and exerts political and economic control over those territories.

Neoliberalism  

An economic theory which believes governments should remove restrictions to free trade (deregulation), privatize public services, and keep taxes low.

Modern World System (according to Wallerstein)

The theory that global capitalism is structured into three zones of production – core, periphery and semi-periphery

Official Development  Aid 

Loans and grants from public or official sources such as national governments or international agencies of development.

Fair Trade 

A certification system which guarantees that products are produced in a way in which workers get a fair price and aren’t exploited.

Non-Governmental Organizations  

Non-political and non-profit organisations. NGOs typically have charity status and raise funds through a combination of voluntary donations from the public.

Industrialisation

Where a country moves from an economy dominated by agricultural output and employment to one dominated by manufacturing.

Urbanisation

Where a population moves from rural to urban areas – the migration of people from the country to towns and cities.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Discover more from ReviseSociology

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading